Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Falsely Claiming to Be Aranyas (假名練若 自譽蔑他)
Date: June.27.2018
“When the Dharma is nearly extinguished, many monastic practitioners will crave offerings. They will only think of offerings for their mouth and body and will not toil diligently through hardships. They will gradually become decrepit and incapable of advancing the Buddha’s teachings. As time passes, the Dharma will cease to exist.”
This is very saddening. We must be mindful! “With each passing day, we draw closer to death.” We must make good use of our time. If we do not make use of our time and let it pass by emptily, it will be such a great loss for one’s life. Not only will we lose the opportunity to listen to the teachings, but [also the change] to realize the principles and engage in spiritual practice as well. Our body is a vessel for spiritual cultivation. When we are young, our memory is good and our comprehension is strong. It is not difficult for us to absorb the Buddha-Dharma. We are willing to put it into practice to go among people and help others; this is even easier [when we are young]. Time does not wait for us; if we do not take action, time will pass by emptily. If we do not earnestly take the Dharma to heart, if the principles are not in our minds, then we will have nothing. We will not get involved in working with people, nor will we make good connections, and our physical strength will decline. So, we must earnestly be vigilant of ourselves. We mentioned that in the evil world during the era of Dharma-degeneration, evil bhiksus only have the empty appearance of [a monastic] and do not truly engage in spiritual practice. This kind of spiritual practice means they are spiritual practitioners only in name.
This is truly very pitiful. Through the sutra passages, we can realize many things. “When the Dharma is nearly extinguished,” that is the era of Dharma-degeneration. During the Dharma-degeneration era, how will monastics engage in spiritual practice? They “will crave offerings”. They only crave comfort and pleasures in their lives. They hope to satisfy all their cravings for taste and to have their body rest in a comfortable place. In their physical [sensations], desires for taste and their feelings, they are always craving offerings, craving enjoyment. If this is so, this is spiritual practice in name only.
Not only is this not beneficial to them, it also causes great damage to the Buddha-Dharma. So, we must be very mindful of this. During the Buddha’s era, those Bodhisattvas were worried, and the Buddha was even more worried. How would the Buddha-Dharma abide in the world? They hoped that everyone could accept the teachings, form aspirations and make vows to advance the teachings in this world. When faced with the Saha World, people were often disappointed and scared. They did not dare to come to the Saha World again. After receiving teachings and predictions from the Buddha, they further hoped to be able to liberate themselves from this body and from the Saha World and to be able to be [reborn] in another land. During the Vulture Peak Assembly, the Buddha saw these disciples not forming great aspirations or having a great resolve and He was truly very saddened. Luckily, these Bodhisattvas were there. “Those involved are deluded while bystanders see clearly.” These Bodhisattvas saw the Buddha bestowing predictions of Buddhahood upon the disciples and heard the Buddha expound the Buddha-Dharma, the wondrous Dharma. He truly hoped that in the future, the Dharma would be able to remain in the world. His intention was so sincere, but the disciples could not comprehend it. So, these Bodhisattvas began to form aspirations and make vows. They comforted the Buddha, “Please do not worry. We hope the Buddha will be free of worry. We are willing [to carry out Your intent]. In the evil world in the era of Dharma-degeneration, sentient beings will be stubborn, despicable and arrogant, but we will not be scared at all.” In the future era of Dharma-degeneration, among Buddhist [practitioners], there may be “the lion’s parasites [that] eat the lion’s flesh.” [These people] are monastics in name only. They appear to be engaging in spiritual practice as monastics and are monastics in name. But in fact, their minds still crave offerings and wealth. In the future, if the way of life for spiritual practitioners becomes like this, there will be all kinds of evil bhiksus.
Or there will be people who practice in aranyas who see themselves as better than others and belittle the monastics who go among people. These are all different [types]. Of those who go among people, some are very evil. But those willing to engage in spiritual practice in aranyas in fact belittle those who go among people. Actually, among people, there are also those who form aspirations and make vows, those who honestly engage in spiritual practice according to the teachings and go among people to transform sentient begins. There also some like this. But, [people with] poor demeanors overshadow those who honestly engage in practice.
