Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Be Diligent and Do Not Play with Fire (猛利精進勿玩火)
Date: April.24. 2015
“The space between heaven and earth is analogous to a big house. Countless sentient beings coexist. Impurities, discursive thoughts and greed are the sources of evil. The fire of anger and the winds of rage lead to jealousy of the capable and virtuous.”
Originally, under the heavens and on the earth, the place where all beings coexist, was so prosperous. In the beginning, this was a luxurious mansion, but gradually, we humans have made things in this land more and more complicated. “Countless sentient beings coexist in the Five Destinies.” Over time, this place has slowly fallen into disrepair. All the structures and walls were peeling and falling down; everything kept deteriorating. Even the beams and columns were also rotting away. This is an analogy; during the Buddha’s lifetime, His wisdom was like a newly constructed house. Such an abundance of Dharma was provided for everyone’s use. Everyone came to listen to the teachings, to draw near to and accept the Dharma. After hearing it, they were all very joyous and put the teachings into practice accordingly. This was during the Buddha’s lifetime, the era of Right Dharma. After the Buddha entered Parinirvana, slowly, with the passage of time, the spiritual practitioners of that era passed away. People in the next era also engaged in spiritual practice. Knowing that the Buddha-Dharma was great, they worked to help preserve the Dharma. So, they focused on preserving its appearance by building temples, creating sculptures, painting images and so on. Carving and copying sutra texts also became commonplace. [Right Dharma] became “Dharma-semblance,” where one could see the outward appearance of the Dharma flourishing. Gradually, as people’s desires grew and grew, their way of life changed. Spiritual practitioners also changed with the times, gradually forgetting to practice the Buddha-Dharma.
The Dharma-semblance, whether [printed] sutras or sculpted images of the Buddha, has now become commercialized and produced without a sense of true reverence. Spiritual practitioners have become more like the era that they live in, which is more and more secularized. So, we are now in the era of Dharma-degeneration. Compared to the time of the Buddha’s awakening when His mind received all the truths of the universe and His ocean of enlightened wisdom opened up, things are completely different. Now, in this era of Dharma-degeneration, things have already changed.
This enlightened state of mind has disappeared. The number of people who seek to experience and awaken to this state of mind is very small, nearly non-existent. And so, returning to the analogy of the house, no one has made an effort to take care of it. No one tried to make repairs. Left alone, it became filthy and dirty. With no one to care for it, it began to deteriorate even more quickly. We constantly see Tzu Chi volunteers going into the homes of people who are elderly or ill to help them clean up. “How did this house become so rundown?” Before it was in such poor condition, it was once nice and new, but if over time,
no one makes repairs or looks after it, garbage will pile up and the hose will become rundown, so this is the analogy we use.
[People wonder,] “How did this house, which was once so nice, become so rundown? How did it get so dirty?”We can think of the reasons.It is because people are greedy and behave badly.They have ceaselessly accumulated [impurities] which have become sources of evil.
This is expressing that the great house of our world is also just like this.Recently we have discussed the three major and three minor calamities, how an imbalance of earth, water, fire, air and other factors has caused damage to the planet.
Not only have the land been damaged, the air has also become polluted.This is caused by the accumulation of greed and sources of evil.“The fires of anger and the winds of rage lead to jealousy of the capable and virtuous. ”This describes modern people’s state of mind.When we get angry or lose our temper, it feels like a fire if burning within us.Our anger, the emotion of losing our temper, is like a fire.Our rage is like the wind.
Think about what happens when the tinder is lit and the wind blows, there will be fire and wind at the same time.
Last year the Philippines experienced wild fires on top of flooding.
After the earthquake in Japan, a tsunami shortly followed.When the tsunami struck the shore, fires also started burning.Whole villages were burned down.Then the nuclear reactors experienced radiation leaks.The effects of this disaster are still being felt.There are still pollutants in the ocean, in the air and on the land.Wasn’t this caused by the human mind?
Once a disaster strikes, many problems occur at the same time, causing unbearable suffering.We can extend this example to the entire world.If we had not constantly caused damage to nature, would our climate be like this?Would there be so much pollution?
