Lecturer: Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: A Simple Body and Mind Protects Our Health (身心簡樸保安康)
Let us cherish time in our daily living. Everything accumulates over time. So we should be careful of how we value and use our lives. If we only live for our bodies, for enjoyment, we are wasting time and not using the body our parents gave us well. An empty life is meaningless.
Should we enjoy our bodies or use them to truly contribute to humanity and practice self-cultivation? People who are well-cultivated are giving. This kind of love is a love for our planet. No matter what, let us love and protect everything in the world, especially the lives of sentient beings. We are alive, and so are sentient beings. Humans are the most sentient of all living beings, so we must cherish all beings.
Therefore, we want to coexist with everything in the world. As the most sentient of all living begins, we must cherish other living beings even more. Many people think they came to the Human Realm for enjoyment, to see how many things they could consume. They show off their money, influence and power by consuming many living beings. This is truly a foolish life.
I read a report about a popular dessert. A tiny portion costs tens of thousands of dollars. What is it? It is just something that tastes sweet. What is the flavor like? I do not know, because I have not tasted it. But, I do feel that although these people are not eating other sentient beings, they are wasting a lot of money. This extravagance is wasteful. This money is better used to help others.
Everyone says that the economy is not good. Is that so? Actually it is our minds that have gone astray. Why are people still eating living beings? Honestly, for healthy bodies, we should eat simply and be vegetarian. We can be simple, eat unrefined and healthy foods. Then each meal will make the body healthier. As long as it is has enough nutrition, simple food is good. Grains and cereals are the true delicacies. Look at how much the world loves and protects us. There are so many things we can choose to eat. Easterners eat rice. Westerners eat flour and noodles. Poorer people in mountainous regions will eat barley. Those even poorer eat corn. What about the poorest? It hurts to hear this, but they will eat anything that is green.
So in summary, grains and cereals can keep our bodies healthy. They are the best food. If we can live simply and be vegetarian, simple foods like vegetables and grains will be delicacies for us. So, if our bodies and minds are happy, we are in the best health. If our minds are healthy, we are most fortunate. If we are always happy, we are at peace. Isn’t this a most blessed life? So, a healthy body and mind is very important for our daily living.
Live simply and be vegetarian, then simple foods like vegetables and grains will be delicacies. A happy body and mind maintains good health.
Unfortunately, modern people are not healthy in body and mind. They always complete for enjoyment, for wealth, lust, fame, food and sleep. They crave wealth. Who doesn’t love money? They haggle over everything. Businessmen haggle for slightly higher profits. Employees haggle for slightly higher salaries. Even these benefits may cause harm.
The body creates a lot of karma in the pursuit of self-interest. There is also lust. Lust between men and women is created by the body. The attachment arises in the mind, and then the body will pursue it. Often in society, improper cravings between men and women ruin people’s reputations and even break up families. That is lust.
Next is fame. Are people born to attain fame? If we are, then we should protect our good reputations. Some people ask me, “Master, you don’t care about fame?”
I said, “I care about my reputation. I care about protecting my good name. I don’t dare make a mistake and sully my clean reputation.” If we truly seek fame, then we must protect ourselves. Do not cross the fundamental boundaries.
If you do, you will ruin your good name. Then there will be no fame to speak of. Let us look at what happens when people seek fame. So many people become negative; who isn’t fighting for recognition? They compete for status, for reputation. Does it make them happy? It makes them tired. Competing for status is like being on a battlefield. It hurts others and does not benefit ourselves. So what is the big deal about fame?
Next is striving for food. As I just said, people consume many animals, with many types of extremely cruel methods. Some boil them alive or peel off their skin before killing them. This is so cruel. They do it for this orifice under their nose, for their three inch tongues. Think about this kind of cruelty. It is terrible. Do you think these people will end up in Hell?
Next is sleep. How much time do we have to indulge in sleep? In our practice, we gain back so much time [from not indulging]. Time is most precious. Everyone says, “I want to live a long life.” People who crave sleep live the shortest lives. When they are asleep, they do not know anything.
Some call death a “long sleep.”
I call sleep a “small death.” Going to bed around 10 or 11 PM and waking up around 3 AM is the time for my small death. If we stay in the “small death” too long, it is a sign that the body is ill. When it lasts even longer, it is the “long sleep”. Do you know what the “long sleep” is?