However, for those in aranyas, they are far away from people, so they think that they are pure and “without conflict”. These people think that by engaging in spiritual practice like this, they are already above it all, so they belittle the spiritual practitioners among people. In the future, there will be these two extremes of evil. But in between, there are those who honestly engage in spiritual practice and aspire to do so among people. Still, they are overshadowed by these two extremes. So, these Bodhisattvas came before the Buddha to speak about the future. In the future era of Dharma-degeneration, if this is what the world becomes, people in the future world will all fear hardship and “will not toil diligently through hardships. They will gradually become decrepit.” This is what these people would be like; in society, among people, they would crave offerings and wealth. They waste their time and only engage in spiritual practice in name; that is all. They just let time pass and let their lives go to waste. They are afraid of hard work, but time still passes by in vain. So, “They will gradually become decrepit.” This does not mean that if we work very little, we can keep our body in good condition and stay young. This is not the case.
Time does not wait for us. Time still passes by like this. It is the same with our bodies; as they become decrepit, our life also fades away. We let our lifetimes pass by emptily and become “incapable of advancing the Buddha’s teachings”. We become unable to advance the Buddha’s teachings. Time constantly passes by like this, and this is how the Dharma will cease to exist. This is called “the era of Dharma-degeneration,” when the Dharma is about to cease to exist.
When the Buddha-Dharma is disappearing from the world, during that era, people will be scared of difficult work. People will engage in spiritual practice only for the sake of the offerings; they will not put effort into being role models and spreading the Buddha’s teachings. Instead, they will corrupt the Buddha-Dharma. As time passes by like this, the Buddha-Dharma will cease to exist very quickly. This was how the Bodhisattvas clearly explained the future that the Buddha was worried about. What He worried about was the future, when the Buddha-Dharma would become [degenerate] like this.
Those living in aranyas claim that they have tamed their afflictions, so they claim to have attained the true path. They are neither diligent nor well-learned. Without understanding the wondrous principles themselves, they teach the Dharma to lay practitioners.
So, previously we mentioned that there are some people who are in “aranyas”; they are cultivating ascetic practices. Those living in aranyas “claim that they have tamed their afflictions”. They claim to have tamed their afflictions, but actually, they have not done anything. They only think about engaging in spiritual practice, but they let time pass by emptily. They have no conflicts with others. They do not engage in worldly matters. When it is time, they go out to beg for alms. When they return, they meditate and read the sutras.
But, “They are neither diligent nor well-leaned.” They think they have tamed their afflictions, [so they think,] “We have no afflictions and no conflicts with the world. We have attained the truth.” Thus, “They are neither diligent nor well-learned.” They are unwilling to diligently practice, request teachings and earnestly listen to the Dharma. They just hold on to [thinking], “I do read the sutras!” Indeed, they read the sutras, but they do not comprehend the true principles or go among peel to transform sentient beings. They only seek to benefit themselves. They are neither “diligent” nor “well-learned”. They means they isolate themselves; they neither want to teach nor listen to others. In this way, [they do not] “understand the wondrous principles themselves”. If they do not earnestly seek to realize the sublet and wondrous principles or put effort into understanding them, how can they understand the wondrous meaning? We cannot comprehend [the principles] from the sutras alone.
[Learning] the sutras’ teachings is being in a state of stillness. From this stillness, we must enter into a state of action to experience [the teachings]. I often tell everyone to go among people because every person is like a sutra; everything they have experienced in their life becomes a living sutra. Through our actions, we will be able to experience what the Buddha taught; when we go among people, we experience how it is truly like that. We must combine action and stillness. Yet these people only want that stillness; they do not have conflicts with the world and are unwilling to go among people. These people live in aranyas.
In particular, some of them just want to receive offerings. “They teach the Dharma to lay practitioners.” These people practice in ordinary places and teach lay practitioners with ulterior motives. Some people [practice] in tranquility in aranyas. They try to understand the sutra for themselves, but do not share it with others. Or they think they have attained [the true path] and already understand a lot of [the teachings], so they are unwilling to listen. This is a state of stillness. There are also bhiksus or monastics who are willing to teach the Dharma for others. But when they teach the Dharma, they have no thoroughly understood the Dharma. They busy about among people and are unable to still their minds. They constantly crave offerings and wealth. They go here and there among their Dharma-protectors, but they are unable to still their minds. So, they teach the Dharma to people while craving wealth and offerings in their heart.
