Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Four Clingings (四取)
The Four Clingings may cause all wrongdoings. They are Clinging to Desire, Clinging to Views, Clinging to Deviant Precepts and Clinging to the Notion of Self.
In our daily living, we face various phenomena. Do our minds linger on certain ones? Time continuously passes, but our minds may linger on certain phenomena. We practice Buddhism to remain unaffected by external conditions. If our minds linger on, although time has passed, our minds are truly clinging to that phenomenon.
When phenomena manifest in every second of our daily living, we must be able to choose, be able to filter, be able to eliminate them. If we are unable to be selective, we will absorb everything that comes our way. So the Buddha taught us how to remain unaffected by external conditions.
Clinging of the mind creates a tremendous burden. Thus, the Buddha wanted us to maintain clarity of the mind so that we will not have afflictions constantly weighing heavily on our minds. Therefore, He gave us His analysis of how the mind clings to external phenomena.
For example, when we visit a luxurious house on a hot summer day outside it is hot, but inside it is very cool. The decorations are very pleasing and beautiful. Everything is opulent and lavish. When we are in such a luxurious house, we feel envious of the accommodations and the owner. We wonder when we can own a place like this, and live in such surroundings. Our minds dwell on this phenomenon. Then we start to think, “How can we be like them?” Banks offer mortgages to encourage people to purchase houses. So we do everything we can to get a mortgage.
Is a loan from the bank enough to buy a house? No. So we take out private loans. Is this sufficient? No. So we turn to loan sharks. But do we have enough resources to repay the loan sharks? Do we have enough resources to repay private loans and bank mortgages? We do not, so the interest continues to compound. When the luxury home is completed even before we can move in, we are pressed to pay our debts. By then, not only are we unable to pay the mortgage, we cannot pay off the private loans, not to mention the loan sharks. The creditors pressure us to repay our debts, so what happens then? This occurs when sentient beings cling to desires.
With desire in our minds, When we encounter external phenomena we will cling to them. Even if it is something we should not own, we will try everything to obtain it. This is called Clinging to Desire.
Craving leads to so much suffering！ We cannot escape the 4 Forms of Birth & 6 Realms. All afflictions and ignorance arise from desire, especially desire for form, sound, smell, taste and touch. We all know this. When we crave something we hear or see, our minds produce this grasping and attachment. So Clinging to Desire is always related to external conditions.
With desire in our minds, when we come in contact with external phenomena, we will do everything we can to grasp them. This is called Clinging to Desire.
Next is Clinging to Views, the delusional attachment to the 5 Aggregates. We are deluded by our ideals perspectives and views. If we are not clinging to manifest conditions, we are clinging to what appears in our mind. This kind of clinging is tied to the 5 Aggregates. We have already discussed form, for the most part. When we come in contact with it, we experience a sensation that will tempt us to go in one direction. Sensation is a type of karmic force. It is a feeling.
Some people may not feel anything, while others feel very strong emotions. So there is sensation and thinking. Facing external conditions, we begin to think. Yet even when the conditions are gone the mind continues thinking. Some people let bygones be bygones. After the event has passed, we should let go of whatever appeared in the mind. It should be this the way. However, some people do not let go, even after an event has passed. It remains on their minds. They cling to resentment, hate, enmity, passion. Their minds linger there. This is called thinking.
We create afflictions by thinking. Thus, thinking is the continuous ponderings and contemplations of the mind. Certainly, thinking can be either good or bad. If we make a vow, plant the seed in our minds and carefully tend it, this kind of thinking is similar to a farmer cultivating a field. Each seed eventually produces gains. However, if we retain bad thoughts in our minds, every thought will be evil, every deed will be bad. The Chinese character for thinking is a field on top of a mind. How we cultivate our field is up to us.
So, these are the aggregates of form, sensation, perception, action. Action is creating something out of nothing, through our thinking. What is created will be stored (in the mind.) Then it continues to grow. The word action refers to something very subtle.
So when we talk about the Aggregate of Action it is something very subtle. Without our awareness, things continuously change. They keep going through transformation. So the Aggregate of Acton is very subtle. It applies to everything in the world, including people. However, we do not experience it. We just know that external phenomena, form, sensation, perception, action, consciousness continuously produce afflictions in our minds. So we create bad karma. These seeds are buried in our Eighth Consciousness. When we die, we take nothing with us but karma, embedded in our Eighth Consciousness. This leads to endless cycles of rebirth.
