Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Let Dharma Enter the Heart Till the Field of Blessings.(法髓入心 自耕福田)
As we said previously, afflictions cover our minds. Every time a good thought arises, it is obscured by afflictions. Every time afflictions cover us, our minds are defiled again. So we must seek repentance every single day.
At every moment, our minds are inevitably affected by external circumstances. In interpersonal conflicts, intimate or otherwise, as long as attachment is in our minds afflictions will arise again. Therefore, we need to constantly repent.
In our repentance, we should remain pure in our minds, then, we can talk about reverence. If we talk about reverence with afflicted minds, we will be unable to repent sincerely. This is like a feedback loop. We must repent with pure minds, and after we repent, we need to maintain this sincere reverence and pious respect.
Though the power of the Three Treasures is great, without the right conditions, we cannot do much. Previously, we mentioned that the Three Treasures are our beneficial friends and Fields of Blessings. If we sentient beings can diligently cultivate our fields and continuously sow good seeds they will be Fields of Blessings. We all have such a field in our minds. But we did not know how to cultivate this field. So we sowed bad seeds and damaged the quality of this soil.
Only by repenting with pure minds can we maintain pious faith. Then, we can let Dharma enter our hearts, and effectively cultivate our Fields of Blessings.
How should we cultivate this Fields of Blessings. The Buddha explained the Dharma to us in detail. This is called “revelation”. After His teaching, have we attained enlightenment? The Three Treasures reveal the teachings but have we awakened ourselves? Only after we are awakened, can we enter the gate leading to the Ultimate Truth. So we need to find our connection to the Dharma. Otherwise even with constant instruction from Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, we will still be unable to accept and experience the teachings. Then truly we cannot do much.
So if we sentient beings wish to cultivate Fields of Blessings, we must sincerely engage the Dharma with our minds. That is called resonance. It requires sincere interactions.
Those who can take refuge will eliminate infinite transgressions and grow infinite blessings. Thus the practitioner can transcend the suffering of life and death and attain the joy of liberation.
The text states, “Those who can take refuge will eliminate infinite transgressions.” This means that the mind needs to thoroughly sincerely take refuge. The Chinese character for refuge is made up of the characters for “white” and “reverse”. Taking refuge means to turn from back to white. Taking refuge also implies our return, as if we were a prodigal son who was ignorant and left his home, disobeyed his parents, broke the family rules, and committed many wrongs while away from home. However, if we know to repent, we will quickly turn around.
Similarly, since we have become Buddhists, we should single-mindedly take refuge and follow the Buddha’s teaching. We know that since Beginningless Time we have created a lot of bad karma. The Buddha taught us about karmic retribution. As are causes and conditions, so are the effects and retributions. Taking refuge in Dharma does not mean that we are saved and can do whatever we desire or get whatever we want. Only by quickly applying what we know can the seeds we sowed be harvested.
We know that whatever happens today is a result of what we did yesterday. If we suffer retributions in this lifetime, the causes were planted in past lifetimes. Therefore, we must clearly understand karmic retribution. Do not say, “I took refuge today, why isn’t my illness getting better?” Or, “I took refuge today, why isn’t my lifespan extended?” Or, “I took refuge today and went to buy lottery tickets. So why didn’t I win the lottery?” Or, “Why didn’t I win in gambling?” it does not work that way. If we take refuge with this mindset, it is not in accordance with the Dharma. It violates the rules and is wrong.
Truly taking refuge and eliminating infinite transgressions means that we live in a state of willing acceptance. If we willingly accept everything, our minds will not be tormented and we will not be confused. So we will no longer create bad karma. This here is the most important point.
As are causes, as are conditions, so are effects, so are retributions. When our minds take refuge in the Truth, we willingly accept the retributions. Then we will not continue to be tormented by bad karma, nor will we continue to create more karma.
There was a grandma in our palliative care ward. She believed in another religion, not Buddhism. She was very devout in her faith. She had 6 children. When she first became ill, her children were very filial. They visited her and cared for her. But as her illness dragged on, their concern for her began to wane. Despite her religious belief, she became very resentful and prayed for them to visit. No matter how hard she prayed, they did not come. For a period of time, she was very depressed.
