Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Be at Ease by Practicing the Dharma (法在行中得自在)
Date: March.16. 2015
“By learning and always practicing, we attain Dharma-joy. When the Dharma is in our actions, we will be at ease. The Buddha teaches sentient beings the way the sun illuminates all. The laws of nature are found in our daily living.”
In our daily living, whenever we interact with people and matters, that is the Buddha-Dharma. If we apply Dharma in our interaction with others and in the way we handle matters, the Dharma will always be in our daily living. Then aren’t we “learning and always practicing”? If we lived according to the Dharma, then in interacting with people and matters, what afflictions would we have? Won’t we be very happy? If the Buddha-Dharma is part of our daily living, we will always be happy and at ease.
So, “when the Dharma is in our actions, we will be at ease.” Our hearts will always be free of afflictions, and our minds will be free of hindrances. Our every action will be in accord with the Dharma. When we talk about “action,” we are referring to what happens in our daily living. The minutes and seconds continuously pass, and our thoughts arise uninterruptedly, one after another. Everything we do happens in the contexts of time, space and interpersonal relationships. All actions happen in the intersection of these three contexts. This is the continuous change of the aggregate of action.
If the Dharma always remains in our hearts, there will be nothing that can hinder us. To completely understand everything, the Dharma must be a part of our actions, meaning everything in our lives has Dharma in it. So, “By learning and always practicing, we obtain Dharma-joy. When the Dharma is in our actions, we will be at ease.” By doing this, it is like having the Buddha in the human realm. “The Buddha teaches sentient beings the way the sun illuminates all. The laws of nature are found in our daily living.” The Buddha came to this world for one great cause, for one goal. He hoped that all sentient beings in the world could accept the Buddha-Dharma. The [Buddha-Dharma] is like the sun in the sky; when the sun shines, everything is clearly illuminated, unless we deliberately shut the sun out. If we seal off an enclosed environment, it will be dark inside. If the sun is shining on a house, but all the doors and windows are closed and covered, won’t it still be dark inside?
The Buddha-Dharma was selflessly given to us. The Buddha is here for one great cause. His only hope is that everyone can come in contact with the Buddha-Dharma. However, some sentient beings have karmic conditions that cut them off from it. The sun’s rays of light, in fact, cover everything. All we need to do is open the door to let them in. This is such a simple principle. Therefore, we must gratefully open the doors to our minds and take in the Dharma, like the illumination of sunlight. This is a law of nature.
In the solar system that we are in, there are other planets that are also orbiting the sun. Each of them has its own orbital path, each is on a natural course. We can make use of this law of nature. If everyone can understand the natural principles of the world, then in the conditioned phenomena of everything that we do, we will not transgress the boundaries of human rules and morals.
So, “The laws of nature are found in our daily living.” We learn and then always practice.We learn to apply the Dharma to our lives, to our bodies and minds.Then the actions of our bodies and minds, regardless of time, space or relationship, will not deviate from the Buddha-Dharma.This will happen without our awareness.
“It is only natural that we should act this way.”The Dharma has already been engraved on our hearts.This is the right things to do.This is virtuous conduct.Some people think to themselves, “I am educated and engage in spiritual practice. I’m living my life this way; why aren’t you praising me? This makes me feel very troubled.”
As practitioners, we should not feel this way.This is simply part of our fundamental duty.Applying the Dharma in our daily living is naturally something we should be doing.It does not matter whether others know or not; we truly must learn to have this be a natural part of our lives.The natural laws are found in our daily living.We can bring people, matters, objects and principles together in harmony.This is how we can truly engage in spiritual practice.
The Buddha-Dharma must be applied in daily living and we must be Bodhisattvas among the people.If we can do this, we will be at ease in our spiritual practice, and we will always be happy and full of Dharma-joy.Similarly, in the Lotus Sutra, when Sariputraa received the Buddha’s prediction for attaining Buddhahood, his body and mind were happy and jubilant.And not only was Sariputra happy, but everyone else at eth assembly was, too.
They all took joy in his merits.This can also happen in our daily living.When other people achieve something, it is as if we have achieved it ourselves.This is how we take joy in others’ merits.
So, the previous sutra passage states, “At that time, Sariputra said to the Buddha…”Sariputra was beginning to speak.
“World-Honored One, I now have no further doubts or regrets, having personally received from You the prediction of attaining. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”
Sariputra expressed the joy in his heart, and the great ease he felt.Because he had doubts and regrets in the past, his mind was not at ease.Now, having attained the Buddha’s affirmation and received this predication from Him, his mind was completely at ease.
