Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Being Faultless in Our Karma of Speech (讚歎佛德 口無諸過)
Date: June.26.2019
“We can make offerings with our karma of speech, body and mind. To make offerings with our karma of body, we must use our body to pay our respects to the Three Treasures with utmost sincerity. To make offerings with our karma of speech, we must use our speech to praise the Tathagata’s countless merits and virtues with utmost sincerity. To make offerings with our karma of mind, we must use our mind to contemplate the magnificence of the Buddha’s characteristics with utmost sincerity.”
We must be very clear about these. As the Buddha’s disciples, are we not here to engage in spiritual practice? At the start of our self-cultivation, what is very obvious to us and others is how we interact with people and deal with matters. When we have a conversation with others, every time certain people speak, they may always say something bad first before they say what they really want to say. Or perhaps, when they finish talking, [they always say] something that makes people uncomfortable after hearing it. For some people, this is their habitual tendency. For them, once they receive the Buddha’s teachings, they will change. When it comes to change, the quickest change that others can feel is with actions and speech. What others quickly notice are actions. People may improve the way they walk, knowing to let others pass first instead of forcing their way to walk in front of others. They may know to care for the elderly, the weak, women and children and may know to be courteous and help guide elders. This is different from in the past.
In the past, their demeanor might have been as bold as brass. In order to walk in front of others, they might not have hesitated to force others out of the way. It is different now. The way they talk has changed. Their conduct has also changed. These people seem to have changed. For themselves, they could also be thinking this way. “Yes! I truly have changed.” Now, when they see people, they will naturally move aside or give up their seats [to others]. When they see elders, they give rise to a reverent mindset. When they see the elderly, the weak and women, they give rise to a respectful mindset. It is as if they are changing without even trying. They may feel a little uncomfortable, but they are very joyful.
What about the karma of speech? They also feel a change here. Others said [in the past], “This person never has anything nice to say. What he says is true, it is just that what he says at the beginning and end makes people very uncomfortable when they hear it. It makes people uncomfortable.” Now, what they say makes a lot of sense, and there are no problems with what they say at the beginning and the end. This makes people enjoy drawing closer to them. This is the karma of body and speech.
Next is our karma of mind. We give offerings through the karma of body. When we give of ourselves and everyone is happy, this is called making offerings. In order to give of ourselves with our bodies, in truth, the change starts from the mind. This shift in mindset is the karma of mind. Why is it that the karma of mind undergoes this change? How is it that people can change to the point where they can give of themselves with their body in this way? Not only are they courteous and supportive of others, they can also help people. What is going on with these people? What are they thinking? Others can very much accept their conduct now, and when others see they are doing good deeds, they want to follow and do [good deeds] as well. Our karma of mind affects our karma of body. Our perspective can unnoticeably change our behavior. When others see us, without noticing, they will give rise to joy. For ourselves, we also feel the difference between the past and present. In the past, wherever we went, people did not want to interact with us. Wherever we go now, everyone is very friendly toward us. This is what it feels like. So, when it comes to this “mind,” when our thoughts stir, our body begins to take action.
So, [to make] offerings through karma of body is to use our bodies “with utmost sincerity”. When our minds are like this, then the actions we take are such that we give with utmost sincerity. This is not fake, nor is it done to impress others. From the bottom of our hearts, we are willing to give. By “[using] our bodies to pay respect,” we naturally “pay respect to the Three Treasures.”
