Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Rousing Us from the Long Night of Cyclic Existence (法鼓警醒生死長夜)
Date: February.17. 2017
“When the Dharma-wheel turns, it rouses us from the long night of cyclic existence, like a bell or a drum struck loudly. The Dharma teaches the Tathagata’s four virtues of permanence, joy, self and purity, that tranquil and clear state of mind. All sentient beings have the Buddha-nature of True Suchness; good and evil are determined by a single thought.”
This is to share with everyone that “the turning of the Dharma-wheel” rouses us from the long night of cyclic existence, just like the morning bell and evening drum. Every morning the bell will sound, and once the bell has sounded, we all must wake up. Last night, we already had a long time to rest. When we were resting, we did not know anything. There is only our dreams, which are illusory. Apart from our dreams, what else is there? The long night is like our transmigrating within the cyclic existence of the Six Realms. Cyclic existence is beyond our control, just like our dreams.
In our dreams, we do not act on our own accord. The conditions naturally manifest, and we go along with this illusory state. Some people have nightmares; their dreams are very frightening. They are unable to wake up from the dream. This is very miserable.
We often hear people say, “I had a nightmare; it was very frightening. Is this an omen?” When they wake up, they are scared; when they fall asleep, they have [nightmares]. Likewise, as we unenlightened beings go through cyclic existence, everything is constantly beyond our control.
When will we awaken from this long night? Only when the bell is struck in the mornings do we wake up. We all must be diligent. We only have one mindset; we must be diligent. We must seize the time, must race against time. So, when the bell is struck in the morning, we need to earnestly alert ourselves. This is like the way the Dharma-wheel rouses us from the long night of cyclic existence. It is like the morning bell.
“The Dharma teaches the Tathagata’s four virtues.” What are the four virtues? They are “permanence, joy, self and purity.” These are the four virtues. “Permanence” means we can [trace back] to dust-inked kalpas ago, to the era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, [to know] that since before Beginningless Time, our nature of True Suchness has existed forever; it permanently abides in our minds. It is just that we do not recognize it. Our nature of True Suchness is our intrinsic nature of great enlightenment and great awakening. However, we do not know it and thus bury this “permanence,” conceal it completely. Originally, with our pure intrinsic nature, we could be free and at ease, like the vast void of the universe. We all have a very open and spacious mind; we have a limitless and boundless ocean of enlightened wisdom. This nature of True Suchness is our intrinsically pure state, which was originally without any defilements. However, all the same, we covered ourselves with ignorance and delusions.
Otherwise [we would know that] the four virtues are always in our minds. Our nature of True Suchness is replete with the four virtues, which are “permanence, joy, self and purity.” The ocean of wisdom of our innate enlightenment pervades the universe and all Dharma-realms. It is pure and undefiled. This is something everyone intrinsically has, and moreover we are able to return to this tranquil and clear state. Without defiled attachments, we can embrace all things in the world. This undefiled state is something we all intrinsically possess. So, “All sentient beings have the Buddha-nature of True Suchness.” There is only this one thing; good and evil are decided by a single thought.
“An ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties.” This is a catchphrase I often use. In the span of a thought, a very subtle lack of clarity appears in our mind. Then greed, anger and ignorance [follow]. Once greed arises, we are greedy for all desires, greedy for all pleasures. Greed is a bottomless pit; greed reaches high up in the sky. There is a saying that “Mountains are not as high as the greed in our minds.” This is a Taiwanese idiom. It describes the minds of human beings. People have high status, but it is not high enough. They want it to be even higher. Their profit is great, but not great enough. They want it to be even greater. Their greed is endless, never satisfied. Every thought consists of greed. Once greed arises, reputation, profit and status are endlessly pursued. Our greed is higher than the mountains and deeper that the ocean. This is all “greed”; it is truly “vaster than we can comprehend.” This is greed; it is an unwholesome thought.
Once greed arises, and we do not get what we want, we become angry. With anger in our minds, we form many emotional entanglements with others. From greed to anger to the suffering of not getting what we want, these emotional entanglements are truly endless and inexhaustible. So, we must put in effort to [end this], like how when the bell is struck, we must quickly wake up. We must race against time, because “With each passing day, we draw closer to death.” Time passes by with every second; the day also pass by with each second. As for our lives, as each day passes, we draw closer to death, because as the days pass by, we age. The end of aging is death. One day, this will eventually happen, so we must put in the effort to seize the time.
