Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Respectfully Believe in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.(敬信佛法僧)
In every day and in every moment, are you all taking good care of your minds? For several days, we have been discussing the mind. At every moment, we must remind ourselves that it is hard to attain human form and to hear the Buddha’s Dharma.
Buddha’s Dharma is like water. Water can wash away filth. Our minds are the same. We need Dharma to eliminate all sorts of afflictions. The purpose of spiritual practice is to clear away afflictions so the light of our pure wisdom can shine through. This is most important in learning Buddhism. People behave in ordinary ways because they are covered by ignorance and delusion.
Yesterday I said, “Ordinary people act foolishly, and are covered by ignorance.” Ignorance covers the light of our pure wisdom. We befriend unwholesome people who are not beneficial to us. So when we are “drawn to bad friends, when afflictions confuse our minds, ignorant of our true natures, we are self-indulgent and self-assured.”
Ordinary people act foolishly and are covered by ignorance. Drawn to bad friends, afflictions confuse their minds. Ignorance of their true nature, they are self-indulgent and self-assured.
“Self-indulgent and self-assured.” As we discussed the other day, self-indulgence is being unrestrained. If our minds are unrestrained, we will easily rely on our influence and advantages. We will likely lock down on others. Moreover, we will even look down on our elders.
Many young people today don’t understand respecting or being filial to their elders, sometimes when their parents say something, they simply respond by saying, “You are so old, what do you know?” This is called disparaging their elders. This contemptuous attitude toward elders is called self-indulgence and self-assurance. They think they know a lot about the world, so old people should step back as old methods are no longer appropriate. They focus on the modern perspective and current trends, so they reject their elders’ suggestions. This is called self-indulgence and self-assurance.
Such people cannot respect their elders. They have been influenced by friends, so bed habits are now second-nature. They are self-indulgent and self-assured, very arrogant and proud.
If the mind is unrestrained, people will easily rely on their position and look down on others, become arrogant and proud. This is called self-indulgence & self-assurance.
I always say that religious faith is essential in life. Regardless of the religion, everyone needs to have some sort of religious belief. Religion gives us a guiding principle and teaches us about life. In life, we must not be without principle and teachings. Of course, religions must teach us to be good. Our mission is to not commit offenses. A life without guiding principle is like a train without its tracks. So religions id essential to living.
We need guiding principle and direction. As long as a train travels along the tracks, it is easily steered and will not go astray. In life, we need these guiding principles.
Religions all teach us to be good. We need guiding principles and goals in life, like a train needs parallel tracks so it can travel in the right direction.
It is stated, “[Some] don’t believe in Buddhas of the 10 Directions.” All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world in response to sentient beings’ illnesses. Some may wonder, “Are you talking about doctors?” Actually, doctors can only treat and alleviate our physical ailments. The Buddha is the Guiding Teacher of all beings. Aside from showing us a healthy path for our bodies and behaviors, He also guides us toward healthy minds and spirits. He lets us know that there are illnesses concealed in the mind.
Spiritual illnesses cause more damage than physical illnesses. If we are sick in our minds, if we go astray, we impact more than just this lifetime. The karma we create life after life accumulates is beyond our control. We cannot control karmic manifestations. This is horrifying. These are spiritual illnesses.
The Buddha is the Guiding Teacher of all beings. All Buddhas & Bodhisattvas came to this world in response to sentient beings’ illnesses. They guide the lost ones in the right direction.
Religion teaches us to resolve our karma. If we know about karma, we will diligently repent it. We will repent evil affinities from our past. When hated and resentment manifest, we recognize them as karma. Always be vigilant and aware of thoughts.
“Eliminate bad karma as it manifests, do not create more disasters.” Once it passes, be grateful for the chance to completely repay these debts. When we face life with this attitude, we can eliminate karma.
We talk about eliminating karma as we vow to eliminate all afflictions, the Three Obstructions. What are the Three Obstructions? We have a lot of greed, anger and ignorance. They constantly hinder us. We create more ignorance in our ignorance. If we are attached to delusion in the midst of delusion, we are confused. If we are blinded and covered and refuse to have faith in religion, we will continuously act foolishly.
