Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Four Methods of Contemplation Part 8 (四種觀行八)
Apply the Four Methods of Contemplation as skillful means to eliminate transgressions. What are the Four Methods? First, contemplate causes and conditions. Second, contemplate effects and retributions. Third, contemplate one’s body. Fourth, contemplate the Tathagata-body.
Earlier we spoke about the karmic law of cause and effect. Without causes, there will be no conditions. Without effects, there will be no retributions. This is the karmic law of cause and effect. Without causes, there will be no effects. Without conditions, there will be no retributions.
Karmic retributions bind us so we cannot escape. Now we need to focus on the Four Contemplations. The third is to “contemplate one’s body.” We need to take good care of ourselves. We need to contemplate our body. How do we contemplate our body? As impure. We must always contemplate the impurity of our bodies, even if we are healthy at the moment. Every day we can nimbly get out of bed, and more freely and breathe smoothly. Even though we know that we are healthy at this moment, we still have to wash up before we go to the Great Hall.
Think about it. After we wake up, what is the first thing we do when we get out of bed? We go to the bathroom to wash up. Let us think about what is going on in our bodies. Stool and urine must pass smoothly for us to be truly healthy. Even when we are healthy, our bodies are still filled with impurities. So, contemplate the body as impure. If the Four Elements are not balanced, illness arises, and we lose freedom of action. Many lose the capability to even wash themselves.
Every morning, during the volunteers’ assembly, commissioners share stories of patients from the emergency room and the hospital wards. We hear so many stories. A volunteer from Taichung shared a story from the emergency room. A patient was gravely ill. It must have developed over a long-period of time. What happened to him to make him so ill? Even his family refused to look after him; they left him at the emergency room. From what we understand, he was an alcoholic and a drug addict. His body was riddled with illness, and he was spurned by family and friends. So, he had become very sick. As the doctor treated him in the emergency room, he defecated and urinated uncontrollably. We all heard about the stench in the ER. Other patients found the smell unbearable, even their visiting family members fled. It was an unexpected and awkward situation. What could be done? The volunteers and medical staff quickly got together and ushered him to the bathroom. The waste reeked and covered the bed and the floor. What could they do? Volunteers cleaned and disinfected the room and masked the stench with air freshener. A patient being treated in emergency care sometimes excretes these kinds of things.
This can happen to healthy people as well. So the Buddha taught us that. We have to constantly contemplate our body. Contemplate the body as impure. We are very fortunate to have this human body. Although it is not clean, it is still a vessel for our spiritual practice. In our past lives, we must have sown good seeds and created good affinities to attain a human body in this lifetime. Even more precious is the opportunity for us to hear the Right Dharma. Not only do we know of the Buddha, we have the opportunity to study His teachings. We are neither lost nor gone astray. This is our blessed retribution. This assures us that we have the same pure and enlightened nature as the Buddha. We know all this.
Third, contemplate one’s body. Though we have a nature with the True Causes of Awakening, it is covered by the dark forest of afflictions. “Though we have a nature with the True Causes of Awakening.”
Our nature has the True Causes of Awakening. We know this but “it is covered by the dark forest of afflictions.” Though we know that we possess the same pure nature as the Buddha, a very pure and enlightened nature, we are still unenlightened people so we are still obscured by the darkness of afflictions. We often say light and dark are two sides of the same coin. It is like stretching out a hand. Opposite our palm is the back of the hand. It is the same hand, the same object. The palm and the back are part of the same hand. They are simply different sides.
So enlightenment and delusion are two sides of the same thing. Just as light and dark are two sides of the same thing, ordinary people are like the Buddha. The Buddha was also just like us. Even the length of the Buddha’s life was limited. He only lived to eighty years old. Eighty years is an average life span. The Buddha had a physical form, just like us. He went through birth, aging and illness. These are unchanging principles. The natural laws are the same for everyone, but we are deluded. Previously, we learned that the causes and effects of suffering come from the karma we have created in the past. When we experience painful results, the downward spiral is endless. If ordinary people remain unaware after enduring afflictions and suffering, they create more karma and sink deeper into painful retributions.
