Subject: Trapped By Nihilism and Eternalism (斷常諸見陷三界)
Date:August.01. 2015
“The view of nihilism is insisting that the end of life is eternal and that there is no rebirth. Thus there is no fear of cause and effect. The view of eternalism is insisting that one can abide permanently is this and future lives and that there will never be an end. These are heretical and extreme views.”
Nihilism means that one insists on and is stubbornly attached to the thought that, “As long as it makes me happy, I can do whatever I want. Is there really such a thing as a future life? I refuse to believe in future lives. I will enjoy this life as much as possible and do whatever I want. I’m not afraid of facing any consequences or what may happen in future lives.” This is the view of nihilism; these people do not believe in the law of karma.
People with the view of eternalism are similar. They insist that, “Even if I do not properly engage in spiritual practice in this life, it does not matter because I will be born human again in my next life. I will have another chance next life.” People with these views believe that humans will always retain human form and that cows, sheep, dogs and pigs will always be reborn as cows, sheep, dogs and pigs. They are attached to this perspective of permanence. They firmly hold on to this perspective so that cannot be guided onto the right course. This is eternalism. Nihilism and eternalism are the two extremes of deviated views.
We should believe in the karmic law of cause and effect. We cannot practice assuming that everything is everlasting and unceasing or that everything will end and cease forever. Neither of those views is correct. They are the extreme views of heretical teachings.
Practitioners of other religious teachings may feel it is not good to desire material things, so they hope to be able to eliminate their desires for material things, sensual pleasures, etc. This is why they practice to reach the form realm.
In the form realm there are 16 heavens. In these 16 heavens there are still psychological and spiritual desires. There are religious teachings that say [the form realm] is still not a pure state and that to cultivate a higher state of purity, people must practice to reach the formless realm, where there is not physical substance, nor afflictions form discursive thoughts. But when they cultivate this meditative state and have reached that pinnacle, they still have traces of desire.
What kind of desire? A kind of presumptuous desire for that unimaginable state of neither thought nor absence of thought. Thus, the arrogance inside of them is something they are still unable to entirely eliminate. They still have afflictions from being self-centered and arrogant.
Sometimes, with the meditative states that these heretical practitioners are cultivating, once they deviate, they may end up like people we often hear about, acting as if they are possessed. Those practices can be hazardous, so we normal people should not try them.
I remember when I was still quite young, before I became a monastic, there was a family in my hometown who kept a strict vegetarian diet. It turned out their practices was slightly deviant. The head of that family was the leader of a religious sect.
One day, he suddenly jumped out of a window on an upper floor. Not surprisingly, he died from the impact. His family said, “He was engaged in spiritual practice and said that he saw a ladder to heaven. He heard someone call to him, ‘Come here!’ The ladder is right in front of you. Then he said, “I’m going to heaven. The ladder to heaven is right here.” Then he stepped out of the window. It was as if he was possessed. Later it became known that he constantly saw and heard things.He had [imaginary] conversations in languages that no one understood.
Nevertheless, many people believed his teachings, so they made him the leader of this sect.This is what we mean by possession.This is very terrifying.
So, as Buddhist practitioners, we are learning the true path.What is the true path?Living a practical life.How do we choose a course in life?
We need one that takes us in the correct direction.We need a path, a road that we can walk, one that teaches us kind and reasonable ways to interact with people and matters.
When our interactions with others are harmonious, and we can deal with matters harmoniously, we are in completely harmony with the principles.
The Buddha put His heart into teaching us.
The principles that He taught us were about more than how to be good people.Because we may not have understood them clearly or because we may lack a sense of vigilance, the Buddha used all kinds of analogies to help us understand and accept the teachings so that we can put them into practice.This is what the Buddha taught humans.
As we learn the Lotus Sutra, we can see how meticulous the editors were.With the important teachings, aside from using prose sections to help us to understand, out of fear that we might be inattentive and miss out on these spiritual principles, the editors repeated them.
There is much repetition in the sutras; this includes the many analogies for people, matters and objects that refer to animals, ghosts and spirits.The Buddha, in His compassion, used various things that exist in the Three Realms as analogies to teach us.
So, as we learn the Dharma, we must be patient, meticulous and mindful and carefully contemplate our daily living.Do these animals’ ways of living resemble the mindset we have when we give rise t discursive thoughts?
