Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Six Practices: Ten Ground Part 5(六行~十地行五)
Time silently and endlessly passes by. We live in a space where the Four Elements are in balance. So we are able to live in peace. We should be grateful that in this place of cultivation, everyone works in harmony and mutual respect. We should be grateful to live each day joyously.
In this world, every task and matter seems difficult, but what makes it difficult? It is our mind. It is people who make things difficult. Many matters are actually simple, but our minds cannot let go of them. People often say “I’m having a difficult time.” It is not the time that is difficult. Time just continues to pass by the second. Nor is it the space that is difficult. It is the mind. Everything is created by the mind. With will power, even a broken road can be paved. But human minds discriminate based on sentiments.
One might say, “I have affection for loved ones. But towards those I detest, I feel strong prejudice and disgust.” This arises from views distorted by sentiments and leads to mental anguish. Our minds hold grudges against people or situations. So the Buddha taught us to discipline the mind, otherwise nothing can be achieved. When we speak of spiritual cultivation, what exactly are we cultivating? It is our mindset. If we take good care of the mind and untie all the knots we have created, then nothing poses a problem.
Many things are simple. It is our mind that cannot let go, which leads to suffering. Spiritual practice is about training the mind so that all knots are untied and nothing poses a problem.
The fifth stage of the Ten Grounds that the Buddha spoke of is the Stage of Utmost Difficulties. Although difficult, it is possible to overcome. “Difficult” describes challenging tasks. We can still take them on, bear them, and overcome them, but it is not easy. So when “the blazing wisdom destroys sentiments, there’s no appearance of sameness or difference.” Yet this is hard for ordinary people to achieve. The previous Stage is called the Stage of Blazing Wisdom. And before that is the Stage of Defilement-free.
Defilement is from pollution. It is like a very bright lamp covered with dirt, or draped buy dark colored fabrics, obscuring its light. Even if the lamp is high wattage, when it is covered by a dark colored fabric, then its light is diminished. If the color of the fabric is very dark, or if the entire lamp is enveloped, its brightness cannot be seen. This is how defilement, filth or contamination covers the mind. The first lesson in spiritual practice is about removing the darkness in our heart. We must patiently and carefully cleanse and wash away the darkness, then radiance slowly grows as the darkness fades. Once it is washed away completely, we will reach the Stage of Blazing Wisdom.
Radiance is wisdom. When wisdom shines through, it can “dispel all views distorted by sentiments. The first lesson in spiritual cultivation is about purifying the defiled mind so that the radiance of wisdom can shine through and dispel all views distorted by sentiments.
In “all views distorted by sentiments,” the word “sentiment” is very complicated. In this world, there are always sentiments between people. What type of sentiments? Love? Disgust? Dislike? There are many types of sentiment. Sentiment is like a rope. Regardless of the type of sentiment, when one becomes deluded by it, it entangles the person and creates much suffering. Many afflictions are caused by the entanglement of these sentiments. When people interact, their sentiments grow deeper. In a family, the love between parents and children is strong. When the child is still young, the parents treat their child like an extension of themselves. When the child goes through any situation, whether it is fever, or flu, stomach ache, crying, discomfort, etc., the parents’ emotions are at their mercy. As the child grows, the parents’ love for the child continues to bind them. They worry about the child’s future and family, etc. For the parents, the feeling toward the child is strong.
Is the child’s love for his parents the same? Parental love is usually one way. Parents continuously worry about their child, but the child’s attention is somewhere else. So in a family, the bonds of love are not equal. They can be strong or weak, straightforward or filled with knots. There are different types of sentiments, but it is important to keep it simple. If we can maintain simplicity in our love, there will not be so many complexities to bother and entangle us.
What is simple love? As mentioned previously, Bodhisattvas should have the heart of a child, the courage of a lion, and the endurance of a camel. Maintaining a pure heart is very important for practitioners. A child’s mind is more pure than an adult’s, and a child’s love is very simple. During childhood, one is attached to parents. The child loves his father and mother. He cannot live without them and only feels secure by their side. As the child grows up and attends school, he learns from his teachers. A good teacher plants good seeds in the child’s mind. With these seeds of good thoughts, the child will be in a good environment.
