Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Six Practices: Equal Enlightenment Part 2(六行~等覺行二)
The sincere achieves self-realization and guides himself on the path. One with internal sincerity remains centered without effort, attains without contemplation? One with external sincerity elicits response without speech and succeeds without contrivance? Inwardly, one realizes Dharma-body and outwardly, one exercises the power of compassion?
Spiritual practice is about training the mind to be sincere. “The sincere achieve self-realization and guide themselves on the path.” Sincerity comes from within, and everyone has the potential to be pure and undefiled. Relationships between people need genuine devotion. Sincerity leads to selflessness. We must uphold sincerity, integrity, faith, and honesty in our hearts. We all have the innate ability to be sincere, it is part of our pure nature. So we should often ask ourselves, “Am I treating others sincerity? Am I paying respect to the Buddha sincerely? Am I praying sincerely?”
In the “Incense Chant” we recite, “With true sincerity, all Buddhas manifest.” As long as we are truly sincere, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will naturally continue to appear. Therefore, sincerity is very important. One “guides himself on the path.” In learning Buddhism, we must be sincere, in order to move forward without deviation. Lately, I have been saying that we cannot deviate even slightly because every inch on the path is important. If we strictly follow every inch, we can guide ourselves forward on this path without deviation.
We must often ask ourselves: Am I sincere in how I treat others? Am I sincere in paying respect to the Buddha? Am I sincere in my prayers? As long as we are truly sincere, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will naturally appear.
As for sincerity, “sincere reverence is within.” It comes from our hearts. When “sincere reverence is within, once remains centered without effort, attains without contemplation.” Sincerity becomes a natural part of oneself, it is not forced. One is naturally proper. When thinking or doing, sincerity does not need to be forced because it is already quite natural. When sincerity is behind one’s actions, one naturally “remains centered without effort” and “attains without contemplation.” We do not have to be reminded to be devout. We are originally devout, so why would we need others to force us?
Some people say that they practice by going to a seven-day Buddhist retreat. What is the purpose of the retreat? It is to help them focus. Actually, we should always be focused. We should be focused on sincerity. If we have “sincere reverence within,” we can always be devoted without being forced.” If we handle people and matters, and act and speak sincerely, then we are centered in sincerity. We do not need to think about it. It is that simple when sincerity is one with our innate nature.
So when “sincerity manifests outwardly, one succeeds without contrivance.”
If we are sincere toward everything around us, toward objects, toward people, and toward matters, then we establish our character. We do not need to say much to motivate others to take action, because everyone understands our sincerity. If we need to do anything, everyone will respond to a single call. If we are sincere toward people, toward matters, and toward objects, we can “succeed without contrivance.” We do not need to say much to get a response from others. We do not need to expend much energy for a task to be accomplished, it comes from being devout. We need to be sincere toward others and in everything we do.
So “inwardly, one realizes the Dharma-body and outwardly, one manifests the power of compassion.” Therefore, sincerity is very important. If we are always sincere within ourselves, we are realizing the Dharma. Do we not practice to attain realization? We must attain the Dharma to achieve enlightenment. If we do not know the Dharma, and do not follow the path, how can we attain realization? We practice to gain enlightenment. Dharma is found among people, on the Bodhisattva-path, and on our spiritual journey. Having the most sincere heart, and using the Dharma to transcend is called Dharma-body.
Use “the power of great compassion.” Spiritual practice cannot be separate from suffering sentient beings. Only in the presence of suffering can we exercise the power of great compassion. There are Six Practices of the Buddha, and six practices of the heretics. Both use the term “six practices.” These are the Six Practices of the Buddha, and not the six practices of the heretics.
1. The Practice of Ten Faiths.
2. 2. The Practice of Ten Abiding Conducts.
3. 3. The Practice of Ten Actions.
4. The Practice of Ten Dedications.
5. The Practice of Ten Grounds.
6. The Practice of Equal Enlightenment.
Everyone, these practices should be familiar to us. I have spent a long time sharing the Six Practices of the Buddha with everyone, from the Ten Faiths to Equal Enlightenment. The heretics also have six practices. The six practices of the heretics are:
1 Fasting
2 Cold Water Endurance
3 Self-immolation
4 Sitting Naked
5 Vowing Silence
6 Living Like Animals
From those words, we know that heretical practitioners were contemporaries of the Buddha. At that time, there were many forms of practice. The heretics thought humans made mistakes in their past lives, so they must practice asceticism to accumulate blessings for their next life. They stopped eating as a practice of Fasting. They refused all food and only drank water.
