Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Be An Example Of Shelf-disciplne; Show The Precepts For Others (律已戒他)
Are we all taking good care of our minds? For a long time we have been adrift in the state of ordinary people, unable to find a way to escape this cyclic existence in the Six Realms. This is because our minds are full afflictions, and constantly reproducing them.
They cover the brightness of our pure wisdom so it cannot shine through. This is why we need to learn Buddhism and eliminate afflictions. I have discussed the Seven States of Mind. There is an order to the seven states. First, we must have a sense of shame. With that, we can generate a sense of fear. If we do not feel shame, we cannot humble ourselves understand the interpersonal conflicts around us, or realize how bad karma is produced and how it turns into retributions.
In the past we did not know these things. Now that we know, we need to develop a sense of fear and realize that rebirth in the Six Realms is suffering . There is so much suffering just in the Human Realm.Then there are the Realm of Hell, Hungry Ghosts and Animals.
The Heaven and Human Realms are just two of the Six Realms. The Four Evil Realms make up the majority of the Six Realms. When thoughts arise unchecked, anger and hatred appear, Asuras are created. When everything you see is always displeasing, and easily causes you anger, this is great suffering.
The Hell, Hungry Ghost and Animal Realms are even more agonizing. In cyclic existence, though one may enjoy blessings in Heaven, once blessings are exhausted, one will still fall. There is no opportunity for transcendence. The Human Realm has both suffering and joy. However, even the most fortunate still cannot feel content. Moreover, in a world of Five Impurities and Three Calamities even those with money or status still need a sense of fear.
In the Human Realm there are truly many opportunities to create karma and few chances to cultivate goodness. Hence we must develop a sense of renunciation toward the Six Realms. Once we have that sense, we will strive to practice Buddha-dharma. We must also develop Bodhicitta. When we realize Bodhi-mind, we will begin to understand that all life is interconnected. If we wish to attain peace we need to help others be at peace. If we wish to attain Dharma-joy, we need to help others shed suffering & attain joy. This is called impartiality.
Let us now speak about repaying the Buddha’s grace. Without the Buddha, how could we know so many truths? How could we realize that, in the Six Realms, four are filled with suffering? Of the other two one is joy and suffering intermixed; while in the other, we exhaust blessings and fall.
So we should not be attached to them. These are Truths we should know, and now that we know, we should calm and settle our minds.I say all this to let you understand the sequence of the Seven States of Mind.
At the state of repaying Buddha’s grace, our bodies and minds are already close to Buddha. In addition to our physical body, we also have attained a pure Dharma-body. When we realize that the nature of evil is empty, there will be no delusions and thus no karma, so how can retribution exist? This is the sequence of these state.
Let us now further explore and understand the sense of shame. The text states, “First, one who is shamed is aware that Sakyamini Tathagata was also an ordinary person, once. Yet He has already been enlightened for Kalpas as countless as sand, while we are still wallowing in the Six Sense Objects and are caught in cyclic rebirth without end. We should truly feel guilty and ashamed. It is a shame and a disgrace.
This passage talks about self-awareness. We must carefully engage in self-reflection. Originally, we were the same as the Buddha. A long time ago, the Buddha was an ordinary person just like us. Now we are the Buddha’s disciples. It has been a long time since Sakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment. How long has it been? It has been Kalpas as countless as sand. Such time cannot be measured in units of a year, a century or a millennium. It cannot be numerically calculated.
That is how long age He attained Buddha-hood. The Buddha has never left the Saha World. Out of compassion, He returns life after life. When he returns to this world, He always manifests as a Buddhist disciple and leads us by example. We cannot know how many times He has done this, cannot know the places He was born, the ways He lived, or the methods He used to teach people. This is impossible to figure out.
He attained Buddha-hood countless Kalpas ago. The number of Kalpas is as countless as sand. The Buddha’s life and enlightenment in this world, with its Eight Aspects, was but one of the countless grains of sand that represent the number of Kalpas. We use each grain to represent a single Kalpa. Here we say “Kalpas as countless as sand” to signify that we have no way to numerically express that length of time.
This sutra passage tells us the Buddha attained enlightenment a long time ago. Perhaps we were His contemporaries who studied and practiced alongside Him. However today we are still adrift in the state of ordinary people. So this is truly shameful.
We must have had past connections with the Buddha. Therefore, when we hear His Teachings, a sense of joy arises in us, and we willingly call ourselves His disciples by taking refuge Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. If we did not feel such joy, wouldn’t we have chosen one of the many other religions in this world? We feel a sense of affinity to Buddhism. It makes us happy, so we chose this faith.
