Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Good and Evil Are Created by the Mind
(善惡業轉一切唯心)
Date:July.14. 2015
“The Three Realms are created only by the mind. The orientation of our minds follows good and evil karma. Good karma leads to heaven and human realms; evil karma to realms of yaksas and hungry ghosts who practice violence and evil. With a thought, we speedily move in that direction. Hungry ghosts are always oriented towards places of starvation and defilement.”
Recently we have been saying that “The Three Realms are created only by the mind.” Our mind encompasses the formless, form and desire realms. We have to examine our mind to learn about and experience these states. Outside of the mind there are no phenomena; all phenomena are created by the mind. The Three Realms are also states of mind.
In the formless realm, there are afflictions that arise from the delusion of ignorance. In the form realm, there are relationships and material things between people, so afflictions arise from our plotting and fighting. In the desire realm, when we interact with our surroundings, our greed and our desire for pleasure give rise to confusion and delusion, which lead to suffering from afflictions.
In summary, whether desires give rise to forms, or whether forms lead to formless afflictions, “The Three Realms are created only by the mind.” These are all states of mind.
So, if the orientation of our mind changes along with our good and evil karma, then as our desires grow greater, our afflictions and cravings to possess things will likewise grow. The more they grow, the more intense this fighting will be. So, we follow our good and evil karma to constantly change our orientation; this all happens in our minds.
When in a state of confusion and delusion, if the karmic causes and conditions are there, we sometimes have the good affinities in the midst of that confused state to hear a sentence, experience a situation or encounter an environment that guides us and helps awaken us from our confusion and afflictions. We will understand the mistakes we have made, return to our [pure nature] and start all over.
In this way, once a thought of goodness arises, we will [do good deeds] and create blessings. This likewise depends on our minds. So, our mind changes in orientation, following the good and evil karma we create. In that unenlightened state, “[Karma can be] good, evil or indeterminate.”
Do we have a mind of goodness? Or do we have a mind of evil? Among good and evil karma, good karma leads to the heaven and human realms. To create good karma, we uphold the Five Precepts. To go a step beyond upholding the Five Precepts, we need to practice the Ten Good Deeds.
You all know the Five Precepts. They are no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying and so on. As for the Ten Good Deeds, three are of the body, four are of speech and three are of the mind. [The three of] the body are no killing, no stealing and no sexual misconduct. The four of speech are no lying, no harsh speech, no gossip and no flattery. The three of the mind are to have no greed, no anger and no ignorance. By practicing the Ten Good Deeds, we will be reborn in the heaven realm.
So, abiding by the Five Precepts ensures that we will reborn as humans and abiding by the Ten Good Deeds leads us to heaven. This is where good karma leads. What about evil karma? If we are oriented toward evil, we will enter the realms of yaksas and hungry ghosts. Doing evil leads us to the Three Evil Destinies, the hell, hungry ghosts and animal realms. Evil karma is also created only by the mind.The mind changes very quickly; “speedily” means at a fast rate.The orientation of our mind can change very quickly, in the space of a thought.
This is our habitual tendency as ordinary people.
People often ask, “Are you doing that right? I believe it is right.”The immediate response is, “I believe it is right.”Then someone else says, “If you do it that way, such-and-such will be the result, so please think this through.”
Even after thinking, a stubborn person, someone who feels self-important, will be too stubborn to admit it, even though he knows he is wrong.It is obvious, after analyzing the situation, that this is the wrong way to do it, and he will likely not succeed.But since he said he was going to do it this way, he clings to his delusions and does not awaken.
People like this constantly reinforce their habits.
They know they are wrong but refuse to change; they continue to stubbornly go down that road.
Being attached to that kind of mindset is truly frightening.
If we are stubborn and repeat our mistakes, if we obviously know we are wrong but deliberately keep going in the wrong direction, we are in an inflexible state, much like how “hungry ghosts are always oriented towards [places of] starvation”.
The Dharma is right there, but they are unwilling to accept it.Because they refuse to accept it, their hearts will always remain empty.If they never take the Dharma to heart, they will never feel steady and grounded, just like hungry ghosts.Without the nourishment of the Dharma, their wisdom-life will be very weak.This is life; some people are forever willing to remain in this world of severe turbidity.Moreover, they are unwilling to accept the Dharma in order to nourish their wisdom-life.So, they are willing to remain in this turbidity, this unclean place.
This is what we see in life.