It is like carrying a large rock while trying to swim in the ocean. We sink deeper and deeper. Even if ordinary people do not manifest their innate awareness they still possess it. It just has not surfaced. So we must always remind ourselves to contemplate our bodies. In our past or present lives, we must have unconsciously created bad affinities and sown bad seeds. With bad causes and bad affinities, we experience a mixture of sorrow and joy. Luckily, we have a body we can use for spiritual cultivation. Sadly, we do not have good affinities with everyone.
So we may have afflicted thoughts. We must always be vigilant of the types of affinities we cultivate, which determine the types of afflictions we experience. We must always nurture thoughts of repentance. Then we plant fewer seeds of suffering, create fewer bad affinities, and increase our blessed causes and conditions.
When ignorance arises, if repentance also arises, one can eliminate evil causes and conditions, and blessed causes and conditions will increase.
Another hospital volunteer shared a story about a 98 year-old man. This old man suddenly fell down one day. When he fell, he immediately said “I’m sorry. I fell.” The first thing he said was an apology. “I’m sorry. I fell.” His family heard and rushed to his side. They immediately brought him to the hospital. The doctor determined that he broke his hip bone. Older people’s bodies do not withstand falls well. They admitted him to the hospital. The doctors considered whether to operate or not since he is so old. So they arranged a check-up first.
During that time, our volunteers saw how filial his children and grandchildren were. With the doctors, they discussed how to minimize his pain and how to restore his quality of life. Our Commissioners and volunteers saw how much they cherished him. They wanted to learn more about this family. One of his granddaughters-in-law told them, “Grandpa is so wonderful. His is very well-cultivated. Whenever we help him do something, he always says thank you. He always says good things. We don’t know how he fell.” The other volunteers were comforting the old man. When they heard what she said, they asked him, “Grandpa, we heard that you yelled sorry as you fell. Why did you that?”
He said, “As I fell, I first thought about how I would become a burden to my family because of this fall. My accident may add to their troubles, so I apologized.”
This old man has nurtured this good habit. He is always grateful to his family. Whenever they helped him, he always thanked them. He also took good care of his health. As he fell, he knew he would be a burden to them, so his first reaction was to apologize. You see, this is a habit, a good habit. He is always planting good seeds. With good habits, he always created good affinities. He is already 98 years old. I believe his family members cherish him and are filial because of his good habits. I believe he will have a successful treatment and smooth recovery.
In 2006, there was a woman at our hospital who was already 105 years old. She also fell and broke her bones. She was 105, but the medical team was able to operate. She also recovered. She visited me again during New Year. She was to be discharged, but she said, “No, I am waiting for Master Cheng Ten. I won’t leave until I see her.” She said she wanted to take refuge.
I said, “Then you have to be a Commissioner.”
Her daughter-in-law who was around 60 or 70 said, “Ok, if my mother-in-law becomes a Commissioner, I’ll collect the donations for her.”
You see, after this accident, we could see not only how well-cultivated she was, but also how filial her family was. Her simple way of life was to have an open heart and a pure mind. So she also taught us by example.
The 98-year-old grandfather was also well-cultivated. He has such longevity! Although he fell and broke his hip, with the care of the medical team and his filial family, he should recover. So in our daily lives, we should learn from these seniors. They are our teachers, too.
Moreover, when we hear the Dharma, we understand that our nature has the True Causes of Awakening. So why do we still allow ordinary afflictions to enter our minds? Having afflictions in our minds is like entering a dark forest where we cannot see the light. It will be difficult to maintain right thinking, right view and right understanding.
Everyone, we must always contemplate our bodies. Even when we can get out of bed, move about and breathe easily, we should recognize that the body is impure. Everything is impermanent and even-changing. When you came earlier, the sky was still dark. Now it is bright. Constant change is a law of nature. So we really have to safeguard our thoughts. We should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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