The second type of practice was Cold Water Endurance. They practiced remaining immersed in cold water. The third is Self-immolation. They burned themselves with fire because they wished to overcome sensations of heat and cold. The fourth is Sitting Naked. They believed that they could achieve realization by sitting exposed. The fifth is Vowing Silence, where speech is prohibited. They did not speak for the rest of their lives. The sixth is observing the way animals lived and then living that way.
Those who followed the heretic practices lived apart from humanity, and deviated from normal life. They choose the most ascetic practices, and thought of them as spiritual cultivation. Those are the methods of the heretics. But when we practice the Six Perfections, our Six Practices are about how to restrain our minds, how to contribute and how to benefit ourselves and others. It is mutually beneficial. This is the Great Vehicle.
How do we practice in the Great Vehicle? Let me explain, Mahayana cultivators should uphold the teachings. “First is to uphold.” We should not slack off. Some people say, “Mahayana practitioners are free from afflictions. As long as the mind is not contaminated, it is unimportant what the body is doing.” That is incorrect. Mahayana practitioners must have inner sincerity while practicing. It is impossible for Mahayana practitioners to be lax or unconcerned about their conduct. They cannot do so. In the past, some said, “I’m a Mahayana practitioner, so when I smoke, it’s a cloud of incense. When I drink alcohol, it’s the soup of Prajna.” Is that right? That is ridiculous.
When Mahayana practitioners help others, they need to set an example. So they must uphold their principles. When we are sincere in our hearts, it affects how we treat others, and it builds our character. Confucius said that reliability creates character. It we cannot follow through on something we said, then we lose character. He said we build character through sincerity and honesty. Since we want to attain Buddhahood, we must be sincere in thought and action. So “first we must uphold.” Using our bodies, every move we make and everything we say requires great attention.
I often say we need to be mindful. With a sincere mind, we naturally approach everything sincerely. That is what we uphold. As for “pure precepts and etiquette,” what do we need to uphold? We need to purify our bodies and minds, and have self-discipline and etiquette when interacting with others. So we must practice the pure precepts and etiquette. This is the first step for a practitioner.
Mahayana practitioners first uphold pure precepts and etiquette, then cultivate the fine and wondrous practice of compassion. They perfect a firm sense of shame and remorse. With deep insight; they fear suffering in future lives, thus they renounce all evil acts.
Next, “the wondrous practice of compassion.” We still need to thoroughly understand the Six Practices. First is the Practice of the Ten Fails. Each name and term is very nuanced. When it comes to fine and wondrous Dharma, we have to understand all the tiny details. Everything in life is inseparable from sincerity. The Six Practices lead to uncovering our true nature. In reality, our true nature is sincere. Treating each other with utmost sincerity is the true and pure method.
It is the subtle, wondrous practice of compassion. To “perfect it all,” we must use the wondrous practice of compassion. That is our true nature, the completely pure and sincere heart. That is the wondrous practice of compassion, which encompasses all Dharma. So we must have “a film sense of shame and remorse, deep insight, and fear.” We need to establish a firm will for cultivation. We need to feel a sense of shame, and remorse towards others. “In a group of three, I shall find my teacher.” We must quickly learn other’s good points, and quickly fix the places where we are lacking. That is having a “sense of shame.” We are still learning. Some lack shame and say things likes, “It is my own business if I’m wrong.” If we do not reflect on what others tell us, we are unrepentant. Not accepting teachings is also being unrepentant. We need a firm will to practice. We must always be repentant. And we need “deep insight and fear.” Our understanding cannot be superficial. We must know that little mistakes turn into big problems.
Whenever we speak or act, we can generate negative karma. When we make a careless comment, even if we do not mean it someone may read into it. We can hurt someone with a simple comment. Karma retribution is fearsome, so we need to think deeply. We should not say, “This doesn’t matter, the mistake is made, just let it go.” We should not do that, we really need to reflect often, and remind ourselves to deeply fear karmic retribution. We reap what we sow. Even if we did not mean it, a seed may plant itself in another’s heart. When conditions ripen, we will see the fruits of what we sowed. So we should deeply fear cause and effect.
“With deep insight and fear of retribution in future lives, one renounces all evil acts.” If we have a firm sense of shame, deep insight and fear painful retribution in future lives, we will not continue to generate causes of suffering. We will end the karma cycle of love and hate in this lifetime. This is what we need to understand. Practicing Buddhism truly required sincerity, so start with a sincere heart and be mindful. Whether it is in the past, present or future, it should be clearly apparent in our lives. So everyone should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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