Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Drawing Near to Virtuous Friends (遠離諸惡 親近善友)
Date: July.20.2018
“When we constantly keep patience in mind, we can train and guard ourselves so we do not give rise to evil. When the people of the world are in harmony, they will cease their disputes. When we encounter suffering, we will be able to be as enduring as the earth. The right path can put an end to all evil and eliminate all anger, ignorance and arrogance.”
Fellow practitioners, be mindful in listening, be mindful in receiving. We must constantly “keep patience in mind.” As we engage in spiritual practice, what is it that we must practice? We must practice patience, and not just patience but also endurance. We must patiently endure all conflicts. We must always be patient. In interpersonal conflicts, it is hard to differentiate right from wrong. What is right is to persevere in the right course of the Buddha-Dharma in the world. No matter what circumstances arise, we must remain persevering. We must learn to patiently endure. We know about patience, but what about endurance? [Endurance] is withstanding the trials of our environment and the various pitfalls of our circumstances. We have discussed previously the kinds of circumstances that we should avoid. We must mindfully seek to comprehend this. We should often ask ourselves, when it comes to worldly matters, how much do we truly know about them? How deeply do we comprehend the Buddha-Dharma? Moreover, to be able to [maintain] a patient mindset as we face all kinds of circumstances in the world, how strong do we need to be? With so much temptation in the world, are we able to endure it all? Can we endure all these tempting circumstances? So, we must maintain constant vigilance, especially when it comes to fame, wealth and so on. If we have yet to master this skill, we need to be very careful around those we meet. We need to be vigilant regarding those we meet, even if they are kings, princes, ministers and the like. When we meet them, we may have the intention of attaining recognition, benefit and so on. This must be avoided! Our spiritual practice must be genuine so that we will not be [tempted] by fame, wealth and so on. We must not allow any unwholesome forces, authority or power or any kind of benefits, wealth or lust to sway our spiritual aspirations. Perhaps, as we engage in spiritual practice, there will be small children around. Are we able to endure dealing with them? Are we able to endure annoyance and keep our minds open and pure enough so we do not give arise to afflictions as we deal with these small children? For these impatient and impetuous children, is there a way we can teach them? If we are not strong enough to do this, we should not wish to have broad and universal compassion. We still need to strictly discipline ourselves. We must not get arrogant and think, “I have formed Great Vehicle aspirations. I can practice broad and impartial compassion. I will go and transform them.” We may not be able to transform them. Those we originally wish to transform may end up transforming us. So, in our spiritual practice, we practice both endurance and patience, paying close attention to them both. Patience is the willingness to endure. However other people might insult us, we will always find a way to endure it. There are all kinds of circumstances, some imperceptible. If we are not careful, we may step right into a trap. We must be able to endure them all and patiently get through them. So, we must always keep this in mind, earnestly reminding ourselves to be vigilant. We must earnestly “train and guard ourselves so we do not give rise to evil.” It is us that we must train and guard. We need to train ourselves. We should not just try to train others; we need to train our own minds. So, we must train and guard ourselves so we do not give rise to evil. When it comes to external circumstances, when our sense organs connect with the external sense objects, in that moment, in our minds, all kinds of good and evil thoughts arise. So, this is why we must always care well for our minds and not give rise to improper thoughts. If something is wrong, if we give rise to the thought [of it], a single deviant thought takes us far off course. So, we must put effort into constantly training our minds. Our Roots connect with the Dusts of the external world. This happens in our everyday lives. Our sense organs are always encountering sense objects. Even now, our Roots are connecting with the Dusts. We see through our eyes, our eye root, and listen through our ears; they have all been activated. This is especially true for our minds, which we use to absorb [this information]. These are all instances in which we can exercise our potential for goodness. We also know that even as our bodies are sitting here, our Roots [connect with] the Dusts. Every morning, we wake up before 4 am when we hear the sound of the wooden board. This is an external condition. The example of “dust,” this noise, has sounded. We hear the sound in our sleep and upon receiving this information, we start to roll over. Once this thought arises, we need to quickly get moving. First thing in the morning, our Roots are activated by the Dusts. As they connect with the Dusts, our Six Roots begin functioning all at once. We move swiftly and diligently, as quickly as we can to get ourselves to the prayer hall. Our everyday lives are very disciplined; this is how we live. At every moment, our senses are functioning. So, we must put effort into training ourselves. With a single thought of diligence, we will come immediately to the prayer hall. With a single thought of indolence, we will remain half-asleep in the “great flatlands,” [thinking,] It is so could outside and so warm here in bed.” This root, the “body root,” is nestled in a warm bed, in this sensory experience, unwilling to