20200129心靈病毒慎防範Safeguarding Our Minds at All Times
Living in this world, we must learn to tame our minds. Otherwise, even if we have the slightest affliction or unwholesome thought, we will give rise to more as well as have conflicts with others and create disasters unceasingly. When our minds come in contact with external conditions, we may create defiled attachments.
Defiled attachments are truly of great concern to us all. Take a white cloth for example. If we accidentally stain it with another color, it will be difficult to wash away the stains and make the cloth completely white again. This is called a deep penetration. If we let unwholesome thoughts penetrate deep into our minds, it will be difficult to eradicate them. This is a result of defiles attachment.
In truth, when our thoughts or minds are not upright, we will create defiled attachments as well as give rise to deviant and false thinking. If our minds are deviant, we will give rise to deluded thoughts unceasingly. Our deviant thinking can become a seed of bad karma indeed. When we have deviant thinking, our minds will be defiled by external conditions, for we will give rise to greed when we encounter favorable circumstances or when we are tempted by fame, profit, wealth, or lust.
If we do not cultivate ourselves, we will think that wealth, sensual pleasure, fame, and profit are most wonderful and that we should seek after them in life. Due to external conditions, we create defiled attachments, and the defiled attachments. When there are causes, there are conditions. Wealth, lust, fame, and profit are conditions that tempt our minds.
If we are drawn towards them, we will dwell in them and become deeply penetrated by them. Our defiled attachments create those conditions. So, when we are presented with wealth, sensual pleasure, fame, or delicacies, greed will arise in our minds. Once we give rise to greed, be it for wealth or sensual pleasure, we may easily crate bad karma of killing. As many people crave meat, countless animals have been killed which has created a lot of bad karma. This is how we create bad karma through our body.
Under unfavorable circumstances, when things do not go our way, we will give rise to anger. When we are under neutral circumstances, where there is nothing particularly good or enticing such as fame or wealth, or when we are under everyday circumstances that are neutral, not particularly good or bad, our state of mind is very much characterized by ignorance.
Due to ignorance, we have deluded thoughts, do not understand life’s truths, and cannot discern good from bad. Even if things are not good or bad, as our ignorance is still present, we will be easily drawn towards those things in the external conditions. This is how we are deluded by ignorance. Due to our ignorance, when enticing conditions appear, be it wealth, lust, fame, or profit, we will be easily enticing by them.
Such ignorance, which is like a virus to our minds, is contagious and can spread far and wide. Due to the recent epidemic outbreak, we are all very worried about our safety. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus is really similar to that of SARS. This is truly worrying.
At a time like this, we all have the obligation to protect ourselves. There are people who have been trying their best to study the virus, and there are people combating the epidemic on the frontline. We should respect them and do all we can protect and support them. Indeed, we must be grateful to them for working on the frontline to prevent the spread of the virus.
We are also responsible for safeguarding our minds from afflictions, which are like viruses to our minds. Afflictions arise from our greed, anger, and ignorance, and we give rise to greed, anger, and ignorance when we have deviant thinking. If our perspectives and thinking are deviant, when we come in contact with external conditions, our minds will become defiled and will even be deeply penetrated by afflictions. Penetration in this case also means immersion.
Our deviant thinking leads us to be bound in afflictions and external conditions, just like how a cloth, once it is put into ink, will become immersed eventually. If our minds are penetrated by deviant thinking, our minds will become defiled and we will get attached to unwholesome conditions.
We will think that fame, profit, and social status are most wonderful and we will become greedy for them. And, when we encounter unfavorable circumstances, we will give rise to anger, lose our temper, and act out. Also, even under neutral, everyday circumstances, our minds will be covered by ignorance. Ignorance means we do not understand life’s truths.
So, to bring peace and stability to society, we must all eliminate our ignorance first. If we do so, we can tame our anger. If we can tame our anger, we can subdue our greed.
Ignorance, anger, and greed are three poisons to our minds. To keep them at bay, I hope we will all heighten our vigilance.
Ignorance itself is neutral. Yet, if we are ignorant, when we come in contact with external conditions, we may get attached to the conditions, give rise to unwholesome thoughts, and even do wrongs. This is a result of our ignorance. So, we must be very mindful and eliminate our ignorant thoughts.
We should not say, “I’m not greedy and I don’t easily get angry, so my mind is already well cultivated.” I’d like to remind all of you that ignorance often arises without our awareness. Even under neutral circumstances, we often let, without our awareness, our ignorance create afflictions. So, everyone, please be mindful always.
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