Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: A Tranquil Mind without Flattery and Hindrances(心寂無諂障)
In our daily living, we must safeguard our mind all the time. If we do not, greedy, angry or foolish thoughts arise like filthy, turbulent waves that overwhelm our mental defenses. The karmic forces we create will be strong, like waves that come one after another and cannot be contained.
What can we do? Be reverent and vigilant. We must maintain a reverent mentality. For a long time we have been talking about the Water Repentance and how Dharma is like water. We must always nourish our minds with Dharma-water. We must not make mistakes. If we do make mistakes, we must face them courageously and repent immediately. Repentance is cleansing. Afterwards, don’t we need to refrain from repeating those mistakes? If we are always making mistakes and always repenting, it becomes an endless cycle. The habit of making mistakes is always with us. If we are not careful, mistaken thoughts return after we eliminate them. If this is true, how much time is there for practice? And how much time is there for repentance?
When we make a mistake and repent, we must never repeat the same mistake again. The reason we have been spending so much time on terminology and on reminders to be vigilant is to enable us to recognize the specific mistakes we have made. When we make a mistake, we must quickly purge it and repent. To do so requires a reverent heart. The best way to treat others is with sincerity. If we can do that, people will not antagonize us. If people do not antagonize us, we will not try to hurt them. Life is a series of interactions. If I treat you courteously, you will treat me with the same civility. So we must be disciplined and courteous. We must always discipline our minds and treat others with courtesy. This is a form of reverence.
We must be aware in all situations. When we take action, we must guard our minds and avoid mistakes. We must always protect our minds. We must not deviate from the precepts. We must keep our minds from crossing the line and making mistakes. This demonstrates alertness. We must be cautious. Only then will our minds be clear and bright and able to fend off greed, anger, and ignorance. So, being reverent and prudent is the best method for spiritual cultivation.
All Buddhas have compassion for sentient beings. Thus, They expounded the Dharma of the Water Repentance.
We have finished the first volume of the Water Repentance. From now on we shall remember to be reverent. We must treat people sincerely. We must also have reverence for the Dharma. Each day, we piously practice in the main hall, hoping that our compassion toward sentient beings will constantly increase, because we respect Buddha and emulate Him. The Buddha is compassionate. He came to this world to teach us and to inspire compassion in us.
Compassion is the All-encompassing Dharma. If we are reverent, respectful and compassionate toward all sentient beings, we will do no wrong. This is the essential spirit of the teachings. Rectify mistakes immediately and give rise to love. The term that encapsulates everything we have read and spoken about is the “Bodhisattva Training Ground of Compassion.”
Truly, we must have compassion for sentient beings. We must improve ourselves and avoid mistakes. Then we are truly practicing Buddhism.
Today I take refuge with all Buddhas. After paying respect to them, I then repent again. We, the disciples, are now tranquil in body and mind and without flattery and hindrances.
The nurture our Wisdom-life, we must “take refuge in all Bhddhas.” Each Buddha has a path; the Buddha-paths are all the same, all aim to inspire our compassion for sentient beings. So, the Buddha repeatedly spoke of compassionate thoughts to us because He wanted to transmit His compassion to us and inspire the compassion in our minds.
We should retain our Dharma-seeking mindset. Upon receiving the Dharma, we must help transform the thoughts of all sentient beings. So, we must always reverently “pay respect to all Buddhas.” We do not pay respect to Buddhas in order to ask for more blessings or for more wisdom. We do not pray to Buddha asking that we may escape disasters, etc. We should not pray to stave off personal disasters. We should pray for a world without calamities. We should pray to inspire love in others. That is our true goal in paying respect to Buddha. Therefore, we must reverently pay respect to all Buddhas. We should always maintain this mindset.
The true purpose of paying respect to all Buddhas is not to seek peace and prosperity for oneself, but to inspire love in everyone so that the world can be without disasters and calamities.
Apart from paying respect to the Buddha, we must constantly repent. Perhaps we caused displeasure in others during our daily activities. It might have been with a word or an action. If we are unaware of any wrongdoing, then we do not know to whom we should repent. So we should repent before the Buddha. If we cause others to become upset, unhappiness will grow in their minds. One day, this enmity will become a hindrance to us. So, whether we are aware of a mistake or not, we should always repent. “Body and mind are tranquil, without flattery and hindrances.”
