Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Six Practices: Ten Grounds Part 9(六行~十地行九)
The Ten Grounds: The Stages of Joy, Defilement-free, Radiance, Blazing Wisdom, Utmost Difficulties, Manifestation, Far-reaching, Stillness, Excellent Wisdom, Dharma-cloud.
We have been constantly sharing the light that shines in our hearts, which is called the Stage of Blazing Wisdom. This light in our hearts illuminates the road so that our path is smooth and bright. We walk straight forward until we reach the eight Stage, which is the Stage of Stillness, where we realize the beauty of our surroundings.
The beauty is not only in what we can see. We must put everything into practice. When we arrive at the correct state, we should maintain that bit of True Suchness. “True” means not false. “Suchness” means reality. This truth is not false. It is absolutely without fabrication a realm of Truth. We must quickly hold on to such a state of mind, for it is the unwavering state of Bodhi-mind, which we discussed yesterday. While we practice, we must use the 37 Practices to Enlightenment to preserve this state of mind.
Thus, “With an unshaken Bodhi-mind, and the True Nature of Oneness, we promote goodness without failure.” Everyone has the same innate Buddha-nature. It is already pure and uncontaminated. Therefore, we do not differentiate ourselves from others, and there are no interpersonal conflicts to disturb our minds. As we preserve our True Suchness and an unwavering Bodhi-mind, we must be completely clear and remain as diligent as we were on the first day of practice. I often say to maintain your resolve forever. The instant the mind sees the Path, we must maintain it, and not deviate a bit. Haven’t I often said to you that the Way is a path to walk. We must follow this Path, and also guide those behind us. The Chinese character for “guide” consists of the two characters, “way” and “inch” “Guide” and “way” only differ by an “inch.” If we can find this Path, we must go in the correct direction and not deviate even an inch. Only then can we guide others.
The Way of cultivation is a path for us to walk. A slight deviation causes a great divergence. With even minor deviation, we cannot walk on the Right Path. Only by choosing the right direction without any deviation can one guide others.
When we find the proper Path, we must stand upright and move forward so that our Bodhi-mind is unshaken and does not deviate even a bit. In addition to guarding against deviation from the Path, we must also advance with the original Bodhi-mind, which does not deviate or waver. Advance to do what? To motivate others.
Everyone intrinsically has unlimited potential.We should promote their potential to do good.
Thus, in studying Buddhism, we should study to attain this mind. When we realize the Stage of Stillness and keep moving forward, we will reach the ninth Stage. The Stage of Excellent Wisdom tells us that.
“When one attains the body of True Suchness, one can evoke wondrous functions. Everything it reflects is True Suchness.”
So everyone should understand now. At this stage we have attained the true body of True Suchness. In the past we were only listening, trying to understand what True Suchness is Starting with the first Stage, the Stage of Joy, we kept following the Path and arrived at the Stage of Stillness. Realization of this realm is equivalent to obtaining the body of True Suchness. So we should use our wondrous abilities; we must start using them. We must heed what was just said. Remain diligent and promote positive potential. These are our wondrous abilities.
If we can do this, they will reflect back and we can connect very closely to True Suchness. We should always use these wondrous abilities in our daily lives to experience the wondrous abilities of True Suchness. This is true and pure wisdom.
Thus, “the wisdom of the Bodhisattva is infinite.” The Bodhisattva uses infinite wisdom to observe the state of sentient beings. As for the aforementioned right and wrong, we should not be infected by wrong, and we should take the right state to heart. In this way, all states are True Suchness. “They are all understood accurately, and unobstructed wisdom is obtained.”
All sentient beings have wisdom equal to that of the Buddha. What kind of wisdom is equal to that of Buddha? Only unobstructed wisdom is equal to that of the Buddha. The wisdom of sentient begins is limited, knowing one part but not the other. What we must learn is wisdom like that of the Buddha. From knowledge of one, He understands a thousand. He can universally understand anything. This is what we must learn from the Buddha.
If we develop wondrous abilities, always remain diligent, and distinguish right from wrong, we can learn the unobstructed wisdom.
