Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Believe in the Karmic Law of Cause and Effect (正信因緣果報)
Everything we have been discussing recently in the text of Dharma As Water is telling us not to lie. Our mouths create four types of karma: harsh words, lies, flattery and gossip.
Yesterday we already said that flattery is overly beautifying the things that we say. Our intention may not be good, but we mask it with pleasing words. This can hurt people.
So can alcohol and sexual misconduct, which we also discussed yesterday. We use words to manipulate or deceive others, or to guide them to the wrong place. For our own financial gain, we manipulate other to take drugs, drink alcohol or gamble. These are all misuses of words to guide people towards bad behavior and delude their minds. This is wrong. It is negative speech karma.
Some even lead others to superstition. When they are sick, they go to a spirit-medium to change their fate and make sacrifices. If going to a spirit-medium could cure us, why would we need medical services? We would not need to build large hospitals or conduct research in medical schools. How does illness arise? What microorganisms elicit diseases? We need to target the disease with proper medicine.
Some people direct patients to folk remedies. These are very expensive. Those people say it works, and has cured so-and-so completely.
I remember there was a man in a good family, prominent in promoting social causes in Taiwan. After he got cancer, he went to hospitals of all sizes. Even though medicine has its limits, patients still need quick and proper treatment. Someone took him to drink a special water and take special medicines. Those treatments were very expensive. It cost him more than NT$30,000 each time. During the treatment, that person said, “If you take my medicine, you cannot undergo any other forms of treatment.” This delayed his proper medical treatment to the point that doctors could not do anything.
I was dismayed. I kept saying, “You have to listen to the doctors.”
He said, “People say so-and-so’s treatments are very good. They say if I take it, my body will respond well.”
He firmly believed that until it was clearly not working, and he could not stand it any longer. So, he returned to the doctors. The doctors could only control his pain, and in the end, they could not even control that. Not only was his pain uncontrollable, but he also became very mentally confused. His brain was poisoned by the disease, so he had lost control of his mind.
It is sad that he lost so much time because of a single mistaken thought. After his illness was discovered, though medical treatment was going to be slow, there were no other options available. The suggested treatments made him fearful, so when someone nudged him in a different direction, he followed and the course became irreversible. Although he was not very old, he lost his life this way. He suffered a long time and spent a lot of money, but he could not be saved.
So we often say not to let someone lead you to a treatment that you do not understand, simply based on hearsay. Though they meant well, they end up causing a delay in timely treatment. This is not acceptable, even with the best intentions. Let us be more vigilant.
If we hear something like this, we should guide them in the direction of proper treatment. We ourselves must be careful [not to be misled], let alone guide others into superstitions. If going to mediums to change fate or calm spirits could really allow us to overcome challenges, would there still be karmic cause and effect?
I often tell everyone, and I mentioned this earlier, that we must believe in cause and effect. Have the right belief in karmic retribution. Do not guide others to something you do not know. Do not lie for the sake of fame or fortune, or incite others with flattery so that they “lose themselves to alcohol and lust, and cannot return to themselves.” Once they are deluded, they cannot change even if we want them to.
During the Opium War, the British wanted the Chinese to become dispirited and lose their will. So, they used opium to control people. But later, wealthy people who did not want their children to go out and get drunk, live a life of excessive indulgence or run away, fed opium to their children. When children were controlled by opium, though they did not go outside, they just lay in bed all day and could not give up the opium. Opium is poison, it is a drug. Being tormented b drugs is very painful. This happened to more than just a few people. All of China was contaminated with opium, so for a period of time China kept deteriorating. Countries did this to each other all for the sake of profit and trade. Throughout the history of international relations this has happened many times.
So we need religion. What is our mission in life? We have to be educated about the correct path. We have to walk the right path. The Buddha opened this eight-lane road, a broad and spacious path. He called it the Eightfold Noble Path.
Let us all follow the Eightfold Noble Path. Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, etc., are all about being righteous.
