Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Practicing with Faith and Sincerity (修持信進誠心無欺)
Date:March.17. 2016
“With faith and understanding, practice and uphold faith, diligence, thought, Samadhi and wisdom. With sincere hearts, there will be no deceit, idleness, anger, resentment or hateful speech. By committing the Five Transgressions and breaking the precepts, we give ourselves a negative reputation. At the end of our lives we will have regrets; this is related to the Five Transgressions based on speech.”
As Buddhist practitioners, practicing and upholding [the Dharma] with faith and understanding ought to be our duty. Since we are engaging in spiritual practice, how can we not have faith? It is because of faith that we have aspired and vowed to engage in spiritual practice. So, spiritual cultivation requires faith. Since we are firm in our faith, when we enter the Buddha’s door we must earnestly listen to the Dharma. As we listen, we must understand. If we listen but do not understand, we have not taken the Dharma to heart.
If we take the Dharma to heart, we must faithfully accept and earnestly practice it. We must practice according to the Dharma we hear. Spiritual practice is never-ending. We should not engage in spiritual practice today and then take a spiritual break tomorrow. We must know to practice and uphold [the Dharma]. We must persevere in our spiritual cultivation. We must not practice one day then stop the next. We must earnestly persevere.
What do we persevere in? In faith, in having and cultivating faith. “Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits. It nurtures all root of goodness.” So, we must be firm in our faith, and we must also be diligent. With our every thought, we must be diligent; we must keep every thought [on the Path]. We must persevere in practicing precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, the Three Flawless Studies; this is the only way to develop our wisdom. This is how we engage in spiritual practice. Engaging in spiritual practice not only takes faith and understanding, it also requires us to be sincere, not deceitful. We must never think of deceiving others. This is what we call sincerity.
As we interact with people, we must maintain a sense of broad-mindedness. With our every thought we engage in spiritual practice. With our every thought, our minds must remain open and pure.
When we encounter people, if hearing their “sounds” or seeing their “form” makes us unhappy, our minds will give rise to anger and hate. This is why, with our every thought, we have to continue to engage in spiritual practice. We must be understanding. When we hear something, we must not immediately give rise to anger and react blindly to what we hear. We must find a way to exercise wisdom and apply proper thinking, Right Understanding, Right Views, Right Thinking and Right Mindfulness, to how we look at the world today.
In our dealing with people and things, we should never just react to appearances, or our minds will give rise to anger, hate and resentment, and we will vocalize our negativity. If this is the case, it means our minds are not well-grounded. So, our minds must be grounded and sincere.
Aren’t faith, steadfastness, sincerity and integrity what we must always have in our minds as we interact with people and things? So, we must treat all people, matters and things with utmost sincerity. We must also uphold precepts. If our faith and sincerity are insufficient, if we lack faith, understanding and sincerity, naturally we will commit many transgressions. Then we will be filled with deceit, idleness, anger, resentment, hate, etc. In this way, all our thoughts of Right Faith, Right Understanding and Right Views will be completely eradicated.This is breaking the precepts.
By breading the precepts, we are committing the Five Transgressions.These five kinds of wrongdoings will result in five kinds of hindrances.
In the future, due to karmic cause and effect, if there is any deceit, idleness, anger, hate and resentment in us, it will result in many future karmic retributions.This means we will develop a negative reputation and a bad name.
So, if we want to avoid others’ criticism and to engender a sense of trust, we must abide by the precepts and follow the rules.In everything we do, there must not be the slightest hint of deceit.This is all part of our spiritual practice.
If we make mistakes, “At the end of our lives we will have regrets.”So, spiritual practice requires sincerity; we need faith, understanding and a sincere heart.Otherwise, at the end we will still have regrets.This refers to our karma of body, speech and mind.
Our karma of speech is created when we give rise to discursive thoughts, then act on them or give voice to them.This leads us to commit the Five Transgressions.Indeed, when we engage in spiritual practice, we must be very mindful.
If we forget that we are spiritual practitioners and want a tooth for a tooth, responding to harsh words with harsh words, then wouldn’t we be mutually disturbing each other’s bodies and minds?Wouldn’t this disrupt our surroundings?
Wouldn’t this disrupt our entries society?
So, as Buddhist practitioners, we must earnestly engage in spiritual practice.This requites sincerity.We must not destroy the sincerity of our aspiration to practice.Only then can we always remain broad-minded.
