Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Thinking Meticulously of Eliminating Afflictions (細思除惱 重頌勸示)
Date: July.27.2018
“As we engage in all practices, we need to eliminate afflictions. Throughout this lifetime and in future lifetimes we must engage in careful contemplation. [To return] to our pure nature, we must practice the Three Flawless Studies. Bodhisattvas are awakened sentient beings who are without fear. The essence of their mind is fundamentally tranquil and pure. We must keep confused and deluded thoughts from arising.”
So, we should be mindful. “As we engage in all practices, we need to eliminate afflictions.” In our spiritual practice, if we wish to understand the Buddha-Dharma, we must first be certain to eliminate afflictions. If we do not eliminate our afflictions, then we will never be able to take all the teachings to heart. Without the Dharma in our heart, we will have no way to practice in accord with the Dharma. So, if we wish to engage in spiritual practice, we must be certain to get rid of afflictions. Only if we eliminate afflictions, absorb the Dharma into our mind and take the Dharma to heart can we practice according to the Dharma in our daily living. Whether in this or future lifetimes, our spiritual practice must always be in each present moment, in this very instant.
In the past, in our past lifetimes, no matter what attitudes we had or how we lived or what we did, that is all in the past. We must be grateful for this present lifetime; in this lifetime, we have been born human and have already heard the Buddha-Dharma. We should be mindful to make the best use of the fact that we have come in contact with the Buddha-Dharma. Will the Buddha-Dharma be able to benefit us in the future? Yes, it will! It will benefit us because it will enable us to understand the principles, so we will no longer take a mistaken path.
If we understand the principles, then our direction will become clear. We will be at ease with every step we take and will be able to firmly walk upon the path. Having no doubts, we will never go astray. We should think about this carefully; we should contemplate it meticulously. In this lifetime, how do we accept the Buddha-Dharma? What kind of an era is the era that we face now? What kind of environment are we in? When it comes to our opportunities, in this present moment, what are we able to encounter? We must mindfully seek to comprehend this.
We need to differentiate very clearly between what is right and what is wrong. If someone is right, if they are a good person, then we should emulate and learn from them. If they are wrong and have gone astray, then we need to heighten our vigilance. Though we must keep an open heart, with no one we cannot love, no one we cannot forgive and no one we cannot trust, still, what kinds of people can we truly count on? What kinds of people must we be mindfully on our guard with? Of course, we never give up on anyone. We still hope that everyone will gratefully come to realize the Dharma, that they open their hearts and understand that in the world, nothing lasts forever and nothing is permanent, that they can experience how, in the world, all things are in a state of impermanence. We should seize the moment and keep our feet firmly upon the ground. When something is right, then we just go ahead and do it. Every day at this time, this is the mindset we must have. It is the same when dealing with others. When interacting with others, we inevitably face people with different personalities and different habitual tendencies. How can we deal with and work with them? We need to think about this very carefully. If we wish to understand all principles clearly, then how should we listen to the Dharma? How should we accept the teachings? Once we take them into our hearts, every day and in every moment, as we deal with people, matters and things, we must meticulously contemplate them. We need to on one hand get rid of afflictions while on the other deal practically with reality. We must remember to open our hearts so that we can accommodate everything, yet we must differentiate right and wrong clearly.
If we can do this, we [can accomplish] things in the world. During this lifetime, since we are already here, we should be at peace. We have established our aspirations. Since we can never separate ourselves from people, matters and objects, we should choose to benefit others.
So, since we are determined in our vows, since we have established our aspirations, this is the mindset we must have. First, we must rid ourselves of afflictions. In our conduct, every day we alert ourselves that we must get rid of our afflictions. When dealing each day with people, matters and things, we must meticulously contemplate them. We are very cautious, pay attention to detail and contemplate things carefully.
Everything in the world is of non-appearance, is impermanent, has no inherent nature and so on.
