Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Repent to Purge Afflictions so Drama can Enter(懺悔去煩法入心)
As we sit here, our external surroundings are constantly changing. As we sit here quietly, what is happening in our bodies? We are constantly metabolizing. In the span of a second, cells are constantly arising and dying. We do not realize this is happening in our bodies because we do not feel it.
Actually, inside our bodies microorganisms are constantly coexisting peacefully, or crowding against or even destroying one another. In every second, our bodies are metabolizing and cells are continually consumed and produced. There is no permanence in our bodies, let alone in our minds. Ignorance and afflictions constantly arise and change. In the end, they will still be extinguished. Nothing in this world can remain forever unchanged.
Earth, water, fire and air make up this world. But they form, abide, decay and disappear. So what is everlasting in this world? Human bodies go through birth, aging, illness, death. The human mind, as it encounters external conditions, produces 7 Emotions and 6 Desires, which cycle through states of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing. So what is everlasting in this world?
In mental arising, abiding, changing, ceasing, biological birth, aging, illness and death, material formation, continuation, decay and annihilation, all are the temporary union of the Four Elements. Having attained human birth, we are blessed with a body, which goes through the process of arising, abiding, changing and ceasing. But this body will eventually return to dust. After a person dies, they will be buried. What remains? Noting at all.
In this universe, nothing lasts forever. Nothing. This is such a simple truth. If we can truly understand this we will not have any afflictions. “There was nothing to begin with but our minds still seek to attract dust.”
Bodhi really has no tree. And there is no bright mirror. Since there was nothing to begin with, where can the dust alight? – Dharma Master Hui-neng, the 6th Patriarch.
So, from now on, earnestly repent every day. Things that happen are unreal, delusions. We live in the illusion and we fabricate false things and continuously produce afflictions in response to them. We must be grateful to know our past, that we created afflictions out of illusions.
Fortunately, over 2500 years ago on the 8th day of fourth month, this great sage came to this world. That was the beginning. As He grew older, He discovered the Ultimate Truth and began to proclaim it to the world. It has been over 2000 years since that era. We already know this Truth.
During these 2000 plus years, He awaked so many people, led so many to thoroughly understand this Truth and explore its source and see it in physical and in biology. There are even many scientists today who continue to study that source. Now it seems like many people can manifest spiritual powers. The Truth was the source of all these things.
In light of this, let us have even greater respect for Sakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha always told us that sentient beings must repent their afflictions. Only when we repent our afflictions can we calm minds so that they become pure. In doing so, Truth can enter our minds.
It is like writing a good essay. To start with, we need a piece of white paper. We need a clean page to write a good essay. Also the clothes we wear can consist of many colors. All these colors are dyed onto while cloth. Similarly, before we receive Dharma, let us think the source. First purify the mind and then keep it clean. Then we can explore the Truth.
The first step of spiritual practice is repentance. Repentance can eliminate afflictions. We need to do so for our minds to be clean, then Truth and Dharma can enter our minds.
So first we should seek to understand and respect the Three Treasures. Only with Buddha, Dharma and Sangha can the Truth continuously passed down. Thus, we first pay respect to the Three Treasures. They are the kind friends and fields of blessings for all sentient beings.
People desire to practice repentance. First they must respect the Three Treasures. Clearly, the Three Treasures are kind friends and fields of blessings for sentient beings.
So now at this very moment, let us be deeply reverent. Let respect for the Buddha, the Enlightened One, arise from deep within our hearts. Without this Enlightened One how could we have Dharma? Every teaching can cure living beings of their spiritual illnesses. Therefore Dharma is like medicine. Being sick is so very painful. Once illness arises in the mind, this virus will continue to exist. This is a source of suffering in life. Therefore, respect the Three Treasures.
Buddha, with his wisdom, realized the Truth of everything in the world. He dedicated himself to expounding Dharma. The Dharma has not changed through the ages and has been passed down to this day because many monastics willingly followed in the path of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We should truly respect those who love and practice the spiritual path.
