Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Eleven Universal Agents Part 1(十一遍使一)
We have talked about the Ten Fetters, ten kinds of worldly things which hinder our minds and cover [our inner light], leaving our mental state in darkness.
Now we are going to talk about the Eleven Universal Agents. Our minds are troubled in all aspects of daily living. There are eleven kinds of afflictions. They are experienced universally. They are found everywhere in our lives, appearing in interpersonal conflicts, in thoughts of gain and loss. They are universal. The Universal Agents are of eleven varieties. The eleven different kinds are all universal, and cause our minds to be influenced by the world, by conflicts, by the troubles of gain and loss.
If we have these eleven Agents, we may commit all kinds of wrongdoings. Karma is the cause of the way we live our lives. Even the slightest actions, whether speaking or, remaining silent, moving or remaining still, all of these are created by the eleven Agents. From the moment they are created, they become karma. We should pay attention to these eleven Agents which entangle our minds, so we act under the influence of external conditions. We must be mindful and pay attention. The Eleven Universal Agents consist of Seven Views, two kinds of Doubt, and two kinds of Ignorance. So altogether there are eleven.
The Eleven Universal Agents are the Seven Views, the Two Doubts and the Twofold Ignorance. Seven Views: Deviant Views, View of Self, View of Eternalism, View of Nihilism, View of Precepts, View of Shortcut, View of Doubt. Two Doubts: Doubt of Things and Doubt of Principles. Twofold Ignorance: Root Ignorance and Branch Ignorance.
Now we need to thoroughly understand them. Everyone should be mindful. What are the Seven Views? Deviant Views, View of Self, of Eternalism, of Nihilism, of Precepts, of Shortcut, and View of Doubt. These are all our Views. When we are attached to the world, we create ignorance in our minds, which immediately turns into action. This drives us so we are no longer in control.
Let us understand what Deviant Views are. Deviant Views mean lacking Right Faith. If we do not have the view of Right Faith, we have deviant and biased views. Haven’t we often said, “Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits. It fosters all the roots of goodness.” Our root of goodness is built upon faith. If we have Deviant Views, then we lack Right Faith and slander the Right Dharma. This principle is certain. We must take care of our minds. Do not let Deviant Views emerge; stick to Right Views and Right Faith. Have faith in the Right Dharma. If we do not believe in the Right Dharma, we discount good or bad karmic effects. We think good does not bring blessings, and evil does not bring retributions. This is very dangerous.
We cannot confusedly disregard the cause and effect of good and evil. We must absolutely believe that good brings blessings and bad brings retributions. We cannot disregard the workings of karma. If we study the Buddha’s teachings, we must believe in karmic results. If we can do this in our daily lives, and apply this principle to our actions, we will not become disorderly. I ask everyone to truly be mindful.
Deviant Views mean without Right Faith. Without the view of Right Faith, one easily deviates and attracts all kinds of afflictions. We must believe in the Right Dharma, in the karmic law of cause and effect. Take good care of your mind and act properly, so as not to become disorderly and create karma.
The second is View of Self. Each of us has a concept of self. We only believe in “me”. “I don’t trust others; I only believe in myself. Everything I think and do is right. ” This is also a kind of deviance. This is also an incorrect view, only trusting yourself. View of Self easily leads to arrogance. We should know, what is the “self” after all? Buddha taught that the body actually has no self. Our bodies are made up of the Five Aggregates, form, sensation, perception, action, consciousness. Form exists constantly in our lives, whether in our own bodies or in all things. We sense form in our lives. Because we sense form and react, we cause many afflictions.
Since there are afflictions, we create much karma. Form, sensation and perception lead to action, and then to karmic consciousness. Karma is the only thing that follows us after death. Where exactly is the “self”? Without the Buddha-Dharma, we have absolutely no way to understand this. View of Self cuts us off from the Dharma, from Right Views and Right Faith. We cannot be arrogant. If we have View of Self, it is very easy to become lazy. If you are lazy, there is no way to advance. Because you lack the Right Dharma, you do not know the force of karma. We have no way to understand. Thus, there are people who live in illusion or indulge in enjoyment, all day long. With this indifference they leave all good deeds undone, and simply pass the days idly.
With View of Self, one only believes in oneself, and tends to become conceited, obstructing one’s learning. Being unable to develop Right View and Right Faith, one indulges in enjoyment and lives life idly.