We must earnestly listen to the Dharma. The Buddha-Dharma is rarely encountered, because a long time passes before a Buddha appears in the world. So, we must cherish it when a Buddha manifests in the world to expound the Dharma and turn the Dharma-wheel. The Dharma-wheel is turned in the world; although Sakyamuni Buddha entered Parinirvana over 2000 years ago, the Dharma-wheel is still constantly turning. It is just that our minds are covered by ignorance. The Dharma-wheel is still turning, however, in our minds, we did not paved a road to accept the Dharma. We did not open the door to our minds and have not yet paved this road.
In fact, for us human beings, we just had a single thought that went astray. When this thought went astray, we ended up in the Six Realms. All this came from a single thought. So, while we have blessings, we must act and gain joy through giving. “Blessings are the joy we gain through giving.”
What about wisdom? Wisdom is the freedom we gain from being understanding. We need to take action and give in order to experience the meaning of having blessings. Recently, many natural disasters have occurred, such as the earthquake in Nepal. Many of our volunteers have gone there [to do relief work]. Upon returning, they shared their experiences of seeing impermanence and suffering in the world. Typhoon Soudelor [caused great damage] in Wulai. This place that is very popular for sightseeing and for soaking in hot springs, this tourist spot, was completely changed. It was totally different.
Many Living Bodhisattvas dedicated themselves. Wherever Tzu Chi Volunteers needed, these Living Bodhisattvas were there; for seven or eight days they worked so hard, but they did not fear hard work. They experienced the impermanence in life and the fragility of the land. The world is impermanent! One typhoon can cause the mountains and rivers to change completely. No matter how much wealth one has or how big one’s hotel is, the mud will flood inside just the same. Originally, there were many people there to enjoy the hot springs. With many people, there was a lot of human waste. When the mud flooded in, everything mixed together. Mud from the mountains and water from the rivers came streaming down the mountainsides. This mixed with the pools of waste water, with all of their defiled human waste. All of this came down from the mountain to the first and second underground floors. We can imagine how bad the smell was. The mud mixed with large amounts of human waste.
To clean this up, people would really need to have patient endurance. In order to help many people have inhabitable living conditions, many Bodhisattvas got involved [to help]. After seeing this, when they came back they shared their experience of the impermanence in the world, of mountain and rivers suddenly changing form, of the fragility of the land. If they had not gone there, they would not be able to experience this.
Or take Japan, for instance. There are many homeless people on the streets. In the park, a group of Living Bodhisattvas would [hold distributions] for the homeless. They did this twice, two days a month. On the first and third Sunday of the month, Tzu Chi volunteers would distribute material goods, rice balls, etc. in the park.
During the third week of July every year, there is a three-day holiday in Japan. This time, many male volunteers, the husbands of our commissioners, all came out to help. They held the rice balls in their hands as they approached the homeless people. Before they began their meals, they gathered everyone together. The Japanese husbands of our commissioners spoke in Japanese to share with everyone the disaster relief work that Tzu Chi had done around the world, such as after the earthquake in Nepal, or the power explosion in Taiwan, how volunteers in Taiwan give with the power of love. So, they invited these homeless people to [pray] for Taiwan and for the world, for all the countries for all the countries in the world. In Myanmar at that time there was a great flood. So, [the husbands] asked all of them to pray for the world. the homeless listened to the [husbands] talk about the things that their wives where doing after the powder explosion in Taiwan and the earthquakes, floods and other disasters around the world. So, the volunteers called on the homeless people to pray with a reverent heart. Everyone listened and reverently prayed. Then, the volunteers led them in an activity. This helped them feel that they were not only receiving love from a group of ladies from Taiwan; these Japanese men also had the same mindset as their wives. [They talked about] their understanding of the Buddha-Dharma, how the world is impermanent, with many disasters, and how life is very short. they shared these principles with them. The homeless seemed to awaken as if from a dream. This time, it truly seemed like a bell had been struck to wake them up from their confused wandering on the streets.
The people behind the scenes had to prepare so much food and other goods for the homeless. There was a group of Bodhisattvas who worked joyfully in the kitchen. If they needed to pack lunchboxes, they used metal bowls. They were very mindful and would boil the bowls each time. As they boiled the bowls by the side of the road, a volunteer said, “I would usually, in the past, she emphasized the phrase “in the past, often go to the sauna; I would go to hot springs or to the sauna. Of course, this costs money. But now, volunteering for Tzu Chi, I am also in a sauna. Twice a month, I will be in front of the stove boiling all these bowls. After boiling, we wait for them to cool down, then we wipe them and dry them. One moment I am hot, and next moment cold. Also, before, when I wanted to sweat, I would go to the sauna to let my body sweat. Now, there is no need, because I sweat a lot while I am working here. Furthermore, I do not need to spend any money, and I feel very happy as I do this work; I feel very grounded.” So, everyone there felt very happy as they were doing the work. This is the power of love. They had truly dedicated themselves. They “dedicated themselves to awakening.” This is the Dharma. if we only listen to the Dharma, we will not be able to understand it. We must personally get involved to truly be able to realize this power of love.
