Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: When Dharma Enters the Mind, We Attain Dharma-joy (妙法入心 得善法樂)
The Buddha said, “Practice the Path I practice. Teach the Dharma I teach. Though you are far away, it is like we are in the same room.”
This means that if the path we practice is what He taught, if we practice accordingly, we are putting the Sutras into practice. Reading Sutras is not as good as practicing them. Let us practice the Path the Buddha taught.
The Buddha also said, “Teach the Dharma I teach.” If you want to teach others, listen to the way Buddha expounded the Dharma, and then speak according to these methods. People promote the Path, it cannot promote itself. You have to share it after you hear it.
Although we are far away from the Buddha, if we follow this Path and speak these words, it is like we are in the same room as Him. We are not far apart, it is like we are by His side. So, if we can practice the Buddha’s truths, and teach and promote His Dharma, He is in our minds.
Don’t I often say we should “keep the Buddha in our hearts and the Dharma in our actions.” The principle is the same. I often tell everyone, “Speak good words and wondrous Dharma will enter your minds.” If we can transform the pain of afflictions, we can attain Dharma-joy. Everyone, if we often speak good words, those good words are wondrous Dharma. The more good words we speak, the happier we feel. We will keep forgetting our afflictions. The listeners will be very happy, too. People can change bad habits after hearing these words.
So, speak good words, and wondrous Dharma enters your mind. Transform the pain of afflictions, and attain Dharma-joy.
In 2005, from Taiwan we called on Tzu Chi volunteers around the world to help New Orleans. That wave of volunteers in Taiwan worked very hard. On October 30, 2005, we held a huge fundraiser in Kaohsiung, at a sports arena in the San-min district. Besides the charity sale, we set up a stage, like those used for outdoor theater. The listeners sat under the open sky. That day it drizzled around evening. The speaker that day was Jing-yang, from Taipei, who shared her story of “the seedless watermelon.” She has been through a lot in her life.
She was the daughter of a rich family. She married into a Japanese family. Her mother-in-law was Japanese so she wanted to teach her Japanese rules and etiquette. However, Jing-yang was born in Taiwan. Her family was rich with many servants so growing up she did not have to do anything.
Thus, when she married into that type of family, she was very vexed. Life in this family was not easy, but this was her karmic causes and conditions.
After she joined Tzu Chi, she often came to hear me speak. She was also a teacher, so her ability to express herself was great, as was her ability to absorb and remember what she heard. She learned very quickly. She knew that before trying to change others, she had to start with herself. She changed her household management habits. She looked for ways to serve her husband, ways to swallow and endure her anger and bring out her gentle and considerate side.
Her story was quite engaging. She told that story under the open sky. But as the rain grew heavier, she said, “The rain is so heavy, you will get wet. Don’t you want to wait till the rain lets up before we continue?” Some said, “No, we want to stay, we can deal with the weather. If it rains, we still want to be here. We want to be in harmony with heaven and earth.”
So keep speaking and we will keep listening.”
Everyone held up their umbrellas in the rain to hear the story of the seedless watermelon.
You see, the person speaking practices the path I practice, teaches the Dharma I teach. She spoke good words, so wondrous Dharma entered people’s hearts. Otherwise, everyone would have left when it began raining; she never would have had to say, “The rain is heavy, everyone will get wet. Should we wait for it to stop?”
See, no one wanted to leave, so they continued on. This is how wondrous Dharma enters the mind. By sharing her experiences to bring others joy, she had transformed her afflictions, as well. The listeners were also very happy.
So, we must learn the Dharma the Buddha expounded. We cannot just listen, we have to speak it, too. Not only should we speak it, we need to transform our minds. If we do not transform our minds, and just repeat exactly what we hear, it is no use. She used the Dharma she heard to transform her own mindset. She did it and then told her story to others. This is truly wondrous Dharma.
So when we hear correctly, speak correctly and carry it out, that is wondrous Dharma. Earlier we talked about the Four Evils of Speech. Now we should know that since there are the Four Evils of Speech, there are also four types of kind speech. Let us speak carefully. Blessings are the joy we gain from taking action. We have to practice with our body, use our mouths to speak. Then we can feel very happy. So if we do the right things and say the right words, we will be very happy.
This section of the repentance text says, “We vow to repent all afflictions caused by the Four Evil Karma of Speech. With the merits and virtues that arise life after life we will have the Eight Tones [of Buddha’s voice].” We vow to repent the Four Evils of Speech. If we do, with the merits and virtues that arise, we will “have the Eight Tones life after life.”
The Eight Tones of the Buddha’s Voice: Beautiful Tone, Soft Tone, Soothing Tone, Respectful and Wise Tone, Not Effeminate Tone, Unerring Tone, Deep Tone and Uninterrupted Tone.
These are His Eight Tones. First is Beautiful Tone. The Buddha sounded very pleasant, beautiful.
