Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Right Wisdom Leads to Right Practice (正智正行 不近外道)
Date: July.12.2018
“Manjusri, in his compassion and wisdom, safeguarded the teachings for those who will uphold the sutra in the era of Dharma-degeneration. In the future evil world of turbidities how will they practice to uphold the sutra without difficulties and peacefully abide in the Dharma? [The Buddha] demonstrated the right conduct of the wisdom of Right Dharma; they must peacefully abide in four methods.”
We must mindfully think, mindfully listen and mindfully seek to comprehend this. “Manjusri, in his compassion and wisdom safeguarded the teachings for those who will uphold the sutra in the era of Dharma-degeneration.” Manjusri Bodhisattva came to the world to help the Buddha teach and transform all sentient beings. Besides using wisdom to teach and transform, he also needed to exercise his compassion to understand all sentient beings and protect them in every way, no matter how subtle. Manjusri also [worried about] sentient beings in the future evil world of turbidities. The ways of the world will be complicated and the turbidities in living beings’ minds will be severe. Those who aspire to uphold the sutra will be amidst such severe turbidities, in times of many complications and changes. To practice and uphold the Dharma in such a world will not be easy; it is easier said than done! When it comes to those who want to uphold this sutra in the era of Dharma-degeneration, how could [Manjusri] safeguard them? How could he protect those who formed aspirations and were willing to shoulder the Buddha’s teaching to stay forever in the era of Dharma-degeneration and give to help suffering sentient beings? Having formed these aspirations, they would encounter many difficult circumstances. How would they deal with these? How could he protect them? So, in the assembly, Manjusri Bodhisattva came to ask the Buddha to give instructions for those who would be in the world in the future. How should they protect themselves? How should they engage in spiritual practice? How should they go among people to give in a way sentient beings can accept while they themselves would not be harmed? This showed Manjusri’s compassion and wisdom. Out of compassion, on behalf of future sentient beings, he seized the chance to ask the Buddha, hoping the Buddha would teach everyone how to conduct themselves in the future world. So, “In the future evil world of turbidities,” how will they practice? “How will they practice?” The future world will be filled with hardships; there will be such severe turbidities and sentient beings’ minds will be so stubborn. So, how will they practice the path among people in the world? How will they take each step firmly and steadily? “How will they carry this out?” How should they walk [along this path]? “[How will they] uphold the sutra without difficulties?” Those who uphold the sutra there will need to be free of difficulties and be able to [practice] smoothly, to peacefully abide in the Dharma. They must earnestly transmit the Dharma so the Dharma can be firmly grounded in the future world and everyone will be able to make use of it.
So, “[How will they] uphold the sutra without difficulties and come to peacefully abide in the Dharma?” To help them peacefully abide in the Dharma and be at ease without encountering all those hardships and evil circumstances, to help them be safe and peaceful and smoothly put the Dharma into practice in the world, [Manjusri] hoped the Buddha would “demonstrate the right conduct of the wisdom of Right Dharma.” How do we correctly practice the wisdom of Right Dharma in the world? When it comes to right conduct, not only must those who learn the Buddha-Dharma take the Dharma to heart; after they have taken it to heart, they must put the Dharma into practice by advancing in the right direction. For them to put it into practice, the Buddha taught them to have “wisdom of Right Dharma” and “right conduct”. So, they must “peacefully abide in four methods.” We have previously discussed these four methods [related to] body, speech, mind and vows. So we have to practice with the one mind, Three Directives and Fourfold Patience. Those who are to uphold this sutra in the future need to earnestly guard and uphold these. So, “Maintaining the Threefold Karma is known as great compassion. If our body, speech and mind are upright…”
Maintaining the Threefold Karma is known as great compassion. If our body, speech and mind are upright, we will have right wisdom and true purity. Once we attain benefit for ourselves, we must give rise to compassion and benefit others. Once our compassion and wisdom are in parallel, expounding the Dharma in the evil world can be done without difficulties.
Threefold Karma refers to our body, speech and mind. How do we act with our body? Our body is a vessel for spiritual cultivation. When we came to the world, our body was formed by the convergence of our father’s sperm and our mother’s egg. From infancy, they mindfully raised us. Then in our youth, we began to learn benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom how to act according to [the Confucian]. There Bonds and Five Constant Virtues. In ancient times, this was what everyone had to learn. The Dharma of how to behave in the world allows us to have very smooth interpersonal relations. We are bone with this body, with this body, we must be taught and nurtured. Only by receiving these teachings and being clear about the principles can we practice them in the world. We receive teachings and give teachings.