They harbor evil intentions, lack right mindfulness and constantly think of worldly matters. They do not practice according to the teachings. They praise themselves and disdain others. Their practice is not without conflict. Thus it says, “They falsely claim to be aranyas”.
So, “They harbor evil intentions, lack right mindfulness and constantly think of worldly matters”. This is yet another type of person. While among lay practitioners “they teach the Dharma to lay practitioners”, actually, what they harbor in their minds are worldly matters and pleasures. They enjoy the delicious tastes and the comfort of material things in this world. When others make offerings to them, they enjoy these material things. So, they “constantly think of worldly matters. They do not practice according to the teachings”. They do not follow the Buddha’s teachings; they act on their own accord. “They praise themselves and disdain others”. They praise themselves and think very highly of themselves. For people like them, even if they live in aranyas, they do not practice without conflicts. The name “aranyas” also means “no conflicts”. It is also an abode. Having entered an abode for spiritual practice, they should not have any conflicts with others nor conflicts over worldly affairs nor conflicts over matter. “If we have no conflict over matters, matters will be peaceful. If we have no conflict with other people, people will be peaceful. If we have no conflict with the world, the world will be peaceful”. I am always saying this to everyone; this is the goal of our spiritual practice.
Although we go among people, we should have no conflicts at all. Only then will our minds and our external environment truly be pure; only then will our practice be pure. However, even when people live in a tranquil and very beautiful environment, their minds can still harbor evil and lack right mindfulness. These people only think about worldly matters and have not accepted the Buddha’s teachings. When they gain a small amount of Dharma, they treat it as a tool to teach the Dharma to others so that others will praise them. They may even think that they have already reached a high status. When speaking about other spiritual practitioners, they belittle and slander them. There are monastics like this. In this way, how can they be practicing having “no conflicts”? This is not the case. They are not people without conflicts, nor are they spiritual practitioners. Though they themselves say they are in aranyas and appear to have renounced the lay life, their minds harbor evil and they do not have right mindfulness. So, there is still conflict; they are not without conflicts. “Their practice is not without conflict”. Thus it says, “They falsely claim to be aranyas”. In this place of practice, in this abode, they say they engage in practice here, but this is actually not true. It is [an aranyas] in name only; there are no true practitioners inside.
So, we must remind ourselves to be vigilant and not be a practitioner in name alone, living in a temple. Since we live in a temple, in an abode, in an aranyas, we must live up to the name. As monastics, we must engage in spiritual practice and have no conflicts with others, over matters or with the world. Then we will truly be spiritual practitioners. If we go against this, then we will have thoughts of evil in our minds. So, we must remind ourselves to be vigilant.
This was what the previous sutra passage is about. In the evil world, there may be bhiksus with deviant knowledge and devious minds who claim to have attained what they have not, their minds full of arrogance. Or there may be aranyas, dressed in ragged clothes and dwelling in remote places, who claim to practice the true path and disdain the human world.
So, the previous sutra passage states that. “In the evil world, there may be bhiksus with deviant knowledge and devious minds”. This is what it will be like. “[They] claim to have attained what they have not.” These are people filled with arrogance. “Their minds full of arrogance” means that they are very arrogant.” “Or there may be aranyas”. Some people will claim to engage in ascetic practice, “dressed in ragged clothes and dwelling in remote places”. They dress in ragged clothes and dwell in remote places, which are empty and spacious places away from people.
However, they are not too far away. They are just living alone in a relaxing place. “[They] claim to practice the true path” and disdain matters of the human world. These people disdain all worldly matters. This is the previous sutra passage. Some people are like this, “with deviant knowledge and devious minds who claim to have attained what they have not, their minds full of arrogance”. These ae the evil bhiksus among people. Or they may be in aranyas. Although they live in remote places, they actually disdain matters of the human world. This is not right either.
