Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Eightfold Noble Path Part 2 (八聖道二)
Practice the Eightfold Noble Path to destroy the source of ignorance. Seek Nirvana without rest.
Yesterday we said that we must cultivate the Eightfold Right Path, also called the Eightfold Noble Path, in our daily living. We discussed Right View, Right Though. Right Speech, and Right Action.
Next is Right Livelihood. We have to be alive in order to practice. Since we were born into this world, since our parents gave us life, we have to put it to good use. We should not waste it. We have said that the Buddha came back to the palace because He wanted to liberate everyone. He returned to Kapilavastu to teach the Dharma. The king was His father, and he also wanted to spread the Dharma. He announced that if a family had more than two sons, one of them could become a monk.
Many sons of royals and nobles were encouraged by their parents, and willingly left home to become monks. Since the Buddha engaged in spiritual practice, He gave up all of His worldly possessions. He did not cling to His ego and had no desire for personal gain. Everyone’s status was equal [in His eyes]. And because everyone was equal, monks from the royal and noble families were also equal.
In order to survive, they had to go out every day and collect alms for their daily food. Asking for alms demonstrates equal status among the Sangha. It also provides a chance to meet people in the community. The Chinese call it “making connections.” To carry out the Buddha’s mission, the monastics must go into the community. They can ask for alms from each household in turn, and create good affinities in the process. Whether the people were Buddhists or not, they still had a chance to meet the practitioners. Even if they only gave a little bit, maybe just a bowl of rice, they still made a karmic connection with the monks. This is the purpose of collecting alms.
When Buddhism spread to China, this tradition was called “making connections.” The monastics formed connections with many people. Everyone could give a little, thereby creating merits. When people heard about merits, they were very happy. But this practice gradually transformed.
Later, a great Zen Master, Bai-Zhang, established a rule in his monastery of “No work, no meals.” That was how they lived the monastic life. So we must understand Right Livelihood. Right Livelihood means to live properly, without going astray or being greedy. In China, the purpose of monastic life is to allow one to interact with people. But one also has to put in some work. That was the great Zen Master’s concept. In our daily life, though we work among people, we must also be self-reliant. Our purpose for this life is spiritual cultivation. So we have to maintain our health, and work to provide for ourselves. We should have integrity and sincerity.
If our minds are always righteous, we will not go astray. Everyone is equal. We have to be sincere with people to spread and pass on the Dharma. We should be sincere with others in order to liberate sentient beings and to make good karmic connections with them. Inspire every person’s love and kindness. With your sincerity, bring out people’s loving-kindness and encourage their compassion. “With great kindness, one has no regrets.” We must have integrity in our actions. If we do not, how can we bring out people’s compassion? “With great compassion, one has no complaints.” We must guide them from kindness to compassion.
Kindness is bringing happiness to everyone. We try to help people in order to liberate them from suffering. We are joyous when we see people receiving help for their suffering. We have to help people establish faith, so that they can give with confidence, knowing that their beliefs and actions are correct. We are joyous when everyone is liberated form suffering. With great joy, one has no worries.
We are steadfast in our mission. If our will is strong, our steps will be solid and practical, and will not deviate. Not deviating in our practice of giving is called “equanimity in giving.” So we “teach the rich to help the poor” and “help the poor to realize their riches.” If we want to bring out mankind’s, kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, we must have faith, steadfastness, sincerity and integrity. If we practice these daily, it will bring health to our body and mind.
In your heart, be sincere and have no regrets. Act with integrity and without complaints. Be faithful in your vow, with no worries. Be steadfast in your mission with no expectations. Diligently practicing these four methods will bring health to your body and mind.
We must physically put the teachings into practice. If we do not work today, we do not eat today. We rely on ourselves and must work hard. We want our body and mind to be healthy. This is Right Livelihood. So, we follow the Dharma when supporting ourselves. We are supporting not only our physical lives, but our Wisdom-life as well. We hope to increase our Wisdom-life. That is Right Livelihood.
The sixth is Right Effort. Right Effort means “wholeheartedly practicing the Path.” We practice the Way because we have Right Effort. A small misstep can lead us far off track. So if the direction we choose is correct, we should take big strides and always be diligent. We are “racing against time.” Right Effort is being diligent, focused, not scattered, advancing, not retreating. Since our faith is right, we should continue without distraction. Do not let other thoughts confuse your mind. That is Right Effort.
