Lecturer: Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Hear Dharma and See the Sangha to Inspire Faith (聞法見僧啟信心)
Time passes quickly and people age rapidly. So, we must now quickly treasure our bodies and minds and truly take good care of them. The body is a vessel for spiritual practice. When we are willing to give, we ourselves benefit, so we should truly cherish having this human body and the opportunity to give.
It is rare to be born human and obtain the Six Rarities. It is difficult to obtain all Six Rarities. What are the Six Rarities? The Dharma as Water repentance verses read, “In the Sutras, the Buddha said it is rare to be born human, hear the Dharma, meet the Sangha, have faith, be born with healthy Six Roots and have benevolent friends.” That is what the text states.
Everyone should carefully contemplate it. Are our present causes and conditions complete? First, “It is rare to be born human.” The body is the accumulation of suffering and it is also the vessel for spiritual practice. We often say that man’s greatest liability is the body. When we have a body, suffering accumulates.
We have mentioned that the eyes, ear, nose, tongue and body arouse our Mind-root. This is the beginning of much misfortune. Because we do not understand the truth, we remain ignorant and create many negative karmic affinities. This is all because of the body.
In Sutras, the Buddha explained the Six Rarities. First is the rarity of being born human. The body is the accumulation of all suffering and it is the vessel for spiritual practice. The latter five Rarities are rooted in the body.
Putting aside everything else and just talking about the body, let us think. As we grow old, our eyesight deteriorates, and we can no longer see clearly. It is hard not being able to see clearly in our daily living. In order to see things clearly, we must be very mindful.
What about our hearing? With age, our hearing also worsens. We may be aware of people talking, but unable to tell whether their words are kind or unkind, right or wrong. So, we may become suspicious.
With old age, we also lose our teeth, and it becomes hard to eat.
Our sense of smell is also not as sharp.
Moreover, the body suffers from illnesses. Sickness is very painful. Those who have been ill know this suffering.
So, we know that the body accumulates suffering. Even the ignorant afflictions of our minds arise from the body coming in contact with external conditions. This gives rise to so many afflictions.
Actually, illnesses afflict us even more. Age and illness are both suffering. Yet the body is the vessel for spiritual practice. Because we have this body, we understand the need for spiritual practice. So, the human form is rare to obtain. Although it is rare, the latter five Rarities are dependent upon the body, because one needs a body to hear the Buddha-Dharma, meet with the Sangha and so on. We will explain those later.
Since we have a human body in this world, we have the opportunity to encounter the Dharma. You can see, although other animals may live in the same environment as we do, like our Da-Bao or Shan-Lai, they have been born as different life forms. This cat and this dog are unable to pay respect to the Buddha and hear the Dharma like we can each morning.
So, with this human form, we can listen to the Buddha-Dharma and assemble with the Sangha. With a human form, it is not hard to hear Dharma, and to assemble with the Sangha. It would be impossible to do so without this body.
But even with this body, listening to the Dharma is still not easy. There are several billion people on this Earth, and many different religions. It is rare for people to know of the Buddha-Dharma. There are even fewer who know of it and are willing to receive it. So if you think about it, you know that not all those with human forms can hear the Buddha-Dharma.
So, since we have obtained these bodies, we should earnestly use them as the vessels for our spiritual practice. Then we can attain the Five Rarities. We should cherish our human forms. If we do so, we can use our bodies to live more valuable lives than we would if we had negative beliefs. We should be grateful for this value.
To attain the Five Rarities, one must first cherish the body. Only as a human can one hear the Dharma and encounter the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
We have obtained human forms and encountered the Buddha-Dharma. This is because we have our bodies. So shouldn’t we be grateful for our body? It allows us to take action and give. So I often say I am grateful. The word gratefulness encompasses everything. I am grateful for the causes and conditions to be born in this era. I am grateful to have the good affinities to gather here with everyone. I am grateful that in this environment, I do not need to worry about anything. This place is like spring all year long. I often speak of global warming. Those with knowledge on this topic understand that the climates are increasingly abnormal as the Earth is continually damaged. However, we should still be grateful and seize the present moment. We must not allow our bodies to do wrong, or allow ignorance to contaminate our minds. This is cherishing the body. The three evils of the body and four evils of speech are all created by the body.
So, we should really cherish our body. It allows us to hear the Dharma. If I ask you now, have you heard the Buddha-Dharma? Yes, you have. What did you hear it with? With your ears? Where are your ears? On the body. The Five Roots are all within the body. Then there is the mind, which is the Sixth Root. When the mind combines with the Five Roots, we can listen to the Dharma.