The following sutra passage states, “Craving wealth and offerings, they teach the Dharma to lay practitioners. They want be revered by the world, like Arhats with the Six Spiritual Powers. These people harbor evil in their hearts and constantly think of worldly matters. “They falsely claim to be aranyas and like to find fault with us”.
In the future, there will be bhiksus like this. This passage describes the “false practices of evil bhiksus who deviate from the internal and external true practices”. Externally, they go among worldly people, among the great Dharma-protectors, and contrive affinities there. Internally, they lack Samadhi; their minds are scattered. They deviate from the internal and external true practices. Externally, they indulge themselves among people, and internally, they lack Samadhi. This is what evil bhiksus [are like].
This clarifies the false practices of the evil bhiksus who deviate from the internal and external true practices. Internally, we must train our minds to cultivate our character. Externally, we must rectify our behavior. Inwardly, we must nourish our wisdom-life and conduct ourselves on the outside in such a way as to advance the noble path.
“Internally, we must train our minds to cultivate our character.” What does inner cultivation mean? It means to train our minds to cultivate our character, to earnestly [cultivate] our character and nourish our wisdom life. We must understand that we do not know how long we have been here. Lifetime after lifetime, in this world full of afflictions, we have [accumulated] lots of afflictions and ignorance. Now that we have the rare chance to listen to the Dharma, we must mindfully accept it and eliminate all of our habitual tendencies. Once we eliminate our habitual tendencies, we must cultivate our nature of True Suchenss. This is called inner cultivation.
[As for our] external habitual nature, our habitual tendencies made us [behave] this way, so we know that we must fix them. But among people, when our habitual tendencies arise again, we will forget again. As we engage in spiritual practice, we must earnestly accept the Buddha-Dharma and cultivate our character. We must earnestly nourish our wisdom-life so it will not become empty and hollow. Thus, we must earnestly cultivate our minds. When we cultivate our minds, we are cultivating our character. We must quickly eliminate our past habitual tendencies and earnestly cultivate our spiritual aspirations. We must earnestly cultivate [our character]. Since we have formed aspirations and made vows, we must not forget our initial aspiration; we must remember it all the time. The behavior of our body, speech and mind creates karma, so we must be careful with it. This is to internally cultivate our character.
Externally, we must rectify our actions. We take action as our thoughts arise and stir. The actions we take reflect our minds. When we have not changed or eliminated the habitual tendencies in our minds, in the actions we take externally, we will make lots of different mistakes. When we engage in spiritual practice, we must have internal cultivate and external practice. Internally, we must cultivate “sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness”. Externally, we must practice correcting our behavior. Using simple terms like this, we can understand it clearly.
So, “Externally, we must rectify our behavior. Inwardly, we must nourish our wisdom-life”. On the inside, we must earnestly nourish our wisdom-life. On the outside, we must spread the noble path. We must have the conduct of a spiritual practitioner and be a role model for this world. Only then can we help the Buddha-Dharma flourish through our example. If we do not have proper conduct on the outside, we will directly tarnish the reputation of the Buddha’s teachings. So, we must be mindful of this.
Craving wealth and offerings: Practitioners who violate the path will crave wealth and offerings. They teach the Dharma to lay practitioners: They do not understand the wondrous principles themselves, so how can they teach it to others?
So, [those who] “crave wealth and offering violate the path”. This is what the Buddha taught us as he guided us on this path. When we depart from the Buddha’s teachings, we violate the path. This is what the Dharma tells us, but we use the Dharma [as a tool] to seek fame among people. This is not right, so this “violates the path”. When we engage in spiritual practice, we must let go of fame and diligently give of ourselves to others. But when we teach lay practitioners only to seek wealth and offerings, we are violating the path. “They teach the Dharma to lay practitioners”. When we do not understand the wondrous principles ourselves, how can we teach them to others? If we do not work hard internally and only use words to explain the Dharma, if we do not cultivate internally and are not truthful towards people, then how can we talk to others [about the Dharma]? During the era of Dharma-degeneration, there are many people with overbearing arrogance. So, [the Buddha] was worried that during the era of Dharma-degeneration, the Dharma would disappear from the world. Why would the Dharma disappear from the world? Because many people have overbearing arrogance. Spiritual practitioners and ordinary people all have overbearing arrogance. They are no different from ordinary people; it is just that in name and in appearance, they are monastics. But internally, they are still ordinary beings like everyone else.