How do we reach this state? We have illuminated the radiance of our heart, which is but the light of one candle. But the radiance of the Buddha’s wisdom is like the light of the sun that illuminates the entire Earth. There is a huge difference between candlelight and sunlight. We must study Buddhism to pursue this radiance, the radiance of wisdom. We wish to reach the state of the Buddha, so we can attain this kind of unobstructed wisdom. Only then can we “expound all Dharma and benefit all beings.” If we can realize all of the Buddha’s teachings, and universally expound the Dharma accordingly, we will understand the suffering of unlimited sentient beings.
On December 26, 2004, in Aceh province, Indonesia, a strong earthquake occurred. About one hour later, the ocean surged up in great waves. The tsunami caused a catastrophe in 12 countries, truly frightening the whole world. Wherever there are Tzu Chi volunteers, our Commissioners and Faith Corps members immediately respond from their locales. So after the tsunami, volunteers were mobilized to all the affected countries to give comfort and assistance. In Aceh, Indonesia, there were Tzu Chi members constantly taking shifts to care for the needy, and help with reconstruction. In Sri Lanka, there was another group of members working in shift to help rebuild.
It was a relay of love. They constantly used their pure potential in every way they could, to help suffering beings. Everyone knows what happened in New Orleans. An Earth-shattering disaster should bring about a world-awakening realization. Sentient beings share collective karma. We must be prudent, disciplined and reverent. Besides constantly inspiring kindness, we have been reminding everyone of the occurrences of great disasters and urging everyone to have a mind of awareness. We have been constantly promoting this as we progress with relief efforts. At that time, there were many heartwarming stories.
For example, there was an old couple. The husband was Italian and the wife was German. This husband and wife were from different places, but they lived together in New Orleans. They lived there safely and happily. But when times were tough, they had their full share of suffering. Both were over 70 years old, and the man was blind. Because of this, he had strong suspicions. Although he heard that a group of people had come to help him, he did not trust them. He always had a wall up, a very guarded attitude. He would always say, “I lost everything. I have nothing.” He was afraid that people would swindle him, so he did not trust anyone.
The Tzu Chi volunteers told him, “We are truly here to help you, put your mind at ease.” He still did not believe them. He responded, “I am an old man, of no use to anyone. Besides, I have nothing now. There is nothing here to benefit you.” He was still suspicious. But the Tzu Chi volunteers knew that even if he kept doubting and rejecting them, the couple really needed help. So the volunteers gently approached them with great love. Their actions gave the old couple some faith. The volunteers then took out the consolation letter I wrote to all the victims. A volunteer then read the letter aloud to the couple. They listened attentively. When she was halfway through, the man extended his hand and firmly grabbed the hand of the volunteer. He very emotionally said, “I believe you, I believe you, I am very touched.” He warmly grasped the hand of the volunteer as if she were a close relative. The other volunteers were also very moved. They said to him, “we are here with kind intentions. We want to help you and hope can accept our goodwill. You see, not only did you safety escape the disaster, your wife is still by your side. You have each other’s company. In addition, there are people all over the world who love you both. So you should always treasure the fact that you have more blessings than many others.”
This is how Tzu Chi volunteers treat those who suffer from disasters, especially those who are far from home and those who are elderly. We can understand and share their feelings. Great kindness and compassion to all beings is the outlook of the Buddha and of Bodhisattvas. We wish for everyone to live safely and happily. So we must inspire everyone’s compassion and educate the rich to help the poor. When helping the poor, we should inspire them to also help others. When everyone has compassion and creates blessings, the world will be peaceful and blissful.
So we constantly inspire the goodwill of others. We feel for those who are suffering. We wish to be able to experience others’ sorrows and sufferings so that we can keep them company and comfort them. We also wish for others to understand our love. By putting on other people’s shoes, we can know their suffering, and they can understand our sincere love. This is compassion for all, for we are interconnected as one. This is what the Buddha taught us. Hopefully we can exhibit this wisdom and break through the obstacle of “self.” This is great wisdom.
With infinite wisdom, the Bodhisattvas observe and realize the true state of sentient beings. Obtaining understand wisdom, the Bodhisattvas expound all Dharma and benefit all sentient beings.
Everyone, learning Buddhism is learning how to live our daily life. Those who are suffering, whether far away or close to us, are all connected to us; we are one entity. We must give with love. Thus, long-lasting great love is a part of Bodhisattva practice. Everyone should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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