Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Trapped in the Six Realms and Four Forms of Birth (纏綿感情眾生迷)
I often say that life is impermanent. Yet afflictions linger forever. Hence, the Buddha told us that afflictions are like our enemies. Afflictions are like thieves. Afflictions are like raging rivers. Afflictions are like shackles that continuously restrain and bind us. If we do not eliminate ignorance and afflictions we can never be freed.
As I said previously, afflictions are like shackles that confine us to the prison of life and death so we cannot break free.
This is indeed the way it is. Lately, every day I have been talking to you all about afflictions. When an ignorant thought arises, we create many afflictions. They are difficult to eliminate and cause us great suffering.
Remember the conjoined twins who were separated at our hospital on June 28, 2003? The two sisters turned one-year-old on July 1 2003. Three days before their birthday, we performed surgery to separate them. After the surgery, as I watched the two of them being placed into separate beds, I felt so wonderful. I felt that these two children were finally liberated, freed of their physical bonds. They had blessed affinities, so they met Tzu Chi volunteers in the Philippines.
Because of this karmic affinity, we brought them to Hualien. After two or three months of nurturing they gained enough weight and became well-nourished. So, on June 28 2003 they underwent the separation surgery.
There was a similar operation taking place in Singapore in early July 2003. These conjoined twins were 29 years old. They had been joined at the head for 29 years. Even so, they had different ways of thinking and different interests. One sister was more dynamic while the other was more passive. One was quiet and the other was active. So the two were completely different. When they studied in college, one wished to be a journalist, and the other wanted to be lawyer. Their career aspirations were very different, but they had to stay together all the time. This was very painful for them. So when they were 29-years-old, they decided that it was time to be separated. They had to risk their lives, but they still went to Singapore for the surgery.
Thought surgeons gave a 50 percent success rate, they were willing to take the risk. Even though the rate was so low, they were still willing. Unfortunately, in a surgery estimated to last 70 hours, they stared bleeding uncontrollably around 50 hours into the operation. In the end, they both died.
Look, everyone had different ways of thinking. We often ask people, “What is going on in that head of yours?” Actually, (this reveals our ignorance.) Look at the twins. Their heads were conjoined and they shared a cerebral vein, yet they had completely different ways of thinking. They were so different but they had to be together day and night. That caused them great suffering. Despite the doctors’ best efforts, their lives were fated to end then, and they died one after another.
After this news was released, we heard about another pair of conjoined sisters. They were born into a poor family in Ahmedabad, India. They had separate upper bodies, but were conjoined from the waist down. Altogether they had four arms but only 2 legs.
They were joined at the pelvis. They had separate hearts, lungs, and stomachs, but below all that they were conjoined. Separating them would be very difficult.
But they decided that they could travel around and be on display. People would pay to see them. They felt that earning money like this allowed them to support not only themselves, but also their family. Therefore, they accepted their situation and were willing to use their condition to earn a living.
How long can they live like this? If something happens one day, if one of them gets sick, if one of them dies, and the others is still alive, what happens then? Life is indeed full of sufferings. There is much misery and hardship in this world. These twins are stuck in their situation. They are entangled and bound together. They suffer tremendously. They have probably created such entanglements in their past lives. They were born with those karmic affinities.
Those with good karma will come in contact with blessed conditions. In their lives they will attain liberation and freedom. If they did not create any blessings, they can never be freed for the rest of their lives. What about the next life? This depends on if they had ignorant thoughts in this life. Did they accumulate more ignorance and affliction with their lack of understanding? We do not know for sure.
Ordinary people are connected to and entangled with others. Earlier we discussed the afflictions created in the Three Evil Realms. If we create bad karma, we are reborn in those realms. Afterwards, when we are born as humans again, we will continue to suffer because we still cannot eliminate ignorance and afflictions. This happens not only in the Human Realm but the Animal Realm as well.
