Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: All Visible Phenomena Are Impermanent (以屋喻身萬法無常)
Date:July.24. 2015
“Amidst the universe’s nebulous colors, from the past until today, all things have been undergoing formation, existence, decay and disappearance. To build a hall, one must gather earth and wood. The hall’s eaves, beams and girders create a space. Amidst the subtle changes of time, space and relationships, all tangible, visible phenomena are impermanent. ”
“Amidst the universe’s nebulous colors” is referring to the world, to this universe that is vast and boundless. “Nebulous” means very vast. As our planet rotates, as we go from darkness to light, we can see that there are so many colors, colors of every description, in this world. Out of this expanse of sandy yellow soil, so many different colors emerge. There are countless colors in this vast space. It has been like this “from the past until today.” It has been this way since ancient times, for an incalculably long period of time. This space in the universe was always this way.
As for “all things in universe,” though there are so many things in this world, they all go through “formation, existence, decay and disappearance.” The general space we live in is the universe. The immediate space we live in is our residence, which is in a certain country, a certain county, city, town or village. Wherever we live, there needs to be a house so that we can protect our body from the wind and the rain. This is just a tiny part [of the vast world]. However big the world is, the space we humans live in is actually not that big. Moreover, though all we need is this small space, a single building, to construct this building we still need materials taken from the world around us. First we need to plan out the construction, [described in Chinese as] “the raising of earth and wood.” Before we start building on this piece of earth, we need wood, or lumber.
Perhaps we also need to use cement. Ingredients for cement come from earth; they must be mined from mountains. These raw materials must be processed through the furnace and so on in order to become cement. So, cement also comes from the earth. From earth, we can also get the bricks we need. The raw materials for bricks likewise come from digging in the earth and the mountains. Bricks are also manmade. Individual blocks of earth become bricks after being baked in a brick kiln. In ancient times, people were very wise. They mixed soil from the earth and water and then molded bricks from it. They called those bricks “mud bricks”.
Whether we are using cement or bricks, this is done for the sake of sheltering our bodies. To build a house, we must consume many resources from the earth. Nowadays, people also use iron and steel. To make steel, we also need to dig into the earth and mine the mountains. After extracting the raw materials, in a furnace we smelt them to get steel and iron. Steel, iron and so on are building materials that must be obtained from the earth.
To decorate the interior of a house, wood is necessary.We take many kinds of building materials from the world around us in order to complete this house.So, we should always be appreciative, cherish the land that enabled us to build our home and always preserve it so everything looks neat.If there is debris, we must clean it promptly.In this way, the land will remain very beautiful and healthy.It is the same with windows and doors.We open and close them, wipe and maintain them.If we do these things, the house will last a long time.It will be very well taken care of.
After a house is built, no matter how sturdy it is, if nobody lives in it for a few years, the house will deteriorate very quickly.Or, if people live in it but do not take care of it, the things inside the house, like the walls, windows and so on, will deteriorate very quickly.So, we have to cherish everything.
Many people build large houses.Since we live in the house, we should cherish it.This is a feeling of gratitude and is called cherishing one’s blessings.
So, all the people who live in a house must bring a sense of life to it and careful maintain it so that the house can stay in good shape.
It is said, in time and space and between people, thing constantly undergo infinitesimal changes, undergo the aggregate of action.All tangible, visible phenomena are impermanent.
As for time, think about how there is the past, present and future.This time, this space and our interactions with each other are all subject to the aggregate of action.
Time continues to pass while we are unaware.
In fact, this place will not last forever either; it will eventually decay and disappear.Therefore, time, space and relationships are constantly going through infinitesimal changes.
This “aggregate” is an unchanging principle that has applied to all thins in the universe since the beginning; everything is subject to the aggregate of action.
This applies to all things. For example, steel and iron will get rusty, will become worn down and so on.This is because they undergo all these infinitesimal changes.We must clearly understand these principles.
All visible phenomena are impermanent.
Anything that is visible, any kind of physical matter, any kind of phenomenon, is impermanent.So, we must put our hearts into experiencing this.
Now let us examine the previous sutra passage.The Buddha was restating Himself in verse form, so these verses began with,
“As this house was old, it had been repeatedly damaged. The halls and the quarters were high and precarious were brittle and fragile. The girders and beams were all aslant. The foundations and stairs were falling apart.”
This ”house” refers to the Three Realms, which are the desire, form and formless realms.This house was built a long, long time ago.It has been here “from the past until today,” but “it had been repeatedly damaged.”After so long, this house had visibly begun to deteriorate.
Because of our desires, our greedy and desirous thoughts, we fight for and take things.
As we just talked about, on this land, though we humans need earth to build houses on top of, that is no longer enough for us.We have started to dig underground.This causes great damage to the earth.There is not much we can do.That is what people do right now.
Though people harm [the earth] to build houses, how long will the houses last?Although people believe “man can conquer nature,” we cannot actually withstand the power of nature.
In the Three Realms, first, people give rise to desires.This leads them to de destructive things.So, first among the Three Realms is the desire realms, where we create destruction.
The second is the form realm.Our minds take in all the “forms” around us.There are so many things out there, and we think, “I love this, I want to possess this.”We might have a lot but we want even more. So, we think up many ways to take possession of everything on earth. So, in our minds, all tangible and visible forms, all tangible and visible phenomena, are what we wholly want to possess. Our minds are filled with thoughts of taking possession of these objects. Actually, “All tangible, visible phenomena are impermanent”. If we do not understand this principle, we will continue to create [bad karma].