“In the future, if I keep practicing this way and do not deviate from this direction, I will be able to attain supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment, which is Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. I now have this faith in myself, and I have affirmed that I can do this. But, I will not be the only one.”
The following sutra passage states, “The 1200 people here, whose minds are free and at ease, were once at the stage of learning. The Buddha always taught and transformed them by saying, My Dharma can free you from birth, aging, illness and death and will enable you to ultimately attain Nirvana.”
Sariputra began by saying that aside from him, there were also “1200 people here”.These “1200 people” all had minds that were at ease.For many decades, they followed Sakyamuni Buddha and remained by His said to listen to the teachings.
They also followed Him all over to spread the Dharma.Their resolve to engage in spiritual practice was very firm.So, their “minds were free and at ease”.This shows that they would not turn back or be obstructed.Having a mind that is at ease means that they will not retreat or be affected by any obstacles.
We ordinary people constantly face obstacles.Our own greed, anger and ignorance are three obstacles that hinder our minds.
Is greed really that powerful?Actually, with spiritual practice, true spiritual practitioners are content and always happy.They are always very content to live with simply three robes and an alms bowl.With so few desires, they are content.If they can stay warm, cover up their bodies, and get enough to eat, that is all they need to live.What else would they desire?
If we are free of greed, we do not create karma.As for anger, since we are engaging in spiritual practice, the Buddha taught us to expand our mind so that it is spacious enough to encompass the universe.Then there is nothing that can bother us, so we will not give rise to afflictions or lose our temper when things do not go our way.
As for ignorance, because we practice the Buddha-Dharma, the sunlight and the light of wisdom are always illuminating our minds.Thus we do not have the darkness or delusion cause by ignorance.
If our minds are always calm, they will not give rise to ignorance. The Buddha’s teachings help our wisdom-life grow. So in this way, what can possibly obstruct us? We will not retreat nor be hindered; this is the state of ease.
“Bodhisattvas apply the provisional and skillful means of [cultivating] blessings and wisdom to tame their own minds. Their minds transcend the entanglements of afflictions and reach unobstructed understanding. In this way, they are at ease.”
This states, “Bodhisattvas apply the provisional, skillful means of [cultivating] blessings and wisdom to tame their own minds.” If we want to form Bodhisattva-aspirations, we must begin by learning. If we want to turn the Dharma-wheel, we accept the Buddha-Dharma into our hearts, then with our minds, we share our realizations ad understanding with other people. At the same time, sentient beings’ habitual tendencies and afflictions will not defile us. Thus our minds will “transcend the entanglements of afflictions”. The many afflictions we encounter will not defile our minds. This is because we have tamed our own minds. Even if you want to make me angry, I will not get angry. I will not punish myself with other people’s mistakes. If they are wrong in the way that they treat us, that is their problem. If we do not let it in, we will not be provoked.
Like the Buddha said in the Sutra of 42 Sections, if someone grabs a handful of sand and throws it at you, but he is throwing dust against the wind, who does it hit? It does not hit the person ahead, but rather the person who originally threw it but rather the person who originally threw it.
“The Buddha said: An evil person who harms a sage is like one who spits towards the sky. The spit does not reach the sky, but falls back on the person. When one flings dust against the wind, the dust does not reach others but is blown back on oneself. The sage cannot be harmed, so the ruin will destroy the doer. The Sutra of the 42 Sections.”
Therefore, we must learn to develop the open and spacious mind of a Bodhisattva. We must not only accept the Buddha’s teachings, but also use them to teach and transform others. Some sentient beings may be foolish or dull, with severe habitual tendencies. We must also be like the Buddha and calm our minds. We must avoid losing our temper with someone who is deluded. These habitual tendencies are theirs; they have nothing to do with us. But we care about these people, so we say, “Get rid of these kinds of habitual tendencies”. By doing this, we are taming ourselves.
Not only do we train ourselves. We must also apply “the provisional and skillful means of [cultivating] blessings and wisdom” in order to transform sentient beings. If we cannot teach others, we must tame our own minds, so as not to be influenced by them.