In this way, we use our body to be good role models, passing [the teachings] down to future generations. However, over time, people begin to have afflictions and habitual tendencies worsen, so their conduct gradually goes astray.
Nowadays, our way of life has already become something very different. In this new lifestyle, people pursue desires, seek abundant material wealth, place importance on fame and fortune and fight over social status. Thus, when such greed arises, people’s actions do not follow the rules, so with their bodies they create all kinds of karma. Of course, the best way of expression is speech. Through speech, we can teach virtuous Dharma and moral principles to educate people. By teachings and passing on principles, we can educate people and teach them skills. If we teach them how to be good people and teach them a set of skills, they will have an expertise to make a living and also know how to be good person. This is called education.
Both teachings virtuous Dharma and inciting people to go against the rules come from our speech. The karma of speech crated by people in our society is truly very severe. These are two extremes. Whenever we open our mouth and speak, we can spread the Dharma and teach others, or we can say harsh words, flattering words or gossip. This all depends on how we use our speech. We can create blessings and goodness or we can create evil, guiding others towards negative karma. This all depends upon our speech. Our actions of both body and speech begin from the mind. So, our consciousness, the thoughts in our minds, drive us to action and tempt us to use our speech. The words might be beneficial or harmful. Words beneficial for sentient begins and words harmful for sentient beings are all expressed through speech. This all comes from the intentions in our minds.
If our intentions are due to discursive thoughts arising from habitual tendencies and ignorance, then this intention will constantly lead our body and speech. In a deviant direction. Then, in our body, speech and mind, we will only create negative karma. If we regularly take the Dharma to heart, then whenever thoughts arise in our minds, they will always be virtuous thoughts of caring for people in the world. With such [good] intentions in mind, our words will naturally exhort and lead people toward goodness. We urge and guide people toward goodness. If our intentions deviate, they naturally lead and guide people to evil. Then, we lead people toward creating evil karma. So, [our actions] in body and speech begin from the minds which guides us. Do we go to the right or do we go to the left? This depends on our mind. Will we follow the middle way, the proper path? This depends on our mind. If our mind is upright, naturally our speech and body will be upright.so, we must always take good care of our minds, for when our mind is upright, our action in speech and body will be proper. “If our body, speech and mind are upright, we will have right wisdom and true purity. Once we attain benefit for ourselves,” then we need to give rise to compassion and benefit others. If our body, speech and mind are upright, then naturally our knowledge, perspectives and thinking will [be upright too]. Our wisdom makes distinctions externally. This is discerning wisdom. When we deal with interpersonal conflicts, if we can distinguish all things very clearly, that is using our discerning wisdom. This discerning wisdom is very clean and very pure, without defilements of afflictions and ignorance nor erroneous and improper thoughts. Such discerning wisdom is “right wisdom”. With right wisdom, when we are among people, their various afflictions cannot contaminate our aspirations. So, if our wisdom is “right,” it does not attract defilements. Thus, “We will have true purity.” “Once we attain benefit for ourselves,” once we ourselves attain such purity without being defiled by outside sounds and forms, our wisdom-life will naturally grow. As our wisdom-life grows, we must give rise to compassion. This is “impartial wisdom,” which views all sentient beings impartially. Since all begins are equal, when they suffer, we cannot stand it. So, we teach them the Dharma out of compassion. We take the Dharma we have learned and teach it to them. Not only do we teach them, if sentient beings are suffering, we must help relieve their difficulties. This is “benefiting others”.
Then “Our compassion and wisdom are in parallel.” Compassion and wisdom must be practiced in parallel; this is “exercising both compassion and wisdom”. They are in parallel. Then, “Expounding the Dharma in the evil world can be done without difficulties.” Our minds must be pure and our wisdom must be bright. As we benefit ourselves, we must also benefit others. Only in this way can we peacefully and safely expound the Dharma in the evil world. No matter how severe the storms of the world are or how much ignorance there is, [in the face of] such turbulent challenges, as long as we have right wisdom, we will still keep compassion [in our heart]. With both compassion and wisdom, as we expound this sutra in the future, we will naturally have no difficulties. “Without difficulties” means our minds will not be obstructed.