Would there be so much devastation to the land?The collective karma of sentient beings leads to endless disasters.Therefore, the elder of this great house constantly calls out,“Everyone must quickly leave this burning house. This house is surrounded by fire on all sides. This is very dangerous! You must get out now.”
This is an analogy for what the Buddha does in this world.He comes to the world all for the sake of awakening everyone to the fact that we must quickly eliminate greed, anger, doubt, arrogance, etc., from our minds, because these things turn our minds into sources of danger and evil.
So, the previous passage starts with, “Having thought in this way.”The elder had already seen the fire arise on all four sides, so he wanted everyone to leave quickly.But they still remained inside, playing around and having fun.They saw the fire as a kind of enjoyable scenery.They were not afraid, so they did not want to leave.
The previous sutra passage describes how the children were all still playing inside and refused to believe their father’s [warnings].
The elder stood outside, yelling “Come out now!” but no our believe him.They felt no alarm, no fear, no terror and had no intention of leaving; they did not want to leave.This made the elder, their father, very anxious.
Although the father, in his compassion, used kind words to persuade them, his sons happily indulged in their playing, and refused to believe him.They felt no alarm, no fear and had no intention of leaving.
The next sutra passage states, “Moreover, they did not know what fire was, what the house was or what the danger was. They just ran about as they played and merely looked at their father.”
They ran here and there, continuing to play.As their father kept calling to them, they simply looked at him from afar.Because they did not know what fire was, they treated it as part of the scenery.
Because they did not see the house as a whole, [they did not know] “what the house was”.They did not have the whole picture, so they only looked at what was nearby as they played with the fire. Isn’t this what people are like today?
The things they do are very dangerous, yet they do not recognize the danger and do not see the whole situation. Therefore, they did not fear, did not recognize and did not understand “what the danger was”. When people think about how much they have and the situation they are in, they see it as their ideal. This is what people are like nowadays; they create crises without realizing it. They indulge in material wealth and fame and profit for a time, but what are the ultimate consequences? The results will not affect only that individual, but all of humankind. A mind inclined to greed and anger thinks, “If I cannot get [it], I will not allow anyone else to get it either”.
How many manmade calamities do we see right now? So many countries are engaged in civil wars, external conflicts and so on. They are all playing with fire. The Buddha applies wisdom to continually find ways to save sentient beings. This is why He devised suitable teachings that were in accordance with what we could accept.
“The meaning of this parable is that the Buddha had once contemplated and wished to teach sentient beings the wisdom of the fruition of Buddhahood. If we believe in Right Dharma and accept it, our body and mind will be strong and sharp, and we can cultivate purifying practices”.
After we have listened to the Buddha-Dharma, once we can break open our afflictions and sweep them aside, our wisdom will manifest. When wisdom manifests, we will believe in and accept the Right Dharma, follow the teachings and put them into practice. Not only must we cultivate our bodies, but we must cultivate our minds as well. Then “our body and mind will be strong and sharp”. This wisdom is truly powerful. As long as we can break open our afflictions, we can exercise our wisdom and work for the benefit of all in the world. This should be our mindset.
However, we must remember to cultivate purifying practices. Purifying practices are cleansing. If we cannot purify our minds, we cannot brush aside our afflictions. Afflictions are unclean, which means that they are impure. If you want to be pure, you must eliminate the filth first; only then will you be clean.
Consider our Bodhisattvas-volunteers. They cannot bear to see the elderly, the ill and the disabled living in filth. So a group of volunteers will go to the houses of those in need, clean their surroundings, then bring them out, help them wash their bodies, trim their hair and put on a fresh change of clothing. They help to clean up these people’s hair in addition to cleaning the inside of their houses. By painting the walls, they also brighten up the place.
By the same principle, if we do not work hard to clear out the impurities in our minds, our underlying purity cannot manifest. So, “cultivating purifying practices” is very important. “Purifying” means to cleanse, to make things clean. Once we stop engaging in impure conduct, we can wash away our defilements and make an effort to be clean. This will protect our bodies and minds. It is also one of the Buddha’s spiritual powers.