Next, in Taiwan’s Neihu District, as our Neihu [Tzu Chi campus], every day there are 50 to 60 people there to listen to the morning Dharma lecture. They are probably there now. Among them, there is Mr. Guo, who has a friend from Malaysia named Mr. Lin. He came from Malaysia to Taiwan, and [Mr. Guo] had been trying to bring him in; however, it seemed very difficult to do. But [Mr. Lin] told him, “Alright, I will go.” Now he felt that he made this agreement with his friend, and Neihu was very close to where he lives, so he went to check out the recycling statin. Once he got there, he truly got involved and listened to the teachings. Whether recycling work or listening to the Dharma, he was very dedicated. This is what he said himself.
Now, he is in the advanced certification training. He is a software engineer, so he enjoys playing around with software. In the past, [he cared very much] about his hair. Although he is a man, he really liked to accessorize himself with jewelry. Now, he is likely at the campus in Neihu district listening to me as I talk about him. He said that every day he listens to the morning Dharma lecture. He also opened up his jewelry box for our news reporters to see. He said to them, “This is what I used to wear.” There are rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc. He said, “I used to enjoy these things very much.” But now, it is different. He cut his hair and became a Tzu Chi volunteer. If he did not tell us, we would not be able to understand his past. Before, he dwelled within the long night of cyclic existence.
Now, he competes against time every day. He wakes up very early every morning to listen to the Dharma lecture. Thus, he is competing with time. Besides listening to the morning Dharma lecture, he also attends study groups, does recycling work, goes out with the truck, etc. He helps with all the work. This recycling station can turn garbage into a spiritual practice center full of technology; it is used to educate others about doing recycling.
As we can see, life is like this. Before encountering the Dharma, we are in a very long night; that is how we pass the time in life. Things are beyond our control. What will our future lifetimes be like? We do not know. So, at this time, we must fill our lives with joyfulness. Although we sweat a lot, although we are helping others unconditionally, in our minds we experience Dharma-joy. We experience this enjoyment.
“Blessings are the joy we gain from giving”. As for wisdom, “Wisdom is the freedom we gain from being understanding.” By listening to the Dharma, we can unlock our wisdom. So, being understanding of all things, we will feel very free. See, this is the Dharma. Good and evil are determined by a single thought. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, while good and evil are determined by a single thought. So, we must be mindful.
We are all intrinsically replete with the four virtues. However, one thought of delusion caused our four virtues, “permanence, joy, self and purity,” to be contaminated. This is like when the mountain and rivers shifted; this causes the ground of our minds to be covered up completely by mud. So, we must put effort into being mindful.
We hope that our Buddha-nature can [manifest] in the span of a thought. Then with a change in our mindset, all our thoughts will be good, and we will be diligent at every step, will diligently walk the great, direct Bodhi-path. Then won’t we feel happy, peaceful and at ease? So, we must earnestly complete against time.
Come, let us seize the moment. The previous sutra passage states, “He is like the udumbara flower. Only today were we able to encounter Him. All of our palaces were magnificently adorned by the radiance. World-Honored One of great loving-kindness, we only pray You honor us by accepting them.”
Everyone should still remember this. The sutra passage from yesterday and the day before [all talked about] this group of Brahma kings. Where did they came from? From the south. Previously, it was east and southeast, now, they came from the south. Who was the representative of the Brahma kings of the south? It was Wondrous Dharma. Right; I hope you can all remember what you hear. Wondrous Dharma had already come before Him with a reverent mind to make offerings and [request] the Dharma. They asked the Buddha to turn Dharma-wheel hoping that the Buddha could give them very clear teachings. They still had delusions in their minds; they had not yet completely eliminated them.
For a Buddha to manifest in the world, a very long period of time must pass. “He is like the udumbara flower.” Only today were they able to encounter Him. We had mentioned yesterday that udumbara flowers are called an “auspicious response;” [the trees] have fruits but no flowers. When the flowers finally bloom, it means a Buddha is manifesting in the world or is about to turn the Dharma-wheel or is going to enter Parinirvana. The flowers only bloom when great events occur.