leave this warm place. This is indolence, which comes from the mind. So, will we remain stuck here, or will we diligently advance? Thus, we must earnestly train and guard ourselves in all of our actions so that our minds do not give rise to evil or to thoughts of indolence. So, “When the people of the world are in harmony,” only then “will they cease their disputes.” In monastic life, in our interpersonal relationships, we should have no conflicts. We have also previously spoken about the “Lokayatas” and the “Vama-Lokayatas” and how we should never associate with them. When they are in the same spiritual community, in regards to the founding principles some say, “I follow a worldly way of life. I follow worldly sentiments,” while others go against worldly sentiments. They are either antagonistic just for the sake of being antagonistic or follow along merely to follow along. Their principles are different, which is how disputes arise. Similarly, in our spiritual practice, if we encounter any personal conflicts, we should apply the Six Points of Reverent Harmony. The Six Points of Reverent Harmony will put an end to disputes. As spiritual practitioners, we were all told about them when we took the precepts. In our daily lives as monastic, we must always be vigilant of them.
So, this how it is in the monastery. The world is also like this; this is always the case in interpersonal relationships. We must know when we need to endure, when we need to have patience and how to get along with people so that we will not have any disputes. So, in working with others, we must work together harmoniously as a team. Isn’t this what we always tell Tzu Chi volunteers? We must all work in concert with unity, harmony and love. Only with unity, harmony, mutual love and concerted effort will we succeed in going among people and bringing purity to their hearts. So, we should maintain this [mindset] so that. “When the people of the world are in harmony, they will cease their disputes.” If we can do this, then “when we encounter suffering, we will be able to be as enduring as the earth.” If we can be broad-minded and harmonize with others without any disputes, then no matter what conflicts arise in the world, we will always be able to take a step back and see things clearly. Then, when we encounter suffering, we will be as enduring as the earth. Thus, “The right path can put an end to all evil.” We should earnestly walk on the great Bodhi-path. “The Bodhi-path” is the path to enlightenment. By never deviating from it, we will be able to “eliminate all anger, ignorance and arrogance.” On the right path, we can put an end to all evil and “eliminate all anger, ignorance and arrogance.” Greed, anger and ignorance are [three of] the Five Poisons of the mind. All our spiritual turbidities stem from these five [poisons], greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. They all arise from these. As we engage in spiritual practice each day, what is it that we should practice? We must heighten our vigilance. Do we give rise to thoughts of the Five [Poisons] of greed, anger, delusion, arrogance and doubt? If so, we must eliminate them immediately. This is what we should work hard to be mindful of. So, “To cultivate the Bodhisattva-practice, we must distance ourselves from all evil and deviant views.”
To cultivate the Bodhisattva-practice, we must distance ourselves from all evil and deviant views and draw near to virtuous friends. As the sutra says, “If there are those who can teach, have faith in the precepts, are knowledgeable, practice charity, have wisdom and help others accept and uphold virtuous practice, they are virtuous friends to draw near to.”
Regarding all ignorance and afflictions, we must maintain vigilance so that they do not influence us. Those who want to practice the Bodhisattva-path should pay careful attention to this. They should practice distancing themselves from all deviant views and “draw near to virtuous friends.” We should only draw near to virtuous friends.
As we have discussed earlier, for those we should not draw near to, we should be very careful around them. This is just like how the sutra warns us. “If there are those who can teach, have faith in the precepts, are knowledgeable, practice charity and have wisdom,” we should draw near to them. This is because they are all able to “help others accept and uphold the virtuous practices.” They are virtuous friends we should draw near to. As for “all unwholesome rules and teachings,” we must distance ourselves from them. We should especially take precautions, guard against wrongdoings and put an end to evil. “Thus, we must safeguard our Six Roots and refrain from indulgence.” There are many small things in life where, if we are not careful, a single word can affect our mind or a single action can tempt us to behave [in a certain way]. So, when it comes to our external surroundings, we must always remain vigilant. As for unwholesome rules and teachings that run counter to the direction of our spiritual practice, we should be very vigilant of these. We should not get close to [these things] but distance ourselves from them. We must guard against wrongdoing and put an end to transgressions. When it comes to all unwholesome teachings and things that are wrong, we must distance ourselves from them. “Thus, we must safeguard our Six Roots and refrain from indulgence. We should never allow the external Dusts to affect our Roots or our Consciousnesses. When our “Roots”, our Six Sense Organs, give rise to inappropriate desirous thoughts, this is our “consciousness”. We often speak of how the Six Roots and Six Consciousnesses influence us. We contemplate with our sixth consciousness, which then leads us to take action. We need to be very cautious, for as soon as we act, the results of that action will enter our eighth consciousness. We need to be very careful.