Eliminate bad karma as it arises, do not create more disasters. Do not be blinded by greed, anger & ignorance or be attached to delusion amidst delusion.
Here it is written, “[Some] don’t believe in Buddha of 10 Directions.” Actually, if we can believe in the Buddha, the Great Healer of the world, He can guide us to understand the 3 Axioms and The Four States of Existence in the world. The Four States are formation, existence, decay, annihilation.
If we learn Buddhism, The Buddha can explain the impermanence of life to us in great detail. Everything in the world is dangerously fragile. We thus understand this is the natural course of all phenomena. We can thoroughly comprehend the truths of formation, existence, decay, annihilation.
The Buddha also taught us that our physical body undergoes something similar, in birth, aging, sickness & death. He showed us that these are inevitable. With birth comes aging , illness and death. We should have a better understanding of the nature course of life. After we understand it, we will not allow life and death to throw us into panic or confusion.
In this way, the Buddha is the doctor of our bodies and minds is the doctor of our bodies and minds. The mind has many afflictions, 84,000 kinds of afflictions. How can we eliminate each of these 84,000 afflictions? We need to believe what the Buddha taught. If we can accept the Buddha’s teachings we will recognize which afflictions we face and how we can quickly treat them. So have faith that the Great Healer in our lives.
The Buddha is the Great Healer of the world. He is the doctor for our bodies and minds. He gives us good medicine to treat us and dissolves our afflictions and delusions.
Not only do some people not believe in Buddha, they do not believe in Dharma and Sangha. Actually, Dharma is medicine that can cure us. As I said earlier, there are 84,000 kinds of problems that afflict people’s minds. Each of the 84,000 afflictions needs to be treated with Dharma.
If we believe in the Buddha, we are like a patient who believes in the doctor. After the doctor examines us and gives us a diagnosis, he will prescribe the appropriate medicine. We need to take it. If we pick it up but do not take it, we will not get better. Similarly, if we believe in the Buddha but do not accept His Dharma, or if we listen to His teachings but do not practice them, it is useless.
Thus, we must know that Dharma is good medicine. Refusing to believe is like refusing to take medicine. We also do not believe in Sangha. The Holy Sangha is like a loving mother. The Buddha passed away over 2,000 years ago, yet His teachings are still around. Who can teach and guide us? Monastic practitioners vow to follow in the Buddha’s footsteps and leave their families to join the Tathagata’s order.
They seek to emulate the Buddha and take on the mission of saving sentient beings the Sangha practitioners carefully study the Buddha’s teachings and practice them. They follow the path of Buddha’s teachings. They follow in the footsteps of Buddha.
Though more than 2,000 years have passed and we are far from the Buddha in space and time. His path still survives to this day. He left His footsteps. The Holy Sangha and those who engage in spiritual cultivation are like loving mothers who look after their sick children.
Many sentient beings are ill and do not know what medicine to take. These religious practitioners accompany them, care for them and give them medicine. The Sangha is like a loving mother tending to her sick children. In our practice we need to be determined in our vow and know our duty as Buddhist practitioners.
Respect and have faith in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. Buddha is the Great Healer of Sentient Beings Dharma is good, curative medicine. Sangha are loving mothers tending the ill.
As religious practitioners, we need to save our Wisdom-lives. The minds of modern sentient beings are ill. Much of it is due to ignorance. That is the source of many illnesses, just as we are the cause of many problems today. Though we make distinctions between mind and body, the source of illness is in our minds.
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come into this world out of compassion, as if they are courageously standing on the front lines. Just as doctors are afraid of being infected, in truth, when Bodhisattvas come to the Saha world, a world of defilement, they are also scared of being covered by ignorance. Be it Bodhisattvas or Arhats, they all fear cause and effect. If they are not careful, karmic effects can be devastating. So Bodhisattvas are truly brave to plunge themselves into this defiled Saha World.
If we believe in the Buddha, we should reverently hold Him in our hearts and trust that He stands right before us. So we must have faith, and believe in Buddha, Dharma and Sagha.
The Buddha is the Great Healer of this world. Dharma is the medicine that cures all illnesses. The Sangha takes care of sick, like a loving mother watching over us. So we must respect and have faith in them.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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