Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Four Methods of Contemplation Part 7 (四種觀行七)
The rich may not remain rich forever. This is because of impermanence. The blessed may not remain blessed forever, because blessings will come to an end. So we must always self-reflect. There is an end to seemingly endless blessings.
We have said before, “Even if one becomes a Wheel-turning Sage King, who rules over the world, can fly with ease and possesses the Seven Jewels,” when he depletes his blessings, he will fall.
So, it is said that neither wealth nor blessing lasts forever. It is important to know about karmic retribution, that causes attract effects and conditions draw retributions. This means we reap what we sow; the affinities we create determine the retribution. If we sow a seed of wealth, we become rich. If we create negative affinities, we will attract bad retributions. This is a law of nature.
Next we say, “Realizing the Fourfold Emptiness, one is the Most Honored of the Three Realms. But when one’s blessings are depleted, one may even be reborn as a maggot on a cow, not to mention other things.” We just talked about being rich. This means that even the richest person on Earth cannot escape impermanence. He may live for a long time. But time will pass and his life will end.
Now we discuss the Fourfold Emptiness. It means, when we practice, we hope to attain that final fruit. To do so, we must empty our minds to transcend the desire for material things so we are not constrained by them. So if we can cultivate a mindset that transcends and is unconstrained by material things, we receive the fruit of liberation. But in the Hinayana practice, there exists the Fourfold Emptiness Samadhi. What are they?
“Samadhi of Infinite Space, Samadhi of Infinite Consciousness, Samadhi of Nothingness, and Samadhi of Neither Thought nor Non-thought.”
This means we have practiced to a point where our minds are already in a state of meditation and in the state of the Fourfold Emptiness Samadhi. This is the highest stage of meditation. In Samadhi of Infinite Space, the mind and thoughts of the practitioner are free. Free of what? Of the many levels of suffering caused by form. Because ordinary people’s minds are bound by delusion, they remain trapped in that state.
Trapped by what? Bound by what? The Six Roots, Six Dusts and Six Consciousnesses. When we encounter external conditions, many desires arise, so we pursue them and then suffer. So we are imprisoned in a jail created by the many levels of suffering due to form.
So practitioners hope for liberation, to transcend the material things that entrap us. That is the Samadhi of Infinite Space. Our jail is made out of external objects. If we are in jail, we want to escape, so we must attain the state of Samadhi of Infinite Space. Of course, Samadhi of Infinite Consciousness is a step higher. The first one was “thought”, next is a state of “consciousness.” If we can empty our consciousness, no things and no conditions can trap us. Of course, the Samadhi of Nothingness is even more advanced.
Last is Samadhi of Neither Thought nor Non-thought. Since there is no thought, and no non-thought, there is neither thought nor non-Thought. In the end, we let go of everything. That is spiritual practice. If we just keep training our minds to be empty of everything, whether it is mind, thought or consciousness, we will be unaffected by extremely conditions. If we can reach that state, we are the Most Honored of the Three Realms. This is the most honored state. But will this last forever? No, it is not eternal, because blessings come to an end. Like smelting iron or steel, we must temper ourselves in the forge. So if we want to transcend the Three Realms, we must engage in spiritual practice and work with other people. With others, we can train ourselves to face any difficulty and remain unmoved. Only then can we transcend the Three Realms. If we remain in the Three Realms, even if we attain the highest spiritual realizations our blessings will still come to an end; one day we will fall.
Even if our minds are in a state of Samadhi, when an ignorant thought arises, it is the same; we will eventually fall. Fall to where? “Reborn as a maggot on a cow, not to mention other things.” This story is brought up in the Repentance text. It takes place during the Buddha’s lifetime. As the Buddha was walking through an open field, there was a herd of cows on the grass. Among the herd, He noticed a specific cow. Because the cow had hauled farm equipment and carts for a long time, its neck was rubbed so raw it was covered in sores.
As the Buddha walked closer, he saw many maggots. Besides the decaying flesh, there were many maggots. Among the maggots, one grew especially quickly. It grew big and fat. It grew big and fat. The Buddha and Ananda saw this and the Buddha’s heart went out to them. First, He felt sorry for the cow and the rawness of its neck and shoulder. It was truly heartbreaking. Then the Buddha looked at the maggots, especially the big fat one that kept growing. So the Buddha asked Ananda, “Ananda, do you know the origin of this maggot?” Ananda said, “I don’t know. I have no idea where it came from.”
