Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Ten Fetters Part 3(十纏三)
The morning atmosphere is very serene. Every morning, as I walk past the Main Hall, though the walk is short, when I see the Abode’s surroundings, I always feel a sense of tranquility, peace and ease. Regrettably, that moment is fleeting. Time waits for no one. We have to seize the moment. A life lasts for a few decades. That is not a very long time, but how we spend our subsequent lifetimes depends upon what we do in those decades. In the past we created both blessings and misfortune. When we give, we create blessings. Building good relationships helps us accumulate blessed affinities.
Just like in Tzu Chi, I often say, “I’m grateful.” I am grateful so many people share the same mission and give out of love, without asking for anything in return. They even thank others for the opportunity to give. This is a result of affinities from our past lives. Yet while creating blessed affinities, it is unavoidable that people have some differences in opinion. When people disagree, they are unhappy and frustrated, so they create bad karma with their speech. This is an affliction.
Whether our present lives are filled with afflictions or happiness depends on how much time we spent creating blessings versus how much time we spent creating bad karma in our past lives. There was a Tzu Chi Commissioner whose entire family volunteered with Tzu Chi. They lived in Taipei. The father loved to visit Hualien. Near the end of his life, he came to Hualien. After I heard that he passed away, I paid the family a visit. The daughter-in-law told me, “Whenever my father-in-law heard that you wished him well, he was happy. When nuns from the Abode visited and told him you cared, and wished him well, he’d be very happy. So when he passed away in Hualien, after living for over 80 years, he felt at peace. He looked serene.”
Naturally I asked them, “Are you thinking about donating his body to the University?” She told me, “Yes, I think so.” His son was also a member of the Faith Corps and a Commissioner and an Honorary Board Member. They were just waiting for everyone to arrive. So I told the deceased elder, “You had a good life, come back to us soon. We really need people, and we miss you. Now you will be a ‘Silent Mentor’. I will quickly wish you well so you can be a ‘Silent Mentor’ at the University. It seems that your daughter and daughter-in-law wish the same for you.” The daughter even said, “I signed up, too.” She planned to donate her body to the University. I hope their family can share this understanding and come to our university to see how respectfully everyone there treats his body. They can see how people should head toward their destiny at the end of their lives.
The Buddha said the body is impure. We can use this impure body to benefit others and make great use of the useless. We can allow these young people to delve into the mysteries and wonders of life. This is invaluable. I think life should be this way. Whether we live to be 80 or 100, our death is still inevitable. Even if we live 100 years, we will die some day. Yet some refuse to accept the course of life. This old gentleman recognized the fact that he was old, so he decided to come to Hualien. How many people can live according to their plans?
We understand the truth that the body is impure. When we use that impure body to do things that benefit humanity, our lives are most valuable.
The Buddha said, “Make good use of life.” We need to respect and treasure life and make good use of our potential. When we can no longer make use of our potential because we are old or sick, especially if we are sick, we need to cheer up and have an open mind. Do not allow illness to spread to the mind. That is unspeakably painful. The Buddha made another analogy; He said, “It’s as if the owner abandoned a leaking ship.” When a person is sick, he is like the owner of a ship who sees that his ship has been damaged beyond repair. The ship is taking on water, so “the owner abandons it without hesitation.” It is wrecked, so he must abandon it. He has to leave, or he will be in danger.
Another analogy went like this, “The nine orifices of the body discharge liquids.” A person has nine orifices. Count to see if you have nine orifices. Let us look at each other. We have seven orifices on the head and two in the body for excretion. In sum, the nine orifices discharge impurities. The body is truly impure. So the body is like this ship. We start discharging impurities at birth. So we should be like the owner of ship. When we see that our body’s damage is beyond repair, we should decisively abandon ship to protect our Wisdom-life.
We should take good care of our Wisdom-life. A body is not enduring, but it is a vehicle for spiritual cultivation we need this body. To perform good deeds, we need this body. To create good affinities with others, we need this body. So we must benefit humanity while we are healthy. We cannot do it without a healthy body. We must love ourselves and take care of our health. With a healthy body we can do good and foster our Wisdom-life. It is too late to regret something afterwards. We say the biggest punishment is regret. If we do not perform good deeds, we will regret it. If we create bad affinities and do bad things, we will also regret it.