So, in learning the Buddha’s Way, we must truly always be mindful.All conditions exist in our minds.We must client our minds in the right direction.For example right now, we are all diligently practicing.In the morning people gather together to listen to my morning Dharma lecture.
Every morning, people wake up around 3am, leave their house after 4am and arrive at their spiritual practice center to listen to the teachings a little after 5am.
Right now it is winter; it is very cold, and sometimes it is raining.But people are undeterred by the wind and rain.After engaging in this diligent practice, everyone says they are full of Dharma-joy.
Recently I asked them, “Isn’t it hard to get up so early in the morning?”
They answer, “Only at eh beginning. But now I feel a sense of fulfillment. To wake up early, I go to bed early. After I started waking up early, I felt that after listening to the Dharma and hearing everyone share their realizations. I am filled with Dharma-joy. Then, when I go to work and start my work day, I feel like somehow I have plenty of time to do things, and I am very happy. I do not get tried at all during the work day. Whenever I encounter an issue, I can resolve it very harmoniously. Whenever there is a problem, I can solve it quickly.”
This is what people who recently came to the Abode, both from Taiwan and abroad, have said to me.
Some people also earnestly take notes.I see how earnestly they write; every word in their notes is written neatly.If they truly take the Dharma to heart this way, they can apply it in their daily living.By taking every drop of Dharma-water to heart, they have nourished their wisdom-life and have completely eliminated their afflictions.This is the proper method for listening to the Dharma and learning the Buddha’s teachings.
So, we have already discussed a lot about the previous passages.Birds and beasts, hungry ghosts, yaksas, goblins, and monsters have different kinds of habitual tendencies resulting from the karma they bring.
In fact, all these different lifestyles put together are nothing other than the human mind.When we talk about things in Three Realms, our minds are actually in these three states, the desire, form and formless realms. This is how we torment ourselves. In this state of ignorance, it is as if we are being cooked and roasted in a pan. These many objects of every shape and color, or these ghosts and spirits that are intangible and formless and make us terrified, are all descriptions of our mind.
So the previous passage states, “There were also many ghosts with heads like an ox’s. They might eat human flesh, or they might eat dogs as well”. If everyone understands what I said earlier, the meaning of this passage will be clear to them. The next sutra passage states, “Their hair was matted and unkempt, and they were destructive and treacherous. Oppressed by hunger and thirst, they screamed and ran wildly”.
“Their hair was matted and unkempt”. Everybody understands that this describes hair that is disheveled, that has not been cared for at all. In the past, if people let down their hair, it meant their minds were not disciplined. That was the reasoning.
It says, “They were destructive and treacherous”. If someone does not take care of their appearance, it means their mind is also in disarray. When their mind is in disarray that is reflected in their appearance. “They are destructive and treacherous” is how this is explained.
Their hair is matted and unkempt, and they are destructive and treacherous: some cling to eternalism, while others cling to nihilism. They do not know clearly right from left, and turn back and forth in circles. Like those with matted and unkempt hair, those who follow extreme and heretical views have an appearance that is ferocious and evil.
“Some cling to eternalism, while others cling to nihilism”. When our minds become scattered, some spiritual practitioners may cling to “eternalism” while others may cling to “nihilism”. Since we are engaging in spiritual practice, we know about the karmic law of cause and effect. So, we should not further create negative karmic connections. We should create good connections. We should not commit wrongdoings, but should benefit everyone. We believe in the karmic law of cause and effect, but some people deny it. Since they do not believe in the law of karma, they believe that once this life ends, there is nothing after that. [Their attitude is] “If I have liquor today, I will get drunk today”. They try to indulge in this life to the fullest and do not care about the future. But those who cling to eternalism say, “I am human this lifetime, so I will be human in future lifetimes. If I do not properly engage in spiritual practice in this lifetime, I can do it in the next”. Although they believe in future lifetimes, they do no comprehend the law of cause and effect or realize they have to pay their karmic debts. If they cause a lot of harm in this lifetime, the karmic retribution they face in future ones will be terrifying. But they do not understand this. They think they will always be human, and if they do not cultivate themselves this life, they can always do it in future lifetimes. However, they may not have the karmic conditions to engage in spiritual practice in the future. They may face so much torment their whole lives that they do not even have time to breathe, but they do not realize this.
