Lecturer: Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Listen to the Buddha-Dharma Insatiably (聽聞佛法無厭足)
Yesterday we said that attaining human form and hearing the Buddha-Dharma is a rare opportunity. It is not easy to attain the Six Rarities. So, we should be more diligent in listening to the Right Dharma.
It is rare to be born human, to encounter the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, to be born healthy with the Six Roots complete, to have right faith and to meet benevolent friends. We are very blessed to have attained these Six Rarities. So, we should seize theses causes and conditions of being human and hearing Right Dharma to practice mindfully and diligently.
In the Bee King Sutra, there is a passage that reads, “The Buddha-Dharma is like nectar; one can listen to it insatiably. One must not be indolent, as that has no benefits. Being reborn in the Five Realms is like falling into the mud.”
With these short Sutra verses, we understand that it is rare to hear Right Dharma. The Buddha-Dharma is like nectar; we should be joyful when we hear it. Do not think that you have already heard a lot and already know everything. This gives rise to an indolent mind. Although we may know the Dharma, we have not internalized it so we cannot correct our negative habitual tendencies. We must change our habitual tendencies. All of our past negative conduct and speech has led to the creation of habitual tendencies. After hearing the Dharma, we understand that these habits are unwholesome and not beneficial to us. So, we should start changing them now.
This is part of our spiritual practice, developing good habits to replace bad ones. So, we should continue to listen, alert ourselves and remind ourselves. We should listen to the Dharma insatiably each day. But it is like the dew that nurtures the land. After the morning passes and the noontime sun arrives, the dew will quickly dry out. So, one must listen to Dharma insatiably. When we listen to the Dharma, even if it is the same Sutra, even if it is the same verse, we can repeat it over and over to let it sink in. What is the purpose of our daily morning recitation?
The morning recitation is there to remind us. Every day we recite the same Sutra so that we are constantly alerting ourselves. We must listen to the Dharma and allow it to enter our hearts. We must listen to it over and over. When the Dharma enters our heart, joy arises, and we can understand thousands of principles just from comprehending one principle.
So, when you listen to the Dharma do not think, “I have already heard a lot, it is already enough.” Do not think that way. We should seek it insatiably, so the Dharma can enter our minds and we can practice it in our actions as we work with others. We must not become indolent. We should not become indolent; we cannot become indolent.
If we do, it will have no benefit for our life, or for anything else. “Being reborn in the Five Realms is like falling into mud.” The Five Realms include the Heaven, Human, Hell, Hungry Ghost and Animal Realms. One who performs good deeds is reborn in Heaven, but in Heaven, one lives in constant comfort and cannot listen to the Dharma.
Those born in Hell suffer so much that they have no time to listen to the Dharma. The Realms of Animals and Ghosts are also filled with suffering. They are unable to choose their beliefs or hear Right Dharma.
Only in the Human Realm, only with a human body can we encounter the Dharma, have complete and healthy sense organs and give rise to faith. So, we should listen to Right Dharma and not become indolent.
We have talked about the Six Rarities. We should understand that attaining them is no longer a problem for us. In the present, “those who are not completely diligent may suffer endlessly in the future.”
Attaining the Six Rarities is no longer a problem for us. But if we are unwilling to be diligent, then in the future our time will have slipped away. As each second passes by, our lifetime grows increasingly shorter. How can we not be diligent? There is a saying, “Once human form is lost, even after eons it is hard to regain.” Since we have such good conditions, we should use them to our advantage. We cannot be sure how long we will live, or is we will be reborn as human again.
Since you have created blessings, perhaps you may be reborn in Heaven. In Heaven, you will be lost in pleasures. In Heaven there is no way to create blessings. Once all blessings are exhausted, you will fall. You may have created many blessings in this life, but mixed in with those blessings may be negative karma, afflictions or ignorance. If you are reborn as human again, you will continue to create bad affinities. These relationships and entanglements persist when you return to the Human Realm.
Cause and effect never fails. We cannot know whether we will be reborn in the Human Realm or in the Animal Realm. That is why it says one “may suffer endlessly in the future.”
We often say that once the human form is lost, it is hard to obtain again. Only human can achieve Buddhahood. We have attained the Six Rarities, so we should seize this opportunity. We have been born human, found the Dharma and drew close to the Sangha; our bodies and Six Roots are healthy and whole, and we have faith in our hearts. We are also surrounded by benevolent friends. All these conditions complete the Six Rarities.