The udumbara flower represents how rare it is to encounter a Buddha manifesting in the world, to encounter Him teaching the Dharma. Thus it is an auspicious appearance. Just as before, [the Brahma kings described] “all of our palaces.” With very reverent hearts, they went “along with their palaces.” They all came with reverent bodies and minds, bringing all their things to make offerings to the Buddha.
The next sutra passage states, “At that time all the Brahma kings, having praised the Buddha in verse, each spoke these words. ‘We only pray that the World-Honored One will turn the Dharma-wheel.’”
After everyone made offering and praised the Buddha, they then used verse to praise the Buddha once again. After that is what the sutra refers to as “at that time.” This shows their sincere respect in making offerings, prostrating and praising Him. Next, they further entreated Him to turn the Dharma-wheel.”
These Brahma kings “each spoke these words. Everyone had this same request, “We only pray that the World-Honored One will turn the Dharma-wheel.” This expresses the reverence in each of their minds. They made offerings out of reverence, prostrated to and praised the Buddha, all with reverence. This is what was in each Brahma king’s heart.
Why did they reverently praise the Buddha? They hoped to make a request of the Buddha. They had made this request, but the Buddha “silently consented;” He did not yet start teaching. “Not yet; it is not yet time. I will teach, but for now I am silent.” The Buddha was still waiting, because not everyone had arrived.
The next sutra passage then states, “‘[We pray You will] enable all in the world, heavenly beings, Mara, Brahma, sramanas and Brahmins, to attain peace and stability and be delivered and liberated.’ Then the Brahma kings, with one mind and one voice, spoke in verse.”
This is asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. They hoped that if the Buddha did so, it would enable all in the world [to be liberated]. They did not request the Dharma foe themselves, but also for all heavenly beings, Mara, Brahma, and sramanas. Whether heavenly beings, maras or spiritual practitioners, even practitioners of other religions, all would be enable, both human and non-human, to hear the Buddha teach.
Whether they were heavenly beings, maras or spiritual practitioners in the world, if they could hear the Buddha teach the Dharma, they could naturally take the Dharma to heart. Then their minds would be at peace, and they could be delivered and liberated. They would be given this seed. At that time, when they expressed this thought, the Brahma kings, “with one mind and one voice, spoke in verse.” They again used verse to speak. Clearly this teaching is very important; heavenly beings placed great importance on it. The Buddha need to speak and teach the Dharma, so with genuine sincerity, they “with on mind and one voice, spoke in verse.” Everyone was on one mind; so many had come together, all with the same mind. They spoke using verse.
So, they hoped to enable all in the world, heavenly beings, Mara, Brahma, [to be liberated]. All in the world means all in the Three Realms, the desire realm, form realm and formless realm. What about Mara? [King] Mara is in the desire realm. [King] Brahma is in the form realm. So, some heavenly beings were like this; they want all beings to remain in the Six Realms. Others sought liberation for themselves and for all sentient beings within the Six Realms. Even maras and Brahmas can accept the Dharma. So, it was Brahma kings requesting the teachings. They hoped the maras, the ones who were always creating trouble, would also be able to listen to the Dharma and be tamed by the Right Dharma. Then they could be pure and free from delusions and not be deluded by heavenly blessings. This way, they would be able to understand that heavenly blessings will also come to an end.
So, this includes “heavenly blessings, Mara [and] Brahma. [Mara is] King Mara of the sixth heaven of the desire realm.” Though he is already in the sixth heaven of the desire realm, he wanted to keep people [in the Six Realms]. He did not want people to encounter the Buddha-Dharma, so he would stir up trouble. If people wanted to accept the Buddha-Dharma and be liberated from cycling existence, he would stir up trouble for them. So, [the Brahma kings] hoped that King Mara also accept the Dharma.
King Brahma is in the form realm. The ones who now requested the Dharma were all Brahma kings from the form realm. King Mara is in the desire realm. Together these are “Mara [and] Brahma.” The Brahma kings cultivate virtuous Dharma and uphold wholesome precepts. This is the reason they can be Brahma kings. They enjoy many pleasures in the form realm; they have very long lifespans and pure minds. But they still have a little bit of delusion that they have not yet eliminated. They have not thoroughly understood the way to liberate themselves from cyclic existence.
What about sramanas? Sramanas are monastic practitioners. Sramanas are those who renounce the lay life. The Brahmins are lay religious practitioners, practitioners of all kinds of religions. Some Brahmins also become monastic practitioners and cultivate all kinds of spiritual practices in the forests. There are many different types of Brahmins. [The Brahma kings] hoped that all of them could “attain peace and stability and be delivered and liberated.”
