Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: With Loving-kindness for All, Cause Harm to None(慈心一切無所傷害)
Date:March.05. 2016
“When we have put an end to and exhausted all evil and eliminated the bondage of afflictions, our nature of True Suchness resonates with the universe, and our innate enlightenment harmonizes with its vastness. When the Buddha first turned the Dharma-wheel in Deer Park, all those with took joy in the Small were transformed by the Dharma, like children born from the Buddha’s speech.”
I believe the state of enlightenment is wonderful, but before becoming enlightened, we must first put an end to all evils. Having exhausted all evils, we must eliminate all bondage of affliction. This is the only way for our nature of True Suchness to be one with the universe.
We all intrinsically have this nature of True Suchness, so we should not look down on ourselves. We can also resonate with the universe someday. As long as we earnestly put an end to and exhaust all evil and all afflictions, the delusions of ignorance will no longer be able to disrupt our minds. We will achieve a tranquil and calm state.
Eventually, there will come a day when, in an instant, we become one with the universe. At that time, our innate enlightenment will be in harmony with everything. That state is so vast! When I speak of this, I feel very happy. That state is indescribable. In this kind of environment, the Buddha realized [the truths of] all things in the universe. The workings of life, the mind and material things were all encompassed in His ocean of enlightened wisdom.
There is nothing He does not know, no Dharma He does not understand. Everything is encompassed by His mind. His enlightened state of mind was what He wanted to help everyone understand. However, we were unable to. That was why He first turned the Dharma-wheel in Deer Park. He began to scale down His understanding of the true principles of all things in this universe and re-collect it. Then He went back among the people and turned the Dharma-wheel at Deer Park. This completed the Three Treasures; Buddha, Dharma and Sangha were now all present. The Sangha then went out into the world to spread the Buddha’s teachings, all starting from this place.
Aside from explaining the suffering in the world, the impermanence of the universe and the kinds of impermanence humans experience, He also explained the workings of material things, the way things in the universe go through formation, existence, decay and disappearance. He also explained that [we do not know] whether we will live out the day or whether impermanence will strike first. Will we be able to make it to tomorrow or will impermanence strike before tomorrow arrives? We do not know; things happen in an instant. Helping us better understand impermanence shows the wisdom of the Buddha.
In the world, we often hear and see [impermanence]. But do we have this awareness? We are not yet aware, so we are still in the bondage of afflictions. When we blindly act on everything we hear, we will cause unrest in society and become entangled in cycles of enmity with others. With these kinds of conflicts and ups and downs, we truly give rise to many afflictions.
This is the way life is, but as spiritual practitioners, we understand this. The Buddha continuously advised us and continuously explained this, so we know.
Thus, we renounce cyclic existence. We do not want to return to birth and death here because there is much suffering in the world. So, we “take joy in the Small”; we just focus on avoiding rebirth in the world.
That is why we eliminate afflictions; we take the Dharma to heart in order to use it to eliminate our afflictions.The Dharma is like water; it can wash away the defilements of the mind.Those able to hear the Buddha-Dharma and take the principles to heart will not have afflictions flying around their minds like dust.This is what the Buddha taught us.Those who come in contact with the Dharma, though they may “take joy in the Small” and may not form great aspirations to benefit others, they live peacefully and are content.They can see the world very clearly and are free of ignorance; they put an end to all of their ignorance.They “put an end to and exhaust all evil.”They have also eliminated the bondage of afflictions, so they are free of afflictions.
However, they only seek to benefit themselves.
Even so, this is already remarkable.So, they were “transformed by the Dharma.”
Which Dharma was that?Beginning at Deer Park, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths.
Then, it was the 37 Practices to Enlightenment and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.
Having taken all of this Dharma to heart, they were transformed by it.
What was born out of this transformation?
Wisdom-life was born.We transform our regular life into wisdom-life.As life is short and the world impermanent, we do not know if impermanence will strike before tomorrow arrives.But if we take the Dharma to heart, it will follow us when we leave this life for the next.Our wisdom-life will continue to exist.
What we bring is our wisdom-life, our wisdom.
Then in our future life, we will create blessings rather than commit evils.Thus, in our future life, based on the wisdom-life we have developed and the fact we have now encountered the Dharma, we will understand the principles and be able to clearly discern right and wrong.