We must train our own minds, then we can transcend afflictions and free ourselves from their entanglements. Though we want to go among people, we must still protect ourselves with the Buddha-Dharma. Precepts, Samadhi and wisdom can help us protect ourselves. Thus we “reach unobstructed understanding”. In this severely turbid atmosphere, those who are pure have purified themselves, and those who are clear found their own clarity. The turbidities and afflictions of other people will not defile them. This is also being free and at ease.
“In this way, their minds are free and at ease”. They are Small Vehicle, Two Vehicle practitioners, such as Hearers or Pratyekabuddhas. People like that, since they do not go among people, will not attract afflictions. Because they know that everything in the world is inherently illusory, they cultivate the purity of their minds. This is the freedom of Small Vehicle practitioners.
“Their mind is free: When they are no longer attached to the self, their mind is free and at ease. But they are still attached to their concepts of the Dharma. They have not yet become at ease with the Dharma.”
“But they are still attached to their concepts of the Dharma”. Although with the Small Vehicle they were liberated and had purified their minds, they stubbornly refused to go among the people to transform them. They stopped there and could not move forward because of this attachment to the Dharma. So, they could not let go of this attachment to go among people with a sense of freedom. Thus they had “not yet become at ease with the Dharma”.
They were at ease with the limited “self” but could not feel at ease with the greater self of the Great Dharma. This is why obtaining freedom is not so simple. We absolutely must learn to go into places with severe turbidities. When we do, it will be like clouds passing by the moon; as the cloud passes, it is not caught on the moon. We must learn to achieve this state. This is why we say, to learn the Buddha’s Way, we must have an open and spacious mind.
“In the past, they were at the stage of learning”. This means that, in the past, the cause they planted was their aspiration to learn the Buddha’s Way. During that time, “they learned and always practiced to end delusions”. They constantly trained to treat their minds. This was “the stage of learning”.
When we first begin to learn, we all must go through this stage of learning to put an end to our delusions. Delusion is ignorance, and ignorance is affliction. The afflictions of the three obstacles all begin with delusion. The seeds of our spiritual practice have to start from this. To truly eliminate our attachment to the Dharma, we must train ourselves among people. If we form great aspirations, we must interact with others to polish and hoe our spiritual aspirations. Only by becoming at ease with the Dharma are we truly learning it. So, we talk about the Buddha.
“The Buddha constantly taught and transformed them by saying, My Dharma can free you from birth, aging, illness and death and will enable you to ultimately attain Nirvana”.
The true Dharma of the Buddha had been safeguarded in His mind for decades. He was now proclaiming it to everyone. “Honestly speaking, this is what my Dharma can do. It can free everyone from birth, aging, illness and death.” After being liberated from this cyclic existence, one will ultimately reach the tranquil and undefiled land of calm illumination, tranquil and clear, with vows as vast the universe. That is the state we can reach. This is what the Buddha taught sentient beings.
Therefore, “to teach and transform means to counsel which is to teach people to transform evil into goodness.
Which begin “by learning and always practicing, [discovering] “the laws of nature” and so on. We must [go along with] the laws of nature, abide by these natural moral guidelines. So, we cannot wait to be filial or do good deeds. This is the way that we are already practicing the Buddha-Dharma. The Buddha’s teachings also counsel people to transform evil into goodness.
In the Chapter on Skillful Means, we talked about how. “All Buddhas, the Tathahatas, only teach the Bodhisattva Way.”
This means that, in the past, all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, only want to teach sentient beings one thing, to go among people, practice the Bodhisattva-path and transform evil into goodness. This was the Buddha ‘s goal for coming to the world. He wanted to help us all arrive at the ultimate, to arrive at the ultimate state of Nirvana.
What is this ultimate state of Nirvana? It is a state where we can “completely awaken to the source of the defiled mind.
He wanted to help us all arrive at the ultimate. “Ultimate” means to the very end. To completely awaken to the source of the defiled mind is to attain the ultimate realization. This is the same as intrinsic enlightenment. Thus it is called ultimate enlightenment.
Our suffering begins in our defiled minds, in greed, anger, ignorance, doubt, etc. only by understanding the source of these defilements of the mind will we have a way to reach that ultimate end, which is that ultimate state. That is returning to our intrinsic enlightenment; it is known as the ultimate enlightenment. If we do not know the source of these defilements, we will have no way to purify our minds.
To understand the source of these defilements, we must go among people to understand their afflictions and the truths of “suffering” and “causation.” Only then can we reach “cessation” and see the “Path.” By eliminating all afflictions and defilements, we will truly see the Path.
Therefore, all of us must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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