Last is the formless realm. There are things we clearly can never obtain, yet we still fantasize about them. When the Realms are analyzed in Buddhist teachings, we find that the desire realm is composed of [six] desire heavens and the form and formless realms [have more]. But these realms are actually in our minds. When it comes to our minds, we must first understand that our minds are in the three states of the desire, form and formless realms. Because of the state of the formless realm, we let our imagination run wild and thus give rise to much affliction and ignorance. So, discursive thoughts keep arising in our minds. Discursive thoughts lead to desires, so we want to possess a wide array of things. This leads us to take certain actions which cause the world to weaken even faster; we cause it to deteriorate. So, we must be mindful.
In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha shares His hope that all of us can truly comprehend [the workings of] the physical realm and the human world. So, we talk about the heavens, earth and humans.
The heavens are above, the earth is below and we are in the middle. We humans need to care for the sky and keep it free of pollutants. We also need to keep the earth safe and peaceful. This all depends on what we do. So, each one of us should heighten our vigilance.
Next, it states, “The walls were cracked and collapsing, the plaster was peeling and the straw roof was scattered messily”. The rafters and poles were crumbling, the surrounding fences were all bent, and various filthy things were everywhere”.
These words are hard to recite. When reciting the Lotus Sutra, the words might not flow out smoothly. But we are actually surrounded by these things on a daily basis. Only with these things can our lives be peaceful and safe; we will be protected from the wind or rain. But these things are seemingly hidden from sight, so we hardly notice them. Therefore, we cannot name many of them.
In summary, these are the things we need in a house; they are essential. These things are an analogy for us, for our bodies. Our body is just like a house. In our body, there are bones. If there were no bones to support us, how could our internal organs be safe? In addition to bones and organs, there also needs to be skin and muscles. In addition to skin, there needs to hair on the body and head for us to look human. [These external appearances] allow us to distinguish people from each other. This is the wonder of the universe.
In summary. To build a house, we need beams and ridges, girders, pillars, walls and so on. It is the same with the human body. When a house in this world falls into disrepair, if it is not well cared-for, it will be in bad shape very soon. The same thing happens when we age. When we are old and frail, our body naturally goes slack. The skin on the faces of old people loosens. Nobody can stop the aging process. When we get old, our vision becomes increasingly blurry. When we get old, we cannot walk as nimbly and so on. This is what we look like when we are old. The bones become more loosely held together, so we have the posture of old people. When the foundation everything is built on is no longer that sturdy, we have begun to show signs of aging and frailty.
“When people grow old and frail, we can say they are falling apart. The walls were cracked, split and collapsing, thus in the plaster there were fissures, and it was peeling and falling off. The straw roof, due to the wind and rain, had scattered and fallen.”
“The walls were cracked and collapsing”. Because pillars and beams had become loose and were less able to support [the building’s weight], naturally the walls split and cracked. People cover the walls with plaster for the sake of decoration, so everything looks smooth. But it is “peeling off”. Things are beginning to deteriorate.
Once there are cracks in the wall, the plaster will fall out. Gradually, the plaster will begin peeling off. “The straw roof was scattered messily”. In ancient times, people covered the roof with straw and mugwort and so on. They used [bundles of] straw to cover the roof.
As time passed, the straw would also gradually become loose. When the wind blew, pieces of straw would fall off. This is the appearance of a house; it is also similar to the human body.
When the body’s four elements are not it balance, it is damaged. We can say it is cracked and collapsing. The plaster is like our skin. The withering of age is like plaster peeling. The straw roof ids like our hair; with old age it falls, thus it is scattered messily.
When the four elements of our body are not in balance,the body will be damaged. Over time, the plaster of a house like our aged, withered skin, will become loosened. Our hair will start to fall out, too. We gradually begin to show signs of aging.
So, often when we build a house, we extend the eaves a little bit to protect the house so that when it rains, the water will not splash against the house. This protect the windows, walls etc..
But to extend the eaves, the ridges of the roof have to extend out, too. Our tendons and bones work in the same way. Although we have hands, we also need fingers to exercise all the functions of our hands. In summary, our joints and our bond and the rest of our body, for the sake of the body’s function, must all work well with each other.Every single part is very important.
But have lived a long time, these parts have been used a long time. Look at what happens to people who work hard [with their hands]. Their hands and fingers become deformed. Their fingernails no longer grow. The skin of their hands is worn and damaged. This I what happens to people. But this work [gives their hands] value they are useless. If we decorate our hands prettily and are reluctant to use them, they are useless; all they will be is decoration. If they only serve as useless decoration, they will accomplish. They would be like a vase, which is the most useless thing in a house. We do not need to have flowers in a vase; we do not need such decorations.
The only function of a vase is to simply be a decoration. Living in this world, we want to be useful.Every hose protects people’s bodies, and we must use our bodies to protect the plant, to protect this world. We must make full use of our body for it to have value. This analogy refers to more than a house, it refers to everything within the Three Realms.
The “nebulous” universe has great variety, with all kinds of form. There are so many things that exist in this world between the heavens and earth. From the past until today, they have undergone infinitesimal changes. All visible tangible phenomena are impermanent and they are all deteriorating.
Since everything is deteriorating, why must we give rise to so many afflictions that bind our body?We should now be able to see through things and quickly learn to understand the principles behind their workings. We must not just be mindful about they tiny matters in our daily living; we must strive to understand the truths of all things in this vast universe. When we sum up the principles of all things, we know that all tangible, visible phenomena are impermanent.
So, why do we give rise to so many afflictions and create so much karma for their sake? We must always remind ourselves to be vigilant and always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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