Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Three Realms Are Impermanent (三界無常莫貪戀)
Date:August.21. 2015
“The celestial realm is subject to formation, existence, decay and disappearance. All material things are impermanent and changing. The workings of the mind are empty and illusory, always arising, abiding, changing and ceasing. In this world of noble and unenlightened beings, the mind creates both disasters and blessings.”
We often say that this world is impermanent. In fact, the celestial realm is also subject to the process of formation, existence, decay and disappearance; it merely takes much longer to go through it.
The Buddha constantly describes long periods of time as small kalpas, medium kalpas and great kalpas, because it is impossible to calculate in years exactly how long the universe has lasted.
So, when talking about time, the Buddha described long periods of time as “kalpas”. There are small, medium and great kalpas. These are all periods of time. It takes 20 small kalpas to equal one medium kalpas, and four medium kalpas to equal one great kalpas. [The universe] has existed for a very long time, so every world is subject to formation, existence, decay and disappearance, including of course, the Earth.
The objects in the celestial realm are subject to formation, existence, decay and disappearance. We might think that this [cycle] only applies to planets; does it have anything to do with us? It does, because we humans are living on this planet. We are a part of the Earth, and all these material things exist on Earth and wither and bloom as time passes. So, our Five Aggregates are form, feeling, perception, action, consciousness.
When we speak of the Five Aggregates, “form” does not just describe the various things around us that we can see, actually it includes our body as well. All these things are impermanent and changing. Nothing remains unchanged forever. What about our minds? They are empty and illusory, and experience “arising, abiding, changing and ceasing.” The workings of the mind are that our thoughts “arise, abide, change and cease.”
If we can stabilize our minds, focus on our fundamental duties and live the kind of life that we should, it will not be hard for us to become Bodhisattvas.
But we humans cannot stabilize our minds, so we are in a flawed state where precepts, Samadhi and wisdom are endlessly leaking out [of our minds]. This is why our minds are constantly led astray by afflictions, ignorance, the karma we create and so on. In this way, “The workings of the mind are empty and illusory”; there will be no principles in our minds. With our empty and illusory minds, when some asks, “What’s bothering you?” [we respond,] “I feel empty.” Indeed! When ordinary people do not have the Dharma in their hearts, of course they will feel empty and insecure. This is why “The workings of the mind are empty and illusory.”
So, we should try to rediscover the Dharma in our minds so that the workings of the mind will not be “empty and illusory,” always “arising, abiding, changing and ceasing.” Forming aspirations is “arising”. We aspire to do good deeds. We want to do good deeds, want to learn the Buddha’s Way and want to walk the Bodhisattva-path. We are willing to do all this. Once this aspiration “arising,” we keep it in our minds and then put it into action with our bodies. But after we put our aspirations into action, [challenges] arise and time passes. Then naturally, our mindset may shift.
When we change our minds, that is “changing”. Although we are engaging in spiritual practice, the initial aspirations we formed may have already changed. We may still have expectations and give rise to desires for recognition, wealth, etc.This will affect our spiritual practice.
Whether we are lay practitioners of monastics, we are still unenlightened beings, so our minds follow the states of the world, which are impermanent and changing, and thus go through arising, abiding, changing and ceasing.
That is the difference between unenlightened and noble beings.
Noble begins already have a deep understanding of the principles of “formation, existence, decay and disappearance”.They have also realized that.“All material things are impermanent and changing.”They also understand that this is a law of nature.Their minds have been refined over accumulated lifetimes of spiritual practice.
Guanyin Bodhisattva, Earth Treasury Bodhisattva, Manjusri, Maitreya and other Bodhisattvas all returned on the ship of compassion to this world to help out at Sakyamuni Buddha’s [Dharma-assembly].
These noble beings came with the intention of helping the Buddha transform sentient beings.
We unenlightened begins all came with karma.
We do not know our purpose in coming to this world.None of us know Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to this world with a goal, to transform and teach sentient beings to help everyone realize the true principles of all things in the universe.This is the mindset of noble beings.