Previously we have talked about this. This is clear. So, when we talk about “nature,” everyone has a pure nature. How can we manifest this pure nature so that we can apply it? We have consciously buried our nature of True Suchness. We need to uncover it. Our nature of True Suchness should be with us in our daily living. Otherwise, we will always be running counter to our nature of True Suchness. Our intrinsic nature is inherently undefiled. It is pure and undefiled, yet we unfortunately move in the directions of defilement and have become completely defiled. So, in listening to the Buddha-Dharma, we must distance ourselves from these defilements and return to our nature of True Suchness. Our nature of True Suchness has never left us; it is who have left our nature of True Suchness. So, if we were moving in the direction of defilement, now that we have become aware of this, we should bring ourselves back and return to our nature of True Suchness. Our nature of True Suchness is inherently pure. How can we now return to it? We must put effort into cultivating the Three Flawless Studies. The Three Flawless Studies are “precepts, Samadhi and wisdom”. The precepts establish a course for us to follow. When it comes to our direction in life, we do not want to deviate. This is why we follow the precepts. Only when we have a stable set of rules, a course to follow, will our mind be able to settle down. We will know how to prevent wrongs and put an end to evil. In our life, as we return to purity, our mind naturally settles in Samadhi. When the mind is in Samadhi, we have wisdom. When it comes to wisdom, as sentient beings, we are already replete with all Dharma; we have just become confused. So, if we can settle our mind now, we will always clearly understand the Dharma. As we go about our daily living, everything we encounter will be the Dharma. There will be nothing that is not the Dharma, so we should be able to have a clear understanding. This is wisdom. We will constantly be able to discern and understand. With every measure of afflictions we eliminate, we increase our wisdom-life by the same measure. Our wisdom neither increases nor decreases; it is always the same, recasting together with our nature of True Suchness. We simply have covered it with afflictions.
So, we keep getting rid of afflictions until our original nature gradually reveals itself. This is how it is revealed. This is wisdom, the wisdom of our nature of True Suchness. This is how it will be uncovered. We just need to keep the precepts, just need to have Samadhi. Unfolding precepts and Samadhi take effort. As long as we make that effort, as long as we make progress, by progressing diligently along this path, we will naturally draw closer to the wisdom of our intrinsic nature. The Three Flawless Studies allow us to return to our pure intrinsic nature. The surest way to do this is through the strength of our own efforts.
So, “Bodhisattvas are awakened sentient beings who are without fear.” We have experienced the Buddha-Dharma in our daily living. We have formed great aspirations, Bodhisattva-aspirations. Those who form Bodhisattva-aspirations are called awakened sentient beings. So, “Bodhisattvas are awakened sentient beings who are without fear.” Since forming great aspirations, we have become awakened in life; we understand. We no longer follow the desirous thoughts and habitual tendencies of unenlightened beings. We will not again become lost in a life of desirous thoughts and habitual tendencies. We must awaken, should our enlightened nature. We should move forward in the direction of enlightenment. This is what awakened sentient beings do. We turn from our unenlightened mind toward the noble path. We must begin to put this path, this course of action, into practice. We should not be afraid. “Without fear” means we should not be afraid, because we already know very clearly that this course is safe, even if we inevitably encounter wind and rain along the way.
Sometimes there will be good weather, while sometimes there will be dense, dark clouds. As we travel along this path, we should have faith that this course is a safe one. No matter what we encounter on it, we trust that this is how the path is, that on this fearless path of enlightenment we can advance forward with peace of mind.
So, “Bodhisattvas are awakened sentient beings who are without fear.” When we awaken, we become fearless. Since we are awakened, what is there to be afraid of? So it says [Bodhisattvas are] “awakened sentient begins who are without fear”. Their “essence of mind is fundamentally tranquil and pure”. Our essence of mind, our nature of True Suchness, has always been tranquil and clear. We should believe that our Buddha-nature is unwavering and pure, “tranquil and clear”. So, we must “vows as vast the universe”. Once we establish our vows, they become infinite and boundless, unlimited by time or direction. In the end, throughout the universe and all Dharma-realms, our essence of mind is just like this, completely empty and still, tranquil and clear without hindrance or obstacle.