The previous passage said, “They take no joy in raising young disciples, novices or children, nor do they enjoy sharing the same teacher”.
We discussed this previously Young disciples can be very impetuous. If our spiritual aspirations are not firm, if we are not determined, if our power of vows is not deep, when we try to transform them, we might be changed by them instead. The great tranquility of our mind will be influenced by these young disciples, their impetuousness and restlessness and their unstable minds; they might lure us away from the tranquility ad stability we once had. Their agitation might easily agitate us. We must be very vigilant and cautious about this. “Novices or children” refer to young people who still do not understand the Dharma. The Buddha-Dharma is profound; they still do not understand it. Their roots of goodness and spiritual aspirations have yet to become firm, so if we ourselves are not yet stable, we should not play with them too often or think that by doing so, we can bring them in and transform them. This is worrisome; even after a long time, we may fail to teach them and might end up being influenced by them instead. This is why we must be very careful. If we want them to study or practice with us, they might end up disturbing our thinking, so we must constantly guard our minds.
“They always take joy in sitting in meditation in a tranquil place to cultivate and collect their minds. Manjusri, this is known as the first place to draw near to”.
With this passage, the next section begins. We should always delight in being in a tranquil environment, a quiet and tranquil place. This is being “in a tranquil place”. This is a place where no mundane affairs take place. So, we must “cultivate and collect our minds”. Wouldn’t this be wonderful? It would! It would be wonderful! It is rare in life to have a free day. To be at complete leisure with nothing to do is truly a great luxury. Yet, we should remember that [this day] is not for our pleasure. In a day without any responsibilities, we should return the Dharma to its proper place. If we have some free time today, we should [review] the teachings we have heard. When we explore the Dharma within us, this infinitely vast and open realm within us is our only truly free and tranquil place. The Dharma is the true [beauty within] the landscape of our minds. “Manjusri, this is known as the first place to draw near to”.
This is passage is originally quite simple. In it, the Buddha describes the places we should and should not draw near to. When it comes to people, [He says] here, “Beware of [these people]! We have discussed this earlier. This is the end of that part. He called again to Manjusri, hoping that, for the [next] part, everyone would pay attention and be mindful. “They always take joy in sitting in meditation in a tranquil place”. This means that they constantly “enjoy sitting peacefully”.
They always take joy in sitting in meditation in a tranquil place: They always enjoy sitting peacefully to cultivate contemplation. In vast, open and tranquil places, they carefully contemplate how our Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses influence one another. We must practice upholding the precepts and engage in the practice of Samadhi. We must uphold the precepts to give rise to Samadhi. Since we should not draw near to places of negative conditions, this show that we should draw near to places of positive conditions.
If we have free time, we should not always think of moving about. Free time is rare to come by, so we should put effort into quieting our minds. In a vast, open and tranquil place, a place that is relatively quiet, we should engage in careful contemplation of how our Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses are influencing us. Do they influence us by causing us afflictions? Or do they enable us to attain tranquility? These are external states. We just talked about how the first things we encounter in the morning are the sounds of the wooden clapper, the bevel and the drum; they call to us, [saying], “Wake up!” Then what do we start to do? Do they influence us to be diligent? Or do they influence us to crave sleep, to crave comfort and the warmth of our bed? This is how our Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses can influence us in the span of an instant. So, we must be mindful.
“We must practice upholding the precepts and engage in the practice of Samadhi”. So, “We must uphold the precepts to give rise to Samadhi”. Earlier, we were told to refrain from drawing near to kings, ministers and so on, and then we were told to refrain from drawing near the five kinds of pandakas, children, novices and so on.
