Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: When Minds Are Pure, the Land Is Pure (隨其心浄 則國土淨)
Date: October.10. 2016
“The land, time and people are his direct and circumstantial retributions of practicing the Dharma. A land that is pure is a response to an impartial and pure mind. Debris and brambles are a response to a scattered mind. Excrement and other impurities are a response to a defiled mind. Pits and knolls are a response to a flattering and crooked mind.”
Yesterday we spoke about Venerable Kasyapa’s future attainment, how he will encounter 300 trillion Buddhas, how the land he will attain will be magnificent and how the land will be flat and smooth. This is what that Buddha will attain.
After having been taught by so many Buddhas, his mind will be very tranquil. Since his mind is pure, that land will be pure. So, this is “the land, time and people.” In His land, there will be many people with wisdom. It is the same with the time. That Buddha will live for 12 small kalpas. The Right Dharma will abide for 20 small kalpas and the Dharma-semblance for 20 small kalpas. That Buddha’s name will be Radiant Light, and the name of his land will be Radiant Virtue. This all comes from seeds of spiritual practice, attained due to the pure and radiant virtue in his heart.
Externally, he will receive teachings from 300 trillion Buddhas, so many of them; we should say that over many lifetimes, he will be creating blessed affinities with so many sentient beings. Thus he will attain the direct and circumstantial retributions of that kingdom, that time and those people.
His direct and circumstantial retributions come from his practice and from the Dharma. “Practice” refers to lifetime after lifetime of resolute faith, life after life drawing near to Buddhas. The era of Right Dharma remains in our hearts. If we have the resolve to accept the Dharma and put it into practice, Right Dharma will always be there.
Even if we lived during the Buddha’s lifetime, if we did not joyfully draw near the Buddha, then isn’t that the same as living in a time of Dharma-semblance or Dharma-degeneration? We may see the Buddha yet not have respect for Him in our hearts. We may hear the Dharma but feel it is completely unrelated to us. Then even if we lived during the Buddha’s time, it would not be the era of Right Dharma.
For people like this, there is no Dharma in their hearts. Then there is fundamentally no difference between Right Dharma and Dharma-semblance; in fact, there is no Dharma at all.
Since we are fortunate enough to hear the Buddha-Dharma, we should have a heart of utmost reverence. We must cultivate contemplation. We should always engage in contemplation, asking, “What is the Dharma that we hear? What is its function in the world?” In our world today, as we hear the Dharma we must also confirm it.
In our world today, in this turbid world, why do we hear that everything is so lacking in harmony? The four elements are out of balance, and people’s hearts are not in harmony. The four elements that are out of balance are earth, water, fire and air.
As for earth, there was [the quake in] Nepal. We communicated with [our volunteers] yesterday. Through videoconferencing, I heard their voices and saw their images. Thomas Huang was the first to speak. When I heard his voice, the first thing he said was, “Master, I really want to cry, but I cannot. There is so much suffering here. Although we have already set up large tents, over 100 people are squeezed into each of them. The living conditions are very bad. Also, there are no toilets. It’s really terrible. Master, is there any way we can help them? Can we use prefabricated shelters like we did in the Philippines?”
I told him, “It is only temporary! Those large tents are made for 40 people. They are 80 square meters, so 40 beds fit inside. It should at least be better than sleeping under plastic tarp propped up with bamboo poles. It should be much better than that. We could improve their living conditions.”
However, there are so many people, and they are all so accommodating and pure-hearted. [They say,] “Come in! Come in! Everyone can fit inside together!” So, everyone squeezes in, and 40 people soon becomes more than 100. “Right now, we are trying to get them more tents, and we are thinking of a way to quickly send over Jing Si multi-purpose beds. If we can increase the number of tents and line up the beds inside so there will be 40 beds in each, then their living arrangements will be completely different.”
After all, setting up prefabricated shelters is not so easy! If we wait for prefabricated shelters, they must first be prepared, then after being shipped they must be assembled. This would stretch on for a long time. Right now, we are trying to quickly get them the things that we can buy at present, the things that we can send over quickly. We are also quickly shipping large quantities of multi-purpose beds. This will improve their present [conditions], so they do not have to sleep under plastic sheets. That will make a big difference. We must first settle our minds and concentrate on what we can do for them now in order to get through this critical period.