We talked about this before as well. When it comes to “emptiness,” everything is empty; this is true emptiness. “Empty” means there are no afflictions to obstruct us. We already explained this earlier. So, we are unwavering, never-changing. Without hindrance or obstacle; this is because our essence of mind is intrinsically tranquil and clear. So, we should “keep confused and deluded thoughts from arising”. We must no longer be affected by the arising of confused and deluded thoughts. We must not! After must difficulty, we have come to understand that our nature is pure. We are now in the process [of cultivating] the Three Flawless Studies, precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. We understand these and have now entered and are walking this path. Having understood these things, we leave behind our unenlightened minds and head along the noble path. Awakened begins should be fearless. We should never again allow confused or deluded states of mind to arise in us. We should rid our minds of thee and never allow confusion and delusion to arise again. This is what we really need to pay attention to.
With their power of fearlessness, Bodhisattvas give rise to compassion for sentient beings and accommodate all sentient beings. They use their karma of body, speech and mind to benefit and bring peace and joy to sentient beings’ bodies and minds. This is known as fearless compassion.
“With their power of fearlessness, Bodhisattvas give rise to…” What do they give rise to? They “give rise to compassion”. Bodhisattvas should not be afraid. They are not afraid to go among people in the Saha World. We should give rise to compassion as we go among people. When we go among people, we should accommodate sentient beings. When it comes to others, we need to understand their afflictions. What kind of afflictions do they have? We need to take abundant Dharma to heart so that we can comprehend the appearances of their afflictions and the methods that we can use to cure them. Then, we will naturally be without fear and will be able to “accommodate all sentient beings”. However, we do not allow the ignorance or afflictions of sentient beings to lead us astray again. We cannot be tempted. Our mind needs Samadhi. The Three Flawless Studies are already in our minds. We have the precepts, we have Samadhi and we have wisdom.
So, we can accommodate sentient beings, but what methods should we use? We use our karma of body, speech and mind to benefit them. We use our body to put the Dharma into practice. How do we find reverence? By having deep faith in the profound Dharma. We have faith, faith in the teachings of the Buddha, in the Dharma the Buddha taught. So, we should take in what the Buddha taught through example, and mindfully try to understand what He taught through spoken language. Since the Buddha lived more than 2000 years ago, the meaning of the essential points of the Buddha’s teachings inevitably [has undergone changes] as they went from the spoken to the written word, so of course there is no way that every word He spoke has been accurately passed on.
Still, this does not matter. The Dharma the Buddha taught back then, the treasury of teachings, has been translated so that we can use our pure wisdom to apprehend its meaning. We can use our own mind to experience its truth, to comprehend the state of mind the Buddha used. We can comprehend the Buddha’s original intent and resonate with the Buddha’s mind. We need to awaken to the Buddha’s intentions and resonate with the Buddha’s state of mind.
In this way, we can teach the Dharma and accommodate sentient beings. Times have changed and people’s states of mind have also undergone many transformations. When we comprehend the Buddha’s intent and what He wanted to say, we can accommodate sentient beings and go among people to teach the Dharma. In this way, our karma of body, speech and mind will benefit sentient beings. When we go among people, we teach by example. We help them see and hear so they can believe. This way, sentient beings will benefit both mentally and physically. “I was confused in the past, but now I have encountered the Dharma; I have understood and reflected on myself. I must quickly correct the direction of my life”. This is benefiting sentient beings. All sentient beings can change like this. This is what it means to transform sentient beings and bring them peace and joy, peace and joy in body and mind. Sentient beings live in this chaotic world, a turbulent world of temptations, so turbid that they can never seem to settle down. How can we help sentient beings settle down to find peace and stability? We must rely upon the true principles of the Buddha-Dharma to guide them, comfort them and bring peace and joy to sentient beings’ bodies and minds. This way, in their turbulent afflicted lives, they can find ways to settle down and accept the Buddha-Dharma. We put the Buddha-Dharma into practice while at the same time benefiting sentient beings. This is very important.