We must pay respect to the Three Treasures out of sincerity. We cannot simply follow others and prostrate when others do it. We must have true sincerity when we pay respect to the Buddha. We should be able to enter the Buddha Hall and pay our respect to the Buddha while understanding the meaning of paying respect to the Buddha. When it comes to paying respect to the Buddha, the Buddha is but an image. What we truly pay respect to is the Buddha’s Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya emanates from our nature of True Suchness. Everyone intrinsically has this nature of True Suchness. So, we ought not to merely pay respect to the image of the Buddha. Every person is truly a Buddha we should be grateful and respectful toward. So, we see that people who pay respects to the Buddha are more respectful toward others. Whenever they see anyone, they put their palms together [and say], “I am grateful.” These are people who reverently pay respect to others in their everyday lives. This is not to mention that when they visit temples, they will pay respect to the Buddha. Their minds and bodies are united. It is the same for our karma of the mouth. Our karma of mind influences our karma of body. When it comes to our mouths, it is one of many organs in our body. So, “To make offerings with our karma of mouth, we must use our speech with utmost sincerity.” Having utmost sincerity means expressing our intentions. When it comes to our karma of the mouth and what we said in the past, we must continue to work hard to improve ourselves. We improve [our speech] until everyone can accept [what we say] now and until we ourselves are at ease. This sincerity comes from our hearts. Once we change ourselves, we become naturally sincere. This is [our karma of] body, speech and mind. How are we able to change? We must have sincerity. So, we “praise the Tathagata.” If we were to make offerings through our karma of speech and use our speech with utmost sincerity, we will naturally praise the Tathagata in this way. We are able to give to others, not to mention feel sincere gratitude toward the Buddha. When it comes to our minds and bodies, the effect that the Buddha-Dharma has on us is great. We are always very grateful that the Buddha taught us the Dharma in this way and that the teachings bring such principles together. Such principles can continue to be passed on and inspire us throughout the present. When we are able to understand the principles and explore the origins of the Dharma, we will feel that we lack nothing and that we have an abundance.
So, we must be grateful to the Tathagata. We praise the Tathagata’s wisdom, and we praise His compassion. We praise that the Tathagata, for countless kalpas, returned again and again for the sake of sentient beings. We must be reverent toward this; we must have faith and praise the Buddha for doing this all along. So, when it comes to the Buddha, we praise the Buddha’s infinite merits and virtues. We may not know how to praise the Buddha. The [best] way is by putting [the Dharma] into action. The Buddha has only one mission. His one great mission for which He came to this world is to teach the Bodhisattva Way. He hoped that everyone would be able to understand the true principles and put them into practice. [He hoped for] everyone to become Bodhisattvas and go among [people] with sincerity, thereby bringing this spiritual training ground to fruition. So, all sentient begins are Bodhisattvas. [We should see] all beings as Bodhisattvas who help us compete our spiritual cultivation. For this reason, we must be sincerely grateful, reverent and respectful. If we can do this, we will naturally be very joyful when we go among people. We will be very joyful in giving of ourselves because we want to praise the Tathagata’s immeasurable merits and virtues and repay Him. We already know the principles. How can we repay the Tathagata? We do it by completing the Buddha’s mission, His one great cause, which is to teach the Bodhisattva Way. It is not that we are to teach others; we must teach ourselves, countless “selves.” We should not think that when it comes to the Bodhisattva Way the Buddha taught, only the speaker needs to accept the teachings.
In truth, the speaker must accept the teachings, but the listener should accept them too. The speaker has already applied the Buddha’s teachings, spirit and ideals to themselves. What this means is that the most important [thing] is to pass down [the teachings] to the first, second, third person all the way to the fiftieth person or the fifteenth generation. We ought to be able to do this and have no deviations in the principles as we pass on the teachings one generation after another. This requires countless people who understand the Buddha’s intentions. This [Dharma] is what the Buddha wishes to pass on to us and others so that it can be widely available in every generation. The Buddha always hoped that countless people would accept [the Dharma] both in the first and the second generation. He hoped that it not would be only between or only within the generations, but that [the Dharma] would be widespread both within and between them. He hoped that the Dharma would spread far and wide. If so many people can accept [the Dharma], this is truly repaying the grace of the Buddha. Repaying the grace of the Buddha means that sentient begins are able to have faith in and accept [His] teachings. This is truly repaying the grace of the Buddha.
So, “To make offerings with our karma of mind, we must use our minds with utmost sincerity.” With this karma of mind, we must have a mindset of utmost sincerity to reverently make offerings to the Buddha. This mindset must be one of true sincerity. So, we “contemplate the magnificence of the Buddha’s characteristics.” We must contemplate with sincerity. Although the Buddha left the world over 2000 years ago, we must contemplate [the Buddha’s] characteristics. Why do we talk about both “characteristics” and “contemplate”? The Chinese character for “contemplate” includes the character of “characteristics” on top and the character for “heart” on the bottom. I often tell everyone this. When we look at the Buddha’s image, we think about the Buddha’s appearance. Although the Buddha is no longer here, when we see the Buddha’s image, it is as if the Buddha is still here. We ought to imagine that the Buddha is still in this world. This is because the Buddha is the kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings. Furthermore, He is the guiding teacher of the Three Realms, the desire, form and formless realms. It does not matter if we are in the material world or the world of our thoughts. Whether it is our thoughts and imagination or it is a person in real life, we must mindfully [contemplate] the Buddha’s appearance which makes us give rise to reverence; we must give rise to such a [reverent] mindset. As we engage in spiritual practice, we pay respect to the Buddha with sincerity. We must use our love and our hearts. Because the Buddha’s appearance is so dignified, we must contemplate the dignity of the Buddha’s appearance and sincerely pay respects to Him. This is very important.
