Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Transform Oneself and Others with Right Dharma (正法住心度己度人)
Date:July.12. 2015
“In India, there were 20 religious doctrines that taught how to be free from all bondage. Those that held nakedness as a correct practice would worship while naked, even in winter. This custom from the heretical doctrine of nakedness, a deviated path of ascetic practices, keeps one stuck in the Three Realms. When Right Dharma abides in the mind, one goes among people to save others.”
I want to share with everyone that in India, during the Buddha’s lifetime, there were 96 religious doctrines. Among these 96 religious teachings, there were 20 which were biased toward ascetic practices. These ascetic practices encompassed all kinds of suffering. The wish “to be free from all bondage” was their state of mind and they did actually engage in spiritual practice. They did this in the hope of transcending the sufferings of the world. Religious practitioners in those times also wondered why there was suffering in life, where suffering came from and why [people] suffered. They did not discover that “suffering” came from “causation,” but they knew that they were suffering, and if they wanted to transcend suffering, they would have to engage in ascetic practice.
Ascetic practice included various methods that caused great torment to the body. It was a life of painful trials. Their only goal was to free themselves from what was keeping them bound in the Three Realms where they faced all kinds of suffering. How could they be liberated? They would practice according to these methods, to these teachings, which were to use various ways of living to torture themselves.
One of these methods “held nakedness as a correct practice.” They thought this method of spiritual practice was correct. It was also an ascetic practice. They wore no clothing, even in winter, which caused them to feel very cold. They worshipped ghosts and spirits while naked. With a naked and bare body, they engaged in these practices. They believed that their ancestors passed down these methods for spiritual practice.
Actually, these methods of practice were paths that had gone astray. I often say that, when we engage in spiritual practice, a slight deviation can lead us far off course.
This kind of “deviated path of ascetic practice” still “keeps one stuck in the Three Realms.” These practitioners remained in the Three Realms. They wholeheartedly hoped that they could transcend the Three Realms to avoid the suffering of cyclic existence, but once they deviated from the path, they remained stuck in the Three Realms, unable to escape.
They did not know that the Three Realms are actually states of mind; the Three Realms are [created by] our minds. These practitioners did not understand this truth. If they understood this truth, they would know that “Right Dharma [must] abide in the mind.” When we take the Buddha-Dharma to heart, naturally we will be able to eliminate our desires, and we will not be affected by afflictions or our external conditions. Once we have transcended our discursive thoughts, we will not be trapped in the Three Realms, and our minds can achieve liberation in this lifetime.
Spiritual practice focuses on having the “Right Dharma abide in the mind.”If the Right Dharma abides in our minds, we will be free from our limited self and have “a mind that encompasses the universe”.Naturally, our minds will be open and expansive so we can accommodate everything in the world.
Moreover, regarding sentient beings, we will have “unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion”.We will naturally go among people to listen to what they are saying in their hearts and understand their “suffering” and “causation”.
After understanding, we will naturally learn the Buddha’s Way to seek the Dharma and the Right Path and to realize how we can eliminate afflictions.Then these principles will circulate in our minds.Naturally, when Right Dharma circulates and abides in our minds, we will be able go among people to transform them.This is the direction of our spiritual practice.
To engage in spiritual practice, we must learn to keep the Dharma in our hearts, go among people.This is the true practice of the Right Dharma.
So, yesterday we said, “There were many ghosts, their bodies long and large”.
We have discussed this before.Ghosts and spirits come and go without a trace; they are likened to the many afflictions in our minds.These attachments and afflictions extend throughout the past, present and future.These kinds of attachments will always be with us.Even when it comes to spiritual practice, we are attached to our biases.As we just said, some engaged in spiritual practice while naked, believing that this had been passed down from their ancestors.The principle is the same; these people are attached to deviant practices the way we are attached to our afflictions throughout the past, present and future.Thus they are described as having “bodies long and large”.
In our minds, afflictions and ignorance may come and go without trace.After this continues for a long time, we cannot remain focused on the Right Dharma or earnestly engage in spiritual practice to take the Dharma to heart.
If this was the way things were in the past, we must now heighten our vigilance and walk on the Right Path with reverence.
Next, it states, “Naked, black and gaunt, they have long abided there. They would make loud and awful noises while crying out for food. Then there were many ghosts with throats like needles. Naked, black and gaunt, they have long abided there.”