In succession, [the Buddha tells us] whom we should and should not draw near to. We must understand this very clearly. During this process, [He tells us] that we must uphold the precepts so that we do not become scattered, for we must uphold the precepts to give rise to Samadhi. As we [attain] Samadhi by upholding the precepts, we will be able to distinguish “the places of negatives conditions that we should not draw near to. Those places of negative conditions are places of [prostitution] place where people have unwholesome livelihoods or violent occupations. We must avoid these unwholesome conditions. We will anyway be unable to transform them. Since we cannot transform them, we should avoid them and refrain from getting close to them. So, only by doing this can we draw near places of positive conditions. Places of positive conditions are what we should approach. When our conditions are wholesome, this enables us to cultivate and collect our minds.
Cultivate and collect our minds: our minds have long been lost in delusion. This has caused us to form transgressions, defilements and illnesses. Now we wish to enter the path, so we must cultivate our minds to our pure intrinsic nature. All at times, we must cultivate right mindfulness.
Positive conditions help us cultivate our mind. For so long now, our minds have been lost in delusion. We have been lost in delusion for many kalpas now. “A deluded thought creates the Three Subtleties.” These three things are extremely subtle, they are greed, anger and delusion. Ignorance and afflictions constantly arise from these. They trigger our ignorance and afflictions, causing us to give rise to them constantly, so that lifetime after lifetime we are incapable of controlling our minds. We create karmic retributions that entangle us and are thus unable to free ourselves. This all comes from our minds, which have long been lost in delusion. This leads us to make many mistakes, bringing so much defilement upon us. These afflictions continue to proliferate, causing us to commit even more transgressions, laying traps everywhere until our every thought becomes a defiled condition. What can we do about this? We now know that we are very fortunate. We have attained the human form and encountered the Buddha-Dharma, so now we must enter the path. As we enter the path, we “must cultivate our minds. We must be sure to earnestly cultivate our minds. We must cultivate our minds. If we do not control and train our minds well, we will become confused again, and our every step will be mistaken. We must earnestly enter the path, strengthen our resolve and cultivate our minds “to enable them to return to our pure intrinsic nature.” At all times, “we must cultivate right mindfulness.” We are always talking about how the Buddha-nature of True Suchness is intrinsic to everyone, to all sentient beings. this is our true identity. Our intrinsic nature of True Suchness is inherently pure, but it is enshrouded by our thoughts of ignorance; this is why it has become obscured.
Now that we [aspire] to return [to this nature], we must engage in spiritual practice. So, we should cultivate our minds well so that they may regain the pure appearance of our nature of True Suchness. So, we should make great efforts toward this goal, being mindful of everything we do to. “We must cultivate right mindfulness.” This is why we must be very cautious. The Buddha wants us to put effort into becoming tranquil, so that our minds will settle down. Actually, when it comes to “meditation,” “carrying firewood and water is also mediation.” This state He taught about is vast, open and tranquil. In fact, it is our spiritual landscape that is the most vast and open, for our mind encompasses the universe. What place is the vastest? It is our mind that is the vastest.
[For example], when I mention Africa to you, what do you think about? That’s right! Africa. There is South Africa, Mozambique and Lesotho. We are always talking about these places. Swaziland is a place we [hear about] often. There is Zimbabwe, we understand what the environment is like there. See how vast our minds can be! Our mind is very quick. When we see those poor sentient beings and the hardships they face, we witness their suffering and recognize our blessings. We are able to live in a place like this, where we do not lack any of life’s necessities. Everything is so convenient for us here. If we wish to transform sentient beings and we can also engage in spiritual practice without any problems at all. Here our minds can grow to become broad, open and accommodating. As long as we can calm our minds like this, our whole world will open up to become broad and spacious. So, we should mindfully seek to comprehend this. We must not provoke external conflicts. If we near to those places that we ought not to get close to and provoke conflicts and incite afflictions, in doing so we will be trapped in a whirlpool of afflictions without any means of escape. This is why we must be careful.