“Spiritual powers: Spiritual powers come from the mind. A still mind reflects all things, clearly discerns all things and transforms sentient beings with Samadhi.”
The spiritual powers we are speaking of are not powers of transformation. The Buddha turns the Dharma-wheel, which turns impurity into purity and evil into goodness. Within the Buddha lies a “still mind [that] reflects all things”.
When the mind calms down, it is still like water. When there is a moon in the sky, “There are a thousand moons in a thousand rivers”. As long as the water is still, it will reflect the moon. So, the “still mind reflects all things”. Take a mirror for example. If its surface has been well-cleaned, when we look into it, we can see everything around us reflected in it. Thus, “a still mind reflects all things, clearly discerns all things”. This is what the Buddha’s mind is like. But, in response to sentient beings’ capabilities, [He] “transforms sentient beings with Samadhi”. Sentient beings are all different and their capabilities may be great or limited, their faculties may be keen and dull. With His Power of Samadhi, the Buddha’s still mind reflects all things. Though there are many kinds of phenomena in our surroundings, the mirror itself is fundamentally unmoving. Everything around us may be moving but the surface of the mirror remains still. This same principle applies to how sentient beings have continually changed over time, while the Buddha-Dharma has always remained bright and clear. The principles will never change; However, sentient beings face severe obstacles [in trying to understand them].
Due to the severity of their obstructions, sentient beings are very far away from achieving the merits and virtues of Buddhahood. They are unable to accept them.
We can listen to the teachings, but [when asked,] “Can we follow it?” “I will take it slow.” We are told, “That is not the right thing to do. You must change more quickly. Okay, I will change my ways but I will do it gradually.” If we change slowly, we will not be able to withstand objects of desire or the temptations around us. Then defilements and desires will quickly drag us astray.
Unfortunately, many sentient beings are obstructed by great afflictions. We have said that the door of this great house is narrow and small. Actually, it is not that the door is too small, but that our ‘heads are small and our bodies big. This means that the mind we use to connect to the Buddha-Dharma is small, yet it can create very large afflictions. For this reason, we cannot escape the burning house and we cannot pass through the door of wisdom.
Our afflictions are still too great. We are still too far away from achieving the merits and virtues of Buddhahood, so we are unable to accept the Buddha-Dharma. For this reason, as this passage states, “They did not know what fore was.” Because of this, we have so many afflictions the flames make it difficult to see the great house. [The elder’s children] only saw the fires, which appear to be pleasant scenery; they were unaware that it could hurt them. For this reason, “All the children are engrossed on their play, their minds confused, blurry and unknowing.” As they continue to play and enjoy themselves, they have no idea that the fore will hurt them.
All the children are engrossed on their play. Their minds confused, blurry and beautiful. When playing with others, their virtues weaken. When playing with things, their resolve weakens. They do not know to fear being burned by the fire.
“They see the fire as amusing and beautiful, like a beautiful part of the scenery. They think the fire looks beautiful, so they enjoy playing with it. As a result, “when playing with others, their virtues weaken.” They just focus on having fun and indulging in luxury and debauchery. People like this weaken their virtues and use any means necessary in order to obtain whatever they want, whatever they desire. People like this are only concerned with luxury and have lost their pure intrinsic nature. They are frivolous and do not care about anything. They do not respect anything in this world and only about how to have fun. People like this easily weaken their virtues. Always playing with things, they are immersed in the things they crave.
Some people love to gamble and suffer when they are not gambling; other people love precious objects, so they mine the earth. Did you know that obtaining even a single gem is very damaging to mountains and rivers? Yet many people love them. When playing with things, people weaken their resolve and virtue.
Indeed, by using things in this way, they do not have any fear of being burned; they are unaware. This is the state of confusion we live in.
Dear Bodhisattvas, in our spiritual practice, we must be Bodhisattvas in more than name alone. We must be a Bodhisattva with true resolve and out the teachings into practice. We must engage in purifying practices, so that we have pure minds when we go among people. We want to help people return to their pure intrinsic nature. This is called turning the Dharma-wheel. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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