We must constantly remind ourselves to be vigilant of this.
The previous sutra passage states, “The vicious beasts and poisonous creatures were hiding and scurrying inside holes and dens, and the pisaca demon was living inside as well. Because their blessings were meager, they were hard-pressed by the fire.”
This passage tells us about vicious beasts and poisonous creatures that hide and scurry inside holes and dens; they are everywhere.These tangible things can be turned into the delusions inside our minds; we endlessly conceal ignorance and delusions inside our minds.
“The pisaca demon” was living inside as well.
In our minds, when doubts arise, they cause trouble and so on because we do not have deep faith in the karmic law of cause and effect and do not have the roots of goodness for accepting the Right Dharma.
These kinds of vicious beasts and poisonous creatures fill our minds.These afflictions, doubts and delusions naturally lead us to create much karma because they drive our actions.
The following passage states, “they cruelly harmed and killed each other, drinking blood and eating flesh. The jackal and his ilk had already died. All the large vicious beasts contended for food to eat. The stinking smoke permeated all four directions.”
These analogies of vicious beasts and poisonous creatures are still referring to things in our minds.These will incite us to hurt one another.
During the Buddha’s lifetime, there was a time when He was engaged in spiritual practice at the abode in City of the House of Kings.There was a group of very diligent bhiksus there.
This is just like Tzu Chi volunteers now, who are diligently listening to the Dharma.After listening, they discuss those teachings with one another.
That is the same as how during the Buddha’s lifetime, this group of diligent bhiksus, earnestly learned from one another.
In the Buddha’s Sangha, there was also “the band of six bhiksus”.This group of bhiksus was not very diligent.They were unwilling to be diligent, to listen, to abide by the Dharma or to follow the rules.This small number of bhiksus watched as everyone else advanced diligently.
In their hearts they felt, “If you want us to do that, we won’t be able to, but if everyone else is advancing diligently, we will fall far behind the others.”
So, this group of bhiksus said, “Let us think of a way to keep the others from advancing so diligent.”
To achieve this, [they spread rumors]. They said things like, “I can see that you are advancing very diligently and that you treat the others so well, but such-and-such bhiksu is saying all sorts of things about you. I cannot stand by and allow this to continue, so I wanted to tell you what is happening”.
The bhiksu they spoke to began to wonder, “How can this be? Why would he slander me like this? This makes me very upset”. Then the “the band of six bhiksus” would go to the other diligent bhiksu and say, “Have you heard? Such-and-such bhiksu is very prejudiced against you. I have heard him criticize you behind your back. When I heard this I felt outrage on your behalf, so I hurriedly came to tell you this”. When that bhiksu heard this, he too was very angry. In this way, this sense of discord spread through the Sangha.
When the bhiksus encountered each other, they stopped greeting one another and stopped talking to one another. It was as if they had become strangers. When the entire Sangha began to behave like this, the atmosphere of spiritual refinement disappeared.
When a group of elders returned from a trip away, they saw what had happened to the Sangha, which had once been very diligent. How did this come to be? In trying to understand the situation, they realized that someone had sown discord, so the elders counseled all of the monastics, “You can speak directly to the other person and ask them why they are angry with you”.
So, one of the bhiksus went and asked, “What is it that I have done wrong, so that now when you see me, it is as if we are strangers? What is the reason for this?” The other bhiksu then replied, “I also want to know why it is that you treat me so poorly. You are constantly criticizing me after I have always treated you so well. What have I done to you that makes you criticize me all the time?”
The first bhiksu asked, “Who told you that?”. The second replied, “Bhiksu such-and-such, one of the band of six bhiksus told me so. ”Thus they realized that all of this trouble had been stirred up by these six bhiksus.
When the elder learned about this, he called the diligent bhiksus over and said, “See this is because you have not clearly understood the principles. Your afflictions and ignorance are still giving rise to delusions and doubts. Since you have this mindset, a problem in your mind that you cannot resolve, you must quickly consult the Buddha”.
The Buddha turned to the band of six bhiksus and asked, “Why were you slandering people in this Sangha by spreading false and negative things?”
The band of six bhiksus admitted that, “We are unable to advance diligently, so we will never be as good as the others. In order to prevent the others bhiksus from advancing so diligently, we spread these rumors among them.”
