Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: With a Distorted Consciousness, Liberation is Hard (顛倒惡覺難出離)
Date:August.27. 2015
“The consciousness of desire: Unable to resolve the serious problems of the Five Dusts, when conditions are favorable, people give rise to greed and cravings. The consciousness of rage: Unable to resolve the serious problems of the Five Dusts, when conditions are unfavorable people give rise to hatred and anger. The consciousness of harm: They constantly perceive and ponder that others are enemies or thieves so they have thoughts of harm and therefore harbor ignorance, doubt and arrogance.”
Consciousness is the thought that is generated when we connect with external conditions. We call this consciousness. Originally we did not have these thoughts, but when the conditions manifested, we made discernments. This happens when the Six Roots encounter the Six Dusts in our external conditions.
When the Six Roots and external conditions come in contact with each other, desires arise. This is called “the consciousness of desire.” Once the consciousness of desire arises, our minds become scattered, so we “[cannot] resolve the serious problems with the Five Dusts.” When we see or come in contact with things, we like them and feel we need to have them, so we do not think about the consequences. Not thinking about the consequences is a “serious problem”. In other words, “when conditions are favorable,” we give rise to greed and cravings.
If we live a life of abundance and everything goes our way, we develop even more cravings. I constantly say that having one, we feel we lack nine. If we have one dollar, we want nine more, to make it ten. If we have $100 million, we want another $900 million to make it $1 billion. In this way, people in favorable conditions become more greedy. If they are always full, have nice clothes, live in very opulent places and have attained all the fame, fortune and status that they wanted, they may then indulge in improper sexual conduct. Therefore we say, “When conditions are favorable, people give rise to greed and cravings.” They are greedy for more and want to pursue more. Indeed, there is no end to this. They will never stop trying to attain more.
“The consciousness of rage” has to do with anger and a mind that easily vents its anger. These things we cannot attain are things we should not have pursued in the first place. Thus if we keep greedily keep pursing them, it is unreasonable. But we keep going against the principles and continue pursuing them. What happens if we cannot get what we want? We will feel anger. When we greedily pursue things without reason, the result is that we feel anger. When we cannot get what we want, we suffer, or we feel anger. This is “the consciousness of rage.”
When we encounter conditions where we fall in love with something, whether it makes sense or not, if we cannot obtain it, we will get angry. In our current society, there are many examples of this.
Next is “the consciousness of harm,” where the thoughts that fill our minds make no sense. We are constantly thinking about how to cause harm, what approach we can take to pursue things and what approach we can take to inflict damage. Family members who once got along may, over some trivial advantages, begin to take issue with each other and threaten to divide the family and live apart. They think up various ways to cause the family to break apart. Even among close relatives of a single family this kind of thing will happen, not to mention between people in society.
In society, [people] compete with each other over fame, wealth and status, so many disputes will arise. This is due to “the consciousness of harm.” This is because they constantly perceive and ponder.
When we say “perceive and ponder,” what one “perceives” is the feelings that arise when one comes in contact with external conditions.
What about to “ponder”?This is very meticulous.In order to find ways to harm other people for their own benefit, they make plans very carefully.This is because they see others as enemies; they consider others enemies and thieves.So, their state of mind is constantly one of causing harm, which includes greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt, the five chronic afflictions, which fill their minds.
Thus, the consciousness of desire is greed.
The consciousness of rage is anger.The consciousness of harm is ignorance.With greed, anger and ignorance, there will be arrogance doubt in our minds.So, these five [poisons] are contained within these three types of consciousness.
With unenlightened minds, we endlessly live this kind of life.Every day in this world, individuals’ minds begin to influence their families; individuals’ minds influence their society.This is from a consciousness of afflictions, not a consciousness of purity.That purity is the three elements of enlightenment.
The Buddha enlightened Himself and others and had prefect enlightened conduct.This is the consciousness of purity.
However, the consciousness of desire, of rage and of harm not only cause disturbances in our minds, but also disturbances in society and disruption in ethics and proper conduct.This is why recently we have been talking about various kinds of appearances in this world.
There are four kinds of beings, the womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born and transformation-born.All sentient begins’ ways of living are encompassed in the minds of human beings.So, in summary, humans are really terrifying, because all these afflictions fill our minds.Because of this, we need to engage in spiritual practice.The Buddha-Dharma is like water; it cleanse our minds to help them be as pure and transparent as crystal.For this to happen, we must engage in spiritual practice; we need to understand the principles.