So, the previous sutra passage said that in the future world, we will already be mentally prepared. Although [these Bodhisattvas] were prepared and Manjusri believed they could patiently endure, it would be even better if there were no such evilness or turbidities. He hoped there would be none, that the world be without turbidities, evil people or evil views that would challenge Right Dharma and obstruct their practice of Right Dharma. If they were going to patiently endure, they should do their best to reduce the manifestation of evil conduct and evil phenomena. This also shows Manjusri ’s compassion.
So, to reduce those conflicts, it would be best to educate everyone. Therefore, he requested the Buddha’s teachings. “How can we prepare our minds? What methods should we use in the future? Although we will face evil people, what methods can we use to face them so we can be peaceful toward each other and we can inspire them to change?” Manjusri‘s compassion was such that he brought up this question. He asked the Buddha and the Buddha replied.
So, the Buddha gave the teachings of the one mind, Three Directives and Fourfold Patience to help us persevere in our spiritual aspirations. At the same time, He taught us how to prevent harm to the Right Dharma and avoid direct confrontation with others.
So, the previous sutra passage says, “What do I mean by the places that Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas draw near to?” What do I mean by the places that Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas draw near to? Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas do not associate with kings, princes, great ministers or officials.
[He taught us] the places we should draw near to and the things we should avoid, what we should and should not draw near to. What we should draw near to is the Dharma. We mentioned the one mind, Three Directives and Fourfold Patience. We must keep these in mind. We must draw near to them and take them as part of our spiritual aspirations. We must do our best, as Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas who formed great aspirations, to avoid drawing near to kings, princes and ministers. In the future evil world of turbidites, there may be very strong forces of evil. For those spreading the sutra and the teachings, in the future when they face such evil powers, how should they behave in the world? Even the slightest deviation might lead some to think, “These kings, princes, ministers and officials have great power. Perhaps they can give us protection and we can leverage their powerful protection in order to spread the teachings!”
The Buddha reminded us not to do this because if we associate with them and leverage their power, over time, He feared our minds would deviate. The slightest deviation can lead us far off course. We must be sincere and grounded in our spiritual practice. There is no need to rely on the powerful. We should put effort into being mindful and take the Dharma to heart with clarity. The Dharma can safeguard our wisdom-life. The Dharma can protect righteousness in the world. When Right Dharma converges with true spiritual practitioners’ righteousness, it can transform sentient beings and bring purity to people’s minds. Only then is there hope for the Dharma and for our wisdom-life not to be harmed. This way, we can continue [our practice]. If we depend on the power of others, the Dharma will quickly perish. So, we must be very mindful in comprehending this sutra passage. We must not be dependent or attach ourselves to these powerful people. We should not do this. Instead, we should rely on the true, Right Dharma, our righteousness, Right Dharma, right contemplation and so forth.
The following sutra passage continues, “They do not draw near to heretical practitioners, Brahmacarins, Nirgranthas and so on nor to those who compose secular literature or sing the praises of non-Buddhist works nor to Lokayatas or Vama-Lokayatas”.
Besides not associating with powerful people in attempt to rely on their might and power or leverage their power to spread the Dharma, we should abide by the rules, engage in our own spiritual practice and bring benefit to all beings. Besides not relying on the powerful, we must not associate with heretical practitioners or Brahmacarins.
They do not draw near to heretical practitioners, Brahmacarins [and so on]: Those who do not uphold the proper teachings are considered heretical practitioners. Bodhisattvas must not draw near to heretical practitioners or Brahmacarins [and so on].
This is the Buddha trying to safeguard our aspirations as spiritual practitioners. If, as spiritual practitioners, our will to practice is not very firm, meaning it is not very solid, if we are not careful in our interactions, our choices might deviate slightly or our intentions might go astray. if we interact with heretical practitioners, our mind may easily become influenced by them.
So, we must take good care of our aspirations. For practitioners who are less experienced, we hope they can first train themselves, take care of their own spiritual aspirations, learn to recognize the Dharma clearly and put effort into their spiritual practice. We should try not to associate with “those who do not uphold the proper teachings”. They are called heretical practitioners. They are learning their own, different practices, so they are not following the right practice. With regards to the Dharma we often discuss, the Four Noble Truths, the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence, the six Paramitas and so on, they are unwilling to accept such teachings. they are unwilling to accept the teachings that truly follow the principles. They choose to walk different paths. As some people take a different path, we must remain determined to walk our path. We cannot have our two feet on different paths. If you see other people’s path and we want to put one foot upon it, that is very dangerous! We will be unable to walk that path and will also not progress on this path we are on. Then our mind will be scattered and distracted.