So, “This is known as fearless compassion”. As Bodhisattvas, we should be fearless and go among people with compassion. This is very important. So, “They merely exist due to causes and conditions and originate in delusion”.
They merely exist due to causes and conditions and originate in delusion, thus we speak of them. Bodhisattvas always take joy in contemplating such appearances of phenomena. This is known as the second place that Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas draw near to.
As sentient beings, we are like this. “It is due to causes and conditions” that delusion arises in sentient beings. In this turbulent and stormy world of temptations, where everything is very unclear, sentient beings are living in delusion. So, it is into this world of temptations that we go to teach the Dharma. We should “always take joy in contemplating such appearances of phenomena”. We must always be very meticulous, mindful and joyful in the way that we observe phenomena. We need to understand the Buddha’s intention and resonate with the Buddha-mind as well. We consider phenomena carefully and meticulously and constantly take joy in doing so. [In Chinese, this is written like] “permanence and joy”, [but here it is always taking joy”. This means spending a long time cherishing this teaching. When we are amidst phenomena, it makes a deep impression on us, so we come to experience how our daily living is inseparable from the Dharma. When we encounter external states, we must meticulously contemplate them; how do these appearances connect to the teachings? This too requires mindfulness.
In our daily living, everything our eyes come in contact with is merely forms and appearances. These sounds and forms are dusts; they are all just appearances. Amidst the dusts of sound and form, our minds become deluded. How do we find a way to analyze the cause of this delusion, to find the true principles from amidst this delusion? This requires us to think about the Dharma very mindfully and very meticulously, to think about it very carefully. We need to contemplate it very carefully. This is “always taking joy in contemplating such appearances of phenomena.”
We must always be this meticulous, over a very long period of time. This is called “always taking joy in contemplating. All of these worldly appearances then become true principles; they return to true principles. We need to be very mindful.
So, the appearances of phenomena, all these sounds, forms and appearances, are all encompassed by the Dharma. This is what we need to try to comprehend. “This is known as the second place that Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas draw near to.” We should be very mindful, think very carefully and meticulously, and “cultivate contemplation.” This is why we say, “Carrying firewood and water is also meditation.” Meditation is not limited to sitting meditation. We still need to enter [the world]. If we never enter the world, then how will we ever know its scenery? So, we must put these teachings into practice, but what mindset should we have while amidst temptations of this turbulent world? In this turbulent world of temptations, what can we do so that this turbulent world can transform into a peaceful and tranquil place. This requires us to be mindful.
The next [sutra] passage states, “At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke in verse. ‘if there are Bodhisattvas in the future evil world whose minds are without fear and who wish to teach this sutra, they should enter the places of practice and the places to draw near to.‘”
The Buddha already told us above of the things we should draw near to He had pretty much already told us that if we wish to draw near to these teachings, then there are certain situations we must first prevent ourselves from drawing near to.
He first said, “You should not draw near to these.” He told us to first prepare our state of mind. He let us know about the state of the world and about the way that people would be living. He had already finished that section. This was in the prose.
Next, because of its importance and profound meaning, the Buddha again repeated it in verse. He repeated it once again in order to advise us on how to uphold the Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy.
This repeated verse is intended to encourage and to reveal. He encourages us to carry out these Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy, and reveals the places in which our bodies and minds must peacefully abide.
Spiritual practice is not only about benefiting ourselves. Our spiritual practice must at the same time benefit others. We can see from the Chapter on Parables, through the Chapter on Faith and Understanding and through the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City that [the Buddha] continuously encouraged us to truly “give up the Small and turn to the Great,” to turn from the Small to the Great [Vehicle]. So, now we must put this into practice by moving toward the path of the Great Vehicle.
Yet, how do we walk this path of the Great Vehicle? He wanted to remind us how to do this. So, “He encourages us to carry out these Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy.” He wanted to help us uphold the sutra and transmit the Dharma, to be able to uphold it joyfully, without afflictions. So we must take “joy” in observing and thinking things through meticulously.
