Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Ten Fetters Part 5(十纏五)
When we live in a communal setting, we must have rules and routines. When striking the wake-up board in the morning, the timekeeper must be punctual. Keeping track of time during retreats is also very important. In college, the bells that signal class times must also be punctual. To lead an orderly life, we follow signals. This is being part of a community. We should not only take care to be orderly in a group setting, we should do the same in our own daily lives. We must be punctual; it is a rule of life.
But some people disrupt the routine. When they are disorderly, they affect the entire group. When others in the group are affected, they become angry with that person. This kind of thing happens often. When the Buddha was alive, His monastic community also required rules and order. They also required a timekeeper to wake people up in the morning. They were awakened by voice or by other means, but someone would be the designated timekeeper. They took turns doing this.
At that time there was a new bhiksu who vowed to leave lay life and follow the Buddha. Soon it was his turn to be the timekeeper who told everyone when to wake up. Because there were no clocks back then, they relied on the sun. Clearly, there was no sun at night, so they relied on their senses. When it was this new monk’s turn, he could not sense the time. He could not tell when he should wake people up. So he started calling out whenever he woke up, whether late at night or early in the morning. He disrupted the rhythm of the group’s rest. So people started falling asleep while the Buddha was teaching during the day.
One morning, everyone was completely exhausted. They became angry and upset, so they gathered to discuss this problem. The Buddha came near and asked, “What are you discussing in these little groups? What is the matter?”
These bhiksus selected someone to report to the Buddha. “The new monk cannot tell time. He is disrupting our routine and we are too tired to listen to the Dharma.”
The Buddha walked over and sat down with a smile. Everyone surrounded Him to listen to Him explain this affinity. The Buddha told them the following story. In ancient times, there was a group of Brahmans. Their teacher was renowned; everyone knew he was a great teacher. People sent their children to him from far away. There were over 500 students. They also followed a daily routine. They kept a rooster to know when to wake up and study. This rooster was very punctual, so everyone abided by his crowing. When he crowed, everyone woke up to begin their studies for the day. For years they relied on this rooster.
But one day, the rooster suddenly passed away. What could they do? They became disorderly. They did not know when to wake up, and when they did wake up, they could not tell the time. So they had to find a way to resolve this. It just so happened that there was a student who wanted to learn about life and death. He went to the cemetery to better understand the body’s surroundings after death. At the cemetery, he saw a rooster running around between the tombs. So he caught it and brought it back. He locked it in a cage and hoped it would crow at the right time. Because the rooster was kept in cage, it did not know what time it was. It crowed whenever it wanted to, no matter if it was day, night or early morning. Instead of crowing at the right time, it crowed at all the wrong times. It greatly disrupted this group of religious practitioners. Over time, everyone was exhausted because of this rooster.
Then one day, when it was crowing again, one of the students yanked open the cage, dragged the rooster out, and snapped its neck. So the rooster died. At this moment, the Brahman teacher came out.
He shook his head and sighed. “Did you know that this rooster lived in a cemetery, so it was never trained? It grew up in the wild, so it never learned to crow properly. That is why it disrupted your routine. You treated it this way, yet it did not know why it was killed. It had never learned to keep time.” The teacher pitied the rooster, and felt sad for it. The teacher took this to heart.
At this point, the Buddha told these bhiksus that they must realize the new monk who just arrived had never been trained in the ways of a monastic community. He was actually the rooster that grew up in the cemetery and was never taught. He had just arrived in the group, so he was not trained. “The group that got angry at the rooster is now all of you who are angry at the new monk who cannot wake everyone at the right time. As for me, I was that teacher. After the rooster was killed, it weighted on my mind and my heart ached. So, as you learn the Dharma and engage in practice, you must learn to control your angry minds. Threat each other with love and learn from one another.”
This was s story from the past. Now we are studying the Buddha’s teaching. In the Ten Fetters, the ninth is Anger. Anger means having a bad temper and being easily irritated. When we are unhappy, resentment erupts from our minds and leads to action. This is anger. As people, “when things are unfavorable and go against our wishes, we become angry and forget to maintain Right Mindfulness.”