Let us examine these words.Regarding those more than 20 religious doctrines, as we just said, what they expressed was that they wanted to be free from all bonds, so they engaged in spiritual practices that caused them deep suffering.
“Others cannot bear it, yet I can. This is the skill that I have mastered because I want to transcend suffering in the Three Realms and no longer be trapped in cyclic existence.”This is their stance on their practice.
Wither they practiced with fire or water or by living like an ox or dog, etc., they were all willing to face this suffering.Some even practiced by not wearing any clothes.During the coldest time of the year, they still refused to wear any clothing as they paid their respects to ghosts and spirits.They considered this a proper spiritual practice.
This actually represents shamelessness.We humans should have a sense of [propriety].
We must wear clothes.Not only must we wear clothes, we must wear them neatly.This is etiquette.
We wear clothes to cover our bodies.In particular, when it is cold, they keep us warm.
Not only is wearing clothing part of being human, we must wear it neatly as a part of human etiquette.If we walk around naked, we are shameless [with no sense of propriety].
“Black and gaunt” is a metaphor for how they had not been nourished by the Dharma.The Dharma is spiritual nourishment that can nourish our wisdom-life.Heretical practitioners have gone astray, so they cannot accept the Right Dharma.Thus they cannot nourish their wisdom-life, which becomes black and gaunt.
It has become shrunken because it has not been nourished by Dharma-water.
It is like a fruit laid out in the sun and has become dehydrated so that it is completely dried out and shriveled.The principle is the same.
Our wisdom-life must be nourished by Dharma-water.Without the Dharma, our wisdom-life will wither.If we humans do not eat any food, we will become black and gaunt.This description signifies a lack of Right Dharma. Without Right Dharma, we have no sense of shame [or propriety]. If we do not take the Right Dharma to heart and are cut off from Dharma-water, naturally we will be black and gaunt.
Naked, black and gaunt, they have long abided there. This refers to one of the 20 religious doctrines. To demonstrate that they have freed themselves from all bondage, they hold to nakedness as right practice. Their nakedness indicates that they have no shame. Their blackness and gauntness show that they are not nourished by the Dharma. They have no merits nourishing or aiding them, so they are gaunt.
“They have no merits nourishing or aiding them”. They do not have these merits. They do not attain merits through this practice, so they are just abusing themselves. This is not right. They have deviated in their spiritual practice, so, “They do not practice the virtuous Dharma”. They believe that their spiritual cultivation will help free them from these bonds and transcend the Three Realms, but they have gone astray. In particular, they do not practice virtuous Dharma among people. This also shows they have no sense of shame. If spiritual practitioners are only trying to benefit themselves and do not think to show compassion to other people, this is not right. This also shows they have no shame. Those who see other people doing good deeds but belittle them are also said to have no shame. Not only do they not take joy in others’ merits, they slander those people. These people have no sense of shame.
So, this practice of “nakedness” is mistaken. People should have a sense of propriety and a clear course of spiritual practice.
They do not practice the virtuous Dharma, which shows they have no shame. This is the meaning of naked. With negative actions, they deludedly inflate their egos. Those who cling to the view of self cannot escape from the Three Realms. Thus it is said they have long abided there.
“With negative actions, they deludedly inflate their egos”. They think everything they do is correct and that their spiritual practice is something special. With these negative actions, they deludedly inflate their egos; they cling to “the view of self”. Those who “cling to the view of self” [think] that their views are most correct. As for the principles, they think they are the only ones who understand. They have obviously gone astray, but they think what they are doing is right so they argue with people over every little thing. They are attached to their own views and have a high opinion of themselves. With this inflated ego, they have no respect for other people. People like this are said to be “clinging to the view of self”.
As to this “deludedly inflated ego,” we must treat others with a sense of propriety when engaging in spiritual practice. Showing “gratitude, respect and love” seems like a simple thing, but people with deluded self-importance cannot do any of this. Thus, “With negative actions, they deludedly inflate their egos”; they always “cling to the view of self”. Such people cannot escape from the Three Realms because they have trapped their minds in [the states of] the Three Realms. Within this burning house of the Three Realms, they suppress and pressure themselves. This is indeed a pity. So, “They have long abided there”. The attachments of ordinary people or those with deviant practices and deviant views will keep them abiding in the Three Realms. They are entangled by the afflictions in the desire, form and formless realms.