We talked about this before. Only through meticulous thinking and observation can we move forward and be able to attain peace of mind, be peaceful and free, be at ease, fearlessly move forward. The Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy are what enable us to move forward with peace of mind. He “revealed the places in which our bodies and minds must peacefully abide.” He wanted to guide us; with our body, what direction should we go in? How should we stabilize and settle our minds? He had previously spoken of appearances, of appearance, of non-appearance, of how everything is an appearance. He taught what He could. He did His best in teaching, but was what He taught enough? Actually it was not enough. There was much that He was not able to teach. There is much that is beyond the reach of language. We can only experience it for ourselves. So, we must truly “take joy in contemplation” and try to experience all of the many teachings and the ways put them to use among people with their myriad afflictions. How do we give teachings to them? We must truly be mindful. There are many teachings that we still need to be mindful of.
At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke in verse: The Tathagata wished to reveal to us, in the future evil world after He entered Parinirvana, the places newly-inspired Bodhisattvas must practice in and draw near to. These are the Four Practices of Bringing. Peace and Joy, the foremost methods of practice. He reiterated what He described before and expounded it in verse, hoping for us to swiftly realize peace, joy and liberation and the tranquil, wondrous, pure and ever-lasting path.
“At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke in verse.” The Buddha wanted to reveal to them how, after He had entered Parinirvana, in [the future] evil world, newly-inspired Bodhisattvas would be able to put the teachings into practice. Of course, He did not have to worry about those experienced Bodhisattvas, for their spiritual aspirations were firm and they profoundly understood the Buddha-Dharma. However, the Buddha-Dharma needs to continually be passed down forever. This is to teach sentient beings that anyone can enter this state of enlightenment, but we must go through the Bodhisattva-path. Only through practicing the Bodhisattva-path can we become thoroughly enlightened. We must awaken in order not to regress again. So, we must take the Bodhisattva-path. He hoped that everyone would give rise to this aspiration with the Buddha-Dharma and had formed “initial aspirations”. When they first encountered the Buddha-Dharma, through the Small Vehicle teachings, they already understood the Buddha-Dharma’s truth. He began encourage them further by saying, “You understand the Buddha-Dharma and know how difficult the Buddha-Dharma is encounter. You wish to liberate yourselves so that you no longer are subject to cyclic existence. If you do return here, it will be journeying on your vows to deliver sentient beings.”
So, He encouraged them to from great aspirations. Everyone had gone through the process of forming initial aspirations. How could those newly-inspired Bodhisattvas keep moving forward? What kind of people should they associate with? The things they should not draw near to had already been talked about earlier. What things should they draw near to? What teachings and direction should they head in? “They should draw near to places that practice the Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy.” This tells what kind of virtuous friends to draw near to as well as the four ways of practice that will bring peace and joy. These will help us to walk this Bodhisattva-path smoothly, steadily, in peace and in freedom. So, “He reiterated what He described before,” that is, He wished to “restate His meaning”. He again elaborated in verse; He taught it again. He taught it one more time in detail, “hoping for us to swiftly realize peace, joy and liberation and the tranquil, wondrous, pure and every-lasting path.” He hoped everyone would quickly understand, hoped their minds would quickly settle down so that they might become liberated. He wanted our minds to become tranquil and still, so we could comprehend this wondrousness, this extremely profound, beginningless and endless pure land of wondrous permanence and purity. He wanted us to be able to return to our nature of True Suchness.
So, this passage also says, “If there are Bodhisattvas in the future evil world.” This is repeating the previous passage [in verse]. “These are Buddha-children who practice the Bodhisattva-path after the Buddha enters Parinirvana in the evil world of turbidity.” After the Buddha entered Parinirvana, how would those disciples practice the Bodhisattva-path in that turbid and evil world? It then goes on to say, “whose minds are without fear and who wish to teach this sutra.”
We still remember Manjusri Bodhisattva asking, “If the future world will be so turbid and evil, if the future world we encounter will not only be a society of turbid and evil people but a world where even bhiksus themselves will slander the Great Vehicle Dharma, if it is like this, then what shall we do? If we will encounter these things, it would be better if the Buddha explains to us how to avoid such turbid and evil situations. How are we to face this?” It was because Manjusri Bodhisattva asked Him that the Buddha began to teach everyone. I am sure you all still remember.
