Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Fourfold Mindfulness (四念處)
Every day when we sit down to meditate, do we inwardly observe our body and mind? Always be diligent, earnest and vigilant, and always remember to let go of worldly desires and worries. Everyone, nothing in this world is worth clinging to.
When you sit down here, do you recall the teaching from the day before? And in your daily interactions with others, are you mindful of the wholesome words you hear? Even common sayings can help us stay on the right path. In our daily living, we should always strive to gain experiential understanding. Then we must keep this understanding in our hearts and practice it in daily life.
We must be focused and remember all the Dharma that we practice and learn. If we can do this, then we can let go of worldly desires and worries. Many worldly things trouble our body and mind. So while observing the external world, remember to let go of worldly cravings and worries. Look at what happens in the world every day. People are so busy, always coming and going. We should wake up to the conditions of the world.
Nowadays, we often hear of the greenhouse effect and unusual weather patterns. The Earth is facing continual destruction. With disasters and calamities in every country and tectonic plates constantly moving, we feel very concerned.
Events do not only occur close to where we live. We should have a wider view of the world and know more about it, because we are all its inhabitants. We should have an international perspective. The more we know and the broader our knowledge, the more clearly we can see global warming and unusual changes in weather patterns. Then we will realize that the Earth is fragile, and the human world is impermanent. We should be smarter; we should understand more things. Once we understand, we can no longer afford to be lazy.
We must be more diligent. We have to have a broad view of the world. We are citizens of the modern world, so we should not be ignorant of current events. Always remember this Dharma. The Buddha, in candid and compassionate words, constantly used different skillful means to show us the impermanence of the world, to show us how unstable it is. We should diligently and eagerly practice, and avoid indulging in laziness.
When we have more understanding, we can let go of worldly desires. All calamities, either man-made or natural, arise from delusions rooted in the Three Poisons. Greed is the first of the Three Poisons. When greed arises, anger and ignorance follow. But when we have complete understanding, we can let go of worldly desires and worries. Once we are rid of desires, we become free and have no worries. Then the world will have no more calamities or man-made disasters.
Everything depends on people’s minds. So we have to listen to and learn the Dharma, and live in accordance with the Dharma.
Diligently observe your body and mind. Listen to and learn the Dharma, and then act in accordance with it. We must observe the external world clearly, and remember to let go of worldly desires and worries. When desire and ignorance are eliminated, society will be at peace, and there will be no more disasters in the world.
The Buddha has already told us to eliminate ignorance. So we must always do this. If we can eliminate ignorance at its source, we will find the peace and clarity of Nirvana. We will forever be at peace and at ease. However, before that can happen, we need to practice the Dharma. Earlier I talked about the Eightfold Noble Path, which is the Eightfold Right Path. This practice alone is not enough; we need other practices to help us as well. These are the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, they are also known as the “37 Aids to Enlightenment.” They help us understand everything more easily, and allow us to see the world, our bodies, and our minds more clearly.
They are also called the “37 Factors of Bodhi.” “Bodhi” means enlightenment. So they are 37 practice that can help us attain enlightenment.
The Thirty-seven Practices to Enlightenment are the Fourfold Mindfulness, Four Right Efforts, Four Basses of Spiritual Power, Five Spiritual Roots, Five Powers, Seven Factors of Bodhi, and the Eightfold Noble Path.
Of the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, the first is the Fourfold Mindfulness. What is Fourfold Mindfulness? First, “contemplate the body as impure.” Why do we contemplate the body as impure? Our body is truly unclean. It sweats on hot days. After a day without bathing, one will feel very uncomfortable. When someone does not bathe for several days, their body gives off bad odors. Sometimes they do not notice their own smell, but when they come close, you can smell them. Not only do they feel uncomfortable, but when they are with other people, those people will also be uncomfortable. This is the case even when we are healthy. Whether we are with others or alone, our body is really unclean.
In the past we have said that the nine bodily orifices constantly discharge filth. Think about it. Even on our face we can see things that are not clean. We need to quickly wipe our tears after crying. A runny nose is unpleasant to look at and is unsanitary, so is spitting. Your ears produce filth as well. After not cleaning your ears for some time, earwax accumulates. These seven orifices are very dirty, and even more so if we do not clean them. The body has bad odors coming out of it even in good health. So we say to contemplate the body as unclean.
When people are sick and receive little care from others, in addition to not cleaning their bodies, they may have bedsores from which blood or pus comes out. With nobody to clean them, their body rots. Rotting can start even before a person dies. The smell is really awful. It will get worse when the body stops breathing. Think about it. Not many hours pass before the body starts to stink. When the internal organs rot, they produce an awful stench. So we should make good use of our health. To take good care of our bodies, we should properly and thoroughly clean ourselves.
