Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Love Deeply and Teach Earnestly (愛深教切呵護篤勵)
Date:March.10. 2016
“The deeper and more sincere the love, the more earnest the teaching. The greatest love is serving others without expecting anything in return. Protect and motivate with the power of gentleness and go among people for one great cause. ”
When the love is deep and sincere, the teaching will be earnest. It is rare to be born human and rare to hear the Buddha-Dharma. The Buddha came to the world for one great cause, the hope that sentient beings will experience and discover that they inherently have the Tathagata-nature and wisdom equal to the Buddha’s.
Sadly, they are unaware of this, so the Buddha continuously returns to the world, tireless in His patience. This is because of His love, His pure and great love. This love is very deep, very sincere. It comes out of this deep and sincere love, this earnest state of mind. How many people can truly comprehend His original intent? As part of our daily recitations, we chant, “I take refuge with the Buddha. I take refuge with the Dharma.” Have we actually delved deeply into the sutra treasury? If we have not delved deeply, how can we realize our intrinsic nature of True Suchness? How will we develop wisdom like the ocean?
We must listen to the Dharma! After listening, we must take it to heart, so we can form great aspirations and make great vows to go among people and “harmoniously lead the people without obstructions.”
Right now, we are discussing the Chapter on Faith and Understanding. We must have faith in ourselves and believe in the teachings the Buddha gave us, that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Only by rousing our awakened nature will we have the chance to enter the ocean of wisdom and be able to enter the sutra treasury.
Only by entering the sutra treasury do we have the Dharma for transforming ourselves and others. We go among people to invite them to join us, thus transforming them by working alongside them. This means that we must sustain this resolve every day.
The Buddha’s love is deep and sincere; why can’t ours be the same? Everyone should be able to develop this same deep and sincere resolve. All things are created by the mind in going among people, we must teach in earnest. With the correct understanding we have, after taking in the Dharma, we must not go astray. Then we can transform sentient beings, can transform ourselves and others. We transform others the same way we transform ourselves, with the same earnestness.
So, “The deeper and more sincere the love, the more earnest the teaching.” How do we accomplish this? By giving. “The great love is serving others without expecting anything in return”.
Charitable giving, beneficial conduct, loving speech and collaborative work are ways we give without expectations. This is deep and sincere love. When we are among people, we must “protect and motivate with the power of gentleness.”
If we love our children, we will teach them. How do we teach them? Do we have to be very strict? To motivate them we must be very sincere; this sense of encouragement comes from the bottom of our hearts. When we wholeheartedly encourage and protect them, on the surface we may seem a little strict. But in our hearts we are genuine and sincere.
So, [the desire to] “protect and motivate” comes from our hearts. With the power of gentleness we love them and cherish them, but we do not spoil them.We must also appear “gentle by strict, majestic but not aggressive”.This is the power of gentleness.
When the Buddha taught sentient beings, this was the method He used.For one great cause, He repeatedly comes back to go among the people.The Buddha’s compassion and the power of his love and sincerity are what we should genuinely have faith in.To understand the Buddha’s intent, we must be earnest and diligent.
So, in the sutra, the previous passage started with “[The elder] said to all the laborers”.After dispatching people to bring his son back, the father took off his magnificent clothing and changed into ordinary clothing, clothes for working in.He also picked up tools for clearing manure to approach [the laborers],encouraging everyone he passed by.
So, it say, “He said to all the laborers, Work diligently; do not be lazy!”Everyone must be earnest and not become lazy.These were the skillful means “with which [he] approached his son”.
From the beginning he wanted to share his original intent to help everyone draw close and share this intent.But he needed a method for doing that.So, “He used this as skillful means with which to approach his son.”
The Buddha interacted with people with gentleness.With a sincere sense of mission and a firm resolve, He came to transform sentient beings, helping each one experience [the teachings].This is using skillful means to approach the son.
The next passage states, “Later he said”.
After the elder approached his son, he said, “You! Young man! Stay and work here permanently; do not go elsewhere! ”
“Later” means that some time had passed after he approached his son.This is what is meant by “later”.They could talk to each other and got along well.So in this passage, “You!” conveys a more forceful tone.
“Young man! Stay and work here permanently; do not go elsewhere!”This is an analogy for a method that is used, the method of the Four Bases of Fulfilling Power.
Saying “You!” in this way is “an expression of warning”.This is like watching someone going the wrong way and telling them, “Hey! That’s not right. You’re going the wrong way!”
It is necessary to yell this loudly, otherwise, the other person will have already made a slight deviation that will take him far off course.
