Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Sixteen Views Part 6 (十六知見六)
The Sixteen Views-the views of: Self; Sentient Beings; a Lifespan; Endless life; Birth; Nurturing; Multitudes; a Human; a Doer; an Instigator; a Karma Initiator; a Karma Initiator for Others; Karmic Retribution; a Karmic Retribution Creator; Someone Who Knows; Someone Who Sees.
In the Sixteen Views, the sixth is the View of Nurturing. Born into this world, we have been nurtured and educated. Who on this earth was not given birth to by his or her parents? Since birth, we have been living in society. Every day, our food, clothing, housing and transportation depends on the grace of other sentient beings. That is why we have to be grateful.
Some people might say, “That’s not true! I use my own money to buy my clothes. I use my own money to buy rice and vegetables or to go to restaurants. I eat and I pay. So what grace is there to repay?” Actually, money is only a symbol. We only think about earning more money and increasing our assets. We are attached to these gains. How many people toil over this? They run about all day, just trying to get more money, obtain more land, make their luxury mansions even more luxurious. This is all because of greed. Such desires are the root of all afflictions.
In our morning meeting today, we heard a volunteer reporting on a case. There is a 90-year-old veteran who is without any family and lives by himself. The volunteers went to visit him. He is still healthy and physically strong. His eyes and his ears are sharp. He heard that people were coming to visit him, so he rushed home from the village. He walked briskly with a walking stick. He was in a hurry because he was excited. Seeing the volunteers in front of his home, he was very happy. He quickly invited everyone into the house. He then said, “Just a moment.” He fetched a bag and said, “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. I knew you were coming, so I’ve been waiting many days.” He gave the bag to the volunteers. It was filled with money.
They said to him, “Grandpa, we came to see if you are healthy, not to collect money from you. You should keep the money.”
He said, “I have enough. I just need to be frugal every day and know how to spend the money wisely.” He said, “Be frugal, use it wisely. We need to learn to use money wisely.”
This 90-year-old man is a veteran who lives all by himself. He said, “It is good to be frugal, know how to save and how to use the money wisely.”
How philosophical! How wise! What is the use of hoarding money? This man gradually saved up his money and used it to help people. That made him the happiest. He has been living in this world for 90years. He knows to repay the grace of sentient beings. With a loving heart, we can save up money to help those who are suffering, to help those who have no money at all. With our extra money, we can help those in need. Many people raised us, contributed to our growth, and enabled our education, so we should enable others’ education too. People gave us food and clothing. So in turn, we should also help others stay well-fed and warmly-dressed. People helped build our sturdy homes. In turn, we should also help others find shelter from the wind and rain.
Tzu Chi volunteers work among the people, in collaboration, to help the suffering. When people have no housing or live in a run-down home, Tzu Chi volunteers are quick to help. The volunteers mend roofs, patch up walls and even tear down old buildings and rebuild them. Are the recipients related to Tzu Chi volunteers? No. They are not relatives, nor do we know them. So why do we continue to give?
Think of it this way, does the people who build our houses know us personally? They do not know us, but they helped us build our home so that we have shelter. Let’s look at the fabric of our clothes. Do the laborers working in the factory know us personally? They do not know us either, yet we regularly use what they contribute. So, if we see someone who needs help, we can go to them to help relieve their suffering. How could we not want to help them? We should repay the grace that we have received. While accepting resources from others, we should also try to provide for those who lack something. Leading such a life is the wisest and the most enriching. This is the Grace of Nurturing.
You might find it strange. “Master, doesn’t nurturing only refer to parents?” This is not so. Of course, parents are a part of it. They nurture and educate us and we should try to repay their grace. Since we have accepted the Buddha-Dharma, we should try to repay its grace as well. The Buddha-Dharma nurtures our Wisdom-life, while parents nurture our physical life. But all the sentient beings in the world give us what we need to live. A favorable environment enables us to live happily and contently, and nurtures our lives. Everything in the world depends on the four types of grace, so we should really be grateful. This sixth view is the View of Nurturing. We should keep the grace of nurturing in our minds a t all times.
All things in the universe are part of the nurturing Fourfold Grace. Enjoy everything given by others, and in turn, help those who are in need. In doing so, one leads a most wise and prosperous life.
Often times, we ordinary people are attached to the Five Aggregates. We are attached to the notion that, “I’m the nurturer!” This means we think that “I’m someone who can give, others are only receivers of my giving they were nurtured by me.” This mentality is erroneous. As I just told you, money alone does not enable us to do what we want. As long as we have material goods to enjoy, we need to be grateful. Isn’t everyone nurtured by others? No matter how high your social status is, or how much money you have, people from all walks of life, from different jobs, have come together to provide for you. So we should not think, “I’m the giver, the one who nurtures others.”
When parents care for their children, they do not ask for anything in return. Take a look at the way parents take care of their children. When children are unhealthy, they provide constant care for them.