So the fifth of the Ten Fetters is Regret. Regret is resentment. We complain, “Why didn’t I get that?” “Why didn’t I do that?” “Why did he get all the good things?” “Why not me?” “Why can’t my efforts get the desired results?” We have this regret and resentment. Our feelings are very complicated. It is hard to explain. Generally speaking, it is a kind of resentment and discomfort. That is regret. We are regretful and resentful if we cannot get or do something, etc.
“The mistakes we make stay in our minds, and we cannot be at peace.” When we pursue something and cannot get what we want, we cannot be at peace. This is like hitting ourselves with a flail, a spiky metal ball. It is really painful. Have you seen people channel spirits, or the processions welcoming deities? Some people are pierced with needles or hit with iron balls. If we bring these things upon ourselves, we should let them go at once. Otherwise they remain in our minds like a spiky ball. We will be in pain.
“If we are unrepentant, evil follows us like water returning to the sea.” “If we repent and do good, evil vanishes like sickness relieved by perspiration.”
This means if we make a mistake, we must repent. If we do not repent and simply regret and resent, we will suffer unspeakably. If we make a mistake, the right thing to do is to repent. Repentance brings purity. If we do not repent and only regret, life will be difficult. Regret leads to resentment. Repentance can cleanse us. So we must always be repentant. When we make a mistake we have to repent and quickly make changes. Only a repentant person will change. An unrepentant person will make the same mistakes repeatedly, accumulate bad karma and continue to suffer pain and retribution in the future, if not in this life, then in the next.
So I often say, “We cannot bring anything with us but karma.” There is not enough time in one life to face the retribution from our karma. We have not even settled all our past debts. Whether others owe us or we are indebted to them, the account has not been settled. So if we do not have enough time in this life, we will settle it in a future life. “Evil follows us like water returning to the sea.” A lot of dirty water ends up in the sea. Water does not disappear. It seeps into the ground or returns to the sea. To repent, we must repent at once and do good. When we repent, it is like dissolving our karma into the sea. We need to eliminate our debts. We must transform bad affinities into good ones. We need to stop bad things and do good things. If we can change, we can eliminate wrongdoings. When we have a cold, we take medicine and drink hot water to sweat it out. That is how we cure ourselves. How do we eliminate karma? We must change and improve ourselves at once. That is how we eliminate karma.
Genuine repentance and rectifying mistakes are the best ways to eliminate bad karma.
Everyone says, “Yes, we must practice earnestly. We must eliminate defilements from our minds.” So we need to be diligent. “Yes, I want to be diligent, but I really want to sleep. It’s difficult to wake up early to practice. Do you wake up before 4 AM every morning?” “Yes.” “Oh, I can’t do that, it is hard.”
But once you are there, time passes quickly. In the monastery, when it is time, at the sound of the wake-up board we have to get up. After we wash ourselves we go into the Hall. We are at peace. The surroundings are so nice in the morning. Before dawn, everything is calm. The sounds of insects and birds are beautiful. Every morning I sit here and when my focus id at its peak, I can hear the sound of the earth breathing, the sounds of the insects, and the sounds of the birds. Have you ever experienced something this beautiful? We experience it because we wake up so early. Engaging in practice is good, but is often hindered by the idea of sleep. Sleep is an obstacle to spiritual practice. It is actually also an obstruction to our careers and our studies. In short, sleep is an obstacle in our lives.
The sixth of the Ten Fetters is Sleepiness. One who sleeps can become dazed and deluded. One who often enjoys sleep lacks self-awareness.
We say, “Death is permanent sleep. It is an eternal sleep. Everyone experiences a brief death every day. It is a good thing we wake up; that way I can speak to you now. If I sleep eternally, then I can longer speak to you. This body is just a heap of ash or bones.
To truly live this life, we must eat and do things mindfully. That is a true life. To live a more valuable life, we should engage in benefitting others. When we can do things, we are alive, and that is called living. We are truly alive. Sleep is a brief death. It is like dying because we are unaware of our surroundings. So we must seize the moment and not waste our time with sleep. “One who sleeps can become dazed and deluded. One who often enjoys sleep lacks self-awareness.” That is what the Buddha told us.
So we must be vigilant and not live life in a daze or waste it in a haze. Therefore, we must constantly reflect and be aware of our lives. We must not waste our lives. We must cherish this body and use it to make life more valuable. Do not waste life on distractions. Please everyone be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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