This is related to the upcoming passage. In our threefold karma, if we can change our conduct, then that is great. Next, are we able to easily change our karma of speech? Is it necessary to change? We must now mindfully examine this. When it comes to our speech and body, if our body takes action, its movement is very evident. However, when it comes to our karma of speech, there is no need to have much movement. Just by sitting and talking with others, [our speech] can create karma. Is it virtuous or evil karma? Every time we speak, we create karma. This is very scary. Through our speech, we can create a lot of negative karma. We must mindfully seek to realize this. Why is it that [we create] karma throughout our body? When it comes to our body, speech and mind, do our body and mind create more severe karma than our speech? Regarding our speech, through our words, we influence people’s mindsets. Our speech can instigate instability in society. The karma of speech can cause an entire country to suffer from calamities. This is also a matter of the karma of speech. Also, when it comes to our mouth, how many lives have we consumed? Our mouth is [just a small opening], but it can also create a lot of negative karma.
Negative karma and evil are connected. Karma of speech: This is gossip, harsh speech, lies and flattery. This is the gateway to suffering and the origin of misfortune. We know that karma of speech is unstoppable because of harsh speech, lies, flattery and gossip.
“Negative karma and evil are connected”. Alas! Karma of speech creates evil! A casual remark can result in disharmony in families and society. This is the kind of karma [it can create]. Therefore, karma of speech and evil are connected. So, exactly what is karma of speech? It is “gossip, harsh speech, lies and flattery”. Take gossip for example. “Let me tell you what someone said about you just now.” ”What did he say about me?” “He said you had such a past before. [He talked about] your relationship with a certain someone and how you actually did these things in the past.” “My past is my secret. Why would he talk about it to everyone here”. This person does not feel happy; he is not happy with the one who talked about this past. This causes friction between the two of them. “Since you talked about me; then I will also talk about you. He talked about me; does he not know what his own past was like?” He then turns to talk about [this person’s] past. When [a third person] now hears both sides, he will go tell that [first] person, “You said something about him that other day. In truth, that was no what had happened. At that time, it was because you did this thing that he did this [in response]”. The other person would feel, “What I said was that he did this in the past, but he has changed now. I did not have ill intentions. Why did it become this way? Why is he hurting me so?” Naturally, there will be friction between people. The karma of speech of the person between [the two in conflict] is that of gossip. One person says something to the first person, [John Smit] and then turns around to say something else to the second person, [John Doe]. Both are very unhappy after hearing about it. Just like this, two people were very good friends who would tell each other everything, but with the third person instigating and gossiping, this leads to more and more harsh speech. When John Smith talks about John Doe, he is harsher than when John Doe takes about John Smith”. So, when John Doe hears what Jong Smith said, he will say a little more. It is not that only one ore t wo people will hear it. This can lead to interpersonal conflicts. This will not only affect two people, but a whole group of people.
In an organization, if there are such people who cause interpersonal conflicts, then the organization action work with unity, harmony and love. [An organization of] people who are engaging in spiritual practice cannot have people do this, stir up interpersonal confliction, by say nothing of regular organizations. This is something we must learn. Are we to say that it is the fault of the person who stirred up the interpersonal conflict? Or are we to say that it is the fault of John Smith and John Doe?