This is what the Buddha taught us and what we must earnestly accept and uphold.
The previous sutra passage was saying that as his child had already begun to feel comfortable with working there, the elder became more emphatic [in his praise].“You are doing so well! You are always so earnest in your work, so well-tempered, and you have good character.”
When you work, you are not deceitful, idle, angry, hateful, nor resentful in speech.
I do not see these faults in you like I see in other workers.
“when you work” means that as the son was working, the elder saw he was without deceit and very honest.He was not idle either.
He had a good relationship with everyone.
No one had ever seen him lose his temper or start conflicts with others.
He had also never been heard voicing any hatred or resentment.He was never heard critizing others or saying anything negative.
“I do not see these faults in you.”
He was not deceitful, idle or quick to anger, nor did he voice any hate or resentment.He did not have any of the faults which “[the elder saw] in other workers”.He was different from the others.
“From today forward, you will be like my own son. The elder then promptly gave him a name, calling this man, ‘Son’.”
His character and behavior were wonderful.
He was different from the others.
The elder said, “I really appreciate you, so I think of you like my son, and I am like your father.”
From then on, he called this man “son”.This shows the son’s good affinities; this is why someone was willing to treat him like his sown child.
He was “not deceitful or idle”.We discussed this yesterday “internally, he has no fault of self-deception”.
If we do not listen to our conscience and deceive ourselves, naturally we will not be honest with other people.A person like this has poor character.However, the son did not have this problem.His mind was already open.
“Internally, he has no fault of self-deception. Externally, he is never seen to be idle.”
The son was never seen to be indolent.
It was apparent that he was very diligent, and he had never been heard getting angry.
Not only had people never seen him angry, they never heard him speak in anger.
They had never seen him look resentful or speak resentfully, not at all.
So, he was not deceitful.Thus naturally, he is free of the five kinds of hindrances.
Do you all remember these five kinds?His mind was not deceitful,so he did not face obstacle created by deceit. Moreover, he never appeared to be indolent. He was never idle or indolent. He did not speak words of hate or resentment. There are five kinds of hindrances in all.
If we can correct them all, naturally we will be free of transgressions. If we are free of transgressions, we will be free of hindrances. There will be no hindrances in this or in future lifetimes.
The next line is, “I do not see these faults in you”. He did not have any of these five.
I do not see these faults in you: From afar, this refers to heretical practitioners seeking truth with mistaken views. From nearby, this refers to [cultivating] the 37 Practices to Enlightenment and so on, so that the Five Hindrances cannot be seen.
When it says “from the outside” or “from afar”, it is referring to “heretical practitioners seeking truth with mistaken views”. Heretical practitioners do not follow the Right Path. They have a deviant understanding, deviant views and deviant beliefs, so what they are pursuing is improper. If they persist in their deluded beliefs, if they become obsessed, that will cause a big problem.
So, “from afar” is an analogy for how, externally, “I do not see these faults in you”. He did not have any of these faults, which is very heartening.
As spiritual practitioners, we should be steadfast and sincere. Then we will not walk a deviant path. This is what is “nearby”. This refers to our place of spiritual practice, the place we learn the Buddha-Dharma, a place of Right Understanding and Right Views. If we are engaging in spiritual practice, we cannot stray from the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. They form our foundation.
The three Fours, the two Fives, the Seven and the Eight are what we must keep on our minds. We must remain stable; with each step, we must steadily walk this path.
“The Five Hindrances cannot be seen” is saying that as we walk, we can walk smoothly, for the road will be without obstacles. There are no hindrances on this road because our minds are upright and without deceit, idleness, anger, hate or resentful words, without these five things. This all comes from being mindful in having faith and understanding.
“Like I see in other workers” refers to followers of heretical teachings who practice and cultivate blindly. With the slightest deviation, we may harm our body and mind. This is “like what [he] sees in other workers”. We must be earnest and straightforward as we engage in spiritual practice. We must not be like other people.
Though they say they are also engaging in spiritual practice, they have gone astray. Like us, they are working hard. For some, working hard means they are very mindful and straightforward. But when some people work hard, they are doing it just for show. Really, they are mistaken in their behavior. It may seem as though they are working hard and that they are putting in so much effort, but they are doing the wrong things.