So, “You!” is calling to people with a more aggressive tone to help them be on the alert.
“That’s wrong! That place is treacherous!”
By loudly yelling, “That’s wrong!” naturally when they hear it they will be alarmed.Whether they realize, “This is the wrong way,” or “This road is dangerous,” they will immediately stop and correct their course.
You!:
An expression of warning to help us relinquish our scattered thoughts and assume a mind of tranquility.
“An expression of warning [helps] us relinquish our scattered thoughts.”How do the Four Bases of Fulfilling Power help us eliminate our scattered thoughts?
We have said the Four Right Efforts are about “refraining from all evil, doing all that is good. Quickly eliminate any evil that has arisen. Prevent from arising evil that has not arisen. Quickly give rise to goodness not yet arisen. Nurture any goodness that has already arisen.”
These are the Four Right Efforts.Then we practice the Four Bases of Fulfilling Power.
This helps everyone to settle their minds.
The Buddha had given us these methods, so we must earnestly accept and follow them.
With the Fourfold Mindfulness and Four Right Efforts, we settle our minds.We must no longer deviate in the slightest and develop mistaken thoughts.This is what He calls on us to do.
Thus, “You!” is said in a more intense tone so that we can hear it.
Once we hear it, we realize what we are doing.
We must quickie stop doing the wrong things and diligently advance to do what is right.
This helps us develop a state of tranquility.
If we give rise to discursive thoughts, we must immediately use these methods to quiet our scattered thoughts so our minds can calm down. “Young man! Yong man!” refers to a male person. Men are more outwardly focused. In the past, it was the men who tended to go out and work. So, “young man” is used as an analogy. Spiritual practice is the work of a great person, whether male or female. Since we are engaging in spiritual practice, we are doing the work of a great person. Since we all engage in spiritual practice, the Buddha refers to us collectively with “You! Young Man!” meaning, “Hey, you spiritual practitioners!”
He loudly reminds us that we are spiritual practitioners, so we have to constantly exercise the wisdom of the Fourfold Mindfulness and Four Right Efforts. This is wisdom.
The Fourfold Mindfulness and Four Right Efforts are used to train and strengthen our wisdom. If we frequently experience and contemplate the body as impure, this inspires wisdom in us.
Every day we are living in this world in a state of delusion. How much karma have we created for the sake of our body? This body has always been impure. With the passage of time, it grows old, falls ill and dies. After we die, all that is left is a pile of rotten, smelly and unclean things. In the end, there is just a pile of bones.
We must make an effort to mindfully contemplate just what, exactly, our physical body is in the end. There is no need, for the sake of this body, to create conflict or karma. For the sake of this body, we have attracted so much ignorance, afflictions, dust-like delusions, etc. We do not need to do these things for the sake of this body. Thus, the Buddha mindfully developed these skillful means.
In addition to the Four Noble Truths, the 37 Practices to Enlightenment was something He constantly taught. “The three Fours, the two Fives, the Seven and Eight comprise the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. We must earnestly practice them.
“The Fourfold Mindfulness and Four Right Efforts are practices of wisdom”. Wisdom is something spiritual practitioners must have “You! Young man!” also coveys the Four Noble Truths to us.
“You! Young man!”: Wanting to reveal the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha called out sternly; He advised them strictly to bring out their talent. This Dharma is like an indestructible sword which warns us to give rise to the resolve of a great person; it cuts off all entanglements.
Thus, He first yelled “You!”
Suffering, causation, cessation and the Path are the Four Noble Truths. Life is truly filled with suffering; there are many kinds of endless suffering. Each of them is apparent to us, and we can see their underlying principles. With the Buddha’s analysis of them, we recognize suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. This is how humans live; we are in opposition with each other, provoke conflicts and create bad karma. These appearances of the Four Noble Truths are what we have already seen. So, we know that “The Buddha called out sternly”. Because He understands us, He is fierce in pointing out to us, “Why are you still in a state of delusion?
“Life is filled with so much suffering. How can you continue to be deluded?” He helps us to see the obvious. We can see that everyone is suffering.
Yesterday, I met another elderly Bodhisattva. She is very fortunate. Among her four children there is a doctor, a lawyer and a teacher. Her whole life, she has had everything she wanted, but she was addicted to gambling.
She said that ambling is filled with suffering, especially when she lost. She had nothing to do, so she would go to have fun. No matter where she went to have fun, it felt the same to her; she felt she was suffering.
