Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Four Methods of Contemplation Part2 (四種觀行二)
Every day I remind you to be alert and reverent. We must respect the karmic law of cause and effect. If we do good, we attain blessings. If we do evil, we create disasters. We know this logic, but we often ignore it.
Ordinary people are just like this; their minds constantly fluctuate. We may understand the principles at the time we hear them, but afterwards when we interact with others in daily life or when we face challenges, ignorance resurfaces. So we must cleanse our minds daily to rid ourselves of cravings and ignorant thoughts. We must first increase our self-awareness. When desire and greed arise in the mind, ignorance appears. So we must always be alert and guard ourselves against our desires. The first thing we need to do is wash away desires and ignorance.
Next, we must pay attention and rid ourselves of distorted and confused thoughts. When sense organs connect with the sense objects, desires spontaneously arise. Even when we are alone, we must prevent confused thoughts from arising. Sometimes we become uncomfortable when dealing with challenges, but we suppress those feelings. Then, when we are alone, we feel like we must still endure it. But if the feelings are not resolved, our minds will become ill.
We need to resolve the feelings we endure. After the matter is over, we must not keep it in our hearts and create a cycle of enmity. Even if we do not express those feelings, they still develop bad seeds in our minds. Feelings of anger and hatred may not cause anything to happen in this lifetime, but a seed still exists and in our next life we will dislike those people. If in our next lifetime we do not have the opportunity to practice, and there is this mutual dislike, the causes and conditions will come together and the cycle of enmity will continue.
If one constantly dwells on the unpleasant events of the past, they will form seeds. When certain causes and conditions come together, they will cause even greater harm.
If we want to rid ourselves of afflictions, we must do so thoroughly. When we do something, we must finish it completely. For example, we digest breakfast by lunchtime. Nothing is left. The food is broken down into nutrients that are absorbed into the body. Then nothing is left.
In summary, we should not hold on to our hatred toward others. We should always create good affinities. Create good connections, not bad ones. How do we create good affinities? With a constant sense of gratitude. Even when we feel that others are creating problems for us, we should still be grateful. We use this to cultivate our sense of gratitude. When others present us with hurdles, we can grow wiser and realize the strength of our tolerance. After facing a conflict, we will discover how open-minded we can be. We must constantly cultivate a sense of gratitude toward other people. If we are always grateful to others, we will respect everyone and love all people and all things. If we can do this, our lifetime of practice will result in a seed.
Modern medical science may call a gene, but to us it is a cause, embodied as a seed. When we bring good seeds into the next life, our minds will be pure. An open mind and pure thoughts shape our temperament. In this lifetime, if we always have an open mind and pure thoughts, we will ensure that the seeds planted in the mind are pure and clear and without unwholesome defilements. So we must pay attention to causes and conditions.
We talked about causes and conditions yesterday. They allow us to comprehend that all things are empty in nature.
The creation of all things depends on cause and conditions coming together; when cause and conditions separate, noting happens. When one learns the Dharma, one thoroughly comprehends the empty nature of all things.
Yesterday I explained this using a flower’s seed. A seed alone cannot become a flower. It must be planted into soil. Without water, the planted seed will not germinate and bloom. A seed is just a seed; soil is just soil. It is impossible to grow a flower out of soil without a seed. What about a seed and soil but no water? Water by itself is just water. A flower cannot bloom from water alone without the soil or a seed.
In conclusion, all conditions must be present to produce results. Separate them and nothing will happen. There will be no flower. This applies to everything in this world. All elements must come together or nothing can exist. Now we see the inherent emptiness of everything. Buddhist practitioners must be able to apply what they learn. After learning one concept, we must apply it to other situations. The nature of the body is the same. We cannot lack a single organ. Our organs are related to earth, water, fire, wind. The temporary union of those Four Elements, if harmonious, leads to good health. If any Element is out of balance, we become ill. When the Elements disperse, we cease to exist. Think about a human lead, for instance. If we see a detached head, it is a very frightening sight. A head must have a body. We would find it hard to work without hands and hard to walk and move around without legs. We cannot lack any part of the body. A complete person must have all these components. Hands or feet alone do not make a human beings, all organs and limbs must be present. All things are made up of different elements. But when the elements are separated, things cease to exist.
Apply the Four Methods Contemplation as skillful means to eliminate transgressions.
What are the Four Methods?
First, contemplate causes and conditions.