Next, we will discuss, “They make loud and awful noises while crying out for food”. Because they do not attain the nourishment of Right Dharma, they are starving and will “make loud and awful noises”.
They make loud and awful noises. Awful noises will definitely echo back to them. Beset by the suffering of both hunger and cold, they cry out seeking nourishment. This represents how the view of self and greed correspond with one another. With minds that cling to a sense of self, they pronounce and proclaim the existence of “I”. Thus it says that they make loud and awful noises. They hope that by making these sounds, they can achieve the fruit of the path. Thus it says they cry out for food.
Obviously there is good Dharma in front of them, there is spiritual nourishment, but they do not approach it. Instead, they keep going the wrong way down the wrong path and making loud and awful noises; they think that only they are right, and everyone else is wrong. They shout and yell loudly, so “Awful noises will definitely echo back to them”.
They are just shouting loudly without properly engaging in spiritual practice. They talk at length about principles and criticize the wrongs of others without understanding their own faults. The more loudly they shout, the more they harm themselves. However, they do not understand this, so they are “beset by the suffering of hunger and cold.” In fact, the Dharma that can nourish them is clearly in front of them, but they deliberately do not take in any of it. This is why they lack the nourishment for their spiritual practice They feel that life is suffering, but all they do is complain about this suffering.
They feel that everything is unfair, “Why do some people’s lives go so smoothly, while mine is like this?” They continue to complain about many things. This is like “crying out seeking nourishment”.
In fact, spiritual practice is not about arguing. We practice by cultivating our own minds. This is an analogy for the view of self and the appearance of greed, how greed appears in response. Greed is endless. We previously said that in the state of greed, one feels impoverished. We never feel like we have enough. No matter how much we eat, we will still feel hungry. We see this in Alzheimer’s patients. We see this in Alzheimer’s patients. Even though they have just eaten, they ask, “Why haven’t I eaten yet?” They have completely forgotten that they just ate. After a while, they say again, “I’m hungry, why didn’t you give me anything to eat?”
“You ate just a moment ago.” “No, I didn’t I’m still hungry”. In our lives, we experience a similar illness. Because we ordinary people have these kinds of afflictions in our minds, we have a similar illness. The afflictions in our minds will naturally manifest as physical symptoms. So, we feel poor and lacking. Because we have not taken the abundance of Dharma into our minds, naturally we will never realize and retain it. Thus Right Dharma does not firmly abide in our minds, so we can never attain Right Dharma. Thus, we will “make loud and awful noises while crying out to seek food.” We will still continue seeking.
“With minds that cling to a sense of self, they pronounce and proclaim the existence of I.”
We just keep talking about “I,I,I, saying to people,” “You must listen to me. We ourselves are starving [without the Dharma]” but we still call to others, “Come listen to my teachings.” Even if there is no Dharma in us, we still “pronounce and proclaim.” This really show attachment to “self.” “Listen to me and practice the way I practice.” Practicing with fire or nakedness or living as an ox, dog and so on are taken as proper ways to engage in practice when they are not.
So, “They make loud and awful noises.” Clearly, they have not taken the Dharma to heart but the still want people to listen to them. “They hope to achieve the fruit of the path.” They tell people, “if you listen to me, you can achieve the fruit of the path.” Some people say, “I am transforming others” “If you listen to and believe in my teachings, I will attain merits.”There are some people who teach like this, which is a mistake. The Dharma must abide in our hearts [first]. We need to transform ourselves with the Dharma before we transform others. We must have enough understanding ourselves before we can find a way to transform others.
So, “There were many ghosts with throats like needles.” This is an analogy for the affliction of stubborn views. We stubbornly cling to our views and “cannot accept those of others.”
We may not accept others suggestions and always think that we are correct. Actually, if we do not listen to others and also do not understand much ourselves, it is like our throats are constricted and we cannot swallow the Dharma even if it is there. This is like being unable to swallow something even after it is in our mouths. All this happens because of deviant thinking.
So, everyone, as Buddhist practitioners it is most important to learn to take the Right Dharma to heart. Only when the Dharma is firmly in our hearts can we can go among people to purify their hearts with the Dharma-water. We must not be like heretical practitioners who see a permanent self where there is none and see permanence where there is none. These are all incorrect views. The Dharma must bide in our hearts so that we can transform ourselves and then others. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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