Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Nurture Wisdom-Life through Realization (慧命長養聞悟間)
For spiritual practitioners, time is truly of the essence. I have always spoken about time, space and relationships. No matter who I talk to,. I always advocate that we seize the day. If we can do so, our lives can be of more use in this world. Thus we elevate the value of our lives. We must also work among people, because our spiritual cultivation is achieved through human interactions.
Seize the moment to elevate life’s value, and work to benefit all others here and now. In doing so, you can become accomplished in your spiritual practice.
I have often said that practitioners with superior capabilities can realize 1000 thing from one lesson. Those with moderate capabilities can realize only one thing at a time. Those with low capabilities probably cannot realize a single thing, even if they hear it 1000 or 10,000 times. They still do not understand. Hopefully, even if we do not have superior capabilities, at least we are among those with moderate capabilities. Only then can we maintain our Wisdom-life.
From one lesson, superiorly capable people realize 1000 things, moderately capable people realize one thing, incapable people realize nothing.
Dharma is like water. Water is essential. Nothing in this world can exist without water.
We humans truly cannot live without it.
Take the sky, for example, the air in the sky also needs water vapor. If this enormous space is without water vapor, the air will be too dry. We often talk about a blue sky with white clouds. When the sky is blue and the clouds are white, is it not beautiful?
Where do the clouds come from? From vapor. Where does the vapor come from? It comes from the earth. The earth cannot lack water only with water can things grow. Grains cannot grow without water, so water is essential to the earth.
With sunlight water turns into vapor. Vapor floats upward, the sun shines on it, and we see a blur sky with clouds. With enough accumulation of vapor and the right mix air currents, it rains. The water cycle is crucial to our atmosphere; it cannot lack water.
Ideally the Four Elements should he in harmony. They are: earth, water, fire and wind. Air currents and water are indispensable and so are the wind and the sun. The Earth and living creatures are also essential. Therefore, the Four Elements must be in harmony. That balance is very important, so everyone, please be mindful. All living creatures need water. Grains need water.
Look at how many places on Earth suffer from drought because they lack water. People living there suffer tremendously. When we were in Gansu, we saw a family send a woman to fetch water because the water in the cellar was limited. There was only one rainy season a year, so they had to store enough for an entire year and be very frugal. The woman had to climb several hills. When climbing up or down she was out of breath. What about the water in the bucket? It was very murky. After flowing down through the hills the water was fresh but very muddled. We saw her carry a bucket of water as she climbed up, and heard her labored breathing.
Frankly, not only did her family lack water, they also lacked money. Men had to find work far away, and left behind the old and the young. They relied on middle-aged or young women to fetch water. When we interviewed her, she said fetching water has been these women’s work. For how long? For decades. They did this every day, they wasted a lifetime on fetching water. If they did not do so, their families could not survive. Let us reflect on our own lives and surroundings. Should we not live our lives with a grateful heart and cherish our environment? Water is critical.
No living creature can survive without water. This is especially true for humans; we cannot live without water. See, our body also consists of Four Elements. If they are unbalanced, all kinds of illnesses emerge even, if one element is off. Often when we visit a doctor, we are told to drink more water because we are dehydrated. Indeed, we must drink m ore water. How can we be healthy without enough water? Water is not simply something we take in. In fact, our body is composed of a lot of fluids. Therefore, water, whether we can see it or not, is an important element in our lives. We cannot live without it, so we should treasure it.
No living creature can exist without water. Water is indispensable to human life. Every drop of water is hard to come by, so we must be grateful and cherish it.
Wisdom –life cannot exist without Dharma-water. If we just watch each day go by as we live our lives, how are we different from other animals? Humans receive education. We should know etiquette and modesty. Education teaches us those things; they are also Dharma. So we must be open to learning in our daily life. In this world, we should become truly human. To become truly human, please listen carefully: we strive to surpass all living creatures and sentient beings by being human.
To be a complete person, we need education and spiritual nurturing so that we do not stray from our basic duties. Ethics, morals, demeanor, manners, modesty and so on, are all learned through education. Some say, “I didn’t study much.” It is not about studying, but interacting with people.
After we are born, our mothers begin teaching us. Parents, family, everyone is our teacher. They teach us to drink milk, to roll over, to crawl, to walk, to eat and to hold utensils properly. They teach us what to use, what not to use; what to eat, what not to eat; call this person grandfather, that person grandmother. This is brother, sister. This is father, mother.
In every action and speech, addressing others properly is good manners. We started learning these behaviors from our parents once we were born. Our siblings are also our teachers; so are our grandparents, and even our neighbors, not to mention the entire society. Anytime and anywhere we live among people, we are constantly being taught be others.
But does education teach us to distinguish right from wrong? That is a deeper lesson. We need to receive formal education and learn vocational skills, all training necessary to sustain our lives, and live in this world as a complete person.
We must be educated to know etiquette and modesty. Only then can we surpass other sentient beings and become a complete person.
Many people make mistakes that result in a lifetime of regret. As humans, we constantly create bad karma, and make mistakes in our daily interactions with others. We keep struggling in the cycle of 3 Evil Paths. What misery! Other people may not know, but we do. Therefore we must practice. To practice, we must be grateful for this life, this healthy life that allows us to live in peace from childhood and adolescence until middle and old age. If we come in contact with Buddhism in that time, should we not make the most of it? We do not know how many lives we have spent in the cycle of the Six Realms or Three Evil Paths. During this unknown length of time, we have created a lot of negative affinities with others, and bad karma. Luckily, in this lifetime, we have accepted Buddha-Dharma and spent time with living Bodhisattvas. Why do we not treasure these good affinities?
We should cherish the opportunities that led us to receive Dharma, because Dharma-water nourishes our Wisdom-life. In the past, we have made countless mistakes. Now we must sincerely repent. We must strive to repent. Dharma-water can wash away our defilements, all the bad karma we created, intentionally or unintentionally. Not one bit of the bad karma and negative affinity we have created will simply vanish with time. The seed of the bad karma remains, and contaminates our Wisdom-life.
What can we do? We must know, treasure, and follow the Dharma, and not violate it again. Thus we do not create any more bad karma, and can repent for the past. Although we are soiled and defiled, if we mindfully wash repeatedly with patience and effort, we can wash off every defilement. So repentance leads to purity. If we repent, we can be clean. It cannot be a onetime verbal repentance, but must come from the depths of our hearts. Firmly admit, “I was wrong”. We must always admit our faults. Even at the risk of death, we must know and repent our wrongs.
If we can constantly know, treasure, and follow the Dharma, we will stop creating bad karma. As for our wrongs, even at the risk of death, we must recognize and repent them, for repentance cleanses us.
Everyone, if we know our mistakes but do not repent, it is like covering up a dirty spot with a piece of cloth. It is hiding past wrongs, so others do not know. This type of person is pitiful. Before we understood Buddha-Dharma, we were very pitiable. We are lucky to encounter Buddhism. If we still do not know to repent, then we are truly pitiful.
Everybody, Dharma as water can wash away defilements. We all have habitual tendencies, and if we cannot eliminate them when we practice, then we are pitiful indeed. I often say we are reluctant to let go. What can we do? We should all be vigilant.
Those who hide past wrongs and don’t change, who don’t use Buddha-Dharma after encountering it, are the most pitiable people in the world.
Everyone, since we live in this place of spiritual practice we need to seize the opportunity and understand more. Everyone, Dharma is profound. But in our daily lives, it pervades everything the air touches and everything we do.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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