In truth, the greatest mistake is us talking to heart what we hear. If it is negative speech, why are we listening to so much of other people’s business? We do not need to listen to it. Even if we did hear it, we have ways [to deal with it]; we can persuade them to be get along harmoniously. If we can persuade them to get along, then we can end this conflict of speech. This is what is right. Otherwise, we may replay with more harsh speech. Originally, everyone may be very harmonious, but as we listen, we may get upset on behalf of others and utter harsh words. Furthermore, after we utter harsh words, people beside us may hear them [and say], “I think I have heard this”. They think they have heard [about it] but have not truly heard [about it] “There seems to be such a story. I don’t know if it is correct or not”. But that is what I heard, and I am telling you. This is being untrue. It is called “lying”. When a lie spreads, it spreads wider and wider. And when people embellish what they heard, this makes it even worse. Some people [think], “It is true that it is not right to say this, nor is it right to say that”. So, we do not have to say these things; we can make it sound better. This is flattery! To one person, they say, “You are not the one who is wrong”. I think you are a great person, and so on. They say this to this person, and to the other, “You are not wrong, I think you are great! See, you have also done this and that!” This is how it is, we align ourselves with one side and criticize the other side. Everything we say is flattering; we do not allow people to reflect upon themselves. We must know that to say good words to others, we must first be very clear on the matter. After we are very clear, we must use [skillful] means. We must have sufficient [grasp of] the principles to settle [the person’s mind]. “Regarding what happened, I tried to listen [to the whole story]”. After listening from your [viewpoint], “I found out [what happened]” I am telling you, he had no ill intentions when he said this He intended to praise you for how you were able to change your life, which is very admirable. This was why he talked about your past. Look! You are doing so well now. “These principles are very simple! You see, the Buddha also talks about the karmic law of cause and effect.” “[When we talk about how] someone was wronged, we should also [look at] what the past causes were, So, if you listened mindfully, “John Doe had no ill intentions toward you,” He has kind intentions toward you and wanted to praise you, There is no need for you to be upset, Don’t listen to what happened in the middle, The friendship that unites two people is the best proof. Everything is fine!” This is what true good speech is.
Whether it is gossip, harsh speech, lies or flattery, these four [kinds of speech] are wrong. So, “This is gateway to suffering.” Our mouth causes us a lot of suffering and gives us a lot of afflictions. Things we say may cause interpersonal conflicts that in turn give us many afflictions. So, other than eating, our mouths also stir up many things that cause us to be very afflicted. So, it is “the origin of misfortune”. It is misfortune, it gets us in trouble! What we say may cause disasters. When it comes to our body, speech and mind, other than our bodies and the organs of our bodies, it is this mouth of ours [that causes trouble]. This mouth of ours creates much severe karma. There is a lot of trouble that originates from the mouth This is “the origin of misfortune”.
So, “We know that karma of speech is unstoppable because of harsh speech, lies, flattery and gossip.” This means that we never stop creating our karma of speech. When it comes to gossiping and instigating conflict, it seems that we cannot stop ourselves from it. Whenever we open our mouths, we speak harshly. It can be very difficult to change our harsh speech. We may enjoy instigating conflicts and carelessly speak falsehood. This could be our habitual tendency. These false words make people look down on us.
“Whatever this person says, you can listen but do not take it seriously”. This is what false words [do]. False words cause people to lose faith. For someone to be respected by others, they must be trustworthy. Whatever we say, we must be able to fulfill. What was said must be true words. We must not speak false words. We do not need to speak words of flattery; true words are more important.
So, flattery and true words are opposites When it comes to true words, although we must speak tactfully and harmoniously, [the words] must be truthful. As for flattery, we may praise or comfort people; when something is not that good, we say that it is great. In this way, while in front of other people, we try to make them happy. This kind of speech is also very hurtful. If we only know how to say nice words but cannot follow through on anything, then all we can do is say things that sound nice. This kind of person will be looked down on. Lies and flattery will cause people to look down on us, while gossip and harsh speech will cause people to dislike us. So, we must be very mindful. Just by opening our mouth to speak, we can cause many others to be unhappy or we might create severe trouble.
So, if we have such faults, we must immediately stop them. “We know that karma of speech is unstoppable because harsh speech, lies, flattery and gossip” begin. So, we must quickly stop our karma of speech so that we will not continue to engage in harsh speech, lies, flattery and gossip. We must no longer engage in these. So, everyone must be very mindful.