The seventh is Right Mindfulness. Right Mindfulness means that we should “focus on and memorize the Dharma.” Remember the Dharma you hear. Listen to, contemplate, and practice the teaching of the Eightfold Right Path. We have to always remember these eight correct teachings. We have to focus on views, thoughts, speech, actions and activities in our daily lives. We must concentrate and remember the teachings with wholehearted diligence. We must be focused in order to remember the Dharma. We must do good. We must do good daily, do it every day. We must do good not just daily, but all the time. Always stay on the Path and practice diligently. This requires absolute concentration. “Remember the Dharma with concentration.”
The eighth is Right Concentration. Right Concentration is when “our minds abide in the Fundamental Truth.” Our minds must be concentrated and calm. We have to thoroughly understand the principles and let the mind settle on them. Do not let activities in your daily life, speech or actions, gossip or meddling, interfere with your will to practice. We have to be absolutely steadfast and focus with Right Concentration. Many people think Right Concentration can only be achieved through sitting meditation. That is not truly Right Concentration. Through meditation, we learn how to rest our mind, how to adjust the energy inside our body, how to regulate our breathing, and how to turn all delusive thoughts into one thought. If we abide by the Dharma and rest our body and mind in the Dharma, then cutting wood, fetching water are all meditation. One can meditate while drinking or eating. When our mind has no delusive thoughts or worries, that is Right Concentration.
This teaching is the Eightfold Noble Path. We have previously said that we should practice and concentrate our minds on the Eightfold Noble Path.
The Eight Noble Truths are the Eightfold Noble Path. Abide by the teaching of Eight Noble Truths. That is the true Dharma. The text says, “Destroy the source of ignorance. Seek nirvana without rest.” This is the way to eliminate the ignorance in our minds. All the teachings that we have heard so far are to teach us how to eradicate ignorance. Ignorance disturbs our minds. And when our minds are disturbed, our actions are affected as well. If our actions become disorderly, the karma created by those actions will disturb our spiritual practice. When our practice is disturbed, we naturally do a lot of bad deeds.
The origin of ignorance comes from one stray thought
“A deluded thought creates the Three Subtleties. External states lead to the Six Coarse Marks.” Our original thoughts are pure. Our Buddha-nature is pure. But one thought of ignorance led to rebirth in the Three Realms. Afflictions cause rebirth in the Three Realms. Why do we fall into these Three Realms? It is explained by the Four Truths and Twelve Links of Existence.
The teachings progress from obvious to subtle. We must fully understand obvious phenomena before we can understand the subtle ones. From there we return to our intrinsic pure nature. It is very wonderful. There is wondrous existence in true emptiness. To return to our pure nature we have to destroy the source of ignorance, our improper thoughts.
So we must return to Right Mindfulness. Right Mindfulness is part of the Eightfold Path and the teachings of the Eight Noble Truths. If we understand it, we can destroy the source of ignorance. What is the original source of ignorance? One thought. However, if pointed in the right direction, this thought can lead to Nirvana. Nirvana means complete tranquility.
In the Sutra of the In the Infinite Meanings it says, “With a mind clear and translucent, with vows as vast as the endless void.” That is the state of Nirvana. Absolute stillness and clarity is everyone’s most pure and original nature. So we “seek Nirvana without rest.” When we remain focused, our minds stay on the Path, without interruption. That means not stopping and not resting. Our minds stay on the Path and in the state of Nirvana.
Of course, we not only have to keep our minds calm and pure, we must also study the Eight Noble Truths. We are still ordinary people in this realm, so we have to focus on Right View, Right Thought, Right speech, Right action, and Right Livelihood. It is not easy. Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and the state of Right Concentration are not easy to maintain. Therefore, we must do everything we can to help us remain in the state of Right Concentration. We have to be very cautious.
How can we supplement Right Concentration? There are the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, 37 kinds of Dharma methods that can help us.
The 37 Practices to Enlightenment are the Fourfold Mindfulness, Four Right Efforts, Four Basses of Spiritual Power, Five Spiritual Roots. Five Powers, Seven Branches of Enlightenment, and the Eightfold Noble Path.
The Eightfold Path is the base of the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. It brings our minds from evil to righteousness. We have to always focus on this teaching. If we follow the Eightfold Noble Path, we will not deviate from the other practices. There are a total of 37 practices. So we must practice them continuously so that they resonate in our hearts.
Everyone, there is a method to studying the Buddha-Dharma. We are in the Three Realms and are unceasingly reborn in the Six Destinies and Three Evil Paths where we endure a lot of suffering. The suffering is of our body and mind. Afflictions in our mind cause our body to act, in turn, creating this complex society with many complex phenomena.
It is actually very simple. The right mind brings the right path, right mind, right path, right action. What more do we have to talk about? But we are ordinary people, so we must follow the 37 Practices to arrive at the Eightfold Noble Path. This is the complete 37 Practices to Enlightenment. So please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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