Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Hired to Work Together and Eliminate Afflictions (雇使共作除苦斷惑 )
Date: February 29. 2016
“Two Vehicle practitioners engage in contemplation to eliminate dust and defilements. Wit principles, our wisdom and the truth nourish one another. Together following teachings, principles and practices, with collaborative work in cultivation, we use the all-embracing virtues to guide others. Bodhisattvas go among people without being defiled and without hindering or being hindered by others.”
Everyone should make an effort to be mindful, not just a slight effort, but a great, earnest effort. This is spiritual practice. Since we have all aspired to engage in spiritual practice, we must form great aspirations and great vows. From the beginning, we must seize every moment.
In our daily living, as we encounter people, matters and things, are we forming aspirations. Are we willing to go among people? If we are, then “The Three Vehicles have returned to the One.” If we follow what the Buddha taught and listen to the Dharma, mindfully contemplate it and put it into practice, that is quite sufficient.
But usually, as we engage in spiritual practice, we are mostly listening. This makes us Hearers. “Everyone, are you listening to the Dharma?” “Yes, we are listening to the morning lectures.” This seems very commonplace; everyone is listening to the Dharma. But after having heard it, are you mindfully contemplating it? Beyond that, can you be understanding when it comes to people and matters? If we solely practice the Two Vehicles, if our spiritual practice is just about taking care of ourselves and only seeking to awaken ourselves, that would be a great pity. If our time is spent only benefiting ourselves, it will be wasted.
20 or 30 years ago, when we began constructing the [Hualien] hospital, very early on, there was a Bodhisattva-volunteer who began to come and dedicate herself. Our place was still very small and cramped.
At that time, when she first came, she was draped in jewels. She had a sunny disposition, was very optimistic. Her way of speaking was very humorous too. She came once, then twice, then gradually began to bring people with her. She is now a very senior Commissioner.
When she first came, she was draped in jewels. Moreover, every time she came she was in a different outfit. One time she said, “Master, I see that building a hospital is very hard work. Recently, I have been coming here often because I want to better understand; with such scarce resources, how you will build a hospital?”
Because we knew each other well, she said, “We receive donations of NT$20, $50. NT$100 would be considered a lot. How long must we keep collecting donations?” Then she touched her clothes and said, “Take this outfit for example. It cost NT$7000!” I said, “That is a lot of money for one outfit!” She said, “I can’t help it. I like to look pretty.” I said, “Building a hospital is very hard work, so when people donate NT$30 or $50, I am very grateful.” She said, “I know,” “that is why I’m mentioning this; isn’t this called repenting? I no longer feel at ease in these outfits, so when I go home I won’t buy any more clothes.”
From this point on, she kept soliciting donations and often visited us; this went on for many years. She has contributed a lot of effort toward building the hospital and widely transforming sentient beings.
Later, on one of her visits I asked her, “Why didn’t I see you at morning recitation?” She said, “I’m embarrassed, Master. I was still quietly cultivating.” I said, “Where were you ‘quietly cultivating’?” She said, “Well.” I said, “I know. You were in the ‘great flatlands,’ right?” “How did you know I was in the ‘great flatlands?’” Where are the “great flatlands”? Before, in our dormitories, when our Bodhisattvas, that is, lay practitioners, came, we would have them sleep on an open floor.
Everyone awoke early for mooring recitations, except for her.She alone would stay asleep in that big space.So nowadays, when we say that someone is “quietly cultivating in the great flatlands,” that means that person is being lax.
Everyone, as we learn the Buddha’s Way we cannot be indolent.She came often, again and again.After she came, she became repentant about the way she lived her life and began to diligently practice.She often came back, often bringing friends, often donating.Not only did she donate, she also invited others to donate.To this day, she is still earnest and diligent.Now, she is an elderly Bodhisattva, a very senior Bodhisattva-volunteer.
She wholeheartedly and diligently advances without retreating.In the past, her family was well off.Her present family circumstances are still good.
In the past, she was so wasteful.But over these 20 or 30 years, we have only seen her in three outfits, one is the Commissioner Mandarin gown, one is the Eightfold Path dress and one is the blue and white Tzu Chi uniform.This is what I usually see her wearing.
She listened to the Dharma, then started walking toward the Bodhisattva-path.She first came to listen to the Dharma.After she listened and understood, she put it into practice.After practicing, she was happy.This shows she had been wholeheartedly focused.
To this day, she spreads the Dharma everywhere.
Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature and thus should have an affinity with the Buddha.Some people’s affinities are deep.Some people’s affinities are shallow.Deep affinities mean we must have heard the Dharma in past lifetimes.But we have not yet eradicated our afflictions or put an end to delusions, so we continue to transmigrate in the Six Realms.
But there are people with even deeper affinities who have delved deeply into the Dharma.They already understand now.As soon as they hear the Dharma, they enter the Bodhisattva-path.Or, when they encounter challenges, they immediately turn their mindset around and form aspirations.