With this passage, we come to the end of a section. Then. [a new section] begins “Manjusri, this is known as the first place to draw near to.” Sakyamuni Buddha again called out to Manjursi Bodhisattva. Earlier, [He said that] to practice the Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy, they must first be vigilant before they can enter and draw near to any place. First, [He told them] of places to avoid, places they should not draw near to. “If you want to go somewhere, first must warm you and make this clear to you. What is your destination? When you arrive this certain station, do not get off the bus! That is just a place to pass by. You need to go further. You need to ride the future to truly reach your destination.” Our path is just like this. We should not take any forks in the road. We must watch out for any forks in the road so that we do not go the wrong way. It is like this mountain climbers. If they deviate even slightly in their direction, “a slight deviation can take them far off course.”
Now, as we must travel this path, we must be very careful. “First I must warn you. If you come to [these forks in the road], you had better not take them! You must mindfully advance forward, moving only in the direction of your destination.” Such was the Buddha’s compassion. He explained to us very meticulously that when we encounter certain sense objects, our Roots and Consciousnesses [behave] in certain ways. Roots and Consciousnesses are inside practitioners. The Dusts are the external world; this is true also for other people. People themselves are external conditions as well. Our mind-consciousness connects with them through our Roots and Consciousnesses. So, when our Roots and Consciousnesses come into contact with these external conditions, we need to be very careful. So, earlier, He warned us about this and told us to pay attention.
Now, this is what comes next. “Manjusri! This is the first place to draw near to. Before you begin to walk this path, first I must warn you of the places you should not draw near to. Of the places you must and must not draw near, first I will warn you of the ones you must not draw near to.” Such was the compassion of the Buddha. “Earlier He [discussed] the” “Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy. The first explains Bodhisattvas places of practice and places to draw near to.” This is our direction. These are the places that we should and should not draw near to.
Manjusri, this is known as the first place to draw near to: Earlier He [discussed] the Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy. The first explains Bodhisattvas’ places of practice and places to draw near to. When it comes to [the places] to draw near to, they are divided into two [groups]. The first starts from “Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas must not draw near to king” and the like. This defines the first place to draw near to. The second starts from “Moreover, Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas must contemplate all phenomena as empty” and so on. This defines the second place to draw near to.
These define the places to draw near to. They are divided into two [groups]. “The first starts from ‘Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas must not draw near to kings’ and the like.” They must not draw near to them. First, He warned us about those to whom we must not draw near. This defines the “first” [group]. “When you first start to walk this path in this direction, first I will warn you.” The second [group] “starts from ‘moreover”’. Here, with “moreover,” it continues on with “Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas must contemplate all phenomena as empty” and so on. Only then can they teach the Dharma. We must draw near the Dharma; we cannot contaminate ourselves with those afore-mentioned conditions that do not accord with the Dharma. We must have the right direction, which is the Dharma, and ‘“[contemplate] all phenomena as empty’ and so on.” We must understand emptiness. [We must understand] the “wondrous existence” in “true emptiness”. So, we need to be very mindful about what we should draw near to. We must be mindful. This is the second place to draw near to. This second place is a place that we must actually draw near to. So, the first place to draw near to is further divided into these two.
The first [place] to draw near to is further divided into two. The first is to refrain from drawing near to kings and the like. [The Buddha] used distance to discuss nearness. If they are not the right people, we should not draw near to them. This instructs us to distance ourselves from them. Moreover, it says, “If people like this ever approach them, they will teach the Dharma.” This instructs us to draw near to them. [The Buddha] used distance to discuss nearness. He next said that they always take joy in sitting in meditation and so forth in order to cultivate and collect their minds. Here, He used nearness to discuss nearness.
“The first is to refrain from drawing near to” “kings” and the like. This means that “[He] used distance to discuss nearness.” [The Buddha] tells us that, “The road you need to walk is very long. There is more to it than this; [your destination] is still very distant! As you start to walk it, in your surroundings and in your daily living, you will keep encountering these Roots and these Dusts. Roots and these Dusts will always be in your lives, close by your side. [The Buddha] used distance to discuss nearness.” [The destination]is distant; there is still a long way to go. “You will always encounter conditions like these, these external conditions. This is why I am warning you that they will always be close by. You must stay vigilant.” Thus, “[He] use distance to discuss nearness.” It will take them a very long time; upon the path in this world, [they will face] these afore-mentioned conditions for a very long period of time. Our own minds are what is nearest to us, so our minds are what we should pay attention to, not allowing ourselves to become contaminated by the conditions we will encounter in the future. The afore-mentioned [conditions] can tempt us and sway our aspirations. We must be very wary of conditions that can sway our aspirations. So, “If they are not the right people,” we should keep them at a distance. We must keep those we should not draw near to at a distance. So, these are not [the places] we seek. They are not our destination, so we should not keep drawing near to them. It is rare to attain a human body and listen to the Buddha-Dharma, and we do not have much time, so we must make the best use of our time. We must not allow our minds to deviate, so this is why we must do this. We must not [remain] among those whose rules and teachings are unwholesome, wasting our time. We should promptly return to searching for the path that we ought to search for and doing the things that we ought to do. So, “If they are not the right people,” we should not draw near to them. We must always heighten our vigilance around them. We should not draw near to them. “This instructs us to distance ourselves.” We should separate ourselves from them, otherwise they will keep entangling us and there will be no end to our entanglements. We must resolve to promptly distance ourselves, since they will be impossible to transform. We can easily become influenced by them, so we should put effort into being vigilant. “This instructs us to distance ourselves.” We should quickly rid ourselves of them.