We have the Threefold Karma. We have the [karmas of] body and speech, and even deeper is the [karma of] our minds. But when it comes to our minds, others cannot see what we are thinking. It is expressed through our bodies. Evil people manifest evil in four ways. What they express through speech are the four things that we just talked about, harsh speech, lies, flattery and gossip. This is very evident among people and are the result of us not taming our minds well. People cannot see our minds. What they see is what we express outwards. So, we must be very mindful. We must be very mindful of these principles; these greatly affect our self-cultivation. We must be mindful.
The previous sutra passage says, “Their merits and virtues are such that when they are reborn, they will be able to live in the same place as dharani-Bodhisattvas. They will have sharp capabilities and wisdom. For millions of lifetimes, they will never become mute.”
This is to do with our speech. This has to do with how we change our speech. When it comes to the Dharma, we started with body and mind and continued [turning them] in this way. Now, we will talk about speech. When it comes to our mouth, we must mindfully seek to understand the mouth. “Their breath will never be foul”. We should speak well and speak properly. The mouth can [be used to] spread the Dharma. How we express ourselves to everyone all has to do with the mouth. So, the mouth is a very important organ of ours. Everyone ought to be very mindful. We must be reverent toward this sutra and be able to understand the Threefold Karma of body, speech and mind. So, we must concentrate and focus our bodies and minds on the principles. Then, we will naturally speak with a pleasant tone. We always say that when our “manner of speaking is very good,” everyone will be very joyful in listening. Now, [the sutra] will describe the many ailments of the mouth.
“Their breath will never be foul. Their tongues will always be free of ailments, and their mouths will be free of ailments as well. Their teeth will never be dirt or black, yellow or gapped, and they will never fall out or become uneven or crooked”.
Just inside our mouths alone, there can be so many [ailments]. So, we must be even more mindful. From the many words that appear [in the sutra], we know that when it comes to the mouth, there are many ways to describe it.
Their breath will never be foul: This describes how magnificent their blessed appearances will be. “Never foul” means that their breath will always be fragrant. Because their breath carries good [words], it will never be foul.
“Their breath will never be foul”. This is describing “how magnificent their blessed appearances will be”. For some people, when they speak, the come really close to others when they talk. When they speak, we hear them with our ears, and from our noses, we smell their breath, which [may be] foul smelling. When people communicate with each other, this is also a problem. However, these people do not have this problem; “their breath will always be fragrant”. If we get very close [to others] as we talk, we must take good care of our oral hygiene. We should keep our speech “clean” [as well], as some people say. So, “Because their breath carries goo [words], it will never be foul”. Let us listen to this very mindfully.
Their tongues will always be free of ailments: When people slander others, their tongues will shrivel up. Because they praise others in the present, they will be free of ailments. Their tongues will always be free of ailments, thus they will be adept at speech.
When people slander others, “their tongues will shrivel up”. This refers to those who, when they speak, often say the wrong things and things that are hard for people to accept; [it refers to] this kind of people. People in the past would say, “With the way you say things, are you not afraid that your tongue will shrivel up?” This is what this passage is referring to. So, “Because they praise others in the present, they will be free of ailments”. Our “tongues will always be free of ailments”. Since we do not slander others, our tongues will always be free of ailments and when we speak, people are willing to listen to everything we say. We only say what is right and not what is wrong, so we do not speak for too long. Everything we say right now are good words and are what people need to hear. So, we do not have this problem. Our “tongues will always be free of ailments, thus [we] will be adept at speech”. Then, the way we speak can be very clear and useful to others.
Their mouths will be free of ailments as well: Their mouths will be free of ailments, for they maintain abstinence from lies, flattery, gossip and harsh speech, which are severe karmic transgressions. By genuinely teaching others to abstain from these four transgressions, their mouths will be free of ailments.
“Their mouths will be free of ailments. This is when “they maintain abstinence from lies” and do not engage in “flattery”. This is [what it means] for our mouths be free of ailments. This is what we must uphold. There are also “gossip and harsh speech”; we must pay close attention to these. If we commit these four kinds [of speech], we commit “severe karmic transgressions”. When it comes to lies, flattery, gossip and harsh speech, certainly, we must pay attention to not have these severe karmic transgressions. What we ought to speak are truthful words. Our mouths are capable of speaking. Other than [taking in] nutrients for our bodies, [our mouths] should truly use this nourishment of the Buddha-Dharma to teach and guide others. This is the way we should be; we should not use lies, flattery and gossip to hurt others. We ought to benefit people and speak the truth.