Since we are willing to listen to Dharma, we can draw close the Sangha. After understanding Buddha-Dharma, we will cherish the opportunity to be in a practice center and meet the Sangha.
Some people with greater wisdom know they need to cleanse their bodies and minds. They view the body as impure and impermanent. They want to move beyond the limited scope of family life. So, they become monastics. Being close to the Sangha is not as good as becoming part of the Sangha. With a world-transcending spirit, they practice in this training ground, thus forming the Sangha.
Listening to the Dharma and drawing close to the Sangha can inspire our faith. With proper faith, one transcends worldly cleverness.
By listening to the Dharma and drawing close to the Sangha, we can truly inspire and solidify our faith, and have Right Faith and Right Thinking. In short, if the Eightfold Noble Path, the Four Right Efforts, or any part of the 37 Practices to Enlightenment are applied in our daily living, Right Faith will arise. With Right Faith, we can transcend worldly cleverness. I often say that we do not teach others to simply gain knowledge, we also teach them to gain wisdom. There are many knowledgeable criminals, but with wisdom they would not commit crimes. So we should have Right Faith to transcend worldly cleverness.
Some people are very knowledgeable. They understand astronomy and geography. They can also lecture about them. But when ignorance arises, they are still filled with afflictions. This is worldly cleverness. Some people may have much worldly knowledge and can quickly and eloquently debate on any topic. However, true principles do not enter their minds.
If one allows Right Faith to enter the mind, one sees everything clearly. What is the most important thing in this world? Our mission to serve people. This is the Buddha’s mission. When we shoulder this important mission, we must save all sentient beings in the world. Do we really need to fight over trivial matters?
As mentioned, we fight for fame, advantage and material wealth. Once we become ill, what do we wish for? Health. For the sake for material objects, wealth, fame, career, etc., we create so much suffering. All the pain, resentment and hatred in life is no longer important when life comes to an end. What is left is life after life of torment.
As we practice now, we have an important mission. We should see our mission clearly instead of fighting over insignificant matters and resentments. So, we should understand that worldly cleverness is truly a big impediment to our Six Roots. Let us look at the next verse of the text.
“Because of good roots from the past, we have obtained this human form and our Six Roots are all healthy. We are close with our virtuous friends, and we can listen to the Right Dharma.”
We have attained the Six Rarities that are difficult for most people to attain. But it was not so difficult for us. We have now heard Right Dharma. But we have to be very clear that worldly cleverness impedes our Six Roots. Even if our Six Roots are all healthy, if there is any impediment, it is like they are incomplete.
For example, some of you who are sitting here have human forms and have heard the Buddha–Dharma, but still have not eliminated afflictions. As afflictions constantly arise in our minds, we are attached, confused and constantly taking issue over things.
Worldly cleverness is the great impediment of the Six Roots. With this impediment, though one’s Six Roots are healthy, it is as if they are incomplete.
So, we should have benevolent friends. We have heard the Buddha–Dharma, met the Sangha, and we have healthy Six Roots. Yet we also must always be in a good environment, with mutual motivation and encouragement. Everyone is our mirror. Every person’s face, every person’s actions, every person’s spiritual cultivation are all mirror for us. That is why they are called spiritual friends, or benevolent friends.
In order for us to attain the causes and conditions of the path, benevolent friends allow us to affirm and solidify our faith. These are great causes and conditions. So, I often say that we must work among others. Each person is a Sutra for us. Whether they are our spiritual friends or adverse conditions that aid our practice, if we maintain Right Faith, they all provide helpful conditions for us. But it is even better if we can meet, pure and benevolent friends. If we have Right Faith, even challenging conditions can be used to help develop our unwavering resolve. So we need these great conditions to practice. They are truly difficult to attain.
Spiritual friends are the conditions for practice. Benevolent friends are spiritual friends. They are rare to find.
So now, we should be very grateful that in the past we created blessings and thus have developed deep roots of goodness and have been born with a healthy and complete human form. Our Six Roots are still healthy; we can see and hear clearly, our teeth, nose, body, etc., are all healthy. So, our Six Roots are complete. Also, we have met our spiritual friends. So, we possess all the conditions we need to enables us to hear Right Dharma. So, we should be very grateful.
Everyone, we should truly be thankful to learn Buddha’s Way. We must cherish the human forms we have obtained Human forms are precious. The Six Rarities are hard to obtain. It is rare to have faith in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, rare to have all Six Roots be healthy, and rare to encounter benevolent friends. Everyone, we have attained all of this. So, we should take care of our hearts. Do not allow them to form bad affinities in your relationships. We should be spiritual friends for each other and practice together on this path. So, we should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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