So, the Buddha hoped that those of us whose spiritual aspirations are not yet very firm, whose practice is not yet very steady and whose understanding of the Dharma is not yet thorough, would not have only “broad learning and love for the path.” This is when we only wish to listen to a lot and only want to say that we understand a lot in this case, “The path is hard to attain. Along this true path, we will be unable to see the scenery through which we are walking, because our minds are scattered elsewhere. Therefore, as we are practicing along this path, the scenery [is neglected] because we were distracted.
So, in the Sutra of 42 Chapters, it says, “With only broad learning and love for the path, the path is hard to attain.” We must “uphold our mission and follow the path, then our path will be great.” This is what the Buddha taught us. If we merely wish to brag about what we heard, showing off our broad learning, we only learn a little of this and that “Broad learning and love for the path” sounds nice but it actually makes “the path hard to attain.” Our time in life is limited; we only have a few decades. To gain even an extra second is impossible, because our time in the day is limited. We can only earnestly seize the moment and make the best use of our time, for no one can give us any more time. So, we only have a few short decades, and we must discount the earlier and later stages. When we are young, we cannot choose the path we want to take. In our middle age, we have matured and can choose where our body and mind seek refuge. We have matured, however, as we become old, our strength begins to diminish and to engage in spiritual practice is no longer easy.
Nevertheless, we should earnestly seize the correct path we chose while we are young. We must be diligent. In our middle age, we know the mature path to take so we take a firm stand and establish this path as our direction. We must “uphold mission and follow the path, then our path will be great. As we continue down this path, it will become even more open and spacious, a very firm and stable path. So, our minds must not deviate.
Next, we will talk about “what not to draw near to.” There is much we should not draw near to, so we must earnestly care for our minds, remain focused and never deviate. So, “We must bot draw near to heretical practitioners, Brahmacarins [and so on].” They take different paths. As we chose our path, we should just focus on walking it. We need not bother about other people’s paths. There is no need for us to be curious, to have broad learning and love for the path. We just need tend to our path, uphold our mission and follow the path. “We must not draw near to heretical practitioners or Brahmacarins [and so one].
“Brahmacarins” are monastic practitioners of another religion. They consider themselves “both from the mouth of King Brahma.” They are called Brahmacarins. Many of their spiritual practices are peculiar, but these are the ways they practice.
“Nirgranthas and so on” were one of the “non-Buddhist religions at that time.” In India, there were 96 religions at the time, of which there were “six main teachers.” These “six main teachers each had their own disciples. There were 96 different doctrines in all. Thus, it says ‘and so on.’” Religion was originally very simple. Over time people spilt into different sects. So, there were more than 90 different religions. Everyone wanted to be a leader and start their own sect. So overall, there were six main teachers. “There were six main teachers who each had their own disciples. There were 96 different doctrines in all. Thus, it says ‘and so on.’” The “Nidranthas and so on” includes those of many religions, the six main teachers, their disciples and the 96 different doctrines they taught. All these ways of spiritual practice and teachings were different.
Those who became attached to these would have deviant views, so we should not draw near to them. It would be better to keep our distance and put an end to all biased views, just as if we were to pass by a door without entering the room. We should have no regrets about this.
“Those who became attached to these would have deviant views.” So, if we continually debate [over the doctrines], we will go off course. “We should not draw near to them. It is better to keep them at a distance.” Not only should we not draw near to them, we should keep a distance, for this will protect us even more from being led astray. So, we should try to keep our distance. We should stay away from [those people]. This is to protect our initial aspirations when our roots are not yet very deep. Although a Bodhisattva may have already formed great aspirations, their roots and capabilities may not yet be deep and their aspirations may not yet be steady, so they may be easily influenced. Because of this, “we should not draw near to them.” “It is better to keep a distance.” It is best to avoid [heretical practitioners]. This will “put an end to all biased views.” By putting an end to them we need not give rise to discursive thoughts about them. “Just what exactly was he saying? It seems to make sense!” What they say “seems” to be very good principles. We end up hesitating in this spot. Since we have decided on good principles, we should uphold our mission and follow the path. We should not linger there.
So, we “put an end to all biased views, just as if we were to pass by a door without entering the room. We should have no regrets about this.” This way we will have no regrets; we pass by and have no need to enter. We know there are such [teachings], but we quickly avoid them without any curiosity. [We think] “I will try listening to it and see,” but “Trying to transform sentient beings, we are instead transformed by sentient beings.” So, we should instead take care of our own mind, because we ourselves are not yet very steady. Our spiritual aspirations and capabilities are not yet very deep, so we must earnestly protect ourselves. “… not to those who compose secular literature or sing the praises of non-Buddhist works.”
