Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Way and the True Principles Lie in Our Hearts (道在人心 諦理本具)
Date: March.03. 2017
“When we have sincere intentions, the Way lies in our hearts and in being close with people. Good thoughts are like water in the ground. They are our inherent luminous virtue. When we handle affairs sincerely with beautiful intentions, we perfect our character and behavior. The source of the Dharma and the true principles is the enlightened nature that pervades the universe.”
Can you understand this? In our relationships with one another, we must have mutual sincerity. Sincerity must be brought forth from our most genuine thoughts. Sincerity and genuine thoughts are really talking about the same thing, about our most sincere and truthful intentions. This is the path that gives direction for our spiritual practice. We handle everything with sincere intentions. Whether dealing with people or matters, we are sincere in everything we do. These true, sincere intentions are always in our hearts, “in our hearts and in being close with people.”
In our interpersonal relationships, our hearts should always be kept clean and happy, as if they were an object that we must constantly wash to keep clean. Take our surroundings, for example. We often sweep up to keep everything clean and free from the accumulation of garbage, the accumulation of filthy things or the accumulation of contaminated water. It is the same for us as people when our minds are free of afflictions. We often wash our minds to keep them clean. We use this kind of sincerity to interact with others; this is a very clean and pure mind.
Every single day we should clear out our minds so that our intentions are sincere in dealing with others. When our minds are completely clean, free of all contaminating discursive thoughts, without any thoughts that have gone off track, then we can deal with others openly, as if we are totally new and clean, warm and kind in all of our interactions with them. “The path of great learning is in illuminating luminous virtue, in being close to the people.” The [characters] “new” and “close” [are similar]. “New” means fresh and clean. “Close” means drawing near to others. Our relations with others remain fresh and clean, as our intentions are completely sincere and are never contaminated. We do not entertain untoward thoughts and have an open mind with pure thoughts. We deal with people and matters with the sincerest of intentions; this is how we can be close with others. In our relationships, we want to mutually draw close to each other.
Thus, “When we have sincere intentions, the Way lies in our hearts and in being close with people.” If our society were like this, then people would draw near to one another and inspire each other’s aspiration. We would have no defilements, discursive thoughts or afflictions. “Every day is a new day.” We can constantly improve our own minds; we must not let the old and the dirty, our ignorance and afflictions, be stored inside. This is also what we do in spiritual practice. Every day we want our minds to have a new day. We want to be close with everyone. This is how we go among the people to create good affinities. People who can do this in their spiritual practice are most likely good spiritual practitioners.
“Good thoughts are like water in the ground. They are our inherent luminous virtue.” Actually, we humans and all things cannot live without water. People are the same; we cannot do without good thoughts. It is said, “Human nature is inherently good.” We are born with these good thoughts. We all inherently have a pure intrinsic nature, which is filled with good thoughts. These are all pure and sincere good thoughts. These good thoughts are inherent in everyone. This is like water in the ground, which supports the many living things on Earth, including humans. Human life can be sustained because so many resources are provided to us. This is because Earth contains such an ample supply of water. There is water in the ground the same way that luminous virtue is inherent in everyone. Luminous virtue is also on the “path of great learning.” It is in “illuminating luminous virtue.”
All of us must learn the path. “The path of great learning is in illuminating luminous virtue.” It is the same when we learn the Buddha-Dharma. [According to] the Buddha-Dharma, since Beginningless Time, for dust-inked kalpas, we have intrinsically had this enlightened nature; everyone has always had it. As Confucius said, “The path of great learning is ultimately about illuminating luminous virtue.” Those who learn, awaken. The Chinese words for “learn” and “awaken” look so similar that sometimes, when writing “learn,” we mistakenly write the word “awaken.” Those who learn, awaken. So, Confucius wished for us to earnestly learn. The path of learning enables us to understand, to understand our inherent luminous virtue. “Illuminate” is a verb. It means to understand, to know, know that everyone inherently has luminous virtue. Everyone possesses it.
