Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: We Illuminate Ourselves with the Mind’s Light (心光自照)
Life is a series of causes and conditions that give rise to thoughts. Those thoughts then guide our actions. Asvajit Bhiksu was walking along one day when Sariputra came outside and saw him. Seeing such a dignified and proper practitioner, he instantly became happy, and went over to say, “Your manner is so proper. May I ask who your teacher is? Who taught you to move in a manner so pleasing to others?”
Asvajit responded, “All things arise due to causes and conditions. All things cease due to causes and condition. Lord Buddha, the great Sramana, always teaches this.”
When Sariputra saw Asvajit looking so dignified and proper, and asked who his teacher was, Asvajit answered with that verse. Asvajit answered him, “My teacher was the Prince of Kapilavatsu Siddhartha practiced to enlighten all beings. He practiced to enlighten Himself, to understand the truth of the world. After He attained enlightenment, He expounded the Dharma He realized to everyone in the world.”
So, Sariputra asked, “How much Dharma did He use, how much time did it take for Him to train you to realize His teachings and truly embody them?”
Asvajit used these few simple phrases, “All things arise due to causes and conditions. All things cease due to causes and conditions. Lord Buddha, the great Sramana, always teaches this.”
In this way, Sariputra was inspired. Sariputra had a very good friend, Maudgalyayana. They were both Brahmins and each had 250 followers always by his side. Together, they had 500 followers. They made an agreement. “In our practice, it seems like comprehension of the Truth of the world is still far beyond our grasp. So, we must study hard or seek elsewhere. If you learn some great truth, you must tell me immediately. If I learn a great truth, I will tell you right away.”
So when Sariputra was stunned by the dignified manners of Asvajit and the passage he spoke, he gladly rushed to tell Maudgalyayana. “I have attained the Truth! I am so happy. I had to rush over to tell you that we have found a great teacher.” Then he told Maudgalyayana all about his encounter with Asvajit. Maudgalyayana had always respected Sariputra. Since Sariputra had heard a teaching that made him so happy, Maudgalyayana knew it would not be wrong. This was especially so because of what Sariputra had heard the monk say about his teacher, the Sramana, and His background. So a sense of respect arose in him as well. With the same path and mission, they brought their 500 followerS to the Buddha and asked to take refuge with Him.
From then on, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana followed the Buddha. They were a great boon to Buddhism. They became Buddha’s right and left hands, and helped to spread His teachings. His Sangha also grew by 500 bhiksus. This was also a result of causes and conditions. We keep talking about causes and conditions. We create causes and conditions through our every action.
Causes and conditions in our minds are also stimulated when we see others’ behavior. This is the View of Causes and Conditions. As I said earlier, if we can understand that all things arise due to causes and conditions, then we will have no attachments and no obstacles. When we obstruct ourselves or obstruct others, we create many afflictions. We seek to learn Buddha-Dharma.
Every day we explain the terminology of the Dharma. Everyone hopes to understand what method to use to overcome each type of affliction. I have explained the methods of treatment, but have you accepted and used them in daily life? If not, then you are still creating obstacles for yourself.
So, this passage tell us again that if we do not eliminate afflictions, they will obstruct us. We have obstacles to the [37] Practice to Enlightenment, to Mindfulness, Right Effort, Roots and Power, and Bases. We have obstacles to the expressed Eightfold Path and the unexpressed Seven Factors of Enlightenment.
This passage should be familiar to you. Together, these are the 37 Practice to Enlightenment. Mindfulness refers to the Fourfold Mindfulness. Right effort refers to Four Right Efforts. Bases refer to Four Bases of Spiritual Power. Last are the Five Roots and Five Powers. If we can mindfully work on understanding them, they can cure many afflictions and clarify many principles. If we have obstacles, our afflictions remain afflictions and we are still unclear on the Truth.
Next, if the Eightfold Right Path is obstructed, all our perspectives are skewed. We lost Right Understanding and Right View. So we must not be hindered. Right Understanding and View must be clear. If they are obstructed, our thinking and actions will easily go astray. These are all afflictions.
The Eightfold Right Path:
Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
The same applies to the 7 Factors of Enlightenment. How do we select the correct Dharma? How do we focus our minds? How can we be diligent? Having and choosing the right mindset are both part of the 7 Factors.