In Hualien, there is an old veteran who takes care of his daughter. The daughter is almost 40, and the father is well past 70. The daughter has severe mental retardation, and is physically underdeveloped. Her father has carried her around every day, since the day she was born. She is close to 40 now. When asked if they are tired, both of the elderly parents happily said, “Not at all. We are grateful for her. She is like our big doll.” When they talk to her, she smiles a little, which makes them really happy. This old couple has had to take care of and clean up after their daughter for nearly 40 years. They have never had excessive expectations of her. Instead, they are grateful to have her as a companion. “We talk to her and she smiles a little, because she cannot talk back.” Such acceptance is in a parent’s heart. They do not ever think about what they get back for nurturing their child. Not at all. So we must fulfill our fundamental responsibility to repay parent’s grace. This is called repaying grace, the grace of nurturing.
Many young people these days are not filial to their parents. They not only ignore their parent’s grace, they complain about their parents’ nagging. They have many rebellious thoughts. This is all in the Five Aggregates, form, sensation, perception, action, consciousness. They have the inclination to rebel against their parents. They cannot feel their parents nurturing. They just think, “My parents are getting old and now I need to take care of them.” Toward poor people they think, “I am helping you.” Toward their employees they think, “You depend on me for your livelihood.” This is all wrong. They think, “I’m the one giving. I’m the one who takes care of others.” Thinking this way makes people suffer greatly.
The Buddha said it is wrong to have this view of Nurturing. It is wrong to have such stubborn attachments. We should keep our parents’ grace in mind. Their grace is broad and deep. They only care about the child’s peace and comfort. Their thoughts are only of their child’s ease comfort and safety.
Take a look at many of the doctors in Tzu Chi Hospitals. In the last segment of the TV show “Guardian of Love,” we saw the interactions between the doctors and their parents, like Deputy Superintendent Dr. Wang Zhi-hong.” He saw his parents on the monitor and said, “Mom and Dad, I’m so sorry that I haven’t had time to visit you.” When his mom heard him on their monitor she said, “That’s okay, as long as you’re safe and sound. We are very proud of you for helping the patients. We are very proud that people praise you. It makes us happy. You don’t have to worry about us old folks. We can take care of ourselves.”
You see, the son only has to say to his parents, “I’m very thankful, but I have no time to visit you. The parents already know he’s busy saving others. “We are very happy about what you’re doing. You don’t have to worry about us.” In reality, parents do not just hope that their children can provide for them, visit often, or do things for them. Our parents gave us this body. We should use it to embody great love in the world. This will make our parents truly happy. We see several parents showing up in the program, encouraging their children. This is parental love. They nurture their children, only hoping they are safe, sound and healthy. Even when their child becomes a doctor, they still say, “You need to take care of your body. This is the heart of parents.
Compassionate mothers do not fear and pain or work. Their only goal is to raise their child. Mothers are like earth and fathers like heaven. We are embraced and sheltered by heaven and earth. The amount of grace we receive is as vast as heaven and earth. So when we have the ability to, we should give as much as possible. That is the true mission of our lives. We also need to have the heart of Bodhisattvas. The heart of Buddha, the actions of a Bodhisattva. Have the heart of a parent and have broad, open love. This is what we came to this world for, to give to and nurture others. We should also be grateful and never have the thought that “I’m the one who is helping.” It is not like that “Nurturing” is another form of “giving.” Ideally, we should give without asking in return. Do not think “I have given to you, so you should be grateful to me.” We should think about how many people have given to us. They gave without asking for anything in return.
When a house is built, the contractor does not come and say, “Do you know it was I who built this house? It was me. Do you know that I installed the lights? Do you know I put in the wires and pipes?” No. They say, “Oh, the house is done. The builders simply think the project is complete. They do not care for whom the house is built. So we also do not know who has provided for us, nor which people created this beautiful building for us. If we think that, “I’m giving you something and you must repay me, it will bring a lot of suffering.”
This would be the View of Nurturing. View means having an attachment. Giving with attachments is called the View of Nurturing.
Give without asking for anything in return, and always have a heart of gratitude. In doing so, we can be free and at ease. If one gets attached to the View of Nurturing, one’s life is always spent in pursuit of something. Then one suffers beyond words.
So we need to be mindful every day. In our perspectives, as an individual, we should be mindful of the Fourfold Grace, and definitely repay it. The Fourfold Grace has nurtured us. We need to realize we are being taken care of, instead of constantly thinking that we are the ones nurturing others. If we latch onto thinking that we are the nurtures, then we have a stubborn perspective. With nurturing, we need to see that we are the ones being provided for. This way, we are full of gratitude and naturally give back every day. You should all be able to understand this.
This View of Nurturing is an attachment we hold in our lives, it is a conflict that arises in the Five Aggregates. We should do everything with a heart full of gratitude. Others have provided for us first, so now we can help others. People should help each other and be gratitude to one another. We should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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