This is just like what the Buddha told us, that Buddha-nature is intrinsic to everyone. So, “luminous virtue” is like our Buddha-nature. It is like our good thoughts, our intrinsic nature. Everyone has it, just as the land has always had water in it. These few days, when I watched our Da Ai TV, they have been reporting on Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe used to be a wealthy country, but in recent history continual manmade calamities have transformed Zimbabwe into one of the world’s poorest countries. These disasters come from disharmony among people, from people’s minds going off track. So, people influence each other to create these manmade calamities and conflicts. Thus, present-day Zimbabwe had become completely impoverished so poor children do not even have a place to study.
We have all seen how they have classrooms out in the open. They have no seats to sit on, no roofs above them, nor any walls to surround them. What they have is very simple. In a patch of rubble-strewn ground with many big and small rocks, they sit themselves down like that. Perhaps they used to have tents over their heads, but they were now old and broken, just flapping in the wind. All that remained of the broken tents were a few strips of tattered cloth. As the wind blows, the torn fabric just flaps in the wind. It is under these tents that the teacher writes on a green chalkboard faded gray with age. When class starts, the students climb onto chairs and ladders to hang the chalkboard in a corner of the space. When the teacher is done writing, they hang it high above for the students to see; the students only have a notebook of white paper and short, stubby pencils to write with. The children are very attentive. When the teacher writes words from the textbook onto the chalkboard, they write them down one by one, copying them into their notebooks. Their notebook handwriting is really very pretty. The children are all motivated. They know that if they do not study, they will definitely be illiterate their whole life, and their future generations will be as well. Generation after generation will remain poor. What the parents are now working hard for is to give their children an education; they understand the value of education. Only this can create a brighter future. It is up to the youth to create the future.
Besides lacking sufficient education and material goods, what they lack most in their lives is water. All year round, they worry about the summertime, that mosquitoes will bring plague and that they will have no clean water.
This is why whenever Mr. Zhu returns, he says, “They lack water; they need clean water.” But where will that water come from? Is there water underground? Yes, there is water underground, but they need to drill wells. The wells they can dig using human power are not deep enough, and the water in shallow wells is contaminated because of their unhygienic practices. They do not have toilets with good sewage systems, so people relieve themselves anywhere and everywhere; the land is filthy, so the surface water is contaminated. If they want clean water, then they must go deeper. For deeper water they need machines to dig wells.
So, we told him, “Hire people to dig wells!” They have begun and already have drilled more than 20 wells for water. We saw them drill the wells, and when the water comes, smiles break out on everyone’s faces. Their water now is from much deeper wells. This water is so much cleaner than the water from those shallow mosquito-ridden puddles that they used to use before. We are very relieved about this.
We will continue digging deeper wells. Presently, they are still using human power, digging half with manpower and half with machines. Digging like this takes a lot of time and effort. In Taiwan, we are still doing research for them, on how to help them mechanize further, while keeping it environmentally friendly so that they do not have to use gasoline, and no how to make it easier for them to be able to dig deeper wells.
Even now we are continuing to do this research. We also thought, “How can we make it easier for them to know whether water is clean or contaminated?” The first thing we want to do is to give them a water purifier. Although the water from the wells may seem clean, we also want to give them a machine that filters bacteria so they can be sure that the fresh water they use is free from bacteria.
So, now in Taiwan, for the African countries, and especially for Zimbabwe, we have begun reaching and developing ways for them to filter and to safely use well water. For places without surface water, we are figuring out ways to help them get clean water from beneath the ground. We are proceeding in developing both methods, researching them here in Taiwan. Speaking of research, for many years now, we have been thinking of how to easily and ideally deliver something to Africa that can be used in countries all over Africa, that is easy to ship and easy to use, that will help them to have sources of water that are safe to use. We are putting our efforts into this [to help] these impoverished and suffering countries that are without water to protect their people, so all of Earth’s people can find peace. This is water; there is water in every country. The water is in the ground.
