Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Eight Sufferings Part 7(八苦七)
Life is a succession of thoughts. We follow our thoughts and our desires. As we face present conditions, we pay less attention to the thoughts that go by. These thoughts are all scattered as we pursue the future, or stay hung up on the past, or dispute over matters in the present.
Actually, we lack the focus we need to pay attention to the conditions in front of us. Our thoughts are scattered, greedy and petty. We do not have attentive, alert minds. Learning Buddha’s way is learning to attend to the present. We suffer because we are not in the moment. The Suffering of Birth, Aging, Illness, Death, Meeting What We Hate, Unfulfilled Desires, etc., comes from not being vigilant. So we keep experiencing the Eight Sufferings. Like I said earlier, Unfulfilled Desires cause pain.
When the heavenly being paid respect to Buddha, he praised the Buddha while praising himself as well. He said, “With great power, one is at ease and joyful.” We should all remember that great power means exceptional virtue, ample blessings and wisdom. The heavenly being said he gets all he desires. “Whatever one seeks, one attains.” People who have everything should be very happy. The Buddha replied and said, with great power, one is at ease and joyful, and also has great virtue and wisdom. These people are very happy, but this happiness is without desire. Happiness comes from having no desires. Desires cause suffering. This means sentient beings in this world, rich or poor, are all pursuing something. Even someone as rich as a heavenly being still has desires, thus the heavenly being said, “whatever one seeks, one attains.” He considered this a great fortune. Getting the clothes they want, the food they want, having these things in abundance, some people think this is happiness. But the Buddha believed the mind is most important. No matter how many things we have, they will disappear one day, so our minds are most important. We need to cherish our minds.
Cherish what mind? A mind on the Path, an enlightened mind. If we can all attain this mind, then we can be vigilant. What else is worth seeking? Everything else will disappear one day, except for Dharma-joy. This thought makes us truly happy and at ease.
The mind is always in pursuit, but all that one pursues will vanish. Only Dharma-joy is everlasting.
Attainment and loss create afflictions. Besides suffering from Unfulfilled Desires, we also suffer because of the Five Skandhas. The Heart Sutra speak of the Five Aggregates, which are the same thing. The Five Aggregates are very subtle. The Five Skandhas are a type of covering. The Five Skandhas or Five aggregates cover everything. The terms are interchangeable. The Five Skandhas cover everything. This is suffering. It is said that karma follows us like a shadow. No matter where we go, karma follows.
The Five Aggregates are form, sensation, perception, action, consciousness. Karma is very subtle. The Five Aggregates are form, sensation, perception, action, consciousness. Everything we can see is considered form. It is more than just what we see. We use the eyes to see things. Consider your eyes; how many different parts are there in this organ? If the eye is healthy, it accurately sees all sorts of things. If it is damaged, then it cannot see things accurately. Healthy eyes see things clearly. Look, in this pot are flowers. What kind of flowers? Orchids. This flower is red, but is the plant just the flower? No. It has roots and leaves. Where do roots and leaves come from? Earth, air, water, and human cultivation led to their existence. Form is an aggregate of many things, very subtle things. Action is another Aggregate. Action is not still, it keeps going.
We live on this Earth. Look at how we sit here while it rotates. Dawn will break soon. It is dark out right now, but it will be light soon. Day is breaking, we are sitting here, these two things seem completely unrelated. Is there truly no connection? There is a connection. We all live in this world; it exists because time and space exist. So our bodies are constantly changing as we remain unaware; the planet is moving in the Aggregate of Action. There is no pause. That is “Action.” Not only is the Earth constantly in motion, you and I, our bodies, continue to change, as new cells replace the old. If that happens smoothly, our bodies will be healthy, without illness. If it does not go smoothly, then problems arise. In the natural order of things, the new replaces the old. So our bodies continue to change imperceptibly.
From the time of birth, bodies are constantly growing. A couple decades later, they are young adults. From youth to adulthood to old age, we are unaware of our growth. We cannot point to one moment and say, “I aged at this moment.” It is impossible. Every day we exist in the midst of very subtle changes. After the Aggregate of Form comes Sensation. It feels cold right now. It is hard to sit for long. The speech I am listening to now, does it make me happy? Do I agree with the speech? Do I have questions while I listen to it? These are all feelings or sensations. All conditions, whether noisy or silent, tangible or intangible, are all our feelings or sensations. Only after we feel something do we react to it.
After the Aggregate of Sensation comes the Aggregate of Perception. Our minds are cluttered with thoughts and delusions because of perception. Perception causes actions, which accumulate over time. I often say that everything accumulates over time. On the path of life, practitioners accumulate spiritual cultivation, businesspeople accumulate business, students accumulate schoolwork, etc. Over time, the more we do the more karma we accumulate. Some karma is bad. As time passes, we create more and more bad karma. There is also blessed karma. As time passes, we accumulate more blessings. This happens over time. Our deeds continue to accumulate like this, this is the meaning of “Action.” After action comes Consciousness. Consciousness differentiates what we face. This is the Sixth Consciousness. The accumulation of discrimination is Thinking, which is the Seventh Consciousness.
These conditions are imprinted in our minds. After they pass, we still think about them. The Chinese characters for “think” is composed of the characters “field” and “mind”, so our minds continue to produce thoughts. If someone has tremendous afflictions it is a matter of their thinking. Many thoughts churn in their minds, and if their direction deviates, many afflictions arise. Those thoughts cannot be eliminated once they are in the mind. When we are caught up in conflicts or dealing with people and things our minds keep feeding thoughts and turning them into afflictions. If we use this time to ponder, to meditate, and do so correctly, we can apply order to our chaotic minds and think clearly.
The Buddha is the Great Enlightened One. He cautioned us to remember that life is lived in the midst of suffering. If one is deluded, one seeks happiness amidst suffering. If one id enlightened, one is vigilant amidst suffering. So if one is vigilant, one is aware that life is impermanent, countries are fragile, and life exists between breaths. That is an enlightened person. If one understands that impermanence is the source of pain, emptiness, etc., then those thoughts do not accumulate. If many conflicts and afflictions bind the mind so it cannot be opened, then karma is created anew each day. Every day is a vicious cycle and full of indescribable suffering.
When one’s thinking deviates, it creates many afflictions. Deluded people seek happiness amidst suffering. Those who are enlightened are vigilantly aware that life is impermanent, countries are unstable, and life exists in between breaths.
Buddhist practitioners must have correct thinking. Even in a very noisy place, if we can find the truth through the noise, we can naturally find the Dharma-joy in it. This can open the mind of a practitioner. The Five Aggregates, the Five Skandhas, cause suffering because ordinary people cannot think correctly or meditate. They cannot, because their minds are always chaotic. When their minds are disturbed, their true nature is obscured by great afflictions. What is obscured? Skandha means to obscure, so when “true nature is obscured, nothing can be seen.” Everyone should remember when I discussed Buddha-nature being pure, undefiled, and illuminating undefiled, and illuminating. That is our true mature. The Buddha’s mind is so pure, that it is completely transparent in its purity.
The subtle Aggregation of Actions and afflictions continuously accumulate and obscure our true and undefiled Buddha-nature, thus creating much suffering.
Everyone, in our daily lives our Buddha-nature is obscured by the Five Aggregates. From sensation, perception, action, consciousness cause subtle afflictions and an aggregation of changes to accumulate and obscure our true nature.
Everyone, I hope you all seize the day and remain constantly vigilant. Be present. Before things happen or conditions appear, we have to be enlightened. That enlightened knowledge must be developed in our daily living. So we should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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