So, as we listen to Right Dharma here, can we slack off and be indolent? We must listen until the Dharma enters our hearts. Only then will it be stored in our consciousness, in our Seventh, Eighth or most importantly in our Ninth Consciousness. The Ninth Consciousness is the completely pure intrinsic nature of the Tathagata. It is found through listening to and applying the Right Dharma. This is the pure intrinsic nature. This way, one will not lose one’s human form and suffer endlessly in the future.
Therefore, “We repent today with utmost sincerity.” This means we need to repent now “In the present” refers to now. It is not the past or future, but the present. It is the time before we are reborn, the time before this life ends. So, at this time, we should earnestly seize the moment. We possess so many good conditions, so we should make use of the present, while we are still mentally alert. You still do not doze off while sitting down. Do not wait until you reach an age where even though you want to listen to the teachings, as soon as you sit down, you easily drift off to sleep. By then, you will not hear the Dharma. So we must make use of the time when we are still healthy and can still sit alertly and listen to the Dharma. So, while we are still healthy and alert, if we are not willing to diligently eliminate evil and perform good deeds, we will suffer incessantly once we lose our human forms.
Only by practicing diligently can we eliminate evil and do good. We must eliminate all the transgressions that our habitual tendencies led us to create in the past. After creating bad karma, we receive retributions. So, we should always be vigilant. Put the past behind you and practice for the sake of your future. We should transform evil into good and turn laziness into diligence. It will be worrisome if we do not. We may lose our human forms and fail into the sea of suffering for eons.
The next verses state, “From Beginningless Time until today, ignorance has always obscured our minds and afflictions have impeded our thoughts.”
This applies to all of us “From Beginningless Time until today.” We should be aware that we now have such good causes and conditions to gather together here and listen the Right Dharma. Not only do we listen, we also put the teachings into practice. These are truly superior causes and conditions. But we should remind ourselves that we are still ordinary people.
So, “From Beginningless Time until today ignorance has obscured our minds and afflictions have impeded our thoughts.” Afflictions impede us. We have mentioned this before. Actually, our problems are not created by others. We are the ones who impede ourselves. What impedes us? Our afflictions. Some people slack off. They feel that spiritual practice is a good thing, but if they are asked to wake up early, they think they cannot. Think about it. Doesn’t being indolent impede their minds? If we cannot be diligent, our minds are impeded by laziness. We will only indulge in temporary pleasures and forget that our life is constantly diminishing. So, we must always by vigilant.
The Buddha also said that all sentient beings are confused, as if they were lost, wandering in all directions. They falsely see the Four Elements as the body. Attachment to the Six Dusts causes the mind to form mental objects.
lgnorance always obscures the mind and afflictions impede our thoughts. According to the previous passage, the Buddha taught us that sentient beings possess many ignorant delusions. They are like people who have lost their way. Some say that when one is lost in the woods, no matter where one runs, one cannot escape. This is also like a dream. When we are in a dream state, we cannot escape the illusion. We have no control and have become lost, or have lost our consciousness. When we are lost, we do not know where we are. So, we will wander in every direction. We falsely see the Four Elements as the body. The body is actually made up of earth, water, fire and wind. When they are in balance, we are healthy. If even one element is imbalanced, the 404 illnesses arise. In life, time passes by constantly. We slowly waste our time with worldly affairs. Some cannot listen to the Buddha-Dharma as they confuse the Four Elements for the Self, or the body for the Self. They want to care for their body and keep it away from fatigue or hard work.
They are afraid of serious responsibilities or heavy pressure. Some cannot even withstand the pressures of school and wonder how they will continue to live. If we only wish to care for the body, we will not see the vastness of this universe and the myriad sentient beings in it. We are often confused and perceive the Four Elements as our body.
Actually, when the Four Elements disperse, what is left? We are attached to the external objects of the Six Dusts which are actually just like dreams or illusions, dew or water bubbles. They are like shadows; they are all illusory. Yet we perversely allow our Six Ooots to become attached to the Six Dusts, so they become the mental objects in our minds.
Someone told me, “Master, I traveled abroad and saw the beautiful Niagara Falls.”
Where is this beauty? How is it beautiful? Despite his descriptions, I could not see the images in his mind. Attaching to the Six Dusts causes the mind to form mental objects. A memory is not something you can take out and hold. So, because of all this, ignorance always obscures the mind. People crave the fun of traveling. They crave looking at beautiful scenery; they crave their own enjoyment. So, their minds are obscured by layers and layers of defilements. These layers that cover our pure intrinsic nature are called afflictions. Afflictions cover us.
Everyone, we must have true and reverent minds. Do not allow afflictions to impede you. Since we have such good conditions to gather here we should always be diligent and mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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