This is how we [work] in the Saha World. When the four elements are out of balance, when the earth element is imbalanced, as we have seen, in a flash, [nothing is left] but piles of broken tiles and bricks several stories high. This is truly impermanence at work! Whether it is the element of earth, air, water or fire that is not in harmony, it leads to so much suffering in the Saha World. This is [the power of] nature in this Saha World.
There are also manmade disasters that occur when people’s hearts are in disharmony. “As long as it makes me happy, what is there that I can’t do? If I want to curse at someone, I will do it. That is my freedom! It doesn’t matter whether it is true or not.” In the end, people only think about their own happiness, so there is no Dharma to treat them. In our society, people’s hearts are not at peace.
But let us go back to the sutra. The Buddha praised Venerable Kasyapa, saying how in the future he would become a Buddha, but only after drawing near to and serving in the presence of 300 trillion Buddhas, respecting and revering 300 trillion Buddhas. He will serve in this way. Of course, I was saying yesterday that only when we look at every person as a Buddha, treat everyone with reverence and respect and hope everyone will accept our sincerity can we [help] harmonize their hearts. When people’s hearts are harmonious, they accept the Dharma. In this way, the land will be lever; there will be more good people, and there will be more wise people.
So, we said, “A land that is pure is response to an impartial and pure mind.” For a land to be truly peaceful and harmonious, compassion must be shown to all equally. Then naturally the land, the land and the time, [will be favorable], because in this world, the time, place and people can all be pure. If people’s minds can be pure and compassion can be shown to all equally, only then will this result in a society that is harmonious and peaceful.
Why would there be “debris and brambles?” “Debris and brambles” are a response to a scattered mind. When our minds are scattered, we cannot concentrate. In our practice, if our mind is unstable, lacking the cultivation of contemplation, afflictions will fill our mind all day. It is as if our mind is always full of garbage, and our speech becomes like thorns. Acting in ignorance, we continually hurt others. An attitude like this is like being full of debris and brambles.
A defiled mind results in “excrement and other impurities.” This is a defiled mind. People with a defiled mind like this have been infected by many bad habitual tendencies and are defiled with much insincerity. “Pits and knolls are a response to a flattering and crooked mind.” Pits and knolls are when the ground is uneven and bumpy. There are many “knolls.” This means there are many piles of things there. If we have a flattering and crooked mind it will result in us meeting an environment like this.
So, we must make efforts now to balance our minds and mindfully adorn the ground of our minds. Having said so much about this, we should by now understand. The Buddha bestowed a prediction on Venerable Kasyapa; upon attaining Buddhahood in the future, his name will be Radiant Light. You all probably remember this.
The name of his land will be Radiant Virtue, “The kalpa will be called Great Magnificence.” His era, everything about his era, will be magnificent, for there will be many wise people there. “The Buddha’s lifespan will be 12 small kalpas. “Right Dharma will abide in the world for 20 small kalpas.” Dharma-semblance will abide for 20 small kalpas. A kalpa is a very long period of time.
The next sutra passage says, “The realm will be majestically adorned, free from all filth and evil, debris and brambles, excrement and other impurities. The land will be level, without high or low places or pits and knolls”.
That land will have nothing like all those things we were just talking about. In the land of Radiant Light Tathagata, there is nothing like that. Everything there is magnificent. The streets and the houses are all magnificent. There are no impure things there. Everything is smooth and level.
“The realm will be majestically adorned, free from all filth and evil. His circumstantial retribution will be undefiled.” Circumstantial retribution is the place where we are born. “His circumstantial retribution will be undefiled.” It will be “free from all evil appearances.” There will be no negative ways of life there. So, “This land that is pure is the response to an impartial and pure mind.”
Impartiality means showing compassion equally. In our pas lives, we all engaged in this practice. With compassion and kindness, we treated everyone equally. This is “a response to an impartial and pure mind.” We will come to a place like this because we cultivated actions like this in our past lives.
“[Free of] debris and brambles, excrement and other impurities.” “Debris and brambles, excrement and other impurities: Whether debris, pits, brambles, thorns, excrement, urine, or any other impurities, none of these will be there.”