There is a boy who touched me greatly. His mother told me that her son was very lucky to have teachers who were members of the Tzu Chi Teachers’ Association. The teachers taught their students phrases from the Jing-Si Aphorisms. One day after school, as the child was walking home with a friend, a taxi cab ran them over.
Both children were seriously hurt and taken to the emergency room. The mother of the boy was a Tzu Chi commissioner trainee. Her child was severely hurt. The emergency room doctors informed her that the chances of saving him were very slim, yet they would do whatever they could to bring him back.
While still in the Intensive Care Unit, with his body connected to many medical devices, the boy was visited by his teacher. She brought a picture of me and placed it in the child’s hand. His other hand was connected to multiple intravenous drips, and he was still unconscious. The teacher whispered phrases of the Jing-Si Aphorisms in his ear. The mother also stayed with the child, and on the seventh day, he woke up and said to his mother, “Mom, the Master came to see me, He patted my head and said I’d get better.” His mother told him, “Then you should recover quickly because the Master will be coming to Taichung soon. When He arrives, I will take you to see Him.” This was the promise that she made to him.
In the meantime, the parents of the other injured child visited the mother several times to discuss how they should sue the cab driver. Since her son always shared the Jing-Si Aphorisms with her, and since she was also a Tzu Chi member, she wondered if she should even press charges? She was in a dilemma because the driver did, in fact, cause the two children to suffer gravely.
One day the cab driver went to the hospital to visit the boy after he was transferred out of the Intensive Care Unit. The driver said to him, “Son, please forgive me, I did not mean to hurt you. Please forgive me.” The mother sat close by and watched in silence. The boy held the driver’s hand and said, “I forgive you sir because our teacher taught us that ‘Forgiving others is beautifying oneself.’ I won’t have my mom sue you. My mother will also forgive you.”
This nine-year-old child remembered the phrase “Forgiving others is beautifying oneself.” He was indeed very wise. The mother was surprised and very touched by her son’s words. Because this child’s noble and pure heart was full of love, it was pointless to go through all the trouble of the lawsuit. So she stood up and said, “Don’t worry, as long as my son is alive, nothing else matters. The accident was just everyone’s bad luck.” The cab driver was more at ease. She knew that he was just trying to make a living, which is why he drove a cab. She decided not sue him as long as her child was recovering.
The mother told us that because her son read the Jing-Si Aphorisms and followed. The teachings of the Master and the teacher, she also benefited from her child’s learning. She used to have a bad temper, was easily agitated, and very discontent with her family. But because of her son’s pure heart and kindness, she was gradually transformed. The child had eliminated all views distorted by sentiment and transformed his mother. His pure and innocent love influenced the adults’ decision, and resolved their complicated situation. Thus, the mother learned to feel for others. She recognized that people have to work to support their families, including the cab driver. If it is this simple to change the “views of sameness and difference,” what is there that cannot be attained?
In regards to views distorted be sentiments, if one does not worry over gains and losses, one achieves the state of the Buddha. Thus, practitioners need to develop an innocent mind like the heart of a child. It is that easy. The Stage of Utmost Difficulties is not hard. If one does not think of the difficulties, anything is possible to undertake and achieve. To overcome means to be able, so what obstacles can we mot conquer? We can prevail over any difficulties. If we can until the view of sameness and difference, nothing is impossible.
No matter how difficult challenges may seem, if one dispels all view distorted by sentiments and is courageous in facing challenges, one can transcend all difficulties.
Thus, the state of the Buddha is unsurpassable.” Most people would say, “How could I possibly do the same? If my child was hit and hurt so badly, forgiving the culprit it something I couldn’t do.” Yet it is possible, if you open your heart, anything is possible. The mind of the Buddha is one of great compassion. It encompasses all living being in the world. With a vastly open mind, nothing is impossible to achieve.
So everyone, learning Buddhism is to pass the test of sentiments. If we can overcome this teat, all other obstacles are easy to pass. Thus, we should apply spiritual cultivation in our daily lives, and to our concerns and interactions with others. Therefore, we should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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