Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Return to the Pure, Intrinsic Nature. (回歸清淨本性)
In these last few days we have been talking about repentance. Only when we repent do we know to feel shame. Only then can we understand that this world is full of dangers and pitfalls. We must always heighten our vigilance and elevate our sense of fear. Only when we feel a sense of fear can we develop a sense of renunciation. The Six Realms are frightening so we renounce them, and try to quickly free ourselves from them.
We learn Buddhism to attain Buddha-hood. If our goal is not Buddha-hood, why are we learning Buddhism? What does it mean to attain Buddha-hood? It means to be enlightened and to return to our original nature, our Buddha-nature. If we can maintain our pure Buddha-nature, the only reason we return to this world is to fulfill our vows. With compassion, we return to the Saha World to transform and educate sentient beings.
This is how we return to our original nature. There will be no afflictions, no delusions. With Buddha-mind and wisdom, we teach others by setting an example though our practice. We do so with our pure, intrinsic nature.
Eliminate afflictions and complicated thoughts. Return to an innocent, undefiled, simple and pure original nature. This is the goal of learning Buddhism.
How long do we need to practice to realize our pure, intrinsic nature? We can instantly absorb the teaching and maintain this resolve. In every one of the 86,400 seconds in a day if we firmly maintain this resolve, defilements and afflictions will no longer obscure our pure minds. Then our Buddha-nature will constantly manifest. We can do this instantly. So as we learn Buddhism, we must hold on to every good intention or thought. As I always say, Cherish the moment; always maintain that resolve. Our mindset at this instant is the key to learning Buddhism.
In this very moment, if afflictions do not cover our minds, a pure, intrinsic nature equal to the Buddha’s will instantly manifest. The most important aspect in learning Buddhism is to cherish and maintain that instant’s pure mindset.
So after we develop a sense of renunciation toward the cycle of rebirth in the Six Realms, we must develop Bodhicitta. This is the fourth state of mind. The text states, “take joy in the Buddha-body.”
I hope we all become happy when we hear of Buddha, and become respectful when we see His image. This is to “take joy in the Buddha-body. The Buddha-body is the Dharma-body.” Having the Buddha-body is taking joy in Buddha-Dharma.
The Buddha lived over 2000 years ago, so what we see in the temples are only images. After the Era of True Dharma came the Era of Dharma Semblance, when many people made Buddha-images. At that time people revered the Buddha. They created images of Him in the hope that seeing them would inspire joy in others and remind them that He once came to this world to teach and expound the Dharma.
These are worldly ways to convey the Buddha’s wisdom and teachings. After the Era of True Dharma came the Era of Dharma Semblance. Then it became the Era of Dharma Decay. In this era, sentient beings are steeped in defilements and have countless afflictions. So True Dharma no longer abides in their minds and Dharma Semblances are gradually being destroyed. Anything in the world with a form will eventually face destruction. It is a cycle of formation, continuation, decay & annihilation. Anything with a form will be destroyed. This is very natural process. However, right now Buddha’s Dharma is fading away from people’s minds. You may think this is not true because many people are now studying His teachings. But how many people can actually retain His teachings in their hearts and apply them in their daily living? It seems they are quite rare.
So the Era of True Dharma has disappeared and the Era of Dharma Semblance had ended. Now we are in the Era of Dharma Decay. But the Three Treasures of our intrinsic nature are neither created nor destroyed. The Buddha, Dharma and Sangha that abide in our minds are equal to those in Buddha’s mind. With the Buddha in our minds, we will naturally have a mind equal to His. With Dharma in our minds, the Truth will be ever-abiding and unchanging. Where does it reside? In our minds.
So when we have wisdom equal to the Buddha’s, Dharma will naturally be in our minds. But to have Intrinsic Buddha and Dharma, we must have Intrinsic Sangha. That means we need to uphold the precepts. The Buddha taught us principles and rules to abide by in our daily living. Have we applied them in our lives? If we have, then Dharma exists in our hearts. If we do not abide by the precepts of Intrinsic Sangha, Dharma will no longer reside in our hearts.
We all have the Three Intrinsic Treasures Intrinsic Buddha is compassion Intrinsic Dharma is wisdom Intrinsic Sangha is self-discipline. Those who learn Buddhism take refuge with The Three Treasures, Buddha, Dharma & Sangha. We should emulate the Buddha’s conduct, uphold and practice Buddha’s Dharma, and respect the Sangha. Through taking refuge in The Three Treasures, we awaken our Three Intrinsic Treasures.
Thus, the text teaches us to “take joy in the Buddha-body. His body is Dharma-body. The Buddha-body is the Dharma-body, it arises from infinite merits and wisdom” Where does Dharma, ultimate truth, come from? It comes from infinite merits and wisdom. So we must continually accumulate them.
There is a saying “Wisdom cannot be gained without experience” We do not practice for our own benefit. If we practice in isolation, and close ourselves off from others, we cannot grow close to them. As I often say, “In a group of three, my teacher is always there.” We should “follow what is good, and avoid what is bad.” This tells us we