In the age of Dharma-degeneration, many people have overbearing arrogance. Their merits and virtues are shallow, so they are angry, defiled and devious, and their hearts are not steadfast. They appear to be monastic practitioners, yet their minds never depart from worldly habits and ignorant desires.
So, “Their merits and virtues are shallow”. Since they do not engage in spiritual practice, how can they have merits and virtues? In their hearts, they are “angry, defiled and devious”. They are filled with greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. They are devious when speaking with others. They only want to please others, please their Dharma-protectors and supporters. They try to curry favor with them. They are “angry, defiled and devious”. They have greed, anger and ignorance. Furthermore, they are devious. This is truly very pitiful. They try to curry favor with people for the sake of attaining enjoyment. “Their hearts are not steadfast.” Engaging in spiritual practice like this, they do not have a steadfast heart; their minds are not steadfast. We must have sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness. They lack sincerity, they lack integrity, they lack correct faith and lack steadfastness even more so. In this way, they “appear to be monastic practitioners, yet their minds never depart from worldly habits and ignorant desires”. Their minds do not depart from the worldly, from their habitual tendencies and ignorance. So, their greed, anger and ignorance still remain. All of their habitual tendencies still exist. So, “They want be revered by the world, like Arhats with the Six Spiritual Powers.”
They want be revered by the world, like Arhats with the Six Spiritual Powers: They intend to receive the reverent offerings of all people in the world as if they had attained fruition like Arhats who possess the Six Spiritual Powers.
They think very highly of themselves. They praise themselves and appear to be well-cultivated, as if they were Arhats with the Six Spiritual Powers. “They intend to receive the reverent offerings of all people in the world”. They pretend to be spiritual practitioners. They dress in the clothes of spiritual practitioners, so people think they engage in spiritual practice and have already attained the Six Spiritual Powers. This is their intention; they crave wealth and offerings from people. So, in front of the people, they act like they are well-cultivated.
This has two meanings: 1. The Bodhisattvas said that these evil people crave offerings. These Arhats, in their arrogance, falsely claim to have attained the truth 2. This refers to these evil people who, craving offerings, falsely claim to be Arhats.
So, there are two meanings to this. The first is “Bodhisattvas said these evil people crave offerings”. This was what the Bodhisattvas expressed before the Buddha and the assembly. They explained the way of life of future spiritual practitioners. They crave offerings; these people who crave offerings are “Arhats [who], in their arrogance, falsely claim to have attained the truth”. They falsely claim that they have attained the truth. Actually, they do not know anything at all. They only pretend to teach the Dharma with words. Actually, their minds are unstable. Their minds are unstable and unfocused. There are people like this.
Then, the second kind [of meaning] is “evil people who, craving offerings, falsely claim they are Arhats”. This [claim] is false and illusory. [It is illusory like] today’s “virtual reality” [technology]. It is an appearance, an imitation. It is not actually [real], but its external state and form appear to be so. With this imitation, [these evil people] make false claims, thinking that they are like this. They hope to let others know that they have engaged in spiritual practice. This kind of people falsely claim they are Arhats. So, “They like to find fault with us”. Often they will, among spiritual practitioners and those who have formed aspirations and made vows, try to find fault with these practitioners.
And like to find fault with us: They search for faults in those who uphold the sutra. These meanings are all more or less the same.
“They search for faults in those who uphold the sutra.” They constantly look for faults among these [spiritual practitioners], exaggerating their mistakes. Or when they see something, without understanding it, the speak falsehoods to slander others. Then, one man’s lie becomes truth for thousands. This is the way it is; towards spiritual practitioners, they are always trying to find faults. These evil bhiksus treat virtuous monastics and those who are honestly practicing and spreading the Dharma like this, doing all they can to slander these people and talking about the practitioners’ faults. These are “the evil bhiksus”. They discuss the faults of people who honestly engage in spiritual practice. It is not right to have a slanderous state of mind. This is truly very evil.
“These people harbor evil in their hearts and constantly think of worldly matters. Though evil people like these may teach the Dharma with their words, in their minds they still seek benefits. These people harbor evil views and are always thinking of worldly matters.”
