Lecturer: Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Sincerity, Integrity, Faith, Steadfastness (誠正信實 守八正道)
Since we vowed to learn Buddhism and have entered the Buddha’s door, we must respect the Three Treasures. Because Bhiksus and Sramana work hard and are mindful, diligently practice cessation, and earnestly engage in spiritual practice, they have eliminated greed, anger and ignorance from their minds. So, they deserve our respect and admiration. If we are disrespectful toward spiritual practitioners, that is not right, and we will commit the transgressions we have been talking about.
Similarly, now that we are also practicing, we practice discipline, Samadhi and wisdom, and cease to be greedy, anger and ignorant. We cultivate sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness, and practice kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. This is our fundamental responsibility.
So, we must follow rules and precepts. We obey rules and precepts and maintain discipline and dignity in our actions so we can promote the Dharma and pass on the Dharma-lineage.
Then, we can teach and guide lay practitioners. This is also our duty as spiritual practitioners. More importantly, regardless of whether we are lay or monastic practitioners, we practice and uphold the Eightfold Noble Path, and do not let our mind, body or actions stray.
Our minds cannot deviate. If the mind strays, then the body’s actions will also go astray. For the body’s actions to be right, we must be sincere and honest. We need to be sincere, upright and steadfast so that our actions do not go astray. We must have Right Thinking in our views.
We need to have Right Thinking about everything. Whether we are dealing with people or matters, we need to be very attentive. We must really think about it, and not be too impulsive. This is especially true for spiritual practice. Some think spiritual cultivation is leisurely so they want to engage in it. They make a great vow to engage in spiritual practice.
It is easy to make a great vow, but can that momentary resolve be maintained for a lifetime and become an everlasting spiritual practice? It also takes time to test ourselves. Of course, we also have to work towards a state of harmony and understanding.
So, let us be diligent, not lax. If we are lax in our practice, that does not accord with our role as spiritual practitioners. So, diligently practice precepts, Samadhi, Wisdom and do not stray from the Eightfold Noble Path. Take good care of your minds. Do not let the actions of body and mind go astray. We must have Right Thinking in our perspectives. Be diligent, do not become lax at all. These are truly the goals of our spiritual practice.
The goals of spiritual practice: Practice and uphold the Eightfold Noble Path so the actions of body and mind do not go astray. Have Right Thinking in your perspectives. Be diligent and not lax in your practice. Internally cultivate sincerity, integrity, faith, steadfastness and follow the rules and precepts.
In the Dharma as Water text it also says, “We may have convinced others to let go of the Eightfold Noble Path and practice the Five Ascetic Rules. We may have used false appearances to spy on and steal from monks. For these and other transgressions, today I repent completely."
From this passage we can understand, “We may have convinced others to let go of the Eightfold Noble Path.”
We all must diligently practice the Eightfold Noble Path in our lives. The goal of spiritual practice is to correct our way of life and behaviors.
To correct them, we need the Eightfold Noble Path. This is the path that spiritual practitioners take to liberation. We seek liberation.
Since Beginnignless Time we have lived in delusion. Our mind are full of afflictions. We spend lifetimes engaging in the wrong behaviors and creating many karmic retributions. With this karma, we are entangled with each other through love, hate, passion and enmity for lifetime after lifetime, with on end in sight. So, we had no way to be liberated.
Since we are now spiritual practitioners, no matter whether we are lay or monastic, we are all engaged in spiritual practice, so we need to correct our behaviors. Therefore, we must not stray from the Eightfold Noble Path.
This path provides eight ways for us to enter the Buddha’s door; it is the path to liberation.
So, we cannot stray from the Eightfold Noble Path.
The Eightfold Noble Path is Right View, Right Speech, Right Thinking, Right Action, Right Mindfulness, Right Diligence, Right Livelihood, Right Concentration.
These eight methods combined form a broad and wide road. If we can correct our behavior and step onto this Eightfold Noble Path, then all of our understanding will be correct.
Take Right Speech, for example, everything we say will encourage others not to go astray, especially in their thinking. Learning Buddhism is all about sweeping away our inner afflictions and defilements. I often say that the mind is like a mirror which reflects the outside environment. If we do not diligently wipe it clean, the mirror will not accurately reflect external conditions. So, we must always wipe it clean. Do not let it attract dust.
Since we have a method to wipe away our inner afflictions and defilements, we should encourage others to do the same. They can use the same methods to clean their inner afflictions and defilements. So, this kind of thinking is very important. If our thinking is right, our understanding will be right and we will not say the wrong things. So, Right Thinking is very important.
If we take the Right Actions, we will do everything properly. In the past, we talked about many different actions and examined which are incorrect. I explained a lot of this previously. We especially need to take Right Action with our mouths and our bodies, and have Right Thinking in our mind. We need to pay attention to action, speech and though so we will not create more karma.
Since lay practitioners engage in various different occupations, they must choose those that do not harm others. Thus, they will not stray from the Eightfold Path.
Next is Right Mindfulness and Right Effort. Do not allow the minor challenges that manifest to cause thoughts to arise. If one thought goes astray, it will lead to 3,000 other mistakes. We must always be diligent in keeping our thoughts within Right Mindfulness.