Second, contemplate effects and retributions.
Third, contemplate the body.
Fourth, contemplate the Tathagata-body.
Second is to contemplate effects and retributions. Earlier we learned that if causes and conditions do not come together, nothing happens. Things occur only when conditions come together. We must pay great attention to causes, conditions and the subsequent effects and retributions. Causes and conditions bring effects and retributions. We must always be highly aware of retributions, and fear them. We must fear karmic retribution because we may accidentally create negative karma. There are many traps in this world. It is very easy for uncontrollable thoughts and impulses to arise. Karma of speech, body, and mind is easily created.
As soon as thoughts arise, our body acts. Everything we say crates karma. So we must always be vigilant, and not let thoughts and impulses arise unchecked. We must recognize this evil path. A slight deviation will cause us to create evil. If we fall onto the evil path, we will remain there a long time. In this world, what is the equivalent of a day in Hell?
Have you heard the Earth Treasury Sutra? If you have, you know a day in Hell is measured in Kalpas in the Human Realm. A Kalpa is a long time; it is immeasurable. In the Human Realm, painful days are hard to get through. When we are ill, it can feel like sleeping on a bed of nails. When we are sick, all we know of is our own illness and suffering. “In Hell, one being’s suffering fills the realm.” That’s is written in the Earth Treasury Sutra. It means that when we are ill we feel that we are suffering the most, so we do not feel for even those suffering in the same hospital room. “I am the one who suffers the most.” This is unspeakable suffering that is truly impossible to describe is truly impossible to describe. The pain is too awful for words. I saw a short and tragic piece of news.
We know there are many people on Earth who live in poverty and suffering. May people struggle every day to make ends meet In Haiti, a country in the Americas, there are places of tremendous poverty. People there often go to great lengths to enter the US illegally, in the hopes of finding a better life, or finding work. They wish to improve their living standards. But sneaking into the US is very dangerous. They endure so much hardship and danger. But thought they may see how others before them have already encountered misfortunes, or drowned, etc., they are still determined to reach the US.
There was a sailboat. It was already very old and rundown. It was filled with over 100 people who wanted to smuggle themselves into America by sea. It was tremendously risky, but they still wanted to go. When the boat, full of people, had floated out about half a mile away from the shoreline, still not far from land, it was suddenly surrounded by a school of sharks. The boat capsized. People arrived to help but there were too many sharks. They could only watch the sharks attack them. That image was indescribable. It truly shook us to the core. When the bodies were recovered, they were all torn to pieces. Only twenty bodies were recovered; sixty to seventy people were missing and unaccounted for. Could they still be alive? They were probably eaten by the sharks. This all happened not too far from shore.
Everyone witnessed the people disappearing after the sharks surrounded them. Those lost were never found. Only twenty corpses were recovered. Look at this human tragedy. These people did not choose to be born into such an impoverished country. We can only say karma from a past life brought them to a place they did not want to be. They were born there and that place was their karmic retribution, their Circumstantial Retribution. Of course, due to their Direct Retribution, though they wanted to escape, they could not. Retribution is terrifying.
Is death the end of it all? If people committed many bad deeds in past lives, where do they go after the end of this one? It is out of their control. These Haitians wanted to escape their impoverished environment to find a place where they could build a secure life. But their retribution did not allow for that, and they ended up among the sharks. What will happen to them after this life? It is hard to say. Will they get to spend the next lifetime in America, the country they yearned for? Will they be born into a fortunate family or will they still have unexhausted karma? The future is unclear.
Effects and retributions arise from causes and conditions. If we want to transform our painful retributions, we require positive causes and conditions. This is the karmic law of cause and effect.
Therefore, we must comprehend the inherent emptiness of everything. Causes and conditions have no effect when separate. Causes and conditions meet to form retributions. Once formed, karma cannot be avoided. If someone creates evil karma, he will certainly fall onto an evil path. No one can prevent this. Until a person’s karma is exhausted, he will return to endure residual retributions. The unexhausted karmic retributions will continue.
Everyone, when we learn Buddhism we should know that first we must contemplate causes and conditions, second, we contemplate effects and retributions. We see so much suffering in this world. I often tell you to recognize your own blessings when you witness others’ suffering. We must recognize blessings, cherish them, and then create more blessings. If we sow good seeds and create good affinities, we need not worry about falling onto an evil path. So everyone please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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