This is just like us; water is like people’s intrinsic nature. It is the same in the high mountains; there are aquifers in the mountains. You can see that in very tall mountains forests and tall trees can grow there, too, and naturally grow very tall. That is because they have both earth and water, so these large trees grow very tall. In the past, there was a time when people in the mountains grew many vegetables, for there is water in the mountains. However, people have destroyed the mountains. They cut down all the trees to sell, turned the land into gardens and, in the process, destroyed the land. We clearly know that there is also water high in the mountains; that there is nowhere on Earth without water.
We humans are also like this. Everyone has Buddha-nature, just like there is water in the ground. This is also like our inherent luminous virtue; luminous virtue is the Buddha-nature. This is what Sakyamuni Buddha said and what Confucius said as well. Sakyamuni Buddha said we all have an intrinsic nature of True Suchness. Confucius spoke of illuminating luminous virtue. If we are clear that everyone inherently has luminous virtue, this is just like us knowing that everyone has an intrinsic nature of True Suchness. The principle is the same. As long as our good thoughts, our true and sincere intentions and kind thoughts, exist within our minds, as we deal with people and handle affairs, as we listen to the Dharma, understand principles and practice them accordingly, we will naturally be able to return to the pure intrinsic Tathagata-nature. We will naturally return and understand the intrinsic Buddha-nature that all of us have.
So, we should “handle affairs sincerely with beautiful intentions.” Our intentions toward others should be very good. “Beautiful intentions” are good, kind thoughts. We treat people with the best of intentions, without the slightest evil intent or thoughts. We should cultivate treating others with sincere and good thoughts, with beautiful intentions, with very beautiful thoughts. Then we are very sincere in treating others. When we “handle affairs” or do things, we must have good intentions, carry out our duties and fulfill our mission. What mission are you carrying out in your life? Giving for the sake of the world. We do what we should to the best of our ability, so we must have sincere and beautiful intentions and a sincere mindset in handling our affairs.
Then we “perfect our character and behavior” and become accomplished in moral character. If you are a scientist, you will mindfully try to understand science; it things can harm people, you will prevent them and not develop them. This is what a scientist of conscience would do. Some scientists discover things that they could develop. But if these things are developed, they will be dangerous for humankind. Honestly speaking, all the things that we use today are destroying the land. Many things have already been manufactured; if we are able to use them wisely, cherish them and use them with gratitude, the manufacturers can know to stop [producing]. Then they do not need to continue to market them. If in our minds we can always maintain our inherent virtue and morality, if we love and cherish our resources, then the things we invent, if they are good, can be used wisely. To cherish our resources, we should not always replace the old with the new.
People now are excessively wasteful; they just continue to pursue [material things]. They do not cultivate virtue, but only wish to aquire things. People are like this. Though many people develop things for the sake of industry or business the things that they develop, the things that they invent, even if they started out with good intentions, have gotten out of hand. We are already destroying our environment.
The environment is being destroyed now. Because of the greenhouse effect, now, even the mosquitos have everyone in a panic. Haven’t the cases of dengue fever increased? It has spread from the south to the north, and everyone in the medical field is worried. Children are staring school, and many school staff and parents are worried about sending their students to school. Have the schools been properly cleaned? Are the weeds and garbage cleaned up? People now are worried about the children and their environment for studying. Since the climate has changed so much, everyone is anxious over its effect on their lives.
So, when we do things, we should know when to stop. How do we do that? By taking the middle way. We keep inventing and we keep researching so our development is boundless, without end, providing humans with endless chances for waste. This is destroying Earth. Our “beautiful intentions” have become absorbed by desire for self-profit. We are too eager to develop business. So, there are many big entrepreneurs, yet we are continually finding more and more people suffering from poverty, illness, rare diseases and so on. This is an imbalance. If we can “handle affairs sincerely with beautiful intentions, we can still provide conveniences for living, while abiding by rules and moral responsibility.
