Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Elder Is Shocked and Afraid (長者驚怖慈悲憂念)
Date: April.13. 2015
“The fire of ignorance burns away all goodness. The Five Turbidities and Eight Sufferings are boundless. Hate, love, grasping, letting go and the flames of the Three Poisons are analogous to the lack of peace and stability in the Three Realms.”
This, as I have said to everyone, is an analogy. Time and again, the Buddha gave explanations by using causes and conditions and analogies. The karmic law of cause and effect is a true principle, yet everyone is simply attached to how karma affects them in their current life. If they are suffering now, if this is what they experience, then they say, “This is a consequence of what I did in the past.” Actually, right now we must really understand just what it is that our minds are actually thinking and what actions we are taking. These are things we must be very clear about. Though we must understand our past, those causes have already matured and the conditions have converged, so now how can we unravel these karmic entanglements? This is most important for Buddhist practitioners.
What state are we in right now? Ordinary people are in a state of ignorance. How does this ignorance arise? It arises in the space of a thought. So, one ignorant thought can continue to give rise to many afflictions. Afflictions accumulate as we create karma. Are you all familiar with the principles of how we give rise to ignorance and delusion? See, right now the four elements of the macrocosm are out of balance. This imbalance of the four elements is caused by the fires of ignorance that have already converged. Because of these fires, the air is filled with thick smoke. This is what we must understand. The tangible effects are seen in this world.
Every day at the volunteer’s Morning Assembly, we first discuss the day’s news. In many other countries, every day we see gunfire and bombings, even suicide bombings. This has caused so many suffering people to end up as refugees, or become disabled, and so on. So, as soon as ignorance arises, it can burn down every good thought.
Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, but when ignorance is set in motion in their minds, people’s intrinsic goodness will be burned away by the fire of ignorance. These people all share the same collective karma, so their circumstantial retribution has led them to be born into such a country. They end up facing this tremendous suffering and the torment of being displaced from their homes. “The fire of ignorance burns away all goodness.” This is what the world is like now. So, the collective karma of sentient beings leads to “the Five Turbidities and Eight Sufferings, [which] are boundless.” Everyone is familiar with the Five Turbidities, the turbidities of views, of sentient beings, of life, of afflictions, and the kalpa of turbidity. All of these are created by the various workings of people’s minds, and already pervade today’s world. The macrocosm is very much out of balance. People do not quite understand the Eight Sufferings, such as birth, aging, illness and death. In addition to these [sufferings of the body], there are sufferings that arise from our minds. We cannot always be with those we love; we have to part ways with them. This is parting from those we love. Then we “meet those we hate.” Unfortunately we may constantly be around people we do not like. As soon as we hear their voice, afflictions arise. There is also “the raging of the Five Skandhas.” In our bodies and in our minds, altogether, the sufferings we face are encompassed in the Eight Sufferings.These are the boundless and endless sufferings we face in this world.
They are all inseparable from hate, love, grasping and letting go.
This is how life is.
We hate, we love; we cannot get what we want, nor can we let go of what we need to relinquish.What we hate is what we have no love for.When we hate something, just seeing it angers us, just hearing it gives rise to a sense of aversion.This is hatred.What is the matter with this person?
This person has not done anything to us, I have even heard of this phenomenon between a mother and her child.
The process of giving birth was very difficult; she was in labor for many days.After her child was born, she became resentful and angry.She was unwilling to see or hear him, or even say his name.
Someone asked her, “What’s the matter with you? Why would do treat your son like this? This is very rare because no matter what, maternal love is a natural instinct. Why would you act this way?”
She replied, “I don’t know why. I know that I gave birth to him, but whenever I hear his voice. I become fearful and resentful. Why that is, I have no idea. Maybe you wonder why other women go through such smooth labors with only a short time of pain, whereas your labor was so painful and lasted so long. There are surely karmic connections between you and your child that resulted in such a difficult birth. So, you should let go [of your resentment]. You are the one who gave birth to him; he is innocent in all this.”
[She replied,] “Yes, I know that, too.”How could we help her really understand this?Our Commissioners constantly kept them company and tried to create opportunities for mother and son to bond.They brought mother and son along with them to do recycling work.
“I didn’t realize how filial my son is. He was born to repay a kindness, not to exact revenge”.The karmic connection between them had truly tormented them both.So, the hate, love and afflictive emotions between people are truly inconceivable.