So, it is not right to cling to eternalism or nihilism. We must believe in the law of cause and effect. Otherwise, we will lack clarity. “They do not know clearly right from left, so they keep going in circles. If we let our hair down, and then shake our heads around, looking forward and backward, left and right, in the end, we do not know whether we are going forward or backward, left or right. Without taking the Dharma to heart, we just keep turning around in circles, just like how, if we keep shaking our heads, spinning our hair all around, in the end, we will be dizzy, and our hair will be messy. This is like holding “extreme and heretical views”. Such a ferocious appearance, with such long and unkempt hair, represents people’s confused thinking.
Next it states, “Oppressed by hunger and thirst, they scream and run wildly”.
“Oppressed by hunger and thirst, they screamed and ran wildly: They hold extreme views and heretical views, but they are strongly attached to those views and have no nourishment of virtue. They lack the water of Dharma-nature to draw on. This is analogous to being oppressed by hunger and thirst”.
Being “oppressed by hunger and thirst” is an analogy for “extreme and heretical views”. People’s attachment to these views is so strong; they just can never get past this obstacle. They clearly know that their methods will not work, but they have such strong attachments. They cling to their views and understanding and to their belief in permanence.
“It’s fine; things just turned out this way. I’ll start over next time. I am wealthy in this lifetime. When I am reborn, I will likewise be this wealthy”. They do not know where their wealth comes from. They have no idea, so they keep competing with others and keep taking things from them. They do not know that the blessings they created in the past are the reasons they are successful in making money in this lifetime.
Instead of creating blessings in this lifetime, they keep trying to satisfy their insatiable greed. They work so hard in their pursuits. All these things they work so hard to obtain in the end leave them with karmic debts that they have to repay in future lifetimes. They do not know this, so “They are strongly attached to those views” and “have no nourishment of virtue.”
They do not care about doing good deeds.They are only concerned with their income, so they do not to give and create blessings.Therefore, they have no virtues.
They do not cultivate inwardly or practice outwardly. These people have no spiritual nourishment or thoughts of goodness in their minds at all. Outwardly, they do not do any good deeds, so they create no nourishment of virtue. “They lack the water of Dharma-nature to draw on.” They lack the water of Dharma-nature that allows us to develop our wisdom-life. This is analogous to “being oppressed by hunger and thirst.”
Learn and practice careful contemplation, and do not by any means be biased. Those who are destructive and treacherous are without the virtues of learning the precepts and being in Samadhi; they are lacking the practice of the Right Path. This is liked being oppressed by hunger and thirst.
This is the way life is. As we learn and practice, we must think carefully. We must be cautious so as to never go astray. Our minds must be oriented in the right direction; they must not deviate in the slightest. Otherwise we would be like “those who are destructive and treacherous.” They do not practice precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.
Not have learned precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, they do not believe in these teachings and therefore do not cultivate virtuous Dharma. Their actions constantly deviate more toward evil. So, “those are destructive and treacherous” have no Dharma in their minds. They lack the Right and virtues from practicing precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Lacking the teachings of the Right path is like being “oppressed by hunger and thirst.” These evil ghosts have no Dharma in their minds.
They claim to know when they do not. Each expresses his or her own views and pronounces and promotes evil doctrines, as if crying out. They follow evil practices and transmigrate endlessly without rest. This is like being driven to scream and run wildly.
Because people do not cultivate their minds with the Dharma, they insist that they are always right and teach whatever they want without accepting others’ views teach whatever they want without accepting others’ views. They have gone astray and continue to “pronounce and promote evil doctrines.” They are constantly crying out like this. Not only have they gone astray, they also encourage other people to joy them. With these deviant practices, naturally they will transmigrate endlessly.
Once deviant thoughts arise in their minds, naturally they will be trapped in cyclic existence and they will call on others to join them in their actions. This is why we must choose carefully when we decide to engage in spiritual practice. We must earnestly do the homework assigned to us. By earnestly doing this homework, we are making the effort to take the Dharma to heart and manifest it in our practice.
“The Three Realms are created only by the mind. The orientation of our minds follow good and evil karma. Good karma leads to heaven and human realms; evil karma to realms of yaksas and hungry ghosts who practice violence and evil.” “With a thought,” very quickly, we speedily move in that direction. So, we must take good care of our minds, or they may deviate very quickly. If we go astray in the space of a thought, we will be like “hungry ghosts [who] are always oriented towards [places of] starvation.” We must be extremely careful and eliminate ignorance and afflictions right away, or else our mind will be filled with turbidity. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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