The Seven Factors (Braches) of Enlightenment:
the Factor of Discernment, the Factor of Diligence, the Factor of Joy, the Factor of Elimination, the Factor of Renunciation, the Factor of Samadhi, the Factor of Thought.
The teachings of the Eightfold Right Path are very obvious. What is Right View? It allows people to know their views are correct. If their thinking has not gone astray, it is very obvious. So it is “expressed.” If their views are incorrect and their thinking has gone astray, that is also apparent to everyone. So it is expressed; it is obvious. Whether something is right or wrong is very obvious and plain to see.
We can see when others’ understandings are wrong. Something like that is pretty obvious. The Eightfold Right Path is in our actions; it is the path we follow. So, it is expressed. The Seven Factors of Enlightenment are unexpressed. They exist mainly in our thinking. How we make choices depends on ourselves. Our choice is not apparent until we have acted on it.
So, if we are not diligent on this Path, we cannot really attain the Truth. In summary, something unexpressed remains within our minds; it is not apparent and has not been expressed. Something that is expressed manifests in actions and speech that others can acknowledge. It is displayed. The Factors of Enlightenment are not yet ready, so they are unexpressed. We are talking about our mental orientation, so we say “unexpressed afflictions.” These are the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. If there are obstacles to those practices, then our behavior will always be problematic, full of deviations and mistakes. So, practicing the 37 Practices to Enlightenment is very important. Everyone must value them. Do not create afflictions and thus obstacles to your practice of this Dharma.
Next it says, “We have obstacles to learning the Eight Liberations and the Nine Concentrations.” What are the Eight Liberations? The minds of sentient beings are bound. What binds us? Afflictions. Many afflictions bind us so we cannot open our minds and think positively. Thus they hinder the many paths to liberation. If we are to free ourselves from our bonds, we must be free from the afflictions that bind us. What kinds of thongs bind us? Deluded passions and desirous cravings. They are like a rope that binds us so that we cannot attain freedom. How do we loosen those bonds? We have to first let go. What are we letting go of? There are eight things, known as the Eight Abandonments, which I have explained in the past. These Eight Abandonments, are also called the Eight Liberations.
The Eight Abandonments are the Eight Liberations. They are eight types of meditation to eliminate the bonds of the afflictions of the Three Realms. This practice helps us attain perfect wisdom, eliminate the afflictions of the Three Realms and realize the fruit of Arhatship.
People are in a constant state of pursuit. They are always pursuing their desires. How do we reverse that? The Five Desires defile our minds. If we wish to end our pursuit of the Five Desires, we have to abandon them. If we do, then we can loosen our mental bonds. Otherwise, we continue to pursue those desires. If we can completely eliminate the Five Desires from our minds, and wash away those five types of defilements, our minds will be completely clean. If we believe this, we can eliminate those Five Desires and use perfect wisdom to eliminate the afflictive views and perceptions of the Three Realms. If we do not eliminate those Five Desires, perfect wisdom cannot arise, and we cannot eliminate afflictions of the Three Realms.
So, if we are faced with the Five Desires and cannot give rise to perfect wisdom, and we cannot rid ourselves of the afflictive views and perceptions, we will be bound. If we want to be free, we must first eliminate the five Desires. Then naturally, our Flawless Wisdom, which is the wisdom free from afflictions, can be manifested.
Our perfect, Flawless Wisdom can arise. We are all in the Three Realms, the Desire Realm, Form Realm, Formless Realm. Throughout our many lives, we migrate between them. If we cannot transcend them, the Nine Concentrations cannot appear, and attaining the fruit of Arhatship will be difficult. So, we must practice the Eight Liberations. We must clearly understand them.
Really, understanding them is simple. Don’t we always talk about the Five Desires? Though the Five Desires are simple to understand, if we do not eliminate them, perfect wisdom cannot arise. If perfect wisdom cannot arise, we remain in the Desire Realm. If we cannot even transcend the Desire Realm, how can we even think of the Form Realm and Formless Realm?
So, these obstacles and bonds exist in our minds due to our afflictions. If we can open our minds, we can leave these Five Desires far behind. So, let us not hinder ourselves. Learning Dharma is learning to open our minds and understand the Truth. If afflictions and desires arises, obstacles will immediately appear.
When we are seeking the way of the Buddha, we must always understand the Truth. To do that, we should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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