There was a story from mainland China. On September 18, 2006 Hunan Satellite Television Broadcast this story. It is very interesting. There was an old movie called “The Prince and the Pauper.” In today’s world, there are some very wealthy children. Their parents let them have whatever they want, so they do not know any hardship. There are also very poor children in villages, who do not know about the wealth of this world.
The TV station arranged for a rich boy and a poor boy to trade places. The station selected two young boys. One was very rich, one was very poor. After being interviewed at the TV station, the boys would trade places for seven days. The rich boy would go to the poor family’s house in the poor village for seven days, and the poor boy would go to the rich family’s house for seven days. How did they end up spending their time? The first young child was from a very rich family in Changsha, Hunan. He was sent to Qinghai. Qinghai is very poor province, and this family was especially poor. So when he arrived there, he thought, “How do they live like this?” In this plateau region, how do they live? First, water is scarce. When the child from Changsha arrived at Qinghai, he had to carry water like everyone else.
How would he get along with these parents? He discovered how poor they were. The father still wanted to nurture the child. He wanted him to study. The father was visually impaired, and the mother was mentally retarded. With this level of poverty, being poor and ill, how could they pay for anything? When the boy arrived, he told them that he had never seen the Yellow River. Although they were very poor, the father used all his savings to fulfill the boy’s wish to see the Yellow River. This was really very touching. With this kind of life, he was willing to pay for this kid, willing to suffer more himself so that the boy could get his wish. The boy was very moved. After the seven days, he kneeled and bowed before the couple to pay his respects. He felt that they were really remarkable. They were raising a child in this kind of poverty, enduring hardship.
He finally reflected on himself. He was in high school, but during middle school he was very undisciplined. He spent every day surfing the web and playing video games. He had been at odds with his own family. His parents worried, but also cared for him. They looked after him and taught him. But he regarded his parents with resentment, and was unwilling to study. So he cut classes, stopped going to school. He simply took it easy, just idly passing the days.
After a week with the poor family, he finally realized that many people live in this kind of poverty. Even using water was difficult. This family’s life was so rough, everything was falling apart. He especially realized the parents’ love and hope for their child. Despite being so poor, they still wanted to nurture the boy and open his eyes so he could see the world. He finally realized his own parents must have the same hopes, after all. They were so rich. Who would uphold his family’s business? It must be him. He must study very hard. He would have to be outstanding, only then would the future of the business be handed down to him. He came to all these realizations. When it was time to leave, he kneeled and bowed before these parents. He was very grateful.
What about the poor child? For these few days, living with the rich family, flying on planes or riding trains, he went first class. He had the best cell phone, one that he could even watch movies on! If he held out his hand, there was water. If he opened his mouth, there was food. He was surrounded by such wealth. He started to think, “I better study hard. If I work really hard in school, then, one day, I can attain this kind life. He heard that the wealthy child was returning and that his own father had a bad fall two days ago. He was very worried. He knew how much his parents loved him. Their life was so difficult, and they always expected him to study hard. The mother was mentally retarded the father could not really see, and now had had a bad fall. He should take care of them. He would study hard. You see, this was a good education and a very good plan.
Everyone, in studying Buddha-Dharma, we must always transcend the world around us. This world before us may give us many troubles. And because we have worldly minds, we lead worldly lives. Studying the Dharma is not just escaping the world. We want to leave the mundane; we want our minds to transcend worldly attachments. We want to transcend this modern, chaotic society, and the trouble of today, the interpersonal conflicts, the gain and loss. Don’t I always say that we must take conflict as education? Since modern society is like this, we must be even more mindful, and endure more. Only in this way can we calm the mind, and only then can we calm others’ minds.
We need to constantly transcend worldly challenges of external conditions we face. We should calm our own minds first so that we can calm the minds of those around us.
We need to expand our view from educating Taiwan to something greater. At this very time, in mainland China, there is a big gap between wealthy and poor families. These different family environments affect the children. It is like this exchange of the two boys, living each other’s lives. This is transcendence, transcending a rich background to experience a poor environment, transcending a poor environment to experience a wealthy one. But this is short-term education. If the poor child moved to the rich house, then he would cling to it, he would not know what to do.
So to summarize, everything in society is an opportunity to learn. Everyone, please remember that Dharma is like water. Water washes all things. The water of the Buddha-Dharma can cleanse our mental state and nurture our wisdom. Everyone must be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
首頁 