The Buddha said, “In this maggot’s past lives, he had once planted seeds of blessing and even practiced the Ten Good Deeds. Later he was born into heaven and attained the form of a heavenly being. He enjoyed heavenly blessings, longevity, wealth and great fortune. He thoroughly enjoyed heavenly blessings. But once he depleted the blessings, evil karma and conditions led to his fall. So he was reborn as this maggot.”
We hear this story and realize that even if we practice Ten Good Deeds and are born into Heaven and enjoy great fortune, we may quickly exhaust our blessings, fall and become a maggot. This is what we often speak of, the law of karmic retribution. Only in the Human Realm can we create blessings, but in this realm there are also many traps and opportunities to do evil. Good and evil, and the Five Destinies, are intermixed in the Human Realm. This is the Saha World. If we want to attain Buddhahood, we must practice in the Human Realm.
We have discussed the Fourfold Emptiness Samadhi. One who practices this want to attain Buddhahood, but only practices for himself. Though he practices in the Desire-Realm, he has transcended all material things to reach the Form Realm and Formless Realm. Though he has attained the ultimate fruit of the Three Realms, as we have discussed, he will fall after he depletes the blessings. This is not the ultimate. If we want to practice and attain Buddhahood, we must transcend the Three Realms. In the Human Realm, if we only practice the Ten Good Deeds, we can be born into Heaven. But we have to accumulate blessings over countless lifetimes to attain that. In those countless lifetimes, who knows how much evil we will have committed and accumulated. When blessings are weighed against evil, if blessed karma is stronger, we are born in Heaven.
However, blessings alone cannot neutralize bad retribution. No. when the good karma outweighs the bad, we receive blessings first. But in Heaven there is no chance to create blessings, so if we are born there we just continue to enjoy them until they are depleted, and we will fall. Where will we go? We have to bear the retribution of the evil we have accumulated. After this heavenly beings depleted his blessings, he had to face the retribution of bad karma. After his blessings were depleted, bad karma caused him to fall and become a maggot.
After listening to the Buddha explain how the law of cause and effect relates to this maggot, we should feel frightened. Though we have human form and can listen to the Buddha’s teaching, how long do we really have to engage in spiritual practice? How long can keep our minds at peace? When we are calm, we can endure all the suffering of dealing with people and matters in this world. Can our minds stay calm? How much time do we have to train? To smelt iron into steel and create finely crafted goods, the iron needs to pass through fiery furnaces various times. Without the proper heat and processes, how can we create quality work?
So, we must be very alert in our practice. When we are among others, we should use the opportunity to train ourselves. Simply isolating ourselves from people and material things to preempt temptation is not enough to attain liberation. Many say, “I am not greedy, I am content.” That is not enough, we also have to give. Giving is not enough; we must give unconditionally. Giving unconditionally is not enough; we must willingly help suffering sentient beings. If we have true willingness, we can gradually use our environment to train our minds. Then we can remain unmoved no matter what we face. No matter what desires tempt us, our consciousness can remain pure. Instead of being isolated, we join the community, but remain undefiled. That is true mastery.
Spiritual practice requires working with others. One learns to always give unconditionally. To remain unmoved and maintain a pure consciousness in the face of external conditions is true mastery.
So we must always take good care of our minds. You see, even heavenly beings will fall and those with the Fourfold Samadhi will deplete blessings. Even a wheel-turning Sage King will reach the end of his life.
In conclusion, we must be mindful in studying the Buddha’s teachings because we are “without blessings and virtues” and “remain lazy and unrepentant, as if holding a rock while sinking into an abyss. It will be difficult to get out.”
This is a section from the Repentance text. See, earlier we said that everything has an end, is impermanent. Nothing lasts forever. Moreover, for ordinary people without blessings and virtues, if we are not earnest and are lazy, or if we refuse to repent after making mistakes, it is like holding a boulder in the ocean. We will keep sinking.
So, we must always remain alert and be more vigilant of karmic retribution. We must remind ourselves to always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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