Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Transform the Ordinary Mind into the Buddha-mind(轉凡夫心為清淨佛心)
Every day we are sincere and diligent in learning Buddhism. We should know that “Learning Buddhism is our core duty” and “being mindful of the Buddha is mastering a skill”.
Every day we say we are Buddhists. What are Buddhists? There is a saying, “transform the ordinary mind into the Buddha-mind”. This is the true essence of Buddhism.
To learn Buddha’s way, we must know that it’s fundamental to return to our intrinsic nature. For a long time, we’ve been in the cyclic existence of the Six Realms. Our pure intrinsic nature is like a stray child who has wandered off and does not know to come back.
We have now heard the Buddha’s calling, so we should know that it is time to return to our original home. This is our core responsibility. To recover our true nature, we must find a path to master our skills. Learning Buddhism is our core duty and being mindful of the Buddha is mastering a skill. We need to bring back this skill we once had.
Learning Buddhism is our core responsibility. Being mindful of the Buddha is mastering a skill. By transforming our ordinary minds into the Buddha-mind and returning to our intrinsic nature, we are truly learning Buddhism.
The path of Tzu Chi is about the cultivation of loving-kindness and compassion. A kind person brings joy. A compassionate person relieves suffering. Kindness is embodied in our mission to teach the wealthy: to know the suffering of the poor, to develop compassion, and to use their resources to help those in hardship.
On another level, we are awakening the love within our hearts. Material wealth is tangible. Spiritual wealth is intangible. Being rich with love and kindness is our inherent and true nature.
Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings do not differ. We inherently possess the same wisdom and great love as the Buddha. These qualities are powerful when awakened. Within every person lies a compassionate strength equal to the Buddha’s.
Loving-kindness is about teaching the rich, inspiring them to consciously share their material wealth & realize the inner power of infinite love. Compassion is the mission to relieve suffering. Some people suffer in their minds. Others suffer in daily living. If we can arouse the boundless power of compassion within, so as to remove tangible and in tangible forms of suffering, it is called “relief”. Relief is a form of compassion.
Starting from Hualien, Tzu Chi volunteers now have spread across the world to exercise their ability to inspire love and help the suffering. There are many stories of gratitude. Each story teaches us a lesson about life.
Spiritual cultivation takes place when we know our duty and practice our skills. Our duty is to sincerely learn the Buddha’s way. Practicing our skills is constantly transforming our ordinary thoughts and afflictions into the pure mindset of Buddha’s and sages. To transform ordinary minds into the Buddha-mind take mastery of skill.
If we know our core responsibility and practice diligently, then this is where spiritual cultivation takes place.
There is a Zen saying: “Every action in our daily lives is a form of meditation.” Even as we eat meals and drink tea, our minds should not be scattered. This is called mastery.
Aside from external practice, Buddhism requires internal cultivation. While contributing our love, we must be mindful of our speech and actions. As such, spiritual cultivation takes place everywhere.
Everyone, the place to practice kindness and compassion is now open. Now is the time to go deep into our minds to wash away afflictions and filth.
With the Water Repentance, let us now delve into how the sages inspire us. The Water Repentance was written because Master Wu-Da developed a human-faced sore. After Venerable Kanaka explained the entanglements of enmity behind the sore, Wu-Da realized the essence of compassion. Out of gratitude for the grace of the sages in the past he stayed there and sincerely focused on his spiritual cultivation. He realized the Buddha-mind, felt compassion for sentient beings, and wrote the Water Repentance.
Are there ordinary people who have no faults, who have never committed a wrong? In our daily living, whether we are speaking or silent, moving or still, we inevitably make mistakes.
Wu-Da was an eminent monk for ten lifetimes. He adhered strictly to precepts, had been highly virtuous. But, ten lifetimes ago, when he was Yuan-Ang, he killed Chao-Cuo and created enmity. The resentment of Chao-Cuo was so strong that when his head rolled to the ground and a rock fell into his mouth, the rock was crushed. His hatred was tremendous. For ten lifetimes, this negative karma waited to exact its revenge. But for ten lifetimes Wu-Da was a very ethical and virtuous monk, so there was not a chink in his armor.
If the door to karma didn’t open, the existing negative karma had no way to enter. But in this lifetime, Master Wu-Da was beloved by the emperor. When he was bestowed with a sandalwood chair, his momentary joy opened the door to karma. His happiness was pompous and arrogant.
With an egotistical thought of how the revered emperor had gifted him with a chair, the door to karma opened. How frightening this is.
Thus the human-faced sore tortured him for a long time until Venerable Kanaka saved him. But there was a reason he was saved.