So in life, having good health gives us useful time. If we are healthy, we can use our time to do good. Look, the wake-up board awakens us before 4 AM. From the time we wake up until now, we sincerely pay our respects to Buddha and calmly meditate. Afterwards, we share with each other, to learn about worldly matters, to know the truth of everything, and to understand the states of our minds. You see, we use this time to nurture our Wisdom-life. Our bodies are healthy. People who wake up earl can breathe fresh air. People who wake up later breathe dirtier air. So, waking up early is good for body and mind. Happy bodies and minds lead to the best health. Do not create these five roots of Hell. If we crave wealth, lust, fame, food and sleep, we will definitely descend into Hell. It may be a formless Hell, a spiritual Hell or a living Hell. We have to seize time to train our bodies and minds and extend our Wisdom-life.
If we crave wealth, lust, fame, food and sleep, we will easily descend into Hell. We should seize the moment to train our bodies and minds and extend our Wisdom-life.
So, the Dharma is as Water. The repentance text says, “May the virtues gained through repentance enable my nose to always smell the Fragrant-land and enter the Dharma-stage, to transcend the unclean stench of life and death.”
From this section we know we have to take care of our bodies. We often talk about the cooking volunteers. These volunteers use our instant rice, vegetable, roots, grains and cereals to create flavorful delicacies.
In the past we consumed so many lives with our mouths and tongues. So the repentance text tells us to constantly repent. Before we knew the truth, we consumed many living beings and created much karma. We have already repented and repentance brings purity. After we repent, we turn evil into good. With our mouths, not only do we become vegetarian to maintain good health, we also speak good words. We can promote the Buddha-dharma. We can counsel others and open the doors to their minds with the principles. Everything we speak will be the truths left behind by ancient sages, which all benefit humanity. This is also very important.
The nose is also important. When some people smell things, they say, “I love to eat this; I love to eat that,” and so on. That is also wrong. Whether with the nose or tongue, we cannot let fragrances or flavors entice us. When we smell, we want to “smell the Fragrant-land, enter the Dharma-stage.”
The lay practitioner Vimalakirti once asked the Tathagata for alms. So the text says that the lay practitioner Vimalakirti, collecting alms, asked for food from the Tathagata and said, “I only pray that the Tathagata grants me a small amount of food.” He begged for food from the Boddha, praying that He grant him spiritual food and carry out the Buddha’s mission for the Saha-world.
This “food “is Dharma. The lay practitioner Vimalakirti was already approaching the Tenth Ground. He practiced and upheld Dharma. He was already a realized Bodhisattva so he took the appearance of a lay practitioner. He came to teach and guide sentient beings. The Dharma he expounded contained some profound teachings of the Buddha. So when he saw the Buddha, he begged Buddha to give him food for his Wisdom-life. Wondrous Dharma and the truth are nourishment for our Wisdom-life. So, he sought guidance from the Buddha to nurture his Wisdom-life and carry out the Buddha’s mission for the Saha-world. People spread the Dharma; it cannot spread itself. So, the Buddha’s Wondrous Dharma could enter Vimalakirti’s mind. The lay practitioner Vimalakirti could further spread the Buddha’s Dharma and teach to help transform other lay practitioners.
We have to develop the Four All-embracing Virtues. Among them is working together, as well as giving, beneficial conduct and kind words. Vimalakirti appeared as a lay practitioner. It was easy for him to enter the community and talk to everyone. But he also begged for Dharma from the Buddha. He exuded the Fragrance of Dharma and Virtue, which is the most fragrant scent. People feel this is not a worldly, describable fragrance, but one that is formless and unable to be named. I can only tell you this is the fragrance of Dharma and virtue. From the Buddha‘s virtues, we ask for the fragrance of wondrous Dharma.
In learning Buddhism, we request Dharma every day. If we are diligent, we seek Dharma from the ancients and hear Dharma from current sages. It does not matter how old someone is, if we look at everyone with Buddha-minds, everyone is a Buddha or Bodhisattva. So this is a most joyful and healthy mindset.
It is fairly simple to nurture the body, just eat healthy vegetarian food. With simpler lives, we do not need to strive for fame and wealth. We can eat simply. Vegetables and roots, grains and cereals, can all provide nutrients to our bodies. Most importantly, a happy body and mind are in great health. If the body is healthy we are fortunate. If the mind is happy we are at peace. So, let us make the best use of our time; and always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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