So, let us examine this previous sutra passage.
“they were cruelly harming and killing each other, drinking blood and eating flesh.”
With desires come the consciousness of desire and the consciousness of anger.That consciousness can also be called thoughts.
With thoughts of desire, thoughts of rage and thoughts of harm in our minds, naturally we will be “cruelly harming and killing each other”.
For the sake of own advantage, we will unscrupulously hurt other people.Perhaps we will incite people who are delusional and ignorant obey our command.By providing them with the slightest provocation, these people may engage in unwise behavior.This can cause individuals and society to become disrupted and never have a moment of peace.This is because.“They were cruelly harming and killing each other.”
As people fight and compete with each other, those who incited them are actually staying carefree on the sidelines, watching everyone else in turmoil.While other people are in turmoil, those who incited it are the ones who benefit.
They do not care about the cost that society has pay for the recognition and wealth they have attained.It is as if they are “drinking blood and eating flesh”.
They cause other people to fight each other so they can get what they want.This is a very sinister way of thinking.Therefore, some people’s minds are very sinister because in their minds is a combination of the mindsets of all the beasts, ghosts and spirits.
The following sutra passage states, “The jackal and his ilk had already died. All the large vicious beasts were contending to eat them. The stinking smoke permeated all four directions.”
This passage starts with “the jackal and his ilk”.
I recall I have spoken about jackals and foxes.
Jackals are very wily.Some people say, “That woman is a vixen.”On the surface they appear to be very pretty.However, their minds and thoughts are very wily.They will not allow others to have the upper hand.
When they say something nice, they are doing it to benefit themselves.With this kind of wily nature, if there is something they want, they will even injure themselves to gain other people’s confidence and get what they want.
Even if [these animals] lose their ears or tails, they can still endure the suffering. People with this state of mind are like jackals and foxes. There is an old story that is related to foxes.
In the past, there was a scholar who loved to learn. Nearby, there were wild foxes living in the area surrounding his house. In ancient times, when people read books, they often read the contents aloud. One wild fox heard all this, and so he learned poetry, astronomy, geography and ways of cultivating crops on the land and retained all this in his head.
The fox felt, “I am just like a person, I have understood all human knowledge. As there is no beast more capable than me, I should become the king of beasts”.
He began to put on an air of prestige. Since he was surrounded by these wild foxes, when an elephant saw this majestic fox, he felt this fox indeed had great wisdom because he was able to lead so many followers. Therefore, the elephant also became a follower. Once the fox had this elephant, he sat on the elephant’s back to call to others. Soon a herd of elephants also surrounded him. When a tiger saw the fox sitting on the back of an elephant, looking so authoritative, the tigers came to him, along with the lions. Thus the fox truly became the king of beasts.
After subduing all of these creatures, a thought came to the fox. So, the fox went to the [human] king and told him that he wanted to marry his daughter. The king thought, “How could I possibly marry my daughter to an animal?” He immediately decided to battle with the fox. He gathered a group of officials to map out a plan for subduing these beasts.
A very intelligent official proposed a plan to the king, “Your majesty, you can fight a war with him; however, you need to set conditions. Tell him that the battle has to start before the lions are allowed to make any sound”. Upon hearing this, the fox felt, “I see, what these humans are most afraid of are the lions. Since they want me to put the lions in the back, I will put the lions in the front.”
Therefore he told the pride of lions to charge first. Once the pride of lions came out and saw all of the people, they all roared at once. This fox had subdued everyone so they were well-behaved. Suddenly, when all these lions roared at the same time, he became extremely frightened and fell off the elephant and died. Even though he had such a deceptive mind and was able to trick the others, even though he had that ability, in the end, he caused harm to himself. This is an analogy for the desire realm, for the greed in the desire realm.
“This is like jackals and foxes. Jackals can feign death. Even if their ears and tails are cut off, they can endure it. They are an analogy for greed in the desire realm. To cultivate future peace in the desire realm, we have to cut off our greed. Thus it says [the jackals] have already have died.”
Foxes are so cunning; even if they lose their ears or tails, they can endure it. They will do anything to get what they want.