I read this news article titled “Odd News from Anhui Province”. A family living in China’s Anhui Province had a cat and a pug. The cat would often playful seek affection. The owner also adored the dog. The cat and the dog often played together. Sometimes they nipped each other playfully. One day, the owner had guests over for lunch. The cat and the dog stayed under the dining table. As the people ate, they tossed chicken and fish bones to the floor, and the cat and the dog fought for them. During one part of the meal, only one chicken bone fell under the table, so the cat and the dog both tried to grab it. Both animals became angry and started brawling under the table. The owner quickly dragged them outside. After the meal, the guests went home. After escorting the guests out, the owner went off to work.
When he returned home, he saw the cat by the door. It was dead and covered in blood. It looked like it was covered in bite marks. The owner felt that the dog must have done it. He said, “The pug bit the cat.” So, he went to find the dog. The owner was very angry because he constantly cradled the cat and adored it. When he saw that it died such a terrible death, he set off to find the dog. The pug seemed to know it had done something wrong and was in trouble. So, it hid in a corner. No matter how it was called it dared not come out. Finally, it was dragged out. The owner was furious. He dragged the dog to the cat’s body and said, “Did you bite the cat?” As he questioned the dog, he got angrier. He beat it and then kicked it 5 feet away. Then the owner buried the dead cat.
He thought no more of it. However, the next morning, when he woke up and opened the door, he discovered that the dog had drunk pesticide. It was foaming at the mouth, and a bottle of pesticide was in front of it. The dog was dead, too. Where did the pesticide come from? The bottle was kept in a corner. The dog carried it to the door, bit open the bottle and drank from it.
You see, animals are also ignorant. Thought the dog and cat were different species, they lived in the same household and usually got along very well. Occasionally they fought and nipped at each other. But this time, because the owner hit it, the dog knew that it did something wrong and was in trouble. It cowered in the corner, like a child who knew he was in trouble. Nevertheless, it was dragged out and beaten. Perhaps this is why it blamed itself and could not get over it, so it committed suicide.
Look at sentient beings; it doesn’t matter what realm they are in, Hell Realm, Animal Realm ,or Hungry Ghost Realm. As this story shows, even those born in the Animal Realm have afflictions and deluded views. Like humans, they have 7 Emotions and 6 Desires. They also experience anger, hate, jealousy, love, passion, enmity, etc. This is so frightening! Ignorance and affliction entangle living beings in the Six Realms so they cannot escape. Whether the afflictions are tangible or not, they continuously entangle us. For this reason, we cannot liberate ourselves from the Six Realms.
Cycling through the 6 Realms and 4 Forms of Birth never ends. So ignorance and afflictions entangle us in the Six Realms and we cycle endlessly from one realm to another. The Four Forms of Birth are endless. The Four Forms of Birth are egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born, and transformation-born. All living beings are born in one of these ways. This is caused by our afflictions. Due to karma, we are born in the Six Realms through one of the Four Forms of Birth and undergo endless cycles of rebirth. Because of our ignorance and karma, this cycle will never stop. We receive endless “painful retributions” of “countless bad karma”.
We continue to create countless bad karma, and suffer ceaseless painful retributions. This is all due to afflictions.
Everyone, ignorance brings us so much suffering. It brings countless painful retributions and prevents us from breaking free of this cycle. So as we learn Buddhism, shouldn’t we work on eliminating our afflictions and ignorance?
In learning Buddhism, it is most important to purify our minds and eliminate our afflictions. Life is limited and suffering is endless. If we are continuously entangled by ignorance and affliction, we will be trapped in the cyclic existence of the Six Realms.
In summary, when an ignorant thought arises, we will continuously cycle through Samsara. Our lives, and all the things in the universe, are impermanent. Only ignorance and afflictions last continuously through all lifetimes. Our only chance for liberation is, while we are human, to learn the Dharma and practice it diligently. Besides this, there is no other way. We must apply Dharma to our daily living. Learning Buddha-Dharma is not only about chanting Sutras. No. We must accept the Dharma that the Buddha taught and use it to deal with people and things in our daily living. Only by walking the Bodhisattva-path can we truly eliminate ignorance and afflictions. So, everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水).
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