As we sit here, our bodies and minds should be tranquil. What is a “tranquil body and mind?” During this time, are you sitting here calmly? At this time, we do not need to be thinking about what we have to accomplish today. There is no need. Now that we are here, we should focus on one thing. I also have to stay focused. When my body is here, I focus on being here, on speaking to you. Right now you are also sitting here and focusing on listening. So, now our bodies and minds are tranquil. Tranquil bodies and minds are a sign of health. That is why we can sit here, happy and at ease. Our minds are tranquil because we are not bothered external factors.
As we listen to the Dharma now, our minds remain tranquil, “without flattery and hindrances.” The speaker is not speaking for any one particular person’s benefit, not trying to curry favor with anyone. By not flattering others, we avoid hindrances. This applies not only to this moment. We are always in the present. The past has just passed. Is the present really now? When you leave here in a moment, you leave in the present of that moment. Therefore, the word “now” in the phrase “Now my body and mind are tranquil,” refers to the “now,” the present, in every single moment. Are the words you hear now also the present?
The sound of a train is coming from over there. It is not here yet; it is in the future. When the train passes in front of us, the moment we hear the train is the present. When the noise is gone, isn’t it in the past?
But we need to remain present. That means we are still in the “now.” We have to listen to Dharma very attentively. Do not dismiss something as just being in the past. In fact, the past is also the present. The past accumulates and becomes the present, as the present becomes the future. So as Buddhist practitioners, we want to keep our bodies and minds tranquil. We must always be tranquil and always treat others with reverence and without flattery. I keep telling everyone to cultivate sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness. We should treat others with that spirit. Then there is no flattery. We should treat others with kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. Then there are no hindrances. If we can be without flattery and arrogance, that is best. This is the Middle Way. We must learn to practice kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
In learning Buddhism, if we are to remain tranquil in body and mind, we must inwardly cultivate sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness and outwardly manifest kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity; then we can treat others with reverence.
I repeatedly stress reverence and repentance to increase everyone’s awareness. When we eliminate ignorance, our enlightened nature emerges. So, we must be reverent and repentant. Treat others reverently; always reflect on your behavior and repent. Then our enlightened, pure nature emerges to guide us, body and mind.
We should always be grateful that the Four Elements are at peace when our bodies and minds are peaceful. The Four Elements are earth, water, fire, wind. When they are in harmony, our bodies are healthy. When our bodies are healthy, our minds remain peaceful when facing the Six Sense Object. When our Six Sense Organs face external factors, problems will not develop and our minds will be peaceful and at ease, with no greed, anger or ignorance. We will not be tempted by external conditions and give rise to greed, anger, or ignorance. Then “the Six Sense Organs are safe” and they will not be defiled by the Six Sense Objects.
So, our minds always be reverent and we must always repent. Only when we do so can we be “without flattery and hindrances. Flattery arises when the Six Sense Objects entice our Six Sense Organs. Then we become greedy, flatter others and say pleasing things to them. If we flatter others, our minds are not sincere. A sincere mind is a center for spiritual practice. When we flatter, we are not being sincere. Why are we not sincere? Because greed, ignorance weaken us so we are tempted by external phenomena. Then our daily lives are full of hindrances.
If we are to be without flattery and hindrances, we must take good care of our minds and avoid being tempted by external phenomena. Then we have “no demons of the mind flattering us” and “no demons of illness hindering us.”
What are mental demons? Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. They cause turmoil within our minds. So these mental demons, greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt are truly demons. Mental demons are like defiled streams in our minds. So these are called mental demons. If we do not have mental demons, our minds are sincere, without flattery.
Our bodies have no hindrances of illness. When the Four Elements are in harmony, our bodies are healthy. Think about it. If we are sick, spiritual cultivation is difficult. We sit here quietly without moving. If our backs are sore and in pain, we have to bear it, or we cannot continue to sit. If you can persist, we overcome the mental demons. If we can bear it, we can calm our minds. We can practice only if we are healthy. “No demons of illness” means we are physically unhindered in our practice.
We need a healthy body for spiritual cultivation. The body is a vessel that can carry us from the confused shore of ordinary people to the enlightened state of the Buddha. So, “without internal and external demons”, it is the “right time for immediate repentance.” It all comes back to repentance.
We have to understand that sometimes it is too late to repent. Time runs out for a lot of things. If we are not in time to repent, we suffer the biggest punishment, which is regret. We regret that it is too late to apologize, too late to really nature our reverence toward people and toward the Three Treasures, too late to truly apply the Buddha’s teachings to our daily lives. There are many “too late.” That is the worst punishment.
How fortunate that we are healthy now and can repent immediately! So, I hope we can prevent greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt from destroying our mental defenses. Only reverence and vigilance can illuminate our bodies and minds. So, everyone please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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