Once when Venerable Kanaka was sick, Master Wu-Da felt sorry for and took care of him. As a result, when he faced this crisis later on, Venerable Kanaka came to save him. After cause comes effect. A single cause can result in infinite retributions. Ten lifetimes of enmity was thus resolved.
Everyone, in our daily living, we should be mindful of our every word and action. In our interactions with people and things, in our speech, etc., we must always take good care of our minds. Our every action is a seed of karma, whether it be our attitude, sincerity, or respect toward others.
So we must be vigilant and on our guard. There are spiritual beings above us. Do not think, “I can behave however I like because no one is around.” There is. There is heaven and earth. Whenever we do something out of ignorance, there is heaven about our heads. If we know, then heaven also knows.
Therefore, we must always be self-aware. Only then can we truly give rise to repentance. To repent is to completely reform, to wash away inner filth. If we do not thoroughly realize what is right, and do not deeply repent our wrongs at all times, impurities will accumulate and grow.
What is meant by filth? It is Karma. We constantly create and accumulate karma. In the compassionate Water Repentance, water is a metaphor for Dharma. The Sutra of Infinite Meanings also states, “Whether the water is from a river, brook, pond, or well, it can wash away filth.” This means the Buddha’s Dharma is like water. Filth and afflictions in sentient beings’ minds can only be washed away by Dharma.
When something is dirty, it has to be cleansed by water. This also applies to our minds. Dharma, like water, can purify our minds. Open the Drama-door to repentance and allow Dharma-water to enter the mind. If we completely reform and wash away the filth, our lives will naturally turn pure and bright.
So we need to learn and mindfully accept this Dharma. After we accept it, we must practice and realize it in our actions. When we did not know this, we were confused. Now we know, we must constantly remain vigilant. Vigilance is also a form of Dharma. Do not think that Dharma is only about listening to Sutras. We learn Buddhism to attain Buddha-hood. If that is not our goal, we can stop. Every Buddha, prior to practicing, was just like us. They had to go through a process of spiritual cultivation, which involves resolving to have a great mind & making great vows.
A great mind is one of great compassion. A great vow begets strength and power. The great mind and vow are like our two feet. When they act in unison, we can walk easily and smoothly, and can go from the state of ordinary people to the enlightened state of the Buddha. So one must have a great mind and make great vows.
This process is called the Bodhisattva Path, it is called Dharma. When learning Buddhism, we know that this is a long path and that we will experience many states of mind along the way.
How do we choose among the many states of mind ourselves? How do we overcome unwholesome states? How do we direct our broad paths to the state of enlightenment without being deluded by the state of ordinary people? This also requires Dharma.
As we walk on the Bodhisattva Path. How do we eliminate afflictions and manifestations of karma? This also requires Dharma. To resolve afflictions, we must constantly repent. If we meet good people, we must humbly learn from them and be grateful for their teachings.
If we meet bad people, we also respectfully thank them for giving us the opportunity to diminish our bad karma. The Lotus Sutra states that when the Buddha gave His disciples blessings for becoming future Buddhas. He blessed Devadatta as well. He even blessed Devadatta to become a Buddha whose Buddha Land would exist longer and convent more beings than other Buddhas.
Someone asked the Buddha: “Devadatta is so bad. Oh Buddha, why did you give him such a great blessing?” The Buddha replied, “I am grateful to Devadatta. He is my spiritual benefactor. Without him, how could I develop so many different ways to teach and transform others? Devadatta has been spiritual friend and he helped me achieve my mission.”
Everyone, in our daily living we need to have swift awareness. Even if someone intentionally torments us, we need to quickly say, “Thank you for helping me achieve my goals.”
We cannot just say we are grateful while feeling resentful. If we are resentful, we forget our true nature. Do not intend to do a good deed but forget your original intentions when certain conditions arise. If we forget that initial resolve, when afflictions arise, Dharma cannot enter our minds. If so, the Water Repentance is useless no matter how often we chant it.
When chanting the Water Repentance, we must remember to constantly apply it in our daily life. Repentance is Dharma. Repentance is like water, it can wash away filth. So starting from now, in this place where we cultivate kindness and compassion, we must be very mindful in cleansing our impurities with the Dharma-water of repentance. In this era where 5 Impurities and 3 Calamities frequently occur, we should heighten our vigilance and hold nature in reverence. The teachings of the Buddha and the insights of the ancient sages provide us with methods, all of which are pure water that can cleanse our minds.
So everyone, we must constantly be vigilant. On the Bodhisattva Path, adverse conditions will inevitably arise, so we must always be vigilant. Whatever situation we encounter, we should promptly use this pure Dharma-water to cleanse the filth in our minds this is to repent at all times.
Everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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