So I often tell you about the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, which are the foundation for our practice. So, everyone must often read the book, “The 37 Practices to Enlightenment.” The Buddha tirelessly taught them to us so that our thinking will not deviate, so that our life returns to the right path. These practices also let us understand what we can or cannot do, and what we can or cannot say.
We can create tremendous disasters by opening our mouths just once. These teachings are all part of the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. If a person is not careful, and does not receive these teachings, he can be easily misguided with a single phrase.
The Sutra of Infinite Meanings also warns us. If we understand the 37 Practices to Enlightenment and the truths of the Sutra of Infinite Meanings in our daily livings, we will work with people and practice the Bodhisattva path with the Buddha-mind. Sentient beings commit the Ten Evils. As long as we approach them with the truths from the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, we see, in the Chapter on Ten Merits, those without kindness become kind, those without compassion develop compassion, those who steal become giving and so on.
The Chapter on Ten Merits is about transforming evil into good. Doing good creates merits.
Loving-kindness arises in those who are not kind. Compassion arises in those who enjoy killing. Joy arises in those who are very jealous. Equanimity arises in those defiled by attachment. Giving arises in those who are stingy or greedy. – The Sutra of Infinite Meanings.
How are we guided toward merits and virtues? How do we practice? How do we create merits and virtues? Through inner cultivation and external practice. Internally, we humble ourselves and shrink our ego. This is like what we said before about lying; we claim to have attained something we have not. We claim to have reached enlightenment or attained a high level when we have not. We delude others with fallacies all so that they will respect and esteem us, and make offerings to us. It is all for this.
We just discussed this. So, language is very important. If we go slightly astray and guide others to “lose themselves to alcohol and lust” they cannot go back. They know it is wrong. But abstaining and changing is difficult.
Even quitting betel nuts is difficult. There are many people
who would be okay giving up food, but cannot stand giving up betel nuts. We tell people to quit smoking. Even doctors say they should quit for their health and for the safety of their family. They are even told to avoid secondhand smoke. “If you smoke, your wife and kids will be harmed by the smoke that you have exhaled.”
For a long time I have heard that smoking is bad for one’s health. So I tell everyone not to smoke. There are so many carcinogens in a cigarette. This is easy to say, but quitting is difficult.
So I always say that our Faith Corps members are spiritual warriors. Those who chewed betel nuts quit chewing. Those who smoked quit smoking. Those who drank quit drinking. Those who gambled quit gambling.
Though the initial period of abstention is hard, as long as they are on the right path and are determined , they can successfully quit.
Look at how many people cannot quit cigarettes and betel nuts, not to mention drugs.
When we listen to addicts describe what it is like to quit drugs, they say, “Do you know how painful it is to quit? It feels like 10,000 worms crawling in your body.” That pain is so unbearable that they want to bash their heads against the wall. Quitting is very painful. Why do they start taking drugs? There are people who sell drugs. Some fall onto the wrong path and then drag others down, one after another until they “cannot return to themselves.” They cannot go back.
If they do, they gamble with their lives. They have to be firm ad strong-willed. They have to grit their teeth and remain strong. Some people finally quit, but as soon as others beckon them, hey jump right back in.
Think about how painful it is to be irreversibly poisoned.
Alcohol and lust are like this. Some desire beauty and forsake their country. Once women mesmerize them, they ruin their own nation. Look at how many unprincipled rulers caused their citizens to suffer because of lust.
Everyone, these kinds of words and seductive attitude are all considered flattery. Some writers are excessively obscene. Their novels or essays describe lewd behavior. This falls under lies and flattery. Written words can influence people, spoken words can incite others and lead to suffering.
Everyone, lies ,flattery ,and gossip truly cause many disasters to befall families, societies and countries. When this orifice below our nose opens, many disasters may be created, and many diseases may enter.
So we must really control it well. We have to be sincere and speak honestly. If we are not honest, we create four kinds of negative speech karma. We ruin our character and bring chaos to society and country. So, guard your mouths well.
Everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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