The Buddha said, “This is also a teaching. Causing discord with gossip is a severe mistake. It is a transgression”.
The Buddha then gave an analogy, saying, “In the past there was a tiger, a lion, and a jackal”. As for the tiger and the lion, the tiger’s name was Good Fang, and the lion’s name was Good Gnawer. These two were very close. When it was time to look for food, they often would go out together. Meanwhile, the jackal followed behind them, so when looking for prey, there was already nothing left for him to eat.
He thought, “If only I could separate them, if I could split up the tiger and the lion so that each would seek food on their own, then perhaps I would have a better chance”. Thus the jackal went to the tiger and said, “I can see that you are very brave and powerful, but the lion said that he looks down on you!”
When the tiger heard this he was very angry. Then [the jackal] went to the lion and said, “I see that you have a magnificent appearance, but the tiger thinks that you are a very filthy creature, so he looks down on you”. When the lion heard this, he too was quite angry. When they saw each other, the tiger wondered, “Does he really think that? Though I am quite angry, the lion also seems to be avoiding me. I wonder what is going on. I am angry, and he has distanced himself from me. There must be a reason for this”.
So, one day he approached the lion and asked him, “Why have you recently become so distant from me”. The lion then replied, “Because you said that I was unclean, I did not want to come close to you”.Who told you this? The jackal “Really? It was also the jackal who told me that “you looked down on me!” This is a problem created by the jackal.
You see, what happened to these animals can also happens to humans, even spiritual practitioners in the Sangha. Look at society today. You can see that the same is happening now. People who lack understanding will blindly act on what they hear. They react rashly and end up opposing each other. Think about it; just what is the purpose of doing this? It disrupts their minds, wastes their time and harms their body. How does this actually benefit them in the end?
True happiness in life lies in each of us fulfilling our responsibilities.By beings earnest and diligent, we can give of ourselves to benefit the world. This is truly a principle of life.
As we discuss this part of the sutra and look at society today, don’t we see people who cruelly harm and kill each other? It is as if they are drinking blood and eating flesh. Some people cause other to fight and harm one another so that afterwards they can take what they want, can seize whatever is left.
After the other animals have attacked and killed each other, the one who incited it will get what meat is left Isn’t this the same principle? This is what some animals are like. Aren’t some humans just the same?
“Sentient beings’ acute and chronic afflictions cause them to each cling to different things.”
They cruelly harmed and killed each other, drinking blood and eating flesh: Sentient beings’ acute and chronic afflictions cause them to each cling to different things, resulting in mutual struggles and disputes.
Thus they cruelly harm and kill each other.
There are five acute afflictions and five chronic afflictions. Everyone remember these, right? The greed, anger and ignorance in our minds, along with our external behavior and methods of spiritual cultivation, when combined together, lead us to create so much negative karma! Indeed, when each of us takes action, we each have different objectives. You have your objective and I have mine. Our objectives are different, so when we come together we fight and try to take advantage of each other. Some take advantage of this ignorance to incite people to fight each other. Such are the origins of people’s conflicts with each other. This is frightening! A world like this is lamentable and frightening because of the harm that humans cause each other.
So, “When these views arise in the practice of the Path” means that as we engage in spiritual cultivation we may form various different perspectives.
When these views arise in the practice of the Path, one cannot give rise to flawless Samadhi and wisdom. Attachment to meditation is like to creatures who drink blood and eat flesh.
A spiritual practice enter needs people’s minds to be peaceful and stable. Society as a whole has an even greater need for its citizens’ minds to be settled. If we are walking the Path together but develop [deviant] perspectives, we will be unable to give rise to flawless Samadhi and wisdom.
Because there are afflictions in our minds, these are leaks, so how can the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom remain in our minds? That would not be possible. “Attachment to meditation….”There are some spiritual practitioners who crave the meditative state. If we single-mindedly crave a higher state, a state of neither thought nor absence of thought, then our minds will be filled with afflictions. How can our minds be completely devoid of desire or devoid of form? That is not possible. How can we ever reach the formless realm?
Therefore, in learning the Buddha’s teachings, We must have both feet on the ground, then place one foot in front of the other. As we step forward we must lift our back foot and move in the correct direction. This is the most steadfast way to practice. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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