Where did these emotions come from?From the flames of the Three Poisons.If we never fully understand each other and no one helps to mend this love-hate relationship, the one being resented will develop hatred.This is how the fires of the Three Poisons arise.
Isn’t this the way things work in the world?
Just like this, in this great house, people’s lives are so complicated; our mind and body create such complicated karma.Think about how this is analogous to the “lack of peace and stability in the Three Realms”.
The Three Realms are the form, formless and desire realms.The desires of the mind lead to hate, love, grasping and letting go.
Because of these afflictive emotions, we have the Five Turbidities and the Eight Sufferings,These turbidities and sufferings arise from the fires “burn away all goodness,” giving rise to boundless suffering and creating the flames of the Three Poisons.
All this is happening inside this great house, inside people’s minds.
Originally this great house was radiant and magnificent.But because people did not cherish it, it had fallen into disrepair.
This represents how our understanding of the truths of the Buddha-Dharma has gradually faded and deteriorated.People no longer behave properly and cannot accept Right Dharma or proper understanding and views.So, we create more and more [karma].
Then naturally the house will catch fire.
The fire arises suddenly on all four sides, signifying the imbalance of the four elements.Thus, in the macrocosm, the three major calamities are in a cycle of frequent occurrence.
“All at once, throughout the house, a fire broke out, setting the house ablaze. The elder’s sons, 10, 20, even up to 30 of them, were still in the house.”
In this great house, not only are there relatives, there are also children.They are the elder’s children.They are all disciples of the Buddha and have come in contact with the Buddha-Dharma.They can be divided into three major categories, Bodhisattvas, Solitary Realizers and Hearers.
People who have heard many teachings but still do not understand make up the great majority of disciples.Then there are those who have understood, yet they only seek to awaken themselves.
There are quite a few of them as well.Lastly, there are who understood and have formed great aspirations and made the Four Great Vows to deliver sentient beings.They go among people and exercise the Four Infinite Minds of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.Thus they have a road through this world that will intersect with the Bodhi-Path.
These awakened sentient beings are sadly few in number. So, 10, 20 and 30 are all symbolic numbers. This is the following passage of sutra text. Let us examine it.
“The elder, seeing, the fire arise from all four sides, was greatly shocked and afraid and had the following thought, “Although I can, through this burning doorway, escape to safety…”
Although the elder could escape the burning house through the door, upon looking back and seeing the great house in flames, how the fire had sprung up on all four sides, he was very fearful,shocked and terrified. This is another analogy.
Sentient beings are in this place of raging ignorance and afflictions and find it hard to escape. Similarly, the sons in the fiery house are not easily saved. Therefore, the elder is very shocked and afraid.
Sentient beings are in this place of raging ignorance and afflictions. It is as if they are burning, baking in a blazing fire. The metal pan in already burning hot, but they still do not want to escape. They “find it hard to escape”. In the midst of this, they did not want to leave.
“Similarly, the sons in the fiery house are not easily saved”. If we do not want to seek the Dharma, even though it is right before us, we still wallow in our desires and stir up the flames that will burn us. This is ignorance; people do not want to escape. We are like those children; though we have heard the Dharma, we remain inside playing games. Though we listen, we cannot let go [of what we have]. We have encountered the Buddha-Dharma, but it is hard to let go. If the door to your mind cannot be opened, afflictions will remain inside forever. No one else can free you from those afflictions; to reach liberation, we must open the doors to our minds. Then after the Buddha-Dharma enters, we must apply it to our daily living. This is the only way we can liberate ourselves.
Other people cannot save us. We are the only ones who can save ourselves. The people [in the house] did not seek to escape their suffering, no matter how shocked and afraid the elder was. When will these children actually begin to listen? When will these children actually want to quickly escape through the doors of this burning house? Where is this burning house? All of us have a burning house in our minds.
In the macrocosm, [the house] is the Three Realms. In the microcosm, the house is our mind. There is a burning house inside of us. The Buddha went through suffering for our sakes. We suffering sentient beings are not trying to escape, so the Buddha was worried for us. The Buddha’s thoughts were like those of the elder, “thoughts about the loss of goodness”.