Being attached to the Five Aggregates form, sensation, perception, action, consciousness causes deviation in our thinking and behavior. This is called Clinging to Views.
As we learn Buddhism, we need to uphold precepts. We should understand precepts clearly, otherwise, it will become another type of attachment.
The third is Clinging to Deviant Precepts. We should mindfully uphold precepts, but sometimes, we deviate in our practice. Take unorthodox sects, for example. They say that they are also practicing.
In the past, there were many religions in India, approximately 96 kinds. Each engaged in a different type of practice. Some practiced by fasting. Some practiced by immersing themselves and living entirely in water. Some practiced with fire, continuously testing themselves with it. They claimed these were spiritual practices. In India at that time, there were many ascetics. Because of their practices, they were called also monastics. They uphold precepts as well, and were very attached to them.
Before His enlightenment, the Buddha also traveled by foot in India, seeking Dharma to understand the Truths of life. Relying on His wisdom, He contemplated natural phenomena, which led Him to realize the Truth of life. So He guides us in our spiritual practice. We must follow the Middle Way. We cannot indulge our desire like worldly people and thus create much karma.
We need to cultivate a different way of living. So we must abstain from desires and be very cautious of cravings. We must be very self-aware and not act out of desire. Desire is truly a defilement. In our practice, we must not indulge our desires, yet must also protect our bodies. The body is a vehicle for spiritual practice. Moreover, Chinese tradition promotes filial piety. Our bodies come from our parents. We cannot damage the body they gave us. We must utilize it for spiritual practice and to benefit society. This is true filial piety.
Thus, we must not harm the body with our practices. We should practice the Middle Way. We must not practice Buddha-Dharma with an attachment to biased precepts. So the third is Clinging to Deviant Precepts. This is erroneous.
In spiritual practice, if we are attached to methods that do not follow the right path, it is called Clinging to Deviant Precepts.
Fourth is Clinging to the Notion of Self. This arises from attachment to our ego, and the arrogance of believing that everything we observe and say is right while others are always wrong. This is also wrong. We should humble ourselves. Ask others and listen to their views. We should mindfully analyze what we hear, and not blindly accept or follow whatever a certain person says. Neither should we insist that everything we observe and say are correct and force others to listen to us. We cannot do so.
Instead, we should broaden our thinking to accept and absorb others' words of wisdom. We should also carefully consider whether or not we can accomplish what others have done. If we can do it, only then we can advise others to do the same. We should understand that if we can personally carry out the practices, then we can lead others to do the same. We should be able to practice what we preach instead of being all talk with no follow through, while still insisting that others follow us. That is also wrong. Hence, attachment to the Five Views, especially speaking with an egotistical mindset, is not right.
If we cling to egotistical views, a deviant attachment will arise in our minds and we will think we are always right. This is called Clinging to the Notion of Self.
So everyone, as we learn Buddhism it is important to know that craving minds grasp external conditions. We should be aware of these desires, this Clinging to Desires, or Clinging to Views and perspectives. Whether we face these conditions now or they have already passed, our minds must not continue to cling to them. The circumstances have already passed. Can we distinguish good from bad? We vow to do good, but does this remain in our minds? We should carefully contemplate such questions. Have we let go of interpersonal disputes? We should be very mindful and filter these thoughts.
Next we will discuss precepts. The Buddha told spiritual practitioners not to eat after noon. So should we not eat after lunch? Is that right? Actually this depends on our physical conditions. During the Buddha's time, when they practiced, the amount of food their bowls held was enough for them. They were primarily engaged in spiritual practice, in contemplation and in listening to the Buddha. They did not engage in much physical activity. So one meal a day contained enough nutrients.
Is our lifestyle today the same? No. If not, we need to adjust our bodies and our modern methods of practice to accommodate our modern way of living. Otherwise, rigid adherence to precepts will actually cause problems in our lives.
Clinging to speech is the same. Hence, in our practice, clinging alone encompasses a vast spectrum of activities. We should mindfully sort through these various aspects and not allow a momentary lapse to disrupt our lives. Thus, we must all cultivate pure minds. When our minds are calm, external phenomena cannot delude us and disrupt our lives.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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