However, there are spiritual practitioners in the desire realm who are trying to cultivate peace for their future so they put an end to their thoughts of greed and want to move to the next stage. So it says, “[The jackals] have already died.” “Have died” means that, through their spiritual practice, they have beaten their desires to death. They are trying to say that they have already eliminated their desires that desires are no longer in their minds.
Therefore they want move onto the next stage, the form realm. The following sutra passage states, “All the large vicious beasts were contending to eat them.” Deviant thoughts of greed are like large vicious beasts.
“Deviant thoughts of greed are like large vicious beasts. This greed can swallow the desire realm, so it says they were contending to eat them. These are Four Inverted Views and Eight Sufferings of the desire realm”.
Though they engage in spiritual practice, sometimes spiritual practitioners who have eliminated their afflictions like to boast that they are experienced in spiritual cultivation. Yet they still have “deviant thoughts of greed. This greed can swallow the desire realm”; they think they can eliminate the desire realm. As for unenlightened beings, they are greedy for worldly things. “I want to possess all objects of my desire,” while heretical practitioners “I can completely eliminate the desire realm.” In this way, they have swallowed the greed of the desire realm. This is how they completely eliminate it. However, they “were contending to eat.In the desire realm there is also the Four Inverted Views and Eight Sufferings. Even if we transcend desires, those thoughts still exist.
This is an analogy for the form realm. Though having left the material desire realm, they engage in thinking in the form realm and are subject sensations, mental phenomena and the four elements, as if experiencing suffering from all directions. Those earlier examples of hiding in holes and dens are like the blazing fires igniting in the form realm.
Though they do not enjoy materials goods because they are engaged in spiritual practice, they cling to “views of deviant precepts.” They engage in severely ascetic practices like the foxes or jackals who can endure [the pain] even if their ears and tail have been cut off.
However, their thoughts still exist, so they are still “subject to bodily sensations and mental phenomena, which are the feelings of the body. Their “extreme views,” “deviant views,” “stubborn views” and “views of deviant precepts” are still in place. Because of this, they are still [affected by] the four elements.
The four elements are earth, water, fire and air. These four elements make up all material things. Even though they claim to have eliminated the [desire for] material things, their minds still have expectations. They make use of all kinds of methods, including improper means of spiritual cultivation. Because of this, they have not yet transcended the four elements. This kind of suffering is an analogy for “experiencing suffering from all directions.” The suffering that has gathered around us from all directions is still in existence, we are still in the state of the form realm.
Previously, we have mentioned that “vicious beasts and poisonous insects” are “hiding and scurrying in holes and dens.”
A few days ago, we explained the meaning of “hiding and scurrying in holes and dens.” Even if we hide ourselves very deeply, heat from the sky and the earth, which is a very oppressive heat, will be felt no matter how we hide or scurry. “Hide” means concealment. “Scurry” means escape. Regardless, we still cannot transcend the four elements.
From all sides, the suffering is pressing in. These are the blazing fires that have ignited in the form realm.
Moreover, “The stinking smoke permeated all four directions.” In the form realm, thinking leads to the Four Inverted Views and the Eight Sufferings. This means that in our minds, the suffering of afflictions still exists.
Thinking in the form realm leads to Four Inverted Views and the Eight Sufferings. This like being overwhelmed by stinking smoke. With the misty haze caused by the flames, we are subject to the workings of body and mind, and the four elements all bring suffering. These four elements can widely create and give rise to all physical phenomena.
This type of “stinking smoke” is like a smoky haze. Recently, we have been talking about dust storms. Recently, we have been talking about dust storms. Sand and dirt have been flying all over. This represents the state of our minds, still shrouded in smoke and haze. In the form realm, our minds are still not very pure.Thus we develop the Four Inverted Views, the four kinds of distorted understanding.
These four kinds of distortions are a result of our minds being covered by various kinds of afflictions and ignorance. Thus we are in a state of confusion.
Once spiritual practitioners go astray and deviate in their thinking, they can also become confused.
So, the Dharma expounded by the Buddha is permanent and unchanging. The “greater self on [Nirvana]” is the ever-abiding truth.
However, “Where there is self, they see no-self.” These practitioners do not see any permanent truths. “Where there is permanence, they see impurity.” Obviously, we have a pure intrinsic nature which is undefiled, but they see impurity there. “Where there us joy, they see suffering.” These are the practitioners’ distorted views.
So, we must remind ourselves to be vigilant and always be mndful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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