But there were many caring doctors and volunteers at the hospital, so after some time, she let go and opened her heart. She looked cheerful every day. “Be happy and peace!”Whenever she came across someone she said, “Be happy and at peace!” She was originally depressed and seldom talked. She always seemed unapproachable. But after she let go of her expectations and opened her mind, she was happy to see everyone. She offered well-wishes to each person. She wanted to make them happy. Therefore, she no longer dwelled on whether her own children visited. One day, our volunteer told her, “Grandma, if you focus on getting better you can go home sooner.” She said, “Go back where? This is my home. Yes, I will go back. But this is my home.” She already treated the hospital as her home. Another volunteer asked, “Grandma, have your children visited lately?” She said, “Yes, they visit every day. Look, there are six of them here right now.” Who were these six people? The doctor, the nurse and the volunteers. All together, there were six people in front of her. She already embraced everyone in the world as her own children. There was no need to be attached to the idea that only those to whom she gave birth, whom she raised, could be considered her children. There is no need.
Anyone in the world around that age could be her child. She treated them as her own children. “Going home or not doesn’t make a difference. This is where I am settled. This is my home.”
Look at this grandma. She used to have afflictions. Similarly, she has religious beliefs. She was also baptized, which is like taking refuge. She also prayed. She sincerely prayed, “Can my children come see me? Can I recover soon? Can I go home soon?” She prayed incessantly but she was in turmoil, unhappy. She kept everyone at a distance. But once her afflictions were eliminated, she was happy and joyous. These people cherished her, treated her illness, and cared for her. They were not unlike her own children. She was happy. Though she eventually passed away, she enjoyed a period of great happiness and joy. Towards the end, everyone went to see her. She was very happy and said goodbye to everyone. Two days later, she passed away peacefully.
With refuge, one can eliminated countless wrongs. But where are these transgressions? They are in our minds. Since the effects have already appeared, instead of using afflictions, let us contain the bad karma in our happiness. Otherwise, seeds of bad karma will grow. So as we learn Buddhism, we truly must learn to have a transcendent mindset.
There is another story from Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital about a brave warrior of life. She was not very old, unlike the grandma in her 70s or 80s. This woman was in her 40s or 50s, still in the prime of her life. When she was younger, she raised her children willingly and tirelessly. She was sick but her focus was on her family and children, so she disregarded her own illness until she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
But this woman was truly brave. She knew it was too late to focus on her cancer treatment, but she accepted her fate willingly. Physically, she did everything possible to heal. Mentally, she accepted her fate. To do everything she could, she came to Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital for treatment. She underwent radiation and chemotherapy. For a long time, she had putrefying wounds that looked like giant blooming flowers. They were scary to look at.
Slowly, over several months, her wounds gradually healed. Then she went through an exhausting round of chemotherapy later when her cancerous cells spread to her lungs and bones, she still did not give up. She still tried her best.
Asst. Superintendent Dr. jian remarked, “Do you know that having cancerous cells in the bones is extremely painful? There is a cluster of nerves there. Yet, she was never downcast. She never frowned, not even once. She was always smiling. She was very adorable and had two beautiful dimples. She was brave and not just for herself.
She was brave and not just for herself. She even volunteered. She wore her hospital gown to other rooms to encourage other patients to heal. She even helped deliver meals to the patients. For those patients who could no longer clean their own bodies, she helped them with their grooming. She wiped their heads and combed their hair. Though she was gravely ill, she was still very brave. Not long afterwards, she smiled and said goodbye. Then she passed away.
This illustrates how when we take refuge, we eliminate infinite transgressions. If we can do so, we can eliminate our past bad karma. But we still need to deal with the efforts of the bad seeds we planted. However, in her mind, she already eliminated those sufferings and she did not create more karma. Thus she grew infinite blessings. Many people wished her well so she left with infinite blessings.
Those who take refuge can eliminate infinite transgressions and grow infinite blessings. This allows the practitioners to transcend the suffering of life and death, and attain the joy of liberation.
“The practitioner can transcend the suffering of life and death, and attain the joy of liberation.” This is like the grandma and the brave woman just mentioned. Think about it, hadn’t they transcended the suffering of life and death? Their minds had attained the joy of liberation. This is what we mean be liberation. This is the elimination of transgressions. In a person’s life, we do not know until the last moment whether we were truly sincere, whether we were pure, or whether we have truly eliminated afflictions. Only the last moment will tell.
I hope that every one of us, while we are still breathing, will not allow our minds to become lax. Please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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