The Buddha was born and expounded Dharma in India. Many teachings remained there. Let us be very grateful to those from India or China who admired Dharma and spared no effort to pursue the Truth. Remember them? When we spoke of the Sutra on the Buddha’s Bequeathed Teaching, we mentioned Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaraksa. They were from India. Knowing that the teachings were so good, they went on a mission to spread Buddha Dharma and propagate the teachings. Since Buddha was gone, they wanted to shoulder the responsibility of continuing the Buddha’s work. From India, they carried Sutras on white horses to spread Buddhism to China.
There was also Kumarejiva. When we recite the Lotus Sutra, we learn that Kumarejiva brought Sutra to China. He even translated them into Chinese. He translated many Mahayana texts. If it was not for Kumarejiva, we would not have so many of Buddha’s teachings remaining, especially the Mahayana teachings.
When we look at India now, Buddhism has practically disappeared. However, Dharma now exists in the East and West, across the five continents. Many people experience the Truth in Buddha’s. Teaching and diligently study it. It is the same in England. Universities these have courses in religion to study Buddhist teachings. It is the same in America and many other developed countries, especially in Japan. In the Tang Dynasty, Sutras were brought to Japan, so a lot of Japanese culture is rooted in Buddhism. In China, many of the countries and proprieties in daily living came from Buddhism.
Buddhism is truly the culture of humanity. Look, these eminent monks from India, to the west of China spared no effort to bring Dharma to us in the East.
Here in the East, in China, Venerable Master Xuan-Zang felt that the Dharma he understood seemed incomplete. Therefore, he vowed to travel from Chang’an, China to India. It was an arduous journey along the Silk Road. Tracing that route on a map, we can see that it was a truly difficult journey. He traveled through present-day Afghanistan and Turkey before making his way to India. It was far away and there was no transportation. He set out from Chang’an and circled around other nations, entering India through the Middle East. The climate was very harsh. When we recite the Universal Gate Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, we read many accounts of black winds on his journey.
Now if we look at Afghanistan or Pakistan, the places we have been to, everywhere we look is endless desert. There is no water, tree or grass. When the wind suddenly blows, it becomes dark as night. Even worse, in some areas of the desert, the winds can move an entire sand dune so a hill can suddenly appear out of nowhere. Before the wing comes, there is just a flat, endless stretch of desert. So in that even-changing terrain and under those weather conditions, Ven. Xuan-Zang traveled alone, with only a horse. He trekked through that endless desert where the weather and terrain can change at any time. We can imagine how arduous it must have been. When it is hot, it is blistering.
When the black winds blow the large boat, it will fall into the land of Raksas and ghosts. But if one person on the boat calls on the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Then everyone can escape the ordeal of Raksas. –Universal Gate Chapter of the Lotus Sutra
In Jordan at this time of year, temperatures can reach over 40 degrees Celsius. At night, it can drop close to Zero degrees. Now we hear this, we can understand and feel those temperatures, much like what. Ven. Master Xuan-Zang must have felt. The journey must have been very difficult. He is why we now have the Prajna Paramita Sutra. He tirelessly risked his life for many Sutras.
Everyone, respect and revere Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. If we are not respectful, Dharma cannot enter our minds. Looking at the Three Treasures, without Buddha, there is no Dharma to hear. Without Sangha, there is no one to pass on the Dharma. Thus, we must respect the Three Treasures.
Remember the source as we drink the water, whether Buddha, Dharma, or Sangha they all came from Indian monks who spread teachings, or venerable monks who brought Dharma back to China. We must be very grateful to Sanghas that spread. Dharma and respect them like the Buddha. When we are respectful, the Buddha is with us, everyone is a potential Buddha.
So if we do not venerate past Buddhas, how can we be future Buddhas? The past is like the present and the present is like the future. So constantly guard the mind. Be it in the past, present, or future, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are eternal. If we diligently cultivate our minds, eliminate past afflictions, maintain a pure mind and accept this rare encounter with Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, only if we do so can the Truth be carved into our minds. So, everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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