Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Seize the Present Moment to Practice Diligently (把握現在精進未來)
Dharma is like water. Are we using water to cleanse our minds every day? We must constantly be self-aware and diligent in our spiritual practice. It is like living in a house. If the owner dose not diligently to clean the house, it will quickly become dirty, messy, and odorous. So we must use Dharma, the water provided by Buddha to cleanse our minds. As we know from previous lectures, evil seeds and painful fruitions create and endless cycle.
Earlier talked about how ignorance gives rise to afflictions such as greed, anger, delusion, arrogance, doubt, etc. All 84,000 kinds of afflictions originate from one ignorant thought. That sets off an endless cycle. Once there is a cause, we create karma, which leads to retribution. Therefore, causes lead to painful retributions. We already know about this continuous cycle. So we must truly be aware to karmic retributions.
Once we plant a seed, or a cause, it will encounter conditions conducive to growth. Blessed seeds will encounter blessed conditions. Evil seeds will encounter evil conditions. We cannot control this endless entanglement. We learn Buddhism to clearly understand that by creating blessed afflictions in the past, we now have the opportunity to come into such a blessed environment. There we find favorable conditions which nurture our blessed seeds. We must be more diligent in walking the path to enlightenment and creating blessings for others. I believe this is very important.
Buddhist practitioners must understand the principles behind karmic retribution. We are fortunate to hear Buddha-Dharma so we must be more diligent in walking the path to enlightenment and benefiting others.
But inevitably we have remnants of past karma. As I mentioned previously, after we create evil, we will experience cyclic rebirth in the Three Evil Realms. If we exhaust karma of the Three Evil Realms, we will born in the Human Realm in this realm, we still have bad karma remaining, and we will still undergo much suffering. We will be poor, suffering, abandoned, alone etc. If we have even a little bit of blessed karma, we can meet kind individuals.
Among our charity cases, we see so many living a life of suffering. Those with blessings will meet Tzu Chi volunteers or good people, who can save them, help them, and accompany them. This applies to all people, whether they are poor, sick or old. Are these the only people who are suffering? No. There are still many others we do not have the opportunity to meet because they do not have an affinity with us. Perhaps we just missed them or our affinity lies far in the future.
Thus, they will continue to endure great suffering. Only someone with a blessed seed will encounter us. They need to have created some blessing to encounter favorable and helpful circumstances. Some people might say: “Isn’t this his karma? He is just reaping what he has sown. So if we help him, aren’t we disobeying the law of karma?”
When we started our charity work, we often heard Buddhists say this. Their beliefs were skewed. They believed in the Law of Karma, so they thought that once people sowed the seeds they must face retributions. They felt that people deserved to suffer and if we helped them, we are going against the Law of Karma. Some people still say this today. I find it really sad. Since we know that Law of Karma, we should believe what the Buddha taught. The Buddha came to this world because of the Four Immeasurables.
Earlier we discussed the Four Immeasurables and the Six Perfections. They are the essence of the Buddha’s teachings. The Four Immeasurables are Great Loving-kindness, Great Compassion, Great Joy and Great Equanimity. We must have immeasurable loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. These are the Four Immeasurables. With them, we will help all sentient beings attain blessing, salvation and happiness. This is called “giving joy.” With Immeasurable Loving-Kindness, we hope to relieve all sentient beings from their sufferings. Once they are saved from pain and suffering, they can obtain ultimate happiness. This is the loving-kindness of the Buddha.
All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas feel for suffering sentient beings. They feel the suffering of others as their own. With Immeasurable Compassion, they do everything they can to relieve sentient beings of their misery, even when they have fallen into Hell. In the process of attaining Buddhahood, the Buddha also went to Hell to save people. He even took on their suffering by pulling blazing carts for them. These stories can be found in the canons.
A person was alone and very weak. The jailer forced him to get up when he fell. He died of exhaustion, and then revived. When I faced him and saw his suffering, I felt compassion and empathy for him. Thus I addressed the jailer and politely requested that I take this man’s place and pull the cart myself. The jailer became enraged and beat me. I died and was reborn in Trayastrimsa Heaven Damamuka-nidana Sutra, Chapter 13.
The Buddha also entered the Animal Realm to help animals and humans attain deliverance. These stories, like the Deer King Sutra and the Peacock Sutra, describe parts of the Buddha’s journey to attain enlightenment. He went to all of the Three Lower Realms, Hell, Hungry Ghost and Animal Realms. His practice was saving those who were suffering. These are the principles the Buddha taught us. He taught by example, carrying out these practices Himself, then telling us about them. This was the teaching of the Buddha. So how can people say that others deserve to suffer?