For unenlightened beings in this world, our disasters and blessings are created by our minds.If we can understand the Buddha’s teachings and gradually approach the state of noble beings, we will create blessings for this world.But if we remain in an unenlightened state, we will create disasters.Manmade calamities are also caused by our changing minds.
When our minds deviate even slightly, we can cause major disasters in this world.So, in learning the Buddha’s Way, the most important thing is the mind. We must take good care of our minds.
The previous sutra passage starts with.
“In this abode, a fire suddenly broke out. In an instant, it spread to all four sides, and the flames raged fiercely.”
The master of this house was about to leave, or perhaps he had left, and afterwards, in this big house, “All fire suddenly broke out.”This was the start of a disaster.
“In an instant, it spread to all four sides, and the flames raged fiercely.”This is an analogy for the Three Realms, which are full of unenlightened beings.Besides the four kinds of beings that we can see, there are also invisible ghosts and spirits.
Although there are many kinds, they are all living beings and considered sentient beings.
Sentient beings have so much karma, yet it is all inseparable from their desires; sentient beings have a wide range of desires.Whether tangible or intangible, sentient beings are [in states of] “desire,” “form” and “formlessness,” states of mind that keep them in the Three Realms.Everything that sentient beings do is all encompassed by the Three Realms.
So, this house, the great house, represents that totality of the Three Realms.Within the Three Realms are this house, this home, which has gradually begun to deteriorate.
So the sutra states, “The ridgepole, beams, rafters and pillars quake and splinter with explosive sounds. Smashed and splintered, they collapse, and the walls come tumbling down. ”
“The ridgepole beams, rafters and pillars quake and splinter with explosive sounds” means that in this house, everything from the beams and pillars to the exterior walls has been surrounded by fire on all sides.The fire has begun to burn.
Once the fire has begun to burn, these structures will fall apart.The noise inside will be very loud.Because the fire has broken out, there will be snapping and popping, as if firecrackers are going off.As everything breaks apart, things o the top half of the house will fall as the lower half sinks.The sound will be great.
So, this a description of a house that has been deteriorating. Once the fire has been ignited, and it begins to burn, the noise will get very loud. The analogies continue with “grievous moans”.
If the fire inside is close by and is already pressing our bodies, we will be very frightened and scared. Or if we are scorched by the fire, we will moan and grieve in pain. We will shout and wail for help loudly. At this point, it is not just material things that have been damaged; sentient beings have also been injured, to the point they cry out in pain and sorrow. When “their roots are destroyed”, that is called “quaked and splintered”.
If a person is scorched by fire, the entire body and the Six Roots will be damaged. The non-sentient house and the sentient beings will, as they remain in the Three Realms, change according to their form as time passes. Since a long time has passed, they will experience formation, existence, decay and disappearance.
“The fire ignites, snaps and pops, and blasts like firecrackers; thus it says, quake and splinter with explosive sounds. Their grievous moans are called explosive sounds. Their roots are destroyed; this is called quaked and splintered”.
As this is happening, “Smashed and splintered, [the supports] will collapse. Smashed and splintered” means [the house] has already been deteriorating. Section after section has collapsed. “This is the four elements dispersing”. The four elements, earth, water, fire and air, have been continually out of balance. So, we say “This is the four elements dispersing”. Furthermore, the walls will cave in. they have collapsed and fallen down. This is describing how the entire Three Realms has been damaged and destroyed. Thus disasters gradually and continually occur on this planet. Not only will the house’s walls splinter, so will the land, mountains and rivers. The mountains will crumble, and the earth will rupture.
On September 21, 1999, a major earthquake [stuck Taiwan]. See, a whole section of land rose up, and part of the plains became hills. There were even some mountainous areas that suddenly [collapsed] and formed sizable lakes. Natural disasters like this are truly frightening; “Mountains and rivers [were] upended”.
“Smashed and splintered, [the supports] collapsed. This is the four elements dispersing. The walls came crumbling down. This is mountains crumbling, the earth rupturing, trees splintering, cliffs, disintegrating and mountains and rivers being upended. This analogy is of the house of the Three Realms and the quarters of the Five Aggregates being smashed, broken and ruined. The phenomenon of the fire burning unbearably is telling us not to have cravings. The analogy of flames destroying a house overall represents the Three Realms’ appearance of impermanence and decay.”