“Perfecting our behavior” means we must eliminate bad things. We retain good thoughts and eliminate the bad ones. If something is already bad, such as afflictions or ignorance, we totally eliminate it. We should not accumulate garbage. We should not accumulate dirty water. All this must be eliminated. “Perfecting our behavior” is just like this.
We must earnestly protect the purity in our minds, the sincerity and goodness of our thoughts, the beauty and virtue of our intentions. If we can all do this, our character naturally becomes perfect. Then the way we do things and treat others will all become perfect and harmonious. When it comes to material things, we should truly try to cherish them. If things are still usable, we should use them; we use them until they cannot be used anymore. This is the only way we will reduce garbage, help purify the earth and conserve our resources. These were the well-intended teachings of both Sakyamuni Buddha and Confucius.
“The source of the Dharma and the true principles is the enlightened nature.” In the end, what are people fighting over? Once we understand the principles, the source of the Dharma, the true principles, tells us that we have enlightened nature. We should return to our enlightened nature, our enlightened nature of the true principles. We must thoroughly understand this. So, if we are mindful of the Dharma and mindful of the Path, we naturally will illuminate luminous virtue and thoroughly understand True Suchness. When we understand these principles, what is there that we do not understand? So, we must always be mindful.
This is like the previous passage; it tells us that we should listen to the Dharma. By listening to the Dharma, naturally we come to understand all the principles. So, the precious sutra passage says, “They did not listen to Dharma from the Buddha and constantly engaged in unwholesome deeds. The power of their appearance and their wisdom, things like these, have all diminished. Because of the causes and conditions of their negative karma, they have lost all joy and joyful thoughts. They abide in deviant views and teachings and do not recognize goodness, demeanor or rules.”
We must truly try to understand the principles; if we lose the principles, our behavior will go off in the wrong direction. If our behavior deviates, it will damage our character. Our behavior and our appearance will completely lose their human character. If our wisdom deviates, all our actions will be in error. If a single thought goes astray, every subsequent thought will be mistaken. We create karma in everything we do. When we Create evil karma, when our morals and virtues are lost, naturally those in the good realms. People will be covered in layers of afflictions. Even if we earn a lot of money, all we worry about are our gains and losses and how to keep developing our business. What happiness is there in this?
So, we can see people truly taking action and giving for the sake for the world. Though they may be poor, they can still serve others joyfully and happily. If we can follow the principles of the world and live life satisfied with what we have, we can help others, protect Earth and live in harmony with other human beings. This is how we can truly live.
So, the next sutra passage says again, “They have not been transformed by the Buddha and constantly descend into the evil realms. The Buddha serves as the eyes of the world. He only appears after a long time. He has compassion for sentient beings and therefore appears in the world. He transcends all and achieves perfect enlightenment. All of us are deeply joyful and thus celebrate.”
Why don’t we listen to the Dharma from the Buddha? In the previous passage it said, “They did not listen to Dharma from the Buddha. So, because we did not come to earnestly listen to the Buddha’s teaching, we “have not been transformed by the Buddha.” We will not understand the Buddha-Dharma. If we do not listen the Dharma, so naturally we “have not been transformed by the Buddha.” If this happens, we will “constantly descend into the evil realms.” If we are not taught, transformed and guided by the Tathagata, we will constantly descend into the evil realms.
They have not been transformed by the Buddha and constantly descend into the evil realms: They have not received the Tathagata’s transformation and guidance and constantly descend into the evil realms. They abide in ignorance and deviant views and teachings and do not recognize the goodness, demeanor or rules of noble beings. They have not been taught and transformed with the Dharma of all Buddhas, so they go back and forth in cyclic existence, constantly descending into the evil realms.
