Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: With the Three Obstruction Eliminate, Purity Appears.(三障滅除清淨現)
With this mind we can attain Buddha-hood. With this mind we can also fall to 3 Lower Realms. Let us maintain purity of mind and great compassion; so we will have the wisdom to clearly understand all phenomena and see things as they truly are. Then we will not be deluded by worldly things or interpersonal conflicts.
When we began planning the construction of Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, I often went to Taipei to give lectures on sutras. When the wives of successful entrepreneurs came, they always had a lot to say. One said, “Once I went to a business function with my husband. Before I arrived, I thought that my clothes were quite beautiful, I thought my diamond was pretty big, mine was five carats, but hers was seven carats” The comparisons never ended.
She was very vexed about this, I said, “What is the difference between 5 and 7 carats? How much did you pay for it?” She replied “I don’t know my husband bought it. Probably a few million NTD” I took a look it and said, “Yes it is truly beautiful. It is enough for me to know and see that there are such valuable things in the world. But wearing it is dangerous for you”
Another woman said, “Master, after hearing what you just said, I truly feel so ashamed” “Why do you feel ashamed?” She said,” I don’t really have a hobby except buying gems, I worry whenever I leave the house, I worry that others will know how much these are worth and try to rob me”
These are all stones from the earth. Some are clean, some are blue, and some are red. They have names like sapphire, ruby and diamond. The names are different, but they are still stones. So at that moment I said, “This is really a pity I feel very sad for women. Why do you wear this useless metal all over your body?” “Although you dress beautifully and wear such valuable things, to me, it doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t show wealth or nobility, if you tell me how much it worth, I will look, appreciate it, then I understand. That is all. “You can deal with dangers. I will just admire it. Therefore, I am grateful to you.”
After hearing what I said, the women said, “Yes, why should we compete with others? “If they show us their rings and say their gemstones are bigger than ours, We can just admire it” This is how our perspectives shift. There’s nothing in this world that can trouble us. When we “possess” something we possess afflictions. We worry over whether we can obtain it. We worry that we may lose it. We worry about gains and losses. Such are ordinary people.
If the mind craves something afflictions will surely arise. If the mind craves nothing it will be content and always joyful.
I still remember, around the same time, there was another woman who dressed plainly and simply. We were at Jilin Road. She took the stairs because the elevator was full of people coming to my talk, when she reached the 7th floor, she was out of breath. When she saw the crowd, she said, “Master. Please give me just a few minutes. I need to rush back.”
Frankly, at that time I wondered what kind of help she needed. I listened carefully. She said, “I just came to give this to you. She unwrapped layers of newspaper to reveal a soda can. She gave me the can, it was very heavy. I wondered why she would make a two-hour journey by bicycle to deliver to deliver a can of soda. When I took the can from her, it was really heavy. I opened it. It was filled with gold bars. There were more than ten gold bars in the can.
I was shocked and asked, “What is this about? She said, “Master, please accept this. Don’t worry. I earned this money with my own labor. Originally I planned to buy a house. All my life, I have always rented from others, always lived in an attic. I have four children. My husband and I both work as laborers in hopes of buying our own home.”
I told her, “Then you should quickly use this to buy a home.” She said, “Master, there are less than 20 old bars. We will have to save much longer to buy a home. But right now you are building a hospital which can commence operations soon, so I quickly brought this for you I have clearly thought it through. There is not much difference between owning and renting a home, I have listened to tapes of your talks. I understand. So please do not worry.”
I asked her, “Does your husband know about this?” She said, “He knows and he approves.” To this day, whenever I tell this story, it still moves me deeply. This is wisdom. This is willpower. This is Great Love. Compared to her, I feel that those wealthy women are the poor amongst the rich. They still feel lacking. Based on her appearance, I assumed she came to ask for help. But she actually came to help me. So isn‘t she the rich amongst the poor? Herein lies the value of life.
Let us be grateful for being born human and living in this Human Realm. We must be even more grateful for the affinity to encounter Buddha-dharma and the opportunity to practice the Bodhisattva-path. Therefore, receive the Buddha’s teachings with gratitude and apply them in daily living.
Know that all sentient beings have karma. We have already created karma so we should now earnestly seek Buddha-dharma. Once Dharma has entered our hearts, we must quickly and completely correct our faults. Only then can our karma be eliminated. Otherwise, we will just keep creating and accumulating more karma. Then we will never eliminate our karma.
Yesterday we said, “All Buddhas & Bodhisattvas taught skillful means to repent and eliminate.” They taught us many different Skillful Means based on our aptitudes. We receive many teachings, all leading us to repentance. Repentance is cleansing. When we discover the accumulation of filth and defilements, we need to focus on washing them away. Thus we can eliminate them.