I remember a policewoman who volunteered with us. When she saw a patient covered in tattoos, her first thought was, “He is a bad person, he deserves this.” On second thought, she remembered, “This morning I just heard the Master say that afflictions arise from discriminating minds. “Even though he has tattoos, perhaps he has changed his ways. Now that he is ill, he is quite pitiable. How can I say it serves him right? I am wrong to have that mentality. I am the bad person, not him. ”
See, one can immediately change one’s mindset. We have to know that those who are suffering need others, and those who are ignorant need education. If materially poor, they need financial assistance. If spiritually poor, they need teachings of wisdom.
Those who suffer due to material poverty need financial and material assistance. Those who suffer due to spiritual poverty need the teachings of wisdom.
When something happens, if we try to find shortcuts instead of doing things in the right order, it is very dangerous. As we learn Buddhism, we must walk the broad and direct path, instead of taking “shortcuts.” If we deviate, we may become possessed. Even if we seek help, who knows when it will come. It will be very difficult to seek help. Therefore we should repent. Whenever we encounter difficulties in life, we must recognize karmic retributions and willingly accept our fate. Since we once happily committed those deeds, now we must willingly accept the consequences. Now we should be even more diligent and repent. In our current interactions with people and our dealing with things, everything requires repentance.
If we are not willing to repent, we will suffer indefinitely. We won’t be able to transcend this pain or be liberated from a mind full of afflictions for a long time, even if we try. Therefore, we must repent. Earlier I said to “plead and repent.” All Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and sages reprimand us and denounce our afflictions.
“We have already explained it to you, why are you making the same mistakes? These are the true principles, why can’t you accept them?” When the Buddha saw how foolish and deluded sentient beings were, He pitied them. So He employed various methods and created various Skillful Means to show us what is wrong, what we must change. He painstakingly taught us. We know we are wrong, but we are unable to change. This is why the sages reprimand us. Since we are learning Buddhism, we must thoroughly understand that we are born with past karma. Thus, we must accept retributions that arise. The Buddha has tirelessly and repeatedly returned to the Saha World. Though He viewed us with compassion, we remained foolish and deluded. He cannot help but reprimand us. Next, “Afflictions can also be called enemies.”
Indeed, we should make more effort to understand affliction. The Buddha, out of kindness and compassion, continuously explained the nature of affliction. He spent a long time telling us about afflictions. He explained it in many different ways. We are asked to repent as a means to wash away our afflictions. This is very clear.
However, the passage here gives another example of afflictions. “Afflictions can also be called enemies.” Everyone, afflictions are like our enemies. Humans come to this world in accordance with their karma. Between people there are feelings of love, hate, affection and enmity. Even love can bring so much pain and misery. Whether we feel familial love, romantic love, friendship, or the many other kinds of love, these are all deluded sentiments.
Parents are very concerned about their children. What worries them most is when their kids are mentally or physically ill. This is most troublesome for parents. If children are psychologically deviant, the parents will be afflicted. When the child is physically ill, the parents will suffer. Afflictions from familial bonds truly bring unspeakable suffering. The children may be healthy and well-behaved. But life is impermanent. Sometimes things happen, and parents may have to lay their children to rest. That is so tormenting! So painful!
Some parents love their children so much that they continuously nag them. Not only do children not appreciate this love, they become antagonistic and hostile because of it. There was a middle-aged man who had a car accident. He became paralyzed from the waist down, so he became wheelchair-bound. Before the accident, he led a very dissolute life. He caused his parents many worries. After the accident, he could not go out and cause trouble, but his behavior became more worrisome. His temper worsened. He was displeased no matter how his parents treated him. Not only was he unhappy, he often threw things at them. His parents tolerated him. His father sometimes criticized him. But he could not accept it. One day when his father was not paying attention, he took a knife and stabbed him in the back. His mother was devastated. But was the son repentant? No, he was still resentful and unrepentant.
Imagine how the mother felt. She loved her son and her husband. They were the two people she loved most, but they broke her heart. Is that not suffering? Ah, familial affection! What kind of affinity was it that brought them together to this world? So I always say, “We cannot bring anything with us when we die except for karma.” We carry unresolved karmic causes and conditions from past lives from which it is difficult to break free. They continue to entangle us. If we cannot extricate ourselves in this lifetime, those conditions will be carried to the next. Such ties of love and hate are really frightening.
Our lives and fates are controlled by karma. Good and bad karma are all created by ourselves. So we must seize the present moment and diligently practice on into the future.
Therefore, when we learn Buddhism it is very important to take good care of the mind. We must continually repent and self-reflect so we can refrain from wrongdoing. Let us joyful accept our karma and not commit new wrongdoings. Only then can we e saved.
This is what the Buddhas and sages who understand the Truth taught us continually. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水).
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