Aren’t we often like this? When things are the slightest bit unfavorable, we get irritated. It is a problem. We begin losing our temper, which can be seen in our appearance. This is resentment. Even though we regularly listen to the Dharma and counsel each other, even though we often say, “I know, I know, ” when conditions appear, we really do not know. We are just like those 500 Brahman disciples who killed the rooster. See, this is how murderous intent arises when we lose control of a single thought. This is also the Bond of Anger, which binds us. Because we cannot be truly happy, our minds cannot be open and tolerant of all situations. This inability to tolerate undesirable things ties us down. Anger binds us. Thus “anger is a term for a resentful mind.”
Anger is a term for a resentful mind. When sentient beings face adverse conditions, anger arises and creates deluded karma. Thus, they are entangled with no freedom in sight. This is the Fetter of Anger.
With the habit of anger buried deep in our minds, we easily lose our temper. Thus it is said, “When sentient beings face adverse conditions.” The five sense Objects create the conditions. They are sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Among these five, if one is not to our liking, then “anger arises from resentment.” Resentful thoughts give rise to anger and “create deluded karma.”
This is about more than just losing our temper. We often lose all reason when we are angry, so we create deluded karma. If we are calm, then we are very reasonable. But if we are angry, we reject all reason. Some commissioners often go back to their homes and say, “Master taught me this and that, so I will treat you well.” But when things are not going well, they lose their tempers. Then, if the husband asks, “What did Master teach you?” the wife answers, “I am taking the day off!” Others use the teachings to remind her, but she is so angry that she cleverly says she is taking the day off. This is delusion. They cannot change their mindset right away, so they get angry. They are entangled and cannot be freed.
Thus “they are entangled with no freedom in sight.” This is called the Fetter of Anger. Everyone, we must truly maintain control over our minds. If one person is slightly off, like that rooter, they create a great commotion, which leads to widespread comments and gossip. We should know how to teach such a person. We can turn their bad habits into a lesson for ourselves. We should try to patiently influence and teach them, so our group can improve together. To achieve group diligence, we must first control our anger. The tenth Fetter is Cover-up.
“The cover up is to hide. One who covers up wrongdoings does not want others to know, so one does not repent and change for the better.”
I am sure everyone has similar experiences. Some transgressions are mild, others are severe. When we do something wrong, we want to hide it and cover it up so that others will not find out. We feel embarrassed, not wanting others to know. Previously we talked about having no conscience and no shame. A sense of shame means we acknowledge our wrongs and quickly repent. Someone who has no shame says, “So what? I did something wrong. So? I’m not afraid that you know.” That is not right, either.
Yet the kind of Cover-up here relates to how we cover up our wrongdoings. We do not want anyone to know. If no one knows, we can do it over and over again. We keep covering it up. Although no one knows, karma follows us and we suffer the retribution in the future. We cannot do anything that is unconscionable. Cover-up means we are blocking our conscience. If we cover things up, it is possible that we will do bad things again. So we talk about open repentance.
Tzu Chi volunteers say, “Reveal mistakes in order to improve.” When we do wrong, we want to tell everyone about it. When we tell them, we are using them as a mirror. There are “blemishes” in our past, but now we have repented. Repentance brings purity, and we will not be afraid of gossip because we have been open. “Oh, they already told me themselves.” We will be at ease because everyone knows about our past. Now that we have changed and everyone knows, we do not need to cover it up. If we try to cover up our mistakes, we easily repeat them. It is a seed in our Eighth Consciousness. Nothing goes with us when we die, except karma. So we should not cover anything up.
When people do bad things, they are sensitive about other people finding out. Some say, “When I see small and groups of people, I suspect they are talking about me.” We should just admit our wrongs and openly repent. Repentance brings purity. So we should repent and make a new start. We need to make changes so that we will not be lost in cyclic existence.
Repentance brings purity. If one is brave, one admits mistakes and repents, making a new start. Then one will not be lost in cyclic existence.
Everyone, everything is a matter of habit. Habits can be changed. We must be very mindful and correct our bad habits. If we can do so, we make progress in our practice. We must be diligent around other people. We must be understanding of others’ lack of training and the existence of residual habits. We must be understanding and forgiving. We must not be angry forward others, or try to cover up our mistakes in front of them. Otherwise, it is our great loss. Remember, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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