“Moreover, it says, ‘If people like this ever approach them, they will teach the Dharma.”’ We discussed this earlier, that we should distance ourselves. However, if their intentions are good, if they are willing to try to understand, we should welcome them and take them in, but we cannot force them. We must teach the Dharma in suitable ways, but if it is impossible for them to accept it and they only make things difficult, then we should not continue to involve ourselves with them. So, we must mindfully seek to comprehend this well. We can teach the Dharma in suitable ways, but there is no use in forcing them to take the same direction as we do.
So, we should respect them. For many things, I often tell everyone [to use] “gratitude, respect, love”. If we can constantly maintain these sentiments, then we will never reject others, we will just be protecting ourselves so that we remain undefiled. We can still be grateful for our discussions, for they help us better understand the Dharma that we must persevere in upholding. We should [treat others with] gratitude, respect and love, not oppose them or reject them. We must work hard to be mindful and carry out our responsibilities the best we can. Thus, “This instructs us to draw near to them. We must teach the Dharma very naturally and put it into practice. This is how we can share it with them. When we share it, it is not that others have to listen to us teach the Dharma, no. we are just sharing. It is not like we are arguing with them.
So, we must be “both distant and near”. Though we encounter adverse conditions, we just remind ourselves to become more vigilant. This is [the meaning of] “using distance to discuss nearness”. We need to be very mindful of external conditions. So, [The Buddha] “also said that they always take joy in sitting in meditation and so forth” in order “to cultivate and collect their minds. This is because we want to take care of our minds.
“Meditation” is called “dhyana”. This is tranquil concentration; it means calm contemplation. This does not mean sitting in meditation all day, but rather that we must calm our minds and earnestly engage in contemplation. So, one name for it is “concentration,” while another name is “cultivating contemplation”. Our minds are inherently broad and expansive and are inherently very pure, but interpersonal conflicts will disturb this. How should we deal with interpersonal conflicts? We should always use gratitude, respect and love. We must not get entangled, but we must not reject others, either. If we do this, our minds will always be at peace. So, when we “cultivate and collect our minds, we harbor no sense of gain or loss. This means being able to collect our minds and keep our thoughts focused. Our minds must always return to the same place and the same direction, which is the Bodhi-path, the Bodhisattva-path. This is the path we must walk. So, this is “using neatness to discuss nearness”. We must return this thought to our minds. When it come to this confused turmoil of external sense objects, we must do our best to distance ourselves from it. We should focus our minds. We must proactively do what we should do. For those we must transform, we must go among people and bring purity to their hearts. As for what we must not do, we must put an end to disputes. As for those we should not meet, we should not mingle with them. We must love and take good care of ourselves.
In summary, when it comes to our minds when our minds encounter our external conditions, we must mindfully seek to discern them. How do we draw near people? When we draw hear to people and the Dharma, we must discern things very clearly. If they affect our aspirations and we are unable to transform them, then we should not force ourselves upon them. We must distance ourselves and respect others. So, we should be grateful whenever adverse conditions arise, because adverse situations help strengthen our spiritual practice. This is why we should be grateful. We must love others with sincere love, never harbor resentment and so forth. So, we need to know whom we should and should not draw near to and distinguish between right and wrong very clearly. Especially during these times, we need to clearly discern tight from wrong! So, we must keep the Dharma in our mind, for there is nothing to be found beyond the mind. What is best, neatest and most suitable for us is our very own mind. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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