Some people are lay Buddhist practitioners. Lay practitioners also need to uphold Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds. Some are even more diligent in following the Buddha’s footsteps so they renounce the lay life and practice in the order the Buddha practiced. They also uphold precepts and practice good deeds. Monastic practitioners follow stricter precepts. When we live in this monastic community, are we using precepts to discipline ourselves and help others do the same?
Precepts lay out boundaries. We need to stop doing evil and do good deeds. Precepts tell us the evils to avoid and what we should not do. We must set an example for others and let them know to refrain from such acts. These are the precepts for ourselves and others.
Discipline is following rules. Have we upheld them faithfully? It is not enough to follow them once. We must abide by them for the rest of our lives. Are we staying true to these precepts? If we are, we will not stray from this path.
Precepts are to stop evil. We lead by example to show the precepts for ourselves and others. Discipline is to follow rules. When we follow precepts, we will not stray from the path.
Because we are ordinary people, during smooth sailing we diligently practice Dharma. But once afflictions arise, our motivation to practice sinks again. With a slight deviation on the path, we can veer far off course. This is why we cannot make progress and always remain in place. Time continuously goes by, but our minds are still entangled in ordinary afflictions. What a pity!
Sakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment so long ago, yet we are still in the state of ordinary people. The Lotus Sutra also describes how a tremendous amount of time has passed since the World Honored One attained Buddha-hood. It is not only the Water Repentance that talks about how the Buddha attained enlightenment innumerable Kalpas ago, while we are still caught up in the state of ordinary people.
The Lotus & Earth Treasury Sutras mention it, too. The Buddha manifested Eight Aspects in his life when he lived in the world over 2,000 years ago. It was in this Kalpas particularly that. He manifested those Eight Aspects to tell us, “I will forever be in the Saha World. The Saha World is my land of transformation. Sentient beings in the Saha World are like my children; they are all my disciples.”
So we should be grateful for the Buddha’s grace. No matter how much time passes, He will remain in the Human Realm, in the Saha World. So we truly need to use a sense of shame to realize the Buddha’s mind. We are still caught up in the sufferings and afflictions of sentient beings. So we need to feel ashamed and repent.
The Six Sense Objects constantly tempt our Six sense Organs to indulge in them. When this happens, the Six Consciousnesses will begin to function and mainly create greed, anger, ignorance. Thus we will attract many karmic retributions. We ordinary people often do both good and evil. But the scariest is when evil outweighs the good.
The Six Roots, or Six Sense Organs, include: eyes, ears, nose, tongues, body and mind. The Six Sense Objects, or Six Conditions, include: form. Sound, smell, taste, touch and thought. When the Six Sense Organs are defiled by the Six Sense Objects, the Six Consciousnesses arise. They are seeing, hearing, smelling, and they create countless, innumerable karma.
Everyone, we should always heighten our vigilance. The Six Sense Objects will continuously tempt our Six Sense Organs. Together they give rise to Six Consciousnesses. When the consciousnesses initiate action, we produce karma, which become seeds.
This is truly frightening. So Confucius also said that there are two types of beings one with superior capabilities the other with inferior. Those with superior capabilities can realize many truths from one teaching and be firm in their will to cultivate. They will not be defiled by external conditions. Sakymuni Buddha was one of those people. Once He realized the truth, His determination never wavered. No external condition could away His resolve. This is a person with superior capabilities.
Others have inferior capabilities. Nothing can alter them or make them give up their attachments. They are difficult to transform. There are some people with average capabilities. They are also difficult to transform. They are those who continually drift up and down. They seem to hear teachings and feel, “The world and the Six Realms are frightening I must quickly practice.” But can their resolve remain firm? No. When various circumstances appear, ignorance arises and they create karma once again. Such are the ways of sentient beings.
Everyone, while we are this cycle of rebirth, amongst sentient beings, we must quickly raise our self-awareness and strive to be a person with superior capabilities. Our Buddha-nature and compassion are equal to the Buddha’s. But He already realized many things from one teaching so He was able to attain enlightenment long ago. Meanwhile, we are still adrift in this world. This compassion should make us feel ashamed.
Remember, we cannot overlook any small actions. Furthermore, we cannot allow improper thoughts to surface in our minds. if they do, we must quickly alert ourselves and eliminate them. Everyone, as we listen to the teachings, we must experience them. If we cannot, no matter how much we hear, we will still know nothing.
Sutras seem easy to understand but we must deeply contemplate the text. If we do not self-reflect and deeply contemplate the teachings, we may never truly realize and understand their meaning. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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