Thoughts about the loss of goodness lead to shock. Worries about the rise of all evils lead to fear. Shock comes from his loving-kindness and being mindful of those who may lose their goodness and joy. Fear comes from his compassion and being worried for those who commit evils and thus suffer. The elder is shocked and afraid because of his loving-kindness and compassion, and his thoughts and worries [for his sons].
Human nature is inherently good. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Yet, people are currently in a state of confusion. Inside this burning house, they have lost their great goodness. This shocked the elder. Why is it that everyone’s intrinsically pure Tathagata-nature, their inherent goodness, can no longer be seen? This is why he was shocked. Their loss of goodness worried him. “Worries about the rise of all evils lead to fear”. When goodness is lost, all evils will arise. This is why the Buddha worried for sentient beings. He was shocked and afraid for them, like the elder when he saw the fire. The elder was shocked and afraid. If these children could not escape, what could he do about it? The Buddha [worried] about the future. The Tathagata, over 2500 years ago, worried about those of us in His future, our present. This is analogous to the [elder’s] shock and fear. If this fire constantly burned, it would be a very worrisome matter.
So, “Thoughts about the loss of goodness lead to shock”. “Worries about the rise of all evils lead to fear”. He was afraid that everyone would give rise to unwholesome thoughts, that their goodness would vanish. This led to shock and fear. His shock came from His loving-kindness. The Buddha is very kind. His mind is that of a compassionate father, so He was “mindful of those who may lose their goodness and joy”.
The Buddha worried about us sentient beings, that if we lose our goodness, we will no longer be happy. If we constantly have good thoughts, then we will always be happy. If our minds are lacking in goodness, unwholesome thoughts will constantly arise and we will be unhappy. Fear comes from His compassion. The Buddha was compassion. He had loving-kindness and compassion. Out of His kindness, He was afraid sentient beings would be unhappy. Out of His compassion, He worried that they would create karma and experience suffering.
Parents worry most that their children worry that their children may get into trouble and cause disasters or create conflicts. This is what parents worry about the most. The Buddha is the kind father of the four of beings, so He also hoped that sentient beings can live happily, free of suffering. He worried that sentient beings would create bad karma and suffer painful retributions. This karmic law of cause and effect is the principle that the Buddha wanted to help everyone to clearly understand.
So, the Buddha worked hard and gave decades of teaching solely in the hope that we sentient beings could awaken and understand how our minds can take in thoughts of goodness and bring forth our intrinsic Tathagata-nature. This was the one great cause for which the Buddha came to this world. This was why the elder was shocked and afraid, and the reason the Buddha was concerned.
Everyone, when we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must be mindful indeed. If we are not mindful, then, in the burning house in our minds, ignorance will continuously reappear. If this is the case, all the karma we create will be bad karma. Any good thoughts that may arise will be eliminated by unwholesome thoughts. Unwholesome thoughts stem from ignorance, and ignorance is just like a spark.If the spark ignites, it will burn up all of our good thoughts. When our goodness is diminished, our bad karma will grow. When our bad karma increases, we create the Five Turbidities. In the macrocosm of the world around us, there are elevated levels of pollution, as well as the greenhouse effect. The four elements already out of balance and the Five Turbidities are prevalent. We all face birth, aging, illness and death, in addition to parting with those we love, meeting those we hate and the raging of the Five Aggregates.
When they come together, the Eight Sufferings are truly boundless. How can we still not recognize all this suffering? Once we recognize suffering, we must earnestly accept the Dharma. This Dharma can help us transcend love and hate. We should grasp the Dharma and let go of evil.
So, we must take the Dharma to heart. We should let go of various afflictions and unwholesome thoughts. Let us not continue to feel afflictive emotions. What we should grasp is the Buddha-Dharma, and what we should let go of are afflictions. Only by doing this can we extinguish the flames of the Three Poisons.
Otherwise, there will never peace in the burning house of the Three Realms. The Three Realms are the desire, form and formless realms. We must be careful not to give rise to desires or be enticed by forms in our external conditions. Otherwise, afflictions will continue to remain in our minds and trouble us greatly. This is the great house of our minds. So, I hope everyone will mindfully listen to the Dharma.
Do you want to be among the 10, 20 or 30? We have finally been able to receive the Buddha- Dharma. In hearing one teaching, let us realize 1000. We must always take good care of our minds and go among the people to turn the Dharma-wheel. This must be our goal as Buddhist practitioners. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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