Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Our Time is Limited But Our Wisdom-life is Forever (時分有限慧命永恆)
Date: April.08. 2015
“In this world, the realm of physical existence, mountains, rivers, land and oceans, will not exist permanently. The lifespan of the human body is short. External phenomena are transient, with the appearance of arising and ceasing.”
The Three Realms are like a great house. This world, the realm of physical existence, is impermanent because [the objects within it] are temporary unions of the four elements. Of course, temporary unions will one day dissolve. The workings of the four elements also apply to the human body. Our body is a temporary union of elements, so it will undergo changes and arise and cease. Everything, including our physical body and all objects in the realm of physical existence, is impermanent. Not even the mountains, rivers, land or sea will stay the same forever.
Recall the earthquake in Pakistan; it was measured at 7.8 in magnitude. In the blink of an eye, many houses collapsed, disappeared or were destroyed. At the same time, out on the ocean a small island suddenly surfaced. This island seemed to appear out of nowhere. This is “formation”.
After it was formed, this small island “existed” on the ocean. We can see the results of “formation”. As for “existence,” although we have not been to Pakistan, we know that the local people live in houses made from earthen materials for protection against the elements, for shelter from wind and rain. They “exist” in these dwellings, but an earthquake instantly destroyed everything.
We have seen these images in the media. This verifies the truth of the Buddha-Dharma. It is just that human lives are too short [to see this whole process]. When was this planet “formed”? We do not know, nevertheless, we were born here on this earth. Perhaps the people who are our dear friends now were people that we knew in a past life. Yet even if they were the people closest to us, our parents, our loved ones, all those whom we knew already passed away, one by one.
Life in this world is painfully short. We cannot see the long process that the Buddha spoke of, that of formation, existence, decay and disappearance because our time here is not long, yet we live in an age when we happened to see an example of “formation”. That small island suddenly surfaced. We were able to witness this. Because of modern science and technology, we did not need to be there in person. An image could be transmitted to us in just a few seconds so we could see this right away. This verifies the principles the Buddha taught about the workings of the world, the Three Principles and Four States.
The four states of physical matter are formation, existence, decay and disappearance. This happens in the realm of physical existence. Everything we see is a part of the realm of physical existence and undergoes formation, existence, decay and disappearance.
In the past, several typhoons, in various countries and various places, have led to heavy rain and to landsides. Roads and bridges were cut off. This kind of weather is not normal. Too much rain and strong winds can be very harmful to the land, not to mention to the people. For their own profit, humans dig into mountains and fill up the sea. Thus these “will not exist permanently.” Manpower is used to shift things around, which results in decay and ruin in nature. “Mountains, rivers, land and oceans will not exist permanently.”
Then what of the lives of human beings?The lifespan of the human body, our physical life, is truly very short.We can see all this in the world; the principles of matter and of life reflect impermanence and change.So, this tangible realm of physical existence will undergo endless changes.
Over longer periods of time, the changes will be even greater.
The arising, abiding, changing and ceasing that happens in our minds occurs more rapidly.All of these changing [thoughts] that arise can lead us to create much negative karma.Why do we [see the destructive results] of this process of the Four States this process of the Four States so frequently in our time?
In the past, there was not as much of what we now see happening in the world every day, these [disasters of] earth, water, fire and air.
There are earthquakes, floods, wildfires and windstorms.On this planet, all around the world, we constantly see these events occurring.This is happening now because of sentient beings’ collective karma.
The harm caused by humankind, our destruction of nature, comes entirely from our minds.The karma we create is so powerful that it destroys everything.We have accumulated this karma over lifetimes, all the way up until now.
In the past, morality and ethics kept people’s behavior in line.
People were once easily embarrassed.They did not want people to know about the bad things they had done.Afraid that others might find out, they did not dare do those things.
But nowadays, people are not afraid of others knowing, so they dare to do as they please.There was a middle-aged woman who sent her mother-in-law to the emergency room in an ambulance.
