Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Eliminate Ignorance & Afflictions to Attain Bodhi (去無明除煩惱證菩提)
Ignorance is the root of all disasters.
Our minds were originally pure and full of positive, clear wisdom. But ignorance covered that pure, clear wisdom.
Yesterday I said that external conditions lead our minds to give rise to deviant and false thinking. When our minds connect to external conditions, greed, anger and ignorance arise.
When a greedy thought arises, it leads us to create bad karma. When an angry thought arises, it causes us to harm others and ruin ourselves. Actually, greed and anger mostly arise out of ignorance. Ignorance means being blind to truths.
In a rather neutral environment, not good yet not bad, (ignorance people) seem to live an ordinary life. They are not terribly bad. They do not kill, steal or commit sexual misconduct. They are not particularly good either. They are not giving, loving or helpful to others. They think, “I will just take care of myself. Why bother with so much trouble?
They only care for themselves. If these people truly took good care of themselves, at least they would not create karma. Unfortunately, they fail to do so and are easily influenced by external conditions. Though they don’t commit obvious bad deeds, their trivial mistakes accumulate unnoticeably until they can become serious issues.
Ignorance is truly blinding. It covers our pure intrinsic nature and causes us to be easily influenced by external conditions, resulting in the arising of various afflictions.
Recently I have been promoting vegetarianism. To adapt a vegetarian discipline is to have respect for life. We should know that many illnesses enter through the mouth. How? From all the food we consume, especially animals. All moving, sentient beings have Buddha-nature. All animals want to live and fear death, and have a body of flesh and blood just like us. Their lives are also very precious. But we humans love to eat, to satisfy our palate, we consume all the myriad creatures on Earth.
Though the Buddha ate whatever was placed in His alms bowl, He still urged everyone to cherish life. Hence, He taught us that all moving, sentient beings have Buddha-nature, and told us about the endless cycles of rebirth in the Six Realms. Perhaps we will end up in the Animal Realm. Therefore, animals are just like us except they have a different appearance. Thus, as sentient beings, we are truly ignorant.
Ignorance prevents people from clearly understanding the truths in life. This results in mistaken views.
During the Buddha’s time, there was a king who planned a grand national religious ceremony. This meant that many animals would be killed. When the Buddha found out, he asked the king, “why are you holding such a large religious ceremony?” The king said “For my mother’s birthday 70 years is a rare and major milestone. So I want to host a national celebration and sacrifice many animals as offerings.”
The Buddha told him, “True filial is to pray for your mother’s longevity and wish her well. Think about it. If you first sow the seeds of killed and cause the deaths of many animals, if you shorten the lives of other animals by killing them, how can such seeds produce the effort of extending your mother’s life? Karma from killing shortens life, it doesn’t extend it.”
The king heard the truth in the Buddha’s words. If he killed all these creatures for his mother’s birthday, it would be for her sake, and she would have to carry the karmic burden. He thought the Buddha’s words made sense, so he canceled this celebration that requires living sacrifices. This happened during the Buddha’s time. The Buddha revealed to the king that to increase longevity and health, not only should he not kill, he should release captive animals.
A volunteer at Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital shared a similar story about a 100-year-old grandmother. Her children and grandchildren were very filial. They felt that few people lived to 100. Centenarians are very are very rare. Their family and friends told them: “It so rare to have a family treasure who is turning 100. You should hold a grand celebration.” Her children agreed, “Yes, we must hold a big celebration. So they began the preparations. They planned for it to be this year.
However, the elderly woman fell, and her body declined. She was brought to our hospital. Her children and grandchildren were very worried. They were very filial and felt that their mother had worked so hard to raise them. Now that were married and successful, it was time for her to enjoy her blessings. And turning 100 is such a rare event. Hence they were very filial and cherished her. They cautiously took care of her. Alas, she fell and ended up in the hospital. Her children and grandchildren took turns staying with her.
One say, they met a volunteer. As they chatted, the children started to share stories their mother’s past. People of her generation went through a lot. The women were truly strong and resilient. Her story was very moving. A few days later, the old woman began to recover. The children and grandchildren were more at ease.