… not to those who compose secular literature or sing the praises of non-Buddhist works: We must also refrain from drawing near to those who produce worldly texts or those who sing the praises of non-Buddhist works. Doing so will easily scatter and disturb our spiritual aspirations.
This means we should not draw near to them and their “secular literature”. We think, “If I can’t be close to them in person, I’ll have a look at their books to see what they might have written and if it is true.” The Buddha also warned us that we need not go to such places to see these very knowledgeable people and the “secular literature” they wrote. They are really good writers. Or we might read books that praise that person’s teachings. We need not draw near to those things. So, we “refrain from drawing near those who produce worldly texts.” We need not associate with such people, nor do we need to read [their books]. So, there are “those who sing the praises of non-Buddhist texts.” These people always say, “I’ve written these books. The people and the things I write about are all so wonderful.” These people sing the praises of the things they write about and how their writings are filled with good principles. We should not draw near to these people, because if our capabilities are still shallow and we draw near to these people, it is possible we may become defiled by them.
We want to focus our minds on upholding our mission and following the path, yet we may be influenced [by those people]. We may end up wasting time and our mindset may become influenced by them. So, “Doing so will easily scatter and disturb our spiritual aspirations.” If we do not remain focused in our aspirations, they can become scattered and disturbed. Moreover, these writers always praise these books as very wonderful. We should not associate with them. There is more! There are “Lokayatas and Vama-Lokayatas.”
Lokayatas: Those who engage in evil discourse. Vama-Lokayatas: Those who ask evil questions.
“Lokayatas” engage in evil discourse. They go along with worldly teachings in their discourse. They reject the world-transcendent teachings. So, these are the Lokayatas. They follow the sensual desires of the world as they give teachings. They reject all world-transcendent teachings. Then there are the Vama-Lokayatas. They oppose the Lokayatas who teach principles following worldly affections. They reject them. They go against and oppose them. The former teaches according to worldly affection. They teach about sensual desires.
The later follows the opposite direction. So, they are called the Vama-Lokayatas, which means they are in opposition; they oppose the principles of worldly sentiment. So, they are the two sides of the same coin, but which of the two sides is right? Thus, the Lokayatas engage in “evil discourse”. They are continually entangled in the world, teaching according to worldly affections whereas the Vama-Lokayatas ask “evil questions”. They are always refuting others. They incessantly refute others. These are the Vama-Lokayatas. “Vama” means the opposite of following.
They have no good intentions. Evil questions: They lack the capacity to ask in beneficial ways. Evil discourse: They are not friends with whom we can discuss. If we answer them, we will become trapped in their search for flaws. If we discuss with them, we will be trapped in contradictions. Since our path is different from theirs, we should not associate with them. For the Dharma to last a long time we must avoid debates that good nowhere.
“They have no good intentions [and ask] evil questions.” They have no good intentions in asking questions. Without good intentions, they oppose merely for the sake of opposition, as if giving criticism. This is the same idea; they criticize. Even if someone is right, they will find a way refute the person. Criticism like this is evil questioning without any good intention. “They lack the capacity to ask in beneficial ways.” They are not here to ask beneficial questions or learn about the Dharma. The Buddha warned us that we will meet such people. Some may ask a question about the Dharma but they may not be asking to truly learn about the Dharma. In the Buddha’s teachings, in response to worldly phenomena, He taught world-transcending principles. The Buddha taught principles for both living in and transcending the world. This is to help us learn how to completely purify our minds so we are no longer attached to this world. Besides “teachings for conduct in the world,” He also taught “teachings for transcending the world.” The teachings for conduct in the world [explain] how we should behave as human beings. Only when we have perfected our human character can we attain Buddhahood. To attain Buddhahood, we transcend the world. We will no longer be attached to our desirous of the world. However, the Vama-Lokayatas will question and challenge us. “They lack the capacity to ask in beneficial ways.” They do in fact know how to request teachings, but they only come to make refutations. So, they ask “evil questions”.
‘”Evil discourse’ [means] they are not friends with whom we can discuss.” They do not follow reason in mutually discussing the Right Dharma. They engage in discourse about the Dharma merely for the sake of opposing us. So, “If we answer them, we will become trapped in their search for flaws.” They will try to stump us by finding flaws in details. They do this merely to oppose and refute us.