Use the time when you are healthy to do volunteer work, benefit the community and walk the Bodhisattva-path. The body is our vessel for spiritual practice. Keeping ourselves healthy also helps us to practice on the Bodhisattva-path. So when we are mentally and physically healthy, we must properly practice the Fourfold Mindfulness. Contemplating the body as impure is one of them. Since the body impure, we have to properly practice. When we pay respect to the Buddha, we need to do it properly and purify our body and mind.
This is to show our reverence. We should also do this out of courtesy for others. Our attire should be clean and proper. We should keep ourselves neat and tidy. This is respect for others. Actually, when we do that, it shows our own self-love and self-respect. In short, spiritual practice is, whether toward ourselves or other people, or toward all the Buddha’s and Bodhisattvas, having a heart of gratitude.
So keep your body in good shape and use it to practice the Bodhisattva-path. We contemplate the body as impure so as to be vigilant of ourselves. Always take good care of your body for the purpose of practicing the Bodhisattva-path.
Second is “contemplate feelings as suffering.” “Contemplate feelings as suffering.” We must contemplate our feelings, whether good or bad. Throughout the day we have many different feelings. For example, in this instant, did you take my words to heart? Or are you constantly looking at the time? “Is time up? My legs are so tired. Isn’t it time yet? Haven’t I heard this teaching before?”
Do you have such thoughts? Those thoughts are also called feelings. Perhaps, while listening to this lecture, you have afflictions in your mind, such as family affairs, grudges, business matters or gossip. Do you still have entanglements in your mind? These are also called feelings. Whether they are past, future or present feelings, whether good or bad, they are sources of suffering.
So feelings are suffering. In contemplating feelings, we think of ways to focus on the present. What kind of mindset should we have when giving? We must cultivate the willingness to practice. Even though a task is very difficult, remain willing and joyful. If we can do this, we work willingly, and happily accept the results. This happy feeling is suffering into joy. You must cultivate this willingness.
Since you wish to engage in spiritual practice, you should do so very willingly. Having made the Bodhisattva-vow, we should also willingly benefit sentient beings. Then suffering will be transformed into joy. We should understand the nature of feelings, and contemplate feelings as suffering. If we engage in improper or distracting thoughts, we will suffer greatly.
Next is “contemplation of the mind.” Thoughts in our mind are impermanent. We have to contemplation of the mind as impermanent. Our mind is seldom at rest, and cannot remain settled. Why can’t the mind be calm? Mental states arise, abide, change, and disappear. Our minds can give rise to joyful thoughts. “The teaching I heard today is very useful. It fills me with Dharma-joy.” It may make us happy, but can this teaching be applied in everyday life? Joy is quickly aroused by the teaching, but upon leaving the practice center where the teaching was heard, you will continue to have all kinds of thoughts. What happened to the teaching you just heard? “Change” has occurred. The mind shifts focus from here to there. The mind is always changing. So the mind can give rise to Dharma-joy. But when the conditions change, the Dharma-joy will change as well. It will change and disappear. This is impermanent.
We often “contemplation of the mind as impermanent.” Mental states arise, abide, change, then vanish. We just talked about this a few days ago. So we have take good care of our minds.
The fourth is “the contemplation of phenomena.” Contemplation all things as having no self. All of you can recite the teaching, “Contemplation the body as Impure, Contemplation feelings as suffering, Contemplation the mind as impermanent, Contemplation all things as having no self.” You may all recite this, but you may have applied the teaching in your daily life.
Indeed, in all things of the world, where is the self? All things are aggregates of other things. Just take our own body for example. “Why were we born here? Why was I born to these parents? Why am I living in these circumstances? Why?” We also just talked about this. It is due to the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. When the process begins, is there anything that is “you” or “me?”
Take people, for example. Follow the Twelve Links, ignorance begets action, then actions accumulate until they meet suitable parents for reincarnation. Then growing up in this world, they again began to feel, crave, experience, etc., and create more ignorance in their lives. Surely this process will continue in the future. Is our present life permanent? No. the body’s Four Elements quickly break down. That is why life is painful; because it is short. All things are formed by the coming together of causes and conditions. So where is the self? In short, contemplate all things as having no self.
Everyone, I continue to repeat these teachings. So memorize the Fourfold Mindfulness and practice them in your daily life. Take time to contemplate and experience them. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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