In the [parable] of the house of the Three Realms, the Three Realms is likened to a sizable house. Then the Fie Aggregates are analogous to quarters of the house, which are the rooms. A sizable house has many rooms; these many spaces have different names. Thus, within this great house there are many spaces, many quarters. They are already nearing a time when they will be “smashed, broken and ruined.” They have already begun to gradually deteriorate.
“The phenomenon of the fire burning unbearably” comes from the imbalance of the four elements. We speak of fires, but we are in fact referring to all four elements, thus including earthquakes, storms, floods, etc. [The disasters of] the four elements have been closing in on us from all directions. With this description, having read these sutra passages, how can we not heighten our vigilance? We must be self-disciplined and reverent.
This description [of the fire] is given so that we will put a stop to our cravings. [We are being told] “not to have cravings”. We must not have cravings anymore. So, “The walls came crumbling down. This is mountains crumbling, earth rupturing”. The analogy of the fire burning the house represents the Three Realms’ appearance of decay and impermanence. The analogy of the fire burning the house also represents how the mountains, rivers and the earth are crumbling and rupturing. This expresses to us that the Three Realms are impermanent and decaying.
So, this sutra passage is explaining “the disturbances caused by the creatures and ghosts.” This vast space of the Three Realms contains many creatures” contains many creatures. There are also ghosts and spirits. These are analogies for our minds, how we are all the same as these things. Whether we are more like humans or animals also depends on our minds.
Because our minds are disturbed, we infringe on, take from, lash and fight with each other.
See, isn’t this what people are like nowadays? People are lacking in humanity, so they cause “disturbances [like] creatures and ghosts.” We infringe on and take from each other and clash and fight each other. These are the appearances we manifest. This is also an analogy for the afflictions of ordinary people, afflictions of extreme or deviant paths, afflictions of the desire realm, afflictions of the form realm and afflictions of the formless realm. Those in each realm experience their own suffering of self-torment.
Consider the people of ancient times. How did they start a fire? They kept rubbing sticks against each other. The friction would generate sparks that naturally ignited a fire. We often hear of fires breaking out in national parks around the world. Because of the dry wind, because it has not rained for a while, when the wind blows the tree branches rub against each other and start a fire.
People of ancient times used the hand drill method to make fire. Rubbing rocks together will also fore. So, this is like how those in each real immolate themselves. They all clash and fight with each other. All things have their own forms of degeneration; this calshing and fighting is truly frightening. This is all happening in the Three Realms, and there is no escape.
In summary, [the sutra] describes numerous afflictions. Afflictions do not just arise in the desire realm, but also in the form realm, in the thoughts of our minds. Even if our body never takes action, our minds are still full of afflictions. Afflictions are defilements. If we cannot eliminate these defilements, we will have afflictions of “form.” Because of forms, there are still afflictions in our minds. We must put an end to our desires and then take the next step forward so that the forms in our surroundings will not lead us to give rise to afflictions that contaminate our minds. We should even put an end to afflictions in the formless realm. Although, in the formless realm, we do not greedily cling to afflictions, we may become attached to self-awakening. If we stuck in the state of thinking, “This world has nothing to do with me, we have also deviated.
This shows that the multitude of afflictions is not only confined to the desire realm. They extend to even the form and formless realms, which should be renounced as well. This is analogous to the burning house and shows the compassionate hearts of the Tathagata.
In summary, since we have aspired to learn from noble beings and draw near them, we must settle our minds. We must not remain like unenlightened beings. Sometimes we form aspirations to create blessings and learn the Bodhisattva-path, so we must not external conditions affect us, causing thoughts to stir in our minds again. Once our minds stir, that sight deviation will turn blessings into disasters. That would be hazardous. So, we must take good care of our minds.
Disasters and blessings are created by the mind. Whether we become noble beings or remain unenlightened beings forever also depends on our minds. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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