So, practitioners of the two Vehicles only listen to Dharma and cultivate their minds, but we must also “engage in contemplation,” earnestly rein in our minds and earnestly contemplate.We need to work hard.
The elder dispatched people to bring his son back, but his son refused.So, he used skillful means, which was to ask him to clear away waste and filth.
As for us, we must develop a firm resolve.We should just be good, come back and show our willingness to do whatever work needs to be done.We just need to earnestly do the work.So, “[We] eliminate dust and defilements.”
We must quickly get rid of the garbage in our mind.
We must no longer just think about benefiting ourselves and quietly cultivate in the “great flatlands”.
If we just turn our minds around, we can be earnest and diligent in our practice.
To sum it up, for Buddhist practitioners, everything depends on our thoughts.We may constantly let thoughts of indolence arise, but we want to constantly give rise to thoughts of diligence.
We use diligence to counteract indolence.This is the only way to nourish our diligence and walk smoothly on this path of diligence.So, we should constantly engage in contemplation and [examine] all of our different thoughts.
When we encounter diligent people today, we must follow their example.The world today truly is the evil world of Five Turbidities.There are so many natural and manmade disasters.Now is the time for us to be united and dig lent in paving this broad Bodhi-path.
So, to pave this path smoothly, we must first eliminate the bumps in the road.When the road is bumpy, we must make it smooth and clear away any filthy things on it.This requires that we be very mindful “to eliminate dust and defilements”.This is the path in our minds, and we must earnestly clean up this path.
So, with principles, our wisdom and the truth nourish one another.“Principles” refer to all principles.[To realize] all these principles, we must g among people.
“Without experience, we cannot grow in wisdom.”
So, being among people is helpful to us.This is “nourishing one another”.“With principles, our wisdom and the truth nourish one another.”
The principles of wisdom are attained by going among people.
When we interact with people, every person is an exquisite and wondrous sutra.From them we can attain many principles.So, “Together [we are] following teachings, principles and practices,” teachings, principles, practices and realizations.
In our spiritual practice, we must be immersed in teachings, principles, practices and the realization of the fruits.After we accept the teachings, how do we take the principles to heart?
We must put them into practice; only then can we become one with the principles.So, we need teachings, principles, practices and realizations.
We have listened to the “teachings”, and we must comprehend the “principles”. We must put them into practice to truly [realize]. “Oh! So, this is the Dharma”.
After taking the Dharma to heart and giving to others, we are filled with Dharma-joy. This is “realization”. We verify that giving is such a joyful thing.
[Seeing] suffering in this world, we realized how blessed we are. So, we need “collaborative work in cultivation”. As we interact with people, we practice through collaborative work. We constantly apply the Four All-Embracing Virtues so that we can transform people.
Charitable giving, beneficial conduct, loving speech and collaborative work, aren’t these things we apply in our daily living?
Looking at these words, we feel, “This is so deep”. But actually, it is very simple. “Bodhisattvas go among people without being defiled”. I constantly tell everyone that to walk Bodhisattva-path we must go among people without being defiled by them, that means we have already realized and that we already understand the principles. We are willing to give to others, but will not allow their afflictions to influence our minds.
“Without hindering or being hindered by others” means we go among people without being defiled and without hindering each other. If we just focus on giving, we will not hinder other people, and other people will not hinder us. All this must be learned by going among people.
The previous sutra text states, “If the poor son is in agreement”. Because the elder continued to want his son to come home, he dispatched two people to be his companions and draw him in. They would ask him to come to this place to work. “If he asks what you desire him to do”, if he asked about the work he would be doing, “then you can tell him”, then they should answer him, “You will be hired to clear excrement”. This is because he liked to do physical labor. He enjoyed this kind of work, so they should tell him this is what he would be doing. “You should just tell him that both of you are willing to accompany him here, that”, “We will be working together with you”.
This is the method the elder used to get his son to come back. He took pains to put his heart into this. This is the love the father had for his son. These “two people”, as we said yesterday, are analogies for the Bodhisattvas and the Dharma. Bodhisattvas are dispatched to go among people and apply the Dharma they hear.
So, to recruit more Living Bodhisattvas, Bodhisattvas must transform people in this world. We call this recruiting more Bodhisattvas. To transform people, we need the Dharma. Without the Dharma, we truly “have no ‘way’ to transform them”. These are the “two people”. One is [Bodhisattvas] forming great aspirations to go among people; the second is the Dharma. With the Dharma, we can guide people in this world. If they are suffering, we can relieve it.
The next sutra passage states, “Then the two messengers set out at once to find the poor son, and when they had found him, they told him the above matter”.
When these two people spoke to the son, he was willing to come, so they told him what the elder told them to say.