We should constantly heighten our vigilance. It is best to listen to the Dharma and understand the principles. Then we can follow these guidelines to implement the teachings in the world. This gives us more of a guarantee. So, “They abide in ignorance and deviant views and teachings.” If we do not understand the principles, we will often find ourselves in ignorance, and our regular deeds will not be wholesome ones. The previous passage said, they “constantly engaged in unwholesome deeds.” Unwholesome deeds stem from ignorance. We have ignorant and deviant views, so we do not understand the rules of noble beings. Naturally, because we do not listen to the Dharma, do not accept the Buddha’s teachings, we will always create karma from our state of ignorance and afflictions and go back and forth in cyclic existence.
This is known as “constantly descending into the evil realms,” going back and forth within the Three Evil Realms, or in the Five Realms and the four forms of birth. We will go back and forth endlessly in cyclic existence. “The Buddha serves as the eyes of the world He only appears after a long time.”
The Buddha serves as the eyes of the world. He only appears after a long time: The Buddha’s enlightened wisdom-eye illuminated the true principles. He serves as the eyes of the world for humans and heavenly beings. He only appears after a long period of kalpas has passed.
The Buddha has the enlightened wisdom-eye, so He views people, matters and things different than we do. Because the Buddha is awakened, His enlightened nature pervades the universe. What is there is the world that He does not know? Thus, the Buddha’s vision is a “wisdom-eye that illuminated the true principles.” Whatever He looks at, He instantly sees the principles underlying it. What we see are matters and objects. What the Buddha sees are principles, the principles of matters, principles of objects. So, His understanding is clear. Thus, there are so many matters and objects that we are not clear on. The Buddha “serves as the eyes of the world for humans.” He sees for us, explains the principles of things to us, meticulously analyzes them for us. Why are we unhappy in our personal relationships? It is because of the principles of the law of karmic cause and effect. Why is it that some people are born so wealthy, so wise and intelligent, with everything seeming to go their way? Why, when some are born, are they unsound mentally and physically, in poverty and suffering, and nothing seems to go their way? In personal relationships, why do some always seem to have poor affinities? Again, He told us about causes and conditions; as are the causes and conditions, so are the effects and retributions. By carefully analyzing the principles for us, He served as the eyes of the world.
For the things we do not understand, we have the Buddha- Dharma. If we make an effort to penetrate it deeply, naturally we will be able to understand things. Listening to the principles and researching them, we will come to understand everything. So, it is not a simple matter for the Buddha to manifest in the world. “He only appears after a long period of kalpas has passed.”]
Truly, for a Buddha to appear in the world is not easy. Since the Buddha has appeared in the world to teach us the Dharma, it is a very precious thing. The Dharma remains in the world so that we may continually pass it down and transmit it so all can practice according to the teachings and stay on track. If we are wholesome, sincere and good-hearted and continue to stay on the right track, we naturally will not fall into evil realms. We will be content, happy, understanding and accommodating. Only when we mutually cherish one another, will we truly be in a good realm in the world.
When Great Brahma King Sikhin and the other Brahma kings arrived, they too made sincere offerings. They also paid their respects and asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. “He has compassion for sentient beings and therefore appears in the world.” This passage was the Brahma kings, with Brahma King Sikhin leading the assembly, entreating the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. So, he also reverently asked the Buddha to “have compassion for sentient beings.”
He has compassion for sentient beings and therefore appears in the world: He has compassion for those who, over such a great time and space, have been amidst severe turbidity and darkness. Sentient beings’ minds are deluded and thick with dust. Therefore, the Buddha appears in the world.
Their request was not only for themselves, but also for the world’s sentient beings. They entreated the Buddha to have compassion for those who, over such a great time and space, have been amidst severe turbidity and darkness. This is because for such a long time people’s minds had gradually gone off track. In their ignorance and afflictions, they created so many severe turbidities. They asked the Enlightened One to have compassion, to have mercy for those in the human realm, in this great space, this world, which had been gradually become filled with such severe turbidities. They were already amidst such darkness.