So, “If we discuss with them, we will be trapped in contradictions. Since our path is different from theirs, we should not associate with them.” Since our paths are not the same, there is no use to be there, getting tied down and entangled by them. It is better not to associate with them at all. We will never be able to convince them, so it is better not to debate with them. Those who cannot accept principles simply wish to obstruct us. Thus, they ask all kinds of difficult questions. So, it is better not to entertain them. There is no need to answer them. If we respond to their questions, they will merely ask, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” They do it merely to confuse and entangle us. If we discuss with them, we become tapped in contradictions. We cannot transform them; they will merely add to our afflictions. So, “We should not associate with them.” Their path is different, so we should not associate with them. “For the Dharma to last a long time,” for the Dharma to continue long into the future, it is best to avoid debates that go nowhere. We need not debate with them. We are here to teach principles, not to debate with people.
So, “Now, although we must guard against them, in order to defend against external aggression, there is no harm in trying to understand them. However, we must not forget or abandon our original teachings.”
Now, although we must guard against them, in order to defend against external aggression, there is no harm in trying to understand them. However, we must not forget or abandon our original teachings, and must not be blindly attached to them.
We should not forget the practice that we ourselves engage in. We must uphold our mission and follow the path, so we must not linger outside in these states. We must understand our own state of mind and take good care of it. We should not explore other paths; in our exploring, we might slip and fall. We clearly know that our path is very safe; why must we explore others’ paths? There is no need. We cannot influence them to come around or urge them to come in. Everyone is walking on their own path, peaceful and at ease.
Lokayatas follow worldly, heretical teachings: They practice in compliance with the desires of worldly people. Those who oppose their teachings are the Vama-Lokayatas, who claim to disagree with worldly, heretical views.
So, ”Lokayatas follow worldly, non-Buddhist teachings”. We just said that they follow wrinkly, non-Buddhist teachings. “They say that all things are formed through the four elements”. Indeed, we also talk about the “four elements”. We say,” Material things are inseparable from the four elements”. They say, “The four elements are inseparable from material things.” So, have they always existed or did they come from a source? The Buddha explained to us that there must be a source, a seed before there can be any fruit. That is correct; inside of a “fruit” there must be a “seed”. If they say there must first be a fruit before there is a seed, then sometimes this principle [ becomes stuck] between “for” and “against”.
Actually, the principles are originally cyclical, but if one insists on either extreme, then the principles cannot connect and one just ends up in an [ empty] debate. [They say] “All matter is indestructible, so the four elements are too.” So, did matter come first or did the four elements come first? We must mindfully consider this. Did the fruit come first, or the seed? Inside of the fruit, there is a seed. When it comes to that seed, if they disregard it as the cause, they do not know the source of the cause. Actually, the cause in the fruit is most important. With the cause and the four elements converging, only them can this fruit come to be. This is a cycle. But we cannot be attached to either extreme. There would be no teachings of cyclic existence. If one remains attached to either extreme, then the cycle will not be able to connect. The Buddha-Dharma teaches “cause and effect,” which is a cycle. Only with a cause will there be an effect. We cannot look only at the fruit [and think] the four elements converge to form the fruit. We cannot only remain attached to this. Within the fruit there is still a seed. It must be like this; this is why we have teachings of cyclic existence.
So, “Without world-transcending Dharma….” Since they have no world-transcending teachings, since these Lokayatas do not [accept] the world-transcending teachings. “They all practice in compliance with the desires of worldly people.” These are the Lokayatas. Those who oppose following worldly, non-Buddhist teachings “are the Vama-Lokayatas”. They are “opposed,” which means they believe in the opposite. Their theory and practice and the opposite. So, there are those who follow and those opposed to the desires of worldly people. So, “Thus they are said to be in opposition and are known as those who disagree with worldly heretical practitioners. Vama-Lokayatas” are heretical practitioners who oppose worldly teachings. They oppose following the ways of the world. These religions have their own doctrine. This sect has one doctrine and that other sect has another doctrine. They oppose one another. In summary, this is why there are conflicts among religions. This is where they come from. So, they “claim to disagree with worldly, heretical views”. “Disagree” means they are in opposition. These are the Vama-Lokayatas.
Indeed, this is how life is. What was original simple and peaceful is continually debated and refuted and everything becomes complicated. Therefore, religions come to oppose each other. They take sides following and opposing [worldly views]. Which side should we take? So, we should stay away and not draw near them. We do not want to associate with such conflicts. We must take care of ourselves. We truly need to look after. Right Dharma in the world. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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