Second is Soft Tone. When stubborn sentient beings heard His voice, their hearts would soften.
Third is Soothing Tone. His tone was very moderate, not too high or too low. It was just right. Even if we heard this tone up close, we would not feel that it was too loud. So this tone was very soothing.
Fourth was Respectful and Wise Tone. It did not sound mundane or vulgar. So when people heard it they felt respectful. When people heard His voice, it inspired them to develop wisdom so they could understand and see through things. People respected and accepted it. His tone could reveal the truth of afflictions.
Fifth is Not Effeminate Tone. He did not sound toot coy or feminine. Though His voice was gentle, it was not effeminate.
Sixth is Unerring Tone. Unerring Tone means He did not make mistakes when He spoke. He never misspoke, He never said the wrong thing or said anything incorrectly. Not at all. So His tone was unerring.
Seventh is Deep Tone. Deep Tone is similar to harmonious tone. It would not seem loud if we heard it up close, yet we could still hear it clearly from far away. This is Deep Tone. The truth is deep and profound. Something may sound very simple, but it encompasses very deep truths. This is also Deep Tone.
Eight is Uninterrupted Tone. No matter how long He talked, He was not thirsty. When we see someone lecture, we see them speak and then quickly sip the tea in front of them. When the Buddha taught Dharma, when He spoke, He did not rest and did not get thirsty. That is truly not easy. These are the Buddha’s Eight Tones.
If we can cultivate our speech, we will not speak harshly, lie, flatter or gossip. If we turn away from these evils not only will we not use harsh words, we will speak kind and loving words. Not only will we not gossip, we will bring harmony to people’s relationships. Not only will we not flatter, we will speak honestly. Not only will we not lie, everything that we say will be the truth.
With practice we transform these Four Evils into four types of kind speech and the Eight Tones. Besides the Eight Tones, we also “attain the Four Unhindered Powers of Eloquence, always speak harmonious and beneficial words so that all are happy to hear these clear and graceful sounds.”
The Four Unhindered Powers of Eloquence are Unhindered Eloquence in explaining the meaning, Unhindered Eloquence in speaking the Dharma, Unhindered Eloquence in phrasing speech, Unhindered Eloquence in speaking with joy.
When we speak, our meaning must be unhindered. If we are lacking in reason, we cannot continue. We need reason to have unhindered eloquence in explaining meanings. There also has to be Dharma. When we promote the Dharma with reason and without obstructions, we can talk unceasingly. Besides eloquence phrasing our rhetoric, we also have to speak joyfully, happily. We really should speak more kind words and promote true Dharma more often. So, we should speak eloquently with unhindered joy.
When we speak, let us always speak with these four types of kind speech including having harmonious speech. This means that we need to practice. We must be truthful, simple, sincere and gentle. When we speak to others, we want to use this method of speaking. Let us speak words that are truthful, honest, simple, and gentle as well. Always counsel others toward harmony.
Only then do we create the Four Kind Speech and attain the Four Powers of Eloquence. Everything we do when we learn Buddhism is to benefit sentient beings. Everything we say must benefit all beings. Do not assume that only humans hear us speak. No, spiritual beings also hear us.
People say, “There are spirits hovering over us.” When we speak, spiritual beings are listening. When we speak good words, bad words, true words, words that harm sentient beings, words that alienate others’ feelings, humans are not the only ones listening. There are spirits three inches above our heads. We want to universally benefit all beings.
In our daily living when we deal with people ant matters, besides seeing our physical appearance, others also hear our voices. So, let us be cautious when we do things. We should always do good and refrain from evil. We must absolutely not do evil. Let us always happily speak good words.
If we are about to speak evil words, we must cut them off immediately. Speaking is also a habit. If we often hurt other people’s feelings when we speak, even if it is unintentional, it is still a negative habitual tendency. Even unintentionally hurting others creates karmic causes and effects.
Do not think, “Master says it was unintentional, so don’t worry.” No, I say that to the person who was hurt. I counsel him, “He did not mean it. Do not keep thinking about it.”
For the person whose words hurt somebody, the harm was already caused, and there will be karmic effects. Do not assume that you can just apologize and everything will be fine. It will not pass that easily. Whether he misunderstood or you made a mistake, even if you make up, and have a good relationship, that karmic cause and effect still exists. So Heaven and Earth are listening to us.
When we speak, you are not just speaking to me. When you speak to me, there are spirits three inches above your head. When you speak, if you what you say is flattery or gossip, I may not be able to tell, but these spirits can.
Everyone, speak carefully. When we speak, we must use the four types of kind speech, which are being harmonious, truthful, simple, and gentle.
With these four types of speech we benefit humans and heavenly beings. Other spiritual beings are also listening. When we speak, humans are not the only ones listening. We have to speak sincerely and honestly, from the heart, to benefit all humans and heavenly beings. Everyone, when speaking, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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