So, it talked before about fear. How could they get rid of the fear in their minds? He wanted their minds to abide peacefully. So, if we wish to practice the Bodhisattva-path, our minds must first be fearless. We must be prepared. Our minds must first be prepared, so that we will not be afraid. “You wish to engage in spiritual practice, but practicing this path is extremely difficult!” Those who had formed aspirations to practice it told Him, “We are not afraid!” “You are not afraid, but will this last forever? You cannot be unafraid only now. This practice of ours is very difficult!” “It’s true! We are not afraid!” They told Him three times “We are not afraid!” before the Buddha’s mind was truly at ease. However difficult it would be, they were willing to go among people, accept that responsibility. Their minds were without fear. They knew how difficult the practice would be, knew that this was a turbulent world filled with temptations, yet they were still willing. They knew, so they would be cautious; they would protect their minds.
So, their “minds are without fear and [they] wish to teach this sutra.” They had formed aspirations! “Those who have formed Bodhicitta and wish to teach this Wondrous Lotus Sutra should use their fearless state of mind to abide in the ground of patience, so their minds will not be startled or disturbed”
Since we have formed aspirations for the path of the Great Vehicle, we must not only listen, but also teach. This is what it means to forms aspirations, to form Bodhisattva-aspirations. Because the difficulties we encounter when we try to uphold this sutra in a turbid and evil world will be so severe, we must not only teach it but also put it into practice. The difficulties we encounter will be severe, so we “should use a fearless state of mind.” We clearly know the difficulties, but we still move ahead fearlessly. So, “We abide in the ground of patience.” When we meet with difficult circumstances, we must patiently endure. Our minds must abide in the ground of patience. We need patience in the ground of our mind. So, “Their mind will not be startled or disturbed. They should enter the places of practice and the places to draw near to.”
They should enter the places of practice and the places to draw near to: This is what the previous text was explaining about perfecting all superior practices. These can only be reached through the [practices of] Hearers, Solitary Realizers and Bodhisattvas. These are Bodhisattvas’ places of practice and places to draw near to.
We should enter the “places of practice”. We cannot just talk about it, we must put it into practice! This is what the Buddha had already told us. We can see how, form the Louts Sutra, there are so many people who are now putting this into practice. They are all Living Bodhisattvas who do not fear the hardships involved. They are in the places of practice, have “entered the places of practice” This is something we can bear witness to. We are continually drawing near, drawing near to sentient beings, drawing near to virtuous friends.
So, the previous text spoke of “all superior practices.” This is the superior conduct that we have already begun to gradually learn. So, we “perfect” this, which means we must go through the Hearer practice. Once we come to understand the Dharma, we then go through the Solitary Realizer stage, where we come to understand causes and conditions. When we already understand the principle of karmic causes and conditions, we then begin moving toward the Bodhisattva-path. If we have not gone through these stages, then we really will not have any way to shoulder such heavy responsibilities in this world. So, we must work according to guidelines as we engage in our spiritual practice; then we will be able to enter these “Bodhisattvas’ places of practice”.
Actually, to enter these “Bodhisattvas’ places of practice,” we must go through this process. We have gone through them, have already heard the Dharma and understood the principles. So, we rejoice and willingly accept them. We are willing to dedicate ourselves, willing to give of ourselves. Everyone goes through these stages. These are the “Bodhisattvas’ places of practice and places to draw near to.”
So, “They always distance themselves from kings as well as princes, great ministers and officials, those who engage in brutal and dangerous amusements as well as candalas and heretical practitioners and Brahmacarins.”