Evil people like these often teach the Dharma with their words, yet in their mind they still seek fame and benefit. These people harbor evil views and are always thinking of worldly matters. Fundamentally, in their minds, they do not want to depart from worldly matters and engage in practice.
People harbor evil in their hearts: Their minds do not embrace goodness, so they lack right mindfulness. Constantly think of worldly matters: They violate and deviate from the path, unwilling to be guided or corrected. They do not practice according to the teachings.
So, “People harbor evil in their hearts. Their minds do not embrace goodness, so they lack right mindfulness”. Since they do not embrace goodness in their mind, they lack right mindfulness. They constantly think about worldly matters. These are the evil bhiksus. “They violate and deviate from the path, unwilling to be guided or corrected.” These people deviate from the [path]. Not only are they unwilling to accept corrections from others, they also want to slander others. These evil bhiksus harbor evil thoughts and constantly think about worldly matters. With people like this, we should be very worried about the future. When we return in the future, when will this kind of era [of Dharma-degeneration] arrive? Is it right now that there are a few people like this? Or is it in the future that most spiritual practitioners will be like this? “They will falsely claim to be aranyas.” They will claim to engage in ascetic practice. Or, they will be insincere. When speaking the Dharma, they will not be sincere; they will express the meaning of the words, but will not truly engage in practice. How many people will be like this in the future? This is truly very worrisome. For the evil bhiksus in the future evil world, no matter if they are among people or in a remote area, [no matter] their different ways of practice, they will create conflicts with others. Of course, there will be honest spiritual practitioners, but they will be slandered by the evil bhiksus. These spiritual practitioners are pure-hearted, but the evil bhiksus will constantly find faults with them and cause them trouble. They will find all kinds of [excuses] to slander them. “They falsely claim to be aranyas and like to find fault with us.”
They falsely claim to be aranyas and like to find fault with us: They claim the name of aranyas while engaging in profane worldly affairs. They do not harbor good intentions; they spread falsehoods and rumors and like to find faults with those of us who advance the sutra. They praise themselves while disdaining others and do not abide by the rules or precepts. Their practice is not without conflicts. Thus it says, "They falsely claim to be aranyas.”
As people engage in spiritual practice, these people in remote and tranquil aranyas slander them. So, “They claim the name of aranyas while engaging in profane worldly affairs.” They are using the name of aranyas, which represents ascetic practice. They make this claim, but they still [engage] in worldly affairs. “They do not harbor good intentions; they spread falsehoods and rumors.” Towards simple and honest practitioners, “They spread falsehoods and rumors and like to find faults with them.” Truly, in the future, if we engage in spiritual practice in the evil, turbid world, we will encounter many people like this.
These people “praise themselves while disdaining others ad do not abide by the rules or precepts. heir practice is not without conflicts.” They praise themselves while disdaining others. They “do not abide by the rules or precepts.” These people are “not without conflicts.” They are not truly engaging in spiritual practice; they constantly slander true spiritual practitioners. There will be many people like this. So, it says “They falsely claim to be aranyas.”
With people like this, in the future era of Dharma-degeneration, it will truly be very difficult to engage in spiritual practice. “They like to find fault with us.” They like to find fault with those who want to advance the sutra. Those who honestly engage in spiritual practice are slandered by them. Whether they are evil bhiksus who seek to show off among people or those who claim to engage in ascetic practice in a tranquil place, [when they encounter] those who honestly engage in spiritual practice and spread the Dharma, they will slander [these spiritual practitioners]. These Bodhisattvas expressed that when they go among people in the future, they will encounter these practitioners with two different forms of practice who have deviant minds. If people were to spread the Dharma in those places, they would face this kind of pressure. Because of this, although they received predictions, [the disciples] did not dare stay in this land and remain in the Saha world. Because if they remained in the Saha world, those future sentient beings, even those spiritual practitioners, would all be very stubborn and hard to tame. They would not follow teachings of Right Dharma, and there would be so many of them.
This was what the Bodhisattvas expressed to help us truly understand that it would not be easy to engage in spiritual practice in the future. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