Therefore, life after life, we will no longer be in a deep state of confusion.
As for our wisdom-life, how does it come into being?“Like children born from the Buddha’s speech.”When we listen to the Dharma with our ears and take it to heart, we engrave it on our minds.Thus, we understand many principles.
This is how our wisdom-life comes into being from the speech of the Buddha.The Great Enlightened One, in accord with our capabilities, speaks in a way we can understand and teaches Dharma that we can accept.This nourishes our wisdom-life.
So, we are “like children born from the Buddha’ speech”.[After discussing] many sutras, we have reached the parable of the poor son.
This analogy of the poor son came from the Buddha’s disciples Subhuti, when he expressed his repentance after his realization.
“In the past, I focused only on awakening myself. When the Buddha taught the Great Dharma, I was not interested. We were very afraid to go among people. so, though the Buddha has taught True Dharma for more than 40 years, we remained outside the door and never entered it.”This was what Subhuti and three fellow disciples said in front of the Buddha.
Next, let us look at the previous sutra passage.
“When you work, you are not deceitful, idle, angry, hateful, nor resentful in speech.”
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.
From today forward, you will be like my own son.The elder then promptly gave him a name, calling this man his son.
[The poor son] was already well-mannered.
The elder had changed two of his magnificent clothing so he could approach the poor son.
They got along so well that they could have a heart to heart talk.By observing his behavior, the elder could tell that he did things earnestly and had good moral character.He did not see any negative character trait in him.
This is a simple summary, as we discussed all this yesterday.This poor son was different from other people.
In this passage, “other” refers to those who have strayed in their spiritual cultivation.People who mindfully engage in spiritual practice and those with deviant understanding and views have very different spiritual practices.
The son did not have the evils “like [he saw] on other workers,” so his moral character stood out.“From today forward, you will be like my own son.”His moral character was so wonderful, and he was very well-behaved, so the elder wanted to acknowledge him as his son.
At that time, “The elder then promptly gave him a name, calling this man his son.”Thus, they will call each other “father” and “son”.This is what we discussed yesterday, briefly summarized.
The next sutra passage states, “At that time, though the poor son was pleased at the situation, he still thought of himself as an outsider and lowly worker”.
From this passage, we can see that though this man, the poor son, was cherished by the elder, highly praised and even acknowledged by him as a godson, though this made him happy and “pleased with the situation”, though he was very happy, he was still a bit worried.
See, this symbolizes “realizing the initial fruit”, which is a fruit of spiritual practice.
This symbolizes realizing the initial fruit, the fruit of srotaapanna. For all sramana, this is the fruit of initial attainment, the stage of entrance to the practice of the Path.
Though he was pleased at the situation: Though one has eliminated delusions of views, delusions of thinking still remain.
When the Buddha was at Deer Park, He turned the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths three times. The first time, Ajnata Kaundinya comprehended them. Upon comprehending them, he had realized the initial fruit. After the second and third turns, all five of them had realized the initial fruit.
The initial fruit is also called the fruit of srotaapanna”. It means we have accepted this Dharma and can continue to advance in our practice. This is “the fruit of srotaapanna”. “Sramana” means spiritual practitioner. Those who leave the lay life can be called “sramana”. Bhiksus and bhiksunis can all be called “sramanas”. This refers to how, after they became monastics, they began to take the Dharma to heart and have begun to attain the fruits of practice.
The Agama Sutra explains, “They relinquish loving affection, renounce the lay life and practice the Path, control and restrain all Roots and remain undefiled by external desires”.
When we engage in spiritual practice and renounce the lay life, we must relinquish loving affection. We must first sever familial relationships. We go beyond limited love in order to embrace great love. We are no longer entangled by our immediate family.
Our aspiration is to work for the sake of the greater family of this world. So, [the Chinese characters for “everyone” are “greater” and “family”]. Thus, “greater family” is everyone in the world. Everyone is part of this “greater family”. If we do not relinquish our “small family”, how do we do things for our “greater family”? It is for the sake of all beings in this world that we engage in spiritual practice.
As I have said, the Buddha engaged in spiritual practice and attained Buddhahood for the sake of all beings. To manifest the attainment of enlightenment, He also set aside His family, left behind loving affection, renounced the lay life and practiced the Path. This was the only way He could “control and restrain all Roots”.