She said, “I’m putting her in your hands. I need to rush home. My child is at home, and I need to go make dinner, so I don’t have time to stay here right now. Please take care of my mother-in-law for me.”Just as her mother-in-law was about to be resuscitated, she went home.
In fact, her mother-in-law had stopped breathing back at their house.As her neighborhood head told it, “I heard the two of them arguing. They were yelling very loudly. Then the mother-in-law went to the living room. I don’t know what happened, but she fainted and stopped breathing. The neighbors told the daughter-in-law, “
”There’s nothing else you can do. You have to take her to the emergency room.”But after taking her to the hospital, she left her and went home.Emergency treatment failed, so the hospital needed to speak to the family, but they never showed up.Checking her records, they saw she also had a child living in the north.They immediately contacted him.
He also said, “I don’t have time to deal with this right now.”They were unable to save the old woman, and she passed away in the hospital.Then the volunteers had to go in search of anyone related to her.This is a modern-day phenomenon.
In today’s world, people’s sense of morality is weakening.And so, in this world, between heaven and earth, in this great house of so many people, there are groups of 100, 200, even 500 people.Three out of the five groups are the animal, hell and hungry ghost realms,
These are the Three Evil Realms.The two wholesome realms, the heaven and human, are only two of the five.And in the future, how many people will be creating karma that will lead them to evil realms?
Because of this, in this great house the halls and lofts are decaying and old.The house is run down because these people do not know to cherish it.They have no sense of responsibility.They do not feel responsible for it.They do not care for it, or cherish one another.
So, its halls and lofts are crumbling, and its walls are falling down.
The walls are falling apart.
There were many groups of people, groups of 100, 200, even up to 500, all dwelling within.Its halls and lofts were decaying and old; its walls and partitions were crumbling.
The pillars were rotting at their bases; the beams and columns were dangerously aslant.
Next we will discuss the pillars. “The pillars were rotting at their bases; the beams and columns were dangerously aslant”. Rotting pillars and precarious beams and columns represent how our lifetime is limited. In this realm of physical existence, not only will our life come to an end, our entire planet will as well.
Right now, scientists are investigating this. People have brought up the idea that by the year 2100, the sea levels will rise, as will the average temperature. Some people say, “Something so far in the future has nothing to do with me”. How can it have nothing to do with you? In your next life, you will, once again, live for several decades. After that, you will still be reborn on Earth. By that time, the atmosphere will be worse, the temperature will be higher and the four elements will be even more out of balance. There will be rapid and radical fluctuations, causing much destruction. Thus, in this realm of physical existence, even the mountains and rivers have their own lifespan, to say nothing of all sentient beings in this world; it is not just humans, all living beings have a limited lifespan. Their lives will one day come to can end.Who know if their life will be long or short?
I always say that no one knows the length of their life, but we can grasp every moment to broaden and expand the scope of our lives and open our hearts to encompass the world. This is what we must learn. We must follow the Bodhisattva-path and develop the Buddha’s ocean of enlightened wisdom. We must open up or hearts so [we see that] our live connect to all aspects of this world. We cannot narrow our focus to only our own country, our one city or our tiny little village. We cannot just focus on ourselves and our family or our family business. If we decide that this is the scope of our lives and nothing else has anything to do with us, aren’t we living a really limited life?
Therefore, we should expand the boundaries of our lives. We must live a life of excellent character, of value and of depth. We cannot know how long our life will last, but we can expand it to give it more value and deepen it to make it more meaningful. This is why the Buddha wanted our Roots of Faith to be deep and extensive.
In the past, this was what was taught with the parables in the sutra. The Buddha hoped that everyone would deepen their faith. If we are able to do this, we can expand what we can do with our limited time.
We cannot allow time to limit us. In a mere second, we can exert great power. So, we must seize the time we have ordinary people always feel limited by time. Ordinary people always feel limited by time. But even with the time that they do have, they may not know how to make good use of it.
“[Our body] will disintegrate someday”. We are just like a house. If a house is boarded up, without anyone living there or caring for it, it will disintegrate much more quickly. Its life will be shortened. Thus, we must constantly make use of our lives in order to extend them, just as we must make use of and care for our material possessions, so that they will last longer.