[Enable all] to attain peace and stability and be delivered and liberated: Before having heard the Dharma, their minds were not at ease. Having heard it, their minds were at peace, and they were delivered from birth and death.
Their hopes were for those who had not heard the Dharma; their minds were not at ease because they had not heard the Dharma. Whether maras or Brahmas, some had not yet heard the Dharma. Or, some of the eight classes of Dharma-protectors had not yet heard; before they listened to the teachings, their minds were not at ease. Once they heard the Buddha-Dharma, their minds would be at ease. Naturally, they could take the Dharma to heart and slowly be delivered. So, “Then the Brahma kings, with one mind and one voice, spoke in verse.”
The next [sutra passage] states, “We only pray the one honored by heavenly beings and humans will turn the supreme Dharma-wheel, beat the Great Dharma-drum and blow the Great Dharma-conch. Universally let fall the Great Dharma-rain to deliver countless sentient beings. We all take refuge in and entreat You to teach with the deep and far-reaching tone.”
Right, their only prayer now was everyone’s asking for teaching, asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. This is the hope of everyone. “We only pray the one honored by heavenly beings and humans will turn the supreme Dharma-wheel.”
We only pray the one honored by heavenly beings and humans will turn the supreme Dharma-wheel: They wholeheartedly and reverently requested the Dharma. They only prayed that the Great Enlightened One respected by all heavenly beings and humans would, for humans and heavenly beings, expound the Great Dharma to eliminate delusions. This is called “turning.”
This means “They wholeheartedly and reverently requested the Dharma.” This why it says that they “only prayed. They only prayed that the one respected by all heavenly beings and humans…” He is “honored by heavenly beings and humans.” [This was their only prayer]. The phrase “we only pray” shows their reverence. They were determined and reverent in their wish to respectfully ask the honored one, the Great Enlightened One respected by all heavenly beings and humans. So, “[He] would, for humans and heavenly beings, expound the Great Dharma to eliminate delusions. This is called ‘turning.”’
Thus, we must be mindful. It is not easy to encounter the Buddha-Dharma. When Brahma kings came to request the Dharma, they asked over and over again. From the east, southeast and south, they all came one after another and had to travel through 500 trillion lands to get there. This means they were very far away. When they reached the source of the light, which is the origin of the principles, they began to give rise to that reverence and asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. The Buddha was still waiting for something; He was still waiting. These heavenly beings again and again expressed their reverence and their earnestness to seek the Dharma. They truly valued it! They asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Only when the Dharma-wheel is turned will we be able to [accept the teachings]. This is the true origin of the principles. How do we immerse ourselves in it? We must eliminate our subtle and intricate dust-like delusions. These subtle [afflictions] are still there. This is because in our minds, to completely eliminate them, to be free from all delusions and confusion and be thoroughly awakened, is not that easy.
Thus, the Dharma-wheel must be turned so that the Dharma can constantly flow into the minds of sentient beings. We said a few days ago that the Buddha must turn [the wheel] so the Buddha-mind can be delivered into our minds. With the Buddha’s compassionate mind, He hopes that after unenlightened beings, listen to the Dharma, they will be able to turn from evil to good. We must turn evil thoughts into good thoughts and turn selfishness into selfless great love. We must go among people and not be contaminated by others. Our minds must be free and at ease; regardless of the things that we encounter, we will not be shaken.
To reach this state of mind is not easy. So, The Buddha’s Dharma-wheel is supreme.” The Dharma-wheel is very tall and very big, since the Dharma must be continuously passed down. The Dharma has been passed down for a long time. The Dharma existed even before Beginningless Time, and the principles are continually passed down. If we do not accept the Dharma, then the principles will be cut off. It is just like the light that could shine on the 500 trillion lands at once, like the Dharma from dust-inked kalpas ago, that has existed to the present.
So, “The Buddha’s Dharma-wheel is supreme.” Once the supreme Dharma-wheel begins to turn, what is turned is the supreme Dharma. “It turns to transport us to enter,” so sentient beings’ minds can “realize the Path and the wondrous Dharma.” The Dharma-wheel helps us comprehend and awaken. With this Dharma, in fact , if we can take the Dharma to heart, then the unlimited ocean of wisdom in our intrinsic nature, our ocean of enlightened wisdom, will naturally manifest.
Thus, we must be mindful as we learn the Dharma, so that we do not take one step forward and two steps back. Otherwise, we will forever remain dreaming in the long night. When we cannot awaken from our dream that suffering is unbearable. So, let us always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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