There were people who said to her, “Your life is so good; why are you complaining? Every day you look like you’re filled with worry. What is causing you to suffer? You are so fortunate; your children are so filial. Why are you suffering? Gambling and losing is painful. Traveling for fun is also painful. Doing nothing is boring and painful”.
So, someone told her, “Why don’t you go see what Tzu Chi is like? Perhaps when someone like you goes to Tzu Chi, you will become happy”.
Sure enough, after she came to Tzu Chi and joined in doing recycling work, every day she was happy with what she was doing. It has made her so happy that she now listens to the teachings every day. Originally, she was truly suffering. She had so much money and her children were so filial, but having too much free time was suffering, traveling for fun was suffering, gambling was suffering; she suffered a lot. What made her most happy? Tzu Chi. Now that she has been doing Tzu Chi work, she has become happy. This is using all kinds of suffering in the world to motivate everyone. “He advised them strictly to bring out their talent”.
Everyone must diligently practice. “You recognize suffering so you must be diligent.” So, “This Dharma is like an indestructible sword.” Like and indestructible sword, it can sever the roots of our afflictions. Only by being diligent can we avoid giving rise to more afflictions.
So, “[He] warns us to give rise to the resolve of a great person. He yelled loudly to help us know that we are wrong. Then we will quickly rein in our minds.
After focusing our minds, naturally we will contact with and understand the Dharma and give rise to the resolve of a great person. As I have said, “Spiritual practice is the work of a great person.” We wust strengthen this great resolve, so we first cut off all kinds of entanglements. When we cut through those knotted ropes, we are cutting off afflictions.
So, “You! Young man!” is like loudly yelling, “You spiritual practitioners, wake up!” “Most men are outwardly focused.” This is an analogy.
Most men are outwardly focused. This is like using discerning contemplation in grasping the external environment, to understand it cannot be called permanent. Hence, “Stay and work here permanently.”
If a man corrects his faults, he will have the potential to achieve great things. “Using discerning contemplation in grasping the external environment” means we must use discerning contemplation to contemplate external states and to grasp the external environment in order to understand how external phenomena are impermanent.
Think about Hearers and Solitary Realizers. Hearers listen to the Dharma. Solitary Realizers observe the four seasons. By looking at their surroundings, they recognize impermanence.
This is wisdom.
“Man” is used to represent using wisdom in grasping the external environment. The more we see, the more we understand. We “understand it cannot be called permanent.” This because the external environment changes with the seasons. All things are impermanent. If we can experience this, we will understand impermanence, that in this world, whether people, matters or objects, nothing can abide forever.
Aside from our nature of True Suchness, nothing else is forever.
So, we must “stay on working here permanently.” We must often reaffirm what we are doing, that we engage in spiritual practice to return to our pure nature of True Suchness.
The Four Noble Truths are something we must thoroughly understand. The 37 Practices to enlightenment are what we must diligently practice. The Four Bases of Fulfilling Power are a practice of Samadhi. The Fourfold Mindfulness and the Four Right Efforts are practices of wisdom.
The Four Bases of Fulfilling Power lead to Samadhi. They “allow [us] to be settle and unwavering.” Those are the Four Bases of Fulfilling Power.This also means “All the Dharma one cultivates will be fulfilled as one wishes.” If we do not waver in our resolve, we can be earnest and diligent. We will not allow indolence to hinder our spiritual aspirations. These are the [Four] Bases of Fulfilling Power.
The first is the “power of aspiration.” Since we want to engage in spiritual practice, we hope that the Dharma we cultivate will be fulfilled as wish. Taking the Dharma to heart and being filled with Dharma-joy is the power of aspiration.
Second is the “power of diligence. This is when, with the mind completely focused on the Dharma we cultivate, with on scattered thoughts, [this Dharma] can be fulfilled as we wish.
The third is the “power of thought.” This is keeping our thoughts on what we are doing. The practices we engage in and the Dharma we cultivate are never forgotten. They are always on our mind. After we listen to the Dharma every day, we then apple it in our daily living, so it will also be fulfilled as we wish.
The fourth is the “power of contemplation.” What we contemplate is our minds. Everything we think of and practice will not be forgotten. Nor will we have habitual tendencies. If we take the Dharma to heart without any of it leaking away, it will be fulfilled as we wish. If we can do this, we will always abide in the Dharma.
Everyone, with the power of love, we must be mindful, and earnestly take the teachings to hearts. If we resolve to seek the Path, [the Buddha] teaches us so many methods for the sole purpose of helping our minds remain unwavering in the face of external conditions. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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