Therefore, if we stay away from these four, then our “mouths will be free from ailments”. We must safeguard our truthful words well. If we can safeguard these truthful words well, then naturally our mouths will be free of ailments.
Next, we talk about the teeth. “Their teeth will never be dirty or black”.
Their teeth will never be dirty or black: Unwholesome speech is symbolized by dirty or blackened teeth. Teaching others about goodness is symbolized by clean, white teeth. “From ‘Their teeth will never…’ onward” [the Buddha describes how their teeth will be] white, clean, even and close together.
“Unwholesome speech is symbolized by dirty or blackened teeth”. When we speak, if all we say are unkind words, it is as if our teeth are blackened. This is an analogy, that our teeth are blackened. Since we do not say kind things, the inside of our mouths is black. “Teaching others about goodness is symbolized by clean, white teeth”. When we are talking refuge, we always say we turn away from darkness toward the light. This means to not have evil but to have goodness, to turn away from darkness toward the light. “From ‘Their teeth will never…’ onward” refers to how our teeth should not be blackened nor have any issues. [In this case, our teeth are] “white, clean, even and close together”. Our teeth are very even, white and clean.
[Never be] yellow or gapped: When people love to discuss vulgar matters, their teeth will turn yellow, because [the matters] are not true. Gaps come from falsities. When people are truthful, their teeth will be even and close together.
“[They will never be] yellow or gapped” means that none of our teeth are yellow or falling out, nor do they have gaps. They are very close together and evenly spaced. “When people love to discuss vulgar matters, their teeth will turn yellow.” When people enjoy saying bad things about others, this means that their teeth will be yellow. “[The matters] are not true.” They are not the truth. So, we compare [discussing vulgar matters] to their teeth being very unevenly spaced. This means all they talk about are inappropriate matters. So, “Gaps come from falsities.” “Gaps” are due to falsities. So, if [our teeth] are not yellow and gapped, this is because of our truthfulness. Our teeth are very clean and are not gapped. Therefore, they are very even and closely spaced. This is [because] they speak kind words. We must be very clear on this. In order for our mouths to be free from ailments, this is what we must be like.
And they will never fall out: When people engage in improper speech to deceive and confuse others, their teeth will fall out. From “and they will never” onward, [the Buddha describes how their teeth will be] strong and straight.
“[Their teeth] will never fall out. When people engage in improper speech to deceive and confuse others, their teeth will fall out.” That [our teeth] never fall out means they are still very even. If we engage in improper speech to deceive and confuse others, then our teeth will fall out. This is an analogy. We should mindfully seek to understand this.
Or become uneven or crooked: When people fail to speak in an orderly fashion, their teeth will become uneven. When people fail to speak straightforwardly, their teeth will become crooked. Because they praise this sutra in the present and advise others to listen to it and accept it without committing any transgressions of speech, [their teeth] will all be perfect.
[Their teeth will not] “become uneven or crooked. When people fail to speak in an orderly fashion, their teeth will become uneven.” Their teeth may be uneven. The previous passage says, the teeth are very evenly spaced and not crooked. Now this saying that when someone’s teeth are not even and are at different heights, then the person will not be very orderly when speaking either. It will also be very difficult for us to listen to their words. This is [the meaning of] their teeth being crooked. This is an analogy. “They praise this sutra in the present and advise others to listen to it and accept it without committing any transgressions of speech.” If we praise the sutra now and advise others to listen to and accept the sutra, then our mouths would be free from all the imperfections mentioned before; there would not be any. This is a description. It is describing those who revile others or those who retort people who revile them. These are descriptions for those people. So, every one of us must be very careful when we speak. Our speech comes from our mouths.
So, when it comes to the descriptions later on [in the sutra] of the features of the body and so on, there are many kinds of descriptions. So, we must be mindful. In our daily lives, our demeanor and appearance must also come from how we express ourselves in our interactions with others. For others to feel that we are very easy on the eyes and ears and that it is easy for them to accept us in their minds, this requires that we first adjust our own Threefold Karma of body, speech and mind. Then, when others see us, they will be very willing to draw near to us in body, speech and mind and will praise us. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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