People who do the right things also work very hard as they practice giving, but what they are doing is right.
From the bottom of our hearts, we must find a way to work on our minds. As we interact with people and matters, we must be broad-minded and yielding. No matter how people treat us, we must be humble and repentant. Our minds must be so open and spacious that we can accommodate everything. We must always be repentant when people say negative things to us or give us unpleasant expressions. We must have a broad mind to accommodate everyone. We must have formed causes and conditions with them in the past, formed negative affinities, so that now we hear negative words from them and see their unpleasant attitude. We must do more than be accommodating and broad-minded; we must also repent to that person.
“Repentance is purifying. Repentance eliminates disasters”. This is what we must be mindful of.
It is best that we earnestly and steadfastly engage in spiritual practice.
“From today forward, you will be like my own son”. From now on, the elder would treat him as his own son. “I am like your father. I am like your father”. The elder had already been able to approach his child, and having done so, he observed his behavior. He saw how honest his son was and how he was free of shortcomings. Indeed, he earnestly worked hard.
So, the father began to feel at ease and gradually began to extend his sincere affections. He wanted to let his son know that his interactions with him were deeply sincere, and he was working with him out of sincerity as well.
He did this so that his son might grow closer to him.
From today forward, you will be like my own son:
This is a metaphor for the Five Powers and entering [the stage of] Foremost in the World. Having already drawn near noble beings, he had not yet seen the truth, and so he still could not be called a true son. Thus, it says, “like my own son.”
“I am like your father, and you are like my son. I will treat you like my own son. This is an analogy for the Five Powers. With the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers, he had already entered [the stage of] Foremost in the World.
Where are the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers categorized? Do you know? They are within the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. The three Fours, the two Fives, the Seven and the Eight.” This is an analogy for having taken the Path to heart.
In the world, this is the first stage of our spiritual practice. Furthermore, whether we are practicing the Small, Middle or Great Vehicles, we must not deviate from the 37 Practices to Enlightenment.
As spiritual practitioners, if we stray from the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, we are not actually engaging in spiritual practice. We would not have sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness in our thoughts and deeds. Sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness, loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, are all the paths we need to walk.
So, we must practice the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers, as well as the Fourfold Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, the Seven Factors of Bodhi and the Eight Noble Path, along with the first teachings, the Four Noble Truths and others.
When we have thoroughly understood these principles, we will be foremost in the World; we will have drawn near the state of noble beings. Yet we still “have not yet seen the truth.” We have not become “true Buddha-children.” This is an analogy for how, though we are engaging in spiritual practice, when it comes to our nature of True Suchness, we are still unable to realize it. Right now, we are just close to it. We must continuously advance on the path to the state of noble beings.
The Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence and the 37 Practices to Enlightenment are the path we must diligently advance on to draw near the state of noble beings. This is the path we are walking, but we have not yet seen the absolute truth. We have not yet connected with our nature of True Suchness, so we are still not His true children.
We still have not yet acknowledge each other, not yet been acknowledged as His true children, because the father makes use of skillful means; as we spoke about in previous passages, to avoid scaring his son, he approached him gradually and gradually claimed him as a godson. If this could continue on in the same way, the two could truly draw closer. That is the only way for father and son to acknowledge each other.
“The elder then promptly gave him a name, calling this man, ‘Son.’” This is an analogy for the Seven Factors of Enlightenment and the Eight Noble Path, which enable spiritual practitioners to awaken to, enter and realize the Path.
In addition to the Four Right Efforts, the Four Bases of Mind Fulfilling Power, the Fourfold Mindfulness, the Five Spiritual Roots and the Five Powers, there are the Seven Factors of Enlightenment and the Eight Noble Path. They help us to gradually awaken to, enter and realize the Path.If we can apply them, our practice will gradually become more complete.
This is “single-minded and incessant practice of the Path.” If we earnestly engage in spiritual practice, naturally we can realize and verify our nature of True Suchness. This is doing things “promptly,” at this time.
We start with the Fourfold Mindfulness, then exercise the Five Spiritual Roots and the Five Powers until we reach the Seven Factors of Enlightenment and the Eight Noble Path. This brings us closer and closer. We must continuously do this without pause.
“Incessant” means to continue without interruption. This is the only way to see true principles. So, as we engage in spiritual practice, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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