Often we see on the news reports about “haze.” “Haze” is fine dust particles, fine sand, that can fly great distances. Because the earth has become dry, sand flies great distances from the deserts. Taiwan is very far from the Mongolian deserts. However, it is not only in Beijing where they lift their heads but are unable to see the blue sky because it is obscured by haze. These are not clouds; it is dust. So, this is a turbidity.
Also, because of all the factories now, there is a lot of pollution. This creates turbidities. In fact, these tangible turbidities have come from the ones in people’s minds, so we are “amidst severe turbidity and darkness.” These tangible things create darkness in the sky, so it goes without saying that people’s hearts are similarly in darkness. We should be constantly vigilant about this.
“Sentient beings’ minds are deluded and thick with dust.” People’s minds are deluded, covered by layer after layer of ignorance. This is like when dust builds up in layers. We never clean it, so the dust becomes thick. If you leave a mirror somewhere for several days and never wipe it, the mirror will not reflect things clearly, for it will completely be covered with dust. Our mind is the same. If we do not constantly put in the effort to wipe the bright mirror of our mind, then naturally it will keep accumulating dust. So, the minds of sentient beings are deluded; the dust on them is already thick. The layer of dust has already become thick.
“Therefore, the Buddha appears in the world.” It is because of this that the Buddha appears in the world. “He transcends all and achieves perfect enlightenment. All of us are deeply joyful and thus celebrate.” This is because the Buddha appeared in the world. A long time ago, the Buddha had already come to the world. He needs have compassion for sentient beings who had continually accumulated ignorance and afflictions for such a long time. They had made the world turbid; the world had already begun to have turbidities.
We can see that dust-inked kalpas previously, this was what the Brahma kings said to Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Actually, Sakyamuni Buddha mentioned that, from long ago, we have always intrinsically had Buddha-nature. We have just been deluded for a very long time. This is a very transcendent analogy that He used to help us understand.
He transcends all, achieve perfect enlightenment. All of us are deeply joyful and thus celebrate: Perfect enlightenment: He transcends all in the Three Vehicles attains supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. All of us are very happy and thus celebrate.
Actually, in speaking of these turbidities, the evil world of Five Turbidities is right now. the Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, said that the future world would be an evil world of Five Turbidities. Isn’t this the world we are in right now? The evil world of Five Turbidities. So, heavenly beings, for the sake of future sentient beings, kept asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel, to quickly reveal the enlightened nature. They hoped the true principles of enlightenment would be quickly revealed so they could transcend that place of suffering and rid themselves of severe turbidities and the suffering of the Three Evil Destinies. Everyone rejoiced when they saw the Buddha in the world. They had been hoping for this for the turbidities had long been piling up. When He appeared in the world they all rejoiced, for they could listen to the Dharma. The Buddha could turn the Dharma-wheel, and when the Dharma-wheel begins to turn, it is like clean water washing turbidities away. So, in perfect enlightenment, He was transcendent He had attained perfect enlightenment. Among the turbidities, “He transcends all and achieves perfect enlightenment. He had transcended all in the Three Vehicles as well as the Six Realms. The Three Vehicles are the Small Vehicle, the Middle Vehicle and the Great Vehicle, these are called the Three Vehicles. The Buddha had transcended the Three Vehicles and arrived at supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. His perfect enlightenment transcends the Three Vehicles and, even further, transcends the Six Realms. So, He has “attained supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. All of us are deeply joyful and thus celebrate. This is the Brahma kings expressing themselves. So, we should be mindful of the Dharma, for the Dharma is eternally in our minds. Thus, when we “have sincere intentions the Way lies in our hearts.” When we deal with people and handle affairs, we should use fresh and clean intentions. This is something we must do as we learn the Buddha’s teachings and in daily living. This is because our good thoughts are like water, just like the water in the earth. As long as we illuminate luminous virtue, the spring of clear water in our minds will flow forth. This is what we must learn. Everyone, please always.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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