Buddhist practitioners need to always openly repent with utmost sincerity to eliminate afflictions, karma, and retributions. Eliminating the Three Obstructions leads to purity. Eliminate these Three Obstructions “By eliminating these Three Obstructions, everything from the Six Roots and Ten Evils to the 84,000 types of afflictions is completely purified.”
The Three Obstructions are associated with the Six Roots and Ten Evils. Everyone knows the Six Roots are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. When these Six Roots come in contact with the Six Sense Objects, then consciousness arises. Thoughts in the mind thus emerge.
The Six Roots are: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. The 6 Sense Objects, or external conditions are form, sound, smell, taste, tough and though. Humans use the Six Roots to discern the Six Sense Objects the 6 Consciousnesses arise-seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling and thinking.
The women we mentioned earlier were resplendent with jewelry. Yet, if you ask them to give, their giving is always limited. Each day they were afraid to leave the house after dusk for fear of being robbed.
When their eyes saw certain forms, desire arose and they became confused. If they donated these objects, they could do so much good. But with greedy thoughts comes stinginess. They could not bear to give. They felt, “This is what I love moat. That is most precious to me.” Thus, it was very difficult for them to give it up. This is an example of our habits. It is very difficult to eliminate mental attachments, to no longer crave and desire these things on sight. This is difficult because it is an ingrained habit.
Since Beginningless Time, this has been embedded in our consciousness. This habit still exists, so when our Six Roots encounter the Six Sense Objects, certain thoughts arise along with our ingrained habits and tendencies. Some will react with greed. We know that the activity of the Six Roots lead us to commit Ten Evils.
We have mentioned the Ten Evils: three of body, four of speech, and three of mind. The three evils of the body are killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. The four evils of speech are lying, flattery, gossip and harsh words.
These are called Seven Branches. They are like 7 rays that radiate from the mind. When a greedy thought arises, these Seven Branches quickly shoot outwards. The Three Poisons of the mind lead us to create evil body and speech. These three complete the list of Ten Evils. When mind body and conditions converge, the Ten Evils will quickly arise.
So if we can eliminate the Three Obstructions, naturally our Six Roots, our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, will not become entangled with external conditions. They will be free and clear. When the wise observe conditions, every blade of grass and every tree teaches them Dharma. This is how the wise see everything in world. Look at Pratyekabuddhas. Solely by observing the external world and the changing of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter they realized the impermanence of the world. New cells constantly replace old ones in the body. This is the impermanence of life. So Pratyekabuddhas quickly attained enlightenment. This is called wisdom.
Pratyekabuddhas are called Solitary Realizers; their realizations come from observing conditions. Born in a time without Buddhas, they attained enlightenment through their own abilities and become sages who transcended life and death.
When the wise observe the world, they see everything clearly. It is different for the foolish and ignorant. Ignorant people are entangled and bound by external conditions, thus they are trapped in karma and will exponentially create more karma. So if we can eliminate the Three Obstructions, everything from the Six Roots and Ten Evils to 84,000 types of afflictions will be purified.
For a long time, I have said, “Dharma is like water.” The minds of sentient beings are filthy. We need water to clean the mind. When this simple water and this pure mind come together, we will have both blessings and wisdom. With a loving and compassionate mind, we will create blessings.
Water is Dharma. With it, we will give joyfully. Joyful giving is wisdom. As we create blessings, we can joyfully let go. With blessings and wisdom we have kindness, compassion, joy and giving. With kindness and compassion, we create blessings. Joyful giving is an act of wisdom. These are all teachings of the Buddha.
When the mind and Dharma unite, we can also say when mind and water unite, then won’t our minds always be pure?
The minds of sentient beings in the 6 Realms are covered with ignorance and afflictions. They are continuously reborn according to karma. Only with Dharma-water can they cleanse and uncover their intrinsic nature.
We can wash away all 84’000 types of afflictions. Afflictions are like dust. They can enter through the slightest opening. So we must work hard to seal all these possible openings. Not only must we seal all the cracks, we must get rid of all the garbage inside. If we can do so, everything will be clean.
Afflictions can be very fine and subtle, like dust that enters through any crevice. Therefore, if our minds are constantly moistened by Dharma-water, a blowing wind cannot stir up these dust-like afflictions. Regardless of external conditions, our minds will still remain serene. So we must have teachings in our minds. Only Dharma-water can purify our minds. Since we now know this, we must seize this opportunity, “this advantageous superior mind,” to repent.
We have such an excellent opportunity. We have attained human form and can listen to the Buddha’s teachings. These are truly precious circumstances. So seize this moment to make the most of these favorable circumstances; vow to benefit others with a Great Vehicle mind. Please motivate and encourage each other to take good care of the mind.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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