While chatting, one of them unwittingly said, “After she is discharged, we should focus even more on her 100th birthday celebration.” Our volunteer asked, “A100th birthday is truly a big occasion. You should definitely celebrate. How do you plan to celebrate?” he said, “Usually, people celebrate by killing pigs and lambs. My mother has many children, grandchildren, relatives and friends. She treats everyone very well so she has many friends. We will invite a lot of guests. We hope you can come too. You’ve taken very good care of us during this time. You are wonderful.”
Our volunteer said, “Indeed. A 100th birthday is truly rare. You should definitely celebrate. Please invite us to be a part of it. But we are vegetarians.” He replies, “No problem, we can prepare special vegetarian food for you.” Our volunteer then said, “It’s truly wonderful how filial you all are. But Master Cheng says that to pray for others’ longevity, release animals and save lives on their behalf, do not kill for their sake. You Know, every animal killed is one life ended. Every life counts. What will the final total be? If you take others’ lives as a prayer for your mother’s longevity, that karma will fall on her. She will bear that burden because you killed for her sake.”
After they heard this, they asked, “Is true?” “Yes, that is really true. Haven’t you heard the butchers say, if they didn’t eat, I wouldn’t kill? A volunteer once said this. In this case, you are taking all those lives because it is grandma’s birthday. Our volunteer continued to explain this concept. The son asked, “What should we do then? Her 100th birthday is a very special day for her. It is very important event for most people. Our volunteer told him. We are now celebrating the Buddha’s birthday. Can you participate by adopting the vegetarian diet on her behalf? The precept is to not kill. “If you join us in our abstention, you will not take the lives of others. If you become vegetarian and sincerely pray, you may help increase her lifespan. Otherwise, there is a folk saying that if we preemptively tell the King of Hell our age he may summon us earlier. So it is better to be low-key. If you are vegetarian for her sake, the merits will be dedicated to her.”
He said, “This makes sense, but we have many relatives, so we will have to discuss it with them. But if we don’t hold a celebration, won’t my mother be displeased?” Our volunteer said, “Don’t worry I will talk to your mother while you talk to your brothers and sisters.” A few day later, before the celebration for Buddha’s birthday was about to begin, these siblings came and asked, “Is this the right thing to do?”
Our volunteer replies, “It is. You should very sincere and be vegetarian on her behalf for a few days. The celebration is about to start. Since your mother is better, let us take her to the ceremony. There will be many people at the ceremony. All those people will give her their blessings. Since you all are so sincere and so many people will wish her well, this will increase her blessings and longevity. Hearing this, the children were very happy. Their mother also said, “This is wonderful. I won’t need to report early to the King of Hell.”
It worked out perfectly. That day, her children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors all accompanied her to the Buddha’s birthday celebration. Everyone was joyful. See, this is wisdom. For the sake of one person’s 100th birthday, an entire village of relatives and friends would have killed so many living beings. The commissioner’s wisdom created an affinity which saved many lives. She inspired in them a clear understanding that observing a vegetarian diet is a way to be filial to their mother. The old woman was also very happy. This is wisdom.
Recently I have been saying that we should be most afraid of ignorance, ignorance and delusion. We should take good care of the mind. We need to quickly and thoroughly eliminate ignorance and delusion so the brilliance of our minds can shine through.
When we eliminate a portion of ignorance and eradicate a portion of afflictions, we realize a portion of Bodhi.
When we eat, there is only a taste as food enters the mouth. After the food is swallowed, it becomes waste. We see people going to restaurants to eat expensive gourmet meals, drink wine, etc. With so much food in their stomach, after they are drunk, some people will vomit. The stuff they discharge is revolting, foul and filthy. Moreover, most animals have germs on their hair, skin and all the way down into their internal organs. Hence, if we use our wisdom, we know that we eat to sustain our lives and to stay healthy. If we are vegetarians, we can be full without taking lives and thus express our love, achieving two aims simultaneously. This is wisdom.
Some may say, “I’ll be vegetarian for only one meal. To be vegetarian for all three meals is painful.” They are deluded. Indeed, only a state of delusion and ignorance can lead us to create unaccountable acts of karma. Sentient beings share collective karma, most of which is created and accumulated in unaccountable ways. So as we learn Buddhism, we should truly always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
首頁 