The principles of all material objects are the same, as are the working of our own lives. So, “The pillars were rotting at their bases” is an analogy for our physical body when it is old and feeble and close to its end.
“The pillars were rotting at their bases: the beams and columns are dangerously aslant: The amount of time we are alive is limited. Our body will disintegrate someday. The pillars rotting at their bases is an analogy for a body that is ill, feeble and close to its end”.
Actually, just as there is a limit to our lifespan, everything in this world is subject to a limited lifespan. But if we know how to make use of our life, our spirit and wisdom-life can benefit the world for a long time. The next sutra passage states,
“All at once, throughout this area, a fire broke out, setting the house ablaze”.
“All at once, throughout this area…”. “Throughout this area” refers to what is within certain extent. “All at once” refers to a period of time. “Throughout this area” is also an analogy for the pervasiveness of the Five Aggregates. We humans also have a certain extent; the extent of our body is all tied to the Five Aggregates. The “aggregates” are infinitesimal changes. In each of us, all kinds of thoughts arise at once under the influence of the Five Aggregates. Within us, within each of our bodies, all kinds of thoughts arise at once.
I am speaking and you are listening, but do you truly hear my words, or is your mind thinking about something else? If you have scattered thoughts as your ears hear the teachings, your discursive thoughts and the Dharma you hear are in your mind at the same time. This is because, for all of us, our body is a world unto itself Each body is a microcosm.Each microcosm has its own aggregates, constantly experiencing its own cycle of changes.
Having and earth have their own aggregates and cycle of changes The sky has already begun to lighten. Not long ago it was still dark It is also undergoing changes although we are not aware of them. As things in our immediate surroundings change continuously, the microcosm of our body is also unceasingly experiencing changes. Not only are our thoughts constantly changing, even our bodies are undergoing metabolism. With this constant arising and ceasing, our bodies are always under the influence of the Five Aggregates. All this happens at the same time.
“All at once” means at the same time.The pervasiveness of the Five Aggregates means that it is only through the aggregates that we experience this realm of physical existence, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. So, we always say that the seconds pass without pause. This is also true of thoughts arising in our minds. In the time of one thought, how many thoughts actually arise?We are unfocused, thus we are unenlightened beings.
All at once, throughout area: Throughout this area is an analogy for the extent to which we are influence by the Five Aggregates. All at once is an analogy for how our thoughts simultaneously arise. Thoughts arise in response to the sense organs coming into contact with the sense objects. As the previous thought ceases, the next thought arises What had arisen has now ceased; none of the thoughts abide. All this is impermanent. Thus all thoughts cease and are impermanent.
“Thoughts arise in response to the sense organs coming into contact with the sense objects” Everything we see is a sense object Tangible, material things in this physical realm all have appearances; what responds to them is our minds. When we see something, it is our eyes that are connecting to that thing.Then our mind is immediately filled with its appearance.
“As the previous thought ceases, the next arises.” If my eyes look here and see a flower, then look over there and see grass, my first thought is of flowers and my next about grass. Next I see people. These sequential thoughts are all arising at this time.
“As the previous thought ceases, the next arises” This happens very quickly. “What had arisen, has now ceased, none of the thoughts abide.” As some thoughts arise, others immediately cease. This is how thoughts do not abide. Thus, “All this is impermanent.” So we say, “All thoughts cease and are impermanent.” Each arises, abides, changes and ceases. This is the principle of mind. The principle of matter is the process of formation, existence, decay and disappearance.For our body, birth, aging, illness, death is the principle of life. All of this is part of the workings of Five Aggregates.
Thus, “throughout this area, all at once” includes everything on earth. It applies to all things and human life. It even encompasses our minds. It even encompasses our minds. This is “throughout this area, all at once.”
We must do our best to seize the time right now, so we can make good use of our lifetime in this world and our relationships. We must develop a healthy mind before we are able to bring peace to our surroundings. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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