We also need to practice Right Livelihood. We come into the world with this life and we need to use this opportunity. The body is the vessel for spiritual practice. We are alive and have a healthy body, so we need to focus on our practice. How do we make use of our lives? Those with strength shoulder heavier burdens. Those with nimbler minds shoulder the tasks that require thinking, concentration and brainpower. If we make use of our bodies, the stronger ones will do the heavy work, the weaker ones will do the delicate work. Life is a vehicle for practice. Those who practice in a monastery cherish and share the tasks with each other. Whatever we do, we need to care about one another. If we take advantage of this life to practice, we are not wasting our time. So, with Right Livelihood, we take good care of our bodies and our behavior. Our strength and time may be limited, but we do as much as we can. Right Livelihood helps us accomplish everything.
Let us all affirm and cherish ourselves, but also care for each other and cherish one another. Whether in a monastery or among society, we must be able to do this. This is Right Livelihood.
Right Concentration means we are not easily shaken. We need concentration Samadhi does not only come from sitting in meditation. In our daily living, we must not be affected by our surroundings. This is why I always say to seize the moment. We seize the right moment to set our intentions we can correct our thinking and begin to set this intention. Then we must maintain this resolve forever. Once we form this aspiration, we need to hold firm to it forever. That is Right Concentration.
We have to feel very certain about the Eightfold Noble Path. Do not be influenced by others to abandon it. If we are influenced by others to stray, a slight deviation will take us wildly off course. One stray thought can lead to 3,000 scattered thoughts and mistakes. So, do not be influenced by others. Do not abandon the correct path because of criticism from others. If we do so, we are impeding ourselves. We cannot impede ourselves. Moreover, we cannot hinder others. Therefore, do not stray or cause others to do so.
Next is “practicing the Five Ascetic Rules.” They are:
1. Do not accept the Five Flavors.
2. Do not consume flesh.
3. Do not consume salt.
4. Do not wear a patchwork robe.
5. Do not stay in temples on the edge of villages.
Actually, these Five Rules are not correct. These Five Rules were established during the Buddha’s lifetime, when Devadatta rebelled. He manipulated others in the monastic community by telling them how they should practice. He urged them to abandon the Eightfold Noble Path and established the Five Rules at the same time.
“Do not accept the Five Flavors.” In the past, the Buddha begged for alms. The entire monastic community did the same. They ate whatever people gave them, including onion, garlic, etc., whatever was convenient for lay people so, in the Buddha’s lifetime, when they went into the community, into villages, to beg for alms, they did not, have to be vegetarian, because of the inconvenience it would cause.
There are two explanations for the Five Flavors:
1. Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty.
2. Fresh milk, cream, curdled milk, butter and ghee.
These are the five flavors that are generated from processing dairy products.
They did not want to inconvenience laypeople. How did they eat? They eat whatever others gave them. But Devadatta advocated that they stop. He said they should not consume meat. Even though that was correct, he also said they could not consume salt either. We cannot stop eating salt because science tells us the body needs it.
Therefore, we need balance. To calm our minds, it is right to stop consuming the Five Flavors. To arouse our compassion, we stopped consuming the flesh of sentient beings. That is correct. But to stop consuming salt is wrong. If we lack sodium, the body cannot be balanced. At that time, he said to stop consuming salt. Fourth was not to wear a patchwork robe. If we have received the precepts, we can start wearing a patchwork robe. When the Buddha was alive, a patchwork robe was made up of mended clothing and pieces of cloth from other people’s clothes. This “field of blessings” garment Is now also called a kasaya.
It has 7,9or 25 strips of fabric, depending on the seniority of the practitioner.
But at that time, Devadatta refused to wear a patchwork robe. I have told his story before. He led 500 monks away from the Buddha’s Sangha. He curried favor with King Ajatasatru, who financially supported them by providing housing, food, and clothing. They were abundantly provided for. So, Devadatta could uphold these precepts and avoid wearing a patchwork robe because he had many garments to wear.
Next is not staying in temples outside of villages. Devadatta did not lack clothing, food, housing, or transportation. When the Buddha was alive, for the sake of transforming sentient beings, He would simply stay in whatever place He went. So, Devadatta established these rules.
He wanted to disrupt the Right Dharma. Some rules were correct, some were not. So, he established these Five Ascetic Rules in his monastic community. This was wrong.
Therefore, “We may have used false appearances to spy on and steal from monks.”
Similarly, people may be monastic practitioners, but everything they do is wrong. Together they create a lot of karma.
So everyone, when we learn Buddhism we see things that look like spiritual practice, but actually are not. Therefore, we need Right Thinking.
We need to think hard to discern what is Right Dharma and what is true practice. They all look like monastic practitioners, it look like Buddhism, but
we may be unaware of the small differences. So, we need to have Right Thinking. Practice and uphold the Eightfold Noble Path. We cannot stray in mind, body or action. We should understand and have Right Thinking. Be diligent and not lax. Internally cultivate Sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness. Follow the rules and precepts. Then you will not go astray.
So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)