These Roots are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. We connect with external conditions through form, sound, smell, taste, touch and thoughts.
When our inner Roots connect with outer states, all of those phenomena, whether sound, form or color, will lead our minds [to follow].
Some people seem to be blind, just acting on whatever they hear. Out of anger, they cannot discern right from wrong. Out of anger, they start to hurl abuse at people, whether or not they are in the right. The people they yell at are confused and then yell back in response. Ignorance in sentient beings come from their Roots. When we go along with external conditions and cannot discern right from wrong, we give rise to desire, so we lack clarity. Then we start to lust after all kinds of things. We want this, we want that and this too, etc.
In summary, we should earnestly rein in our Roots and very clearly distinguish between things. Should we do this? Should we get that? Should we say that? Should we yell? We must have wisdom, must apply wisdom.
The Buddha wanted to teach practitioners to pass down the Path. The Dharma must be transmitted. We must find a way to spread the Dharma, so we must earnestly focus on our spiritual cultivation so the Dharma-lineage can passed down.
Only by helping everyone understand principles can they eliminate their ignorance and afflictions and turn their ignorance into Bodhi, turn their ignorance into awakening.
If people do not awaken, society will be in chaos. “[They] remain undefiled by external desires.”
Truly, we must rein in our Roots so we do not just connect with [everything we see]. “With loving-kindness for all, [we] cause harm to no one. We must exercise compassion, otherwise, with people and things in this world, when we give rise to an ignorant thought, they will be harmed. This is a lack of wisdom, which is ignorance.
In the Agama Sutra, it states: With loving-kindness for all, they cause harm to no one. Encountering happiness, they are not joyous. Encountering suffering, they are not sad. They are firm in patience like the earth. Thus, they are called sramanas.
We must know that, to be able to continue to live well, we must have sufficient resources. If we have sufficient resources, we should be grateful to all things in the world. Thus, we are grateful for the grace of sentient beings. Sentient beings painstakingly work to cultivate the fields. The crops they harvest provide us with food. When we have things to eat, we should make an effort to cherish this blessing; we must not waste it carelessly.
The ancient said, “There must be favorable weather in the world in order to have a successful harvest.” And many people must contribute their labor to bring the food to market for everyone in this society to eat. So, we must always be grateful. It is out of compassion that we cherish things. All the food we eat, all the objects we use are things we must cherish. We must not throw things out for no reason. That is wrong. We should have “loving-kindness for all, cause harm to no one.”
“Encountering happiness, they are not joyous. If we ordinarily guard our minds so that we do not have strong desires, the objects of desire around us will not affect our minds. “Encountering suffering, they are not sad.” If we are the ones who encounters suffering, we should not become sorrowful, saying, “Right now, everyone is treating me [poorly], so I feel depressed, and things are very hard on me.” When we start to give to these afflictions, ignorance will cover our minds.The more we fail to see things, the more suffering we will experience. When we are sorrowful, that really makes things hard on us.
So, the Buddha taught us to be firm in patience like the earth.” We must earnestly nurture our minds to have patient like the earth.
The earth can endure all the ways we exploit it. It can endure all the ways humans extract resources from it. As you can see, people are continuously damaging the mountains and rivers, but the earth is still patient. What else can it do? The earth is the home we all share, so it must be able to patiently endure what all living beings do to it.We want to live in this place; we want to destroy things in this place.
However, the earth remains patient. If the earth fight back, as I have mentioned, that will be the end of this world. That the land is stable and can securely accommodate the way we live is something we must deeply cherish.
As spiritual practitioners, or sramanas, to engage in spiritual cultivation, we should follow this section of the Agama Sutra. We should relinquish limited love for great love. Our love should not be defiled by external desires. We should have “living-kindness for all, cause harm to no one.”
We should not hurt people object or matters but instead be patient like the earth, because this is [our] world. Then we will be called “sramanas.”
If we are capable of achieving this, then we have attained the initial fruit, “the stage of entrance to the practice of the Path.” Then we must keep advancing, step by step. Though pleased with the situation, though we have “eliminated delusions of views,” though we attained the initial fruit and cut off delusions of views, we still have “delusions of thinking.”
Our power of thinking is still insufficient, so we must kept going forward. There is still much Buddha-Dharma, and we must delve deeply into it. Thus, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