We have already seen and understood this. The Buddha was telling us that we should not associate with these people, that we should be wary of them. We must be on our guard. If we wish to practice the Bodhisattva-path, we must undergo a great many tests, but if we want to avoid some of these, then we should stay clear of kings, princes, great ministers and officials. This is because when it comes to kings, anyone who is called a king has great power. He has great might, he wields great power; the authority of a whole country lies in his hands. That is why it was said in the past, “When the king gives in to anger, corpses pile up everywhere.” If you are one who leads others, if your mind deviates and you start a war, it will be a tragic situation for your people. People like these cause calamites. So, their power is so great and they have so much authority that we should not associate with them. Those we draw near to could be powerful kings, they could be princes, heirs to the throne or ministers who rely upon their authority. Princes have authority; they rely on their power, as do the relatives of kings and so on. They all have the chance to wield power. So, we should not contrive affinities with them, nor with regional authorities, the provincial authorities or whomever. We do not deliberately try to form connections with them just because we think they have power. We do not think to make friends with or get close to someone because we want to gain power and influence. We must never wish to rely on the power of others. There is no need to rely on their power. We just treat them as we would anyone else; we need not contrive affinities with them.
So, if we try to draw near to them, there will always be the fear that we may “rely on their power and trouble others.” “This will increase our arrogance and harm our virtue.” This is what we wish to avoid. We do not wish to rely on the power of others by associating with those who have power. We cannot do this. If we associate with them like this, we will develop the habit of relying on others’ power and then use that power to oppress other people. We should not do this. If we are like this, this will increase our arrogance over time and it will damage our virtue. So, we must be very careful.
They always distance themselves from kings as well as princes, great ministers and officials: Kings have majesty and power, while princes, heirs to the throne and great ministers rely upon their authority. Each of the regional officials has their own authority. The fear is that by drawing near to them, we will rely on their power and trouble others. This will increase our arrogance and harm our virtue.
As for “those who engage in brutal and dangerous amusements,” these are brutal games and dangerous entertainment. There may be these, as well as “candalas”. We talked about these before. These are all deviant arts of the world, those who play with knives and weapons. Then there are the “slaughterers and butchers.” The slaughterers are those who engage in the trade of killing animals. We talked about all this before. The minds of these people are unwholesome. They have no compassion. We should avoid them. "He instructed us to distance ourselves from them.” We should avoid them and “never draw near to them.”
Those who engage in brutal and dangerous amusements as well as candalas: This refers to worldly deviant arts, such as playing with knives and weapons and other amusements. Slaughterers, butchers and the like have unwholesome minds. He instructed us to distance ourselves from them and to never draw near to them.
As for “heretical practitioners and Brahmacarins,” non-Buddhists may also be monastics. There are monastic Brahmacarins, but among these Brahmacarins, there are many who do not follow the same path. Some follow worldly desires or practice hedonism. Some others are in opposition to this, so they are all always arguing and discriminating. These are the Lokayatas, Vama-Lokayatas and so on. There are many of these heretical teachings. We must not think, “I will transform them.” Our abilities are still insufficient. Though we may intend to transform them, we instead end up being transformed by them. So, we should never overestimate our abilities or be arrogant or proudly ambitious.
Heretical practitioners and Brahmacarins: There are non-Buddhist monastics who practices as Brahmacarins. Because these people are not on the same path, we should not make plans with them and should never draw near to them.
We still need to put effort into absorbing the Buddha-Dharma, into putting the teachings into practice, going among people to understand their afflictions. When it comes to helping sentient beings with their ignorance and afflictions, we have plenty of teachings that we can use to teach them with our speech. This is easier. So, we should avoid things that we should avoid, not be arrogant or try to rely on power. The most terrifying thing is to become arrogant or to rely on the power of others. So, the Buddha wanted us to distance ourselves from kings, princes, ministers, officials and so on and from brutal and dangerous amusements. We should distance ourselves from all of these; we should avoid them completely. If we want to remain healthy in body and mind, we should completely avoid them. So, when it comes to the Three Flawless Studies, the precepts enable us to guard against wrongs and stop evil. They help us to settle our minds so we will have a way to exercise our wisdom among people. When we go among people, their afflictions can increase our experience and understanding. What kind of situation is the world in? What methods can we use to train ourselves to be able to transform sentient beings? If we are to transform sentient beings, then we must always think meticulously about this. We must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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