Thus, “Then the two messengers set out at once to find the poor son” is explaining that [Bodhisattvas] “guided people to enter the Two Vehicles”. “Responding to and transforming Hearers, they undertook the Buddha’s mission of teaching and practiced according to teachings. This is setting out at once to find the poor son”.
This is how Bodhisattvas go among people to respond to and transform Two Vehicle practitioners.
First, they let them hear the Dharma to understand that life is truly filled with suffering.
If people do not believe that this is the case, we should take them on home visits to show them. “Oh, there are really people who live like this!” This understanding comes from listening and from seeing it for themselves. Slowly, we guide them by saying, “Come, let’s help them clean up”. Through these Dharma-doors we have transformed many people.
“Responding to and transforming Hearers, they undertake the Buddha’s mission of teaching”. They are already Bodhisattvas, so they go among people with a sense of mission. We often talk about “returning on the ship of compassion”. Many Bodhisattvas come to the world in this way; they had created these affinities in the past.
Don’t we often hear people say, “I vow to remain in a state of Bodhi life after life”. They did not just make this vow in this life; in their previous lives they made the same vow. If this is the vow we bring to the world with us, naturally we will have the causes and conditions to encounter the Buddha-Dharma and, in this era, enter the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism. We enter the Tzu Chi path and go among people because we come with a sense of mission.
“[We] practice according to teachings”. We walk [this path] in accord with the teachings. “This is setting out at once to find the poor son”. This is the method we use. For regular people, this is the method we use to invite people to join us and enter the Bodhisattva-path. “And when they had found him” refers to finding “those with the capabilities to be transformed”, people who could be moved and transformed. Thus, “[We] found that they had the capabilities.”
And when they had found him: They had found those with the capabilities to be transformed. Having examined them they found that they capabilities. Thus it says, “They had found him;” they knew the child’s mind.
Everyone has this heart of kindness. Those who have affinities with a certain person are able to draw him in. “And when they had found him, means they had a connection and an affinity, “Thus it says, they had found him.” “They knew the child;” they knew the son’s mind. We already understand this person who still has not come in contact with the Dharma and had not understood how to give to others and the blessings and joy it brings; he does not yet understand.
But we know whom he has affinities with, who can draw him in “They told him the above matter meaning that he will be hired and they will remain with him and keep him company.
They told him the above matter: The [son] and the messengers will work together. “Clearing excrement” means to eliminate suffering and causation.” The Buddha taught cessation and the Path, leading them forward by praising the three carts.
Often, our senior Commissioners accompany those with less experience, especially since setting up community volunteering. However many have started introductory certification training, we assign people to keep them company.
We have so many activities, and we must find a way to work harmoniously and give of ourselves. This requires people to accompany others. So, we must “work together.” “The [son] and the messengers will work together”. They use this methods to work together with him.
“Clearing excrement” means to eliminate suffering and causation. We know “suffering” and “causation.” What kind of “suffering” is this? To know, we must listen to the Dharma. Only by listening to it can we eliminate suffering. “Suffering” comes from ignorance. In interactions between people, cycles of animosity are often formed when people cannot open their minds. Those who do not understand principles tend to take issue with others.
When some people come in contact with Tzu Chi, Tzu Chi volunteers mindful keep them company and open their minds to help them get rid of the garbage in their minds. Though their suffering and their lives have not changed, their minds have; their minds have turned from minds of afflictions into Bodhisattva-minds. In this way, they are instantly liberated.
When their minds are liberated, naturally their environment will gradually change. Then their relationships will change.
So, “eliminating suffering and causation” is “clearing excrement.” Clearing away those filthy things is eliminating suffering in our afflicted mind. “The Buddha taught cessation and the Path, leading them forward by praising the three carts.” He gradually taught them how to walk the Path with these methods, just as in the Chapter on Parables. In the burning house, all these people did not realize that the fire was about to burn them.
So, the elder had to devise skillful means, tempting them with the three carts. He praised the three carts, then showed off the great while ox-cart. He used these methods to draw them out.
This is an analogy for analogy for the Tathagata. He teaches us with reminders and advice so that we sentient beings, in the future, will go on behalf of the Buddha to “promote the Dharma-wheel “of the Four Noble Truths.” This is what we must be mindful of.
Dear Bodhisattvas, when we learn the Path we must be mindful. We should listen to, contemplate and practice the Dharma. In our daily living, we must eliminate the dust in our minds. Teachings, principles, practice and realization must happen among people.
As we interact with each other, we must apply the Four all- Embracing Virtues.
These four kinds of methods are charitable giving, beneficial conduct, loving speech and collaborative work. In this way, transforming people is not difficult. So, “Bodhisattvas go among people without being defiled or [causing mutual hindrance].” Thus, we must all be mindful, we must carefully pave the path in our minds, and not be “quietly cultivating. In this large group, we must work together, not quietly cultivate all alone. We must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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