Debris is sand, rocks and so on. “Pits, brambles and thorns” are those kinds of trees which are all very hard. Brambles are very hard branches. There are also thorns. Thorns are sharp, long and pointed. So, these are called brambles and thorns.
“Excrement and urine” refer to feces and all other unclean [substances]. All these things are called excrement and urine. All these unclean things are not found in that land. There are none of these things, because his land will be magnificent.
“The land will be level, without high or low places or pits and knolls.” That land will be very pure and without high or low places. It will be level everywhere. This refers to the ground of the mind. Everyone’s mind is peaceful, upright and straight. So, “The ground of the mind is level, without attachment to high or low.” This is the fruit that comes from utmost sincerity. This land will be level and smooth.
Next, for the “scattered mind,” the response to a scattered mind will be debris and brambles. If we have a scattered mind, the debris and brambles are our discursive thoughts. These things hurt us; they are detrimental things that will continually injure us.
So, we truly must eliminate these states of mind that are like debris and brambles. We cannot allow ourselves to easily think of harming others, nor easily feel joyful when seeing others in a state of afflictions and ignorance. We must not do this.
So, “A defiled mind brings the retribution of excrement. If our minds are defiled, then what we will attain is excrement and other impurities. The land will be impure, and there will be insufficient facilities, so there will be human waste everywhere. Thus, everywhere will be unclean. If our minds are defiled, then naturally we will receive such a retribution, and the place where we live be unclean. If our mind is flattering and crooked, we will experience retribution of pits and knolls.
So, we can see this clearly in the sutra text. If our mind are scattered, what will our retribution be in the future? Our retribution is that in our living environment, there will be debris and brambles. If our minds are defiled, what will our retribution be in the future? Our retribution is that in our living environment, there will be excrement and impurity. If our minds are flattering and crooked now, what of our future circumstantial retributions? Our retribution will be to be reborn in a place filled with pits and knolls. This is the environment we will live in. Our direct and circumstantial retributions result from our past lifetimes, from the thoughts we created then. So, in this lifetime, it is beyond our control; we will face these circumstantial retributions.
When Venerable Kasyapa attains Buddhahood in the future, there will be none of these bad things in his environment. It will be an entirely magnificent environment, and everyone will have wisdom. So, let us make an effort to be mindful.
“Buddhas are never scattered, defiled or crooked, so Their realm is majestically adorned, free from all filth and evil. As They only cultivate pure, wondrous practices, Their land is therefore level, covered with precious flowers.”
All Buddhas have gone through such spiritual practice over such a long period of time. For example, Venerable Kasyapa will serve 300 trillion [Buddhas]. He will go through such a long period of time with his mind in Samadhi, very focused, as how makes offerings to so many Buddhas. He will treat sentient beings with such impartiality and compassion. Think about it, after he has attained Buddhahood, his realm will be so magnificent without ant filth or evil.
“As They only cultivate pure, wondrous practices, Their land is therefore level, covered with precious flowers.” That environment will be wonderful. If we wish to be reborn there, we must earnestly engage in spiritual practice. We must cultivate pure and wondrous practices and maintain very pure minds. This way, “The land is therefore level” and “covered with precious flowers.” The environment will be like this, and the scenery will be very beautiful.
Purity means that “Because Their minds are pure, the lands will be pure.” What place is a pure land? If our minds are pure, and all our merits and virtues are pure, then we will attain the future direct and circumstantial retributions of being reborn in a pure like that.
In summary, let us be mindful in learning the Buddha’s Way. Let us constantly clear out our minds. We must not have discursive thoughts. We must not have wicked ideas. We must not “hurt people like thorns” or be like debris and brambles, continually injuring others and causing turmoil in society.
If we are like this, then in the future we will be born in a place like that. If we avoid such mindsets and are also earnest and diligent, if we put effort into spiritual practice, purify the ground of our minds and dignify the ground of our minds, if we do this, our minds will be pure so the land will be pure, and in future lifetimes, we will bring the Dharma as we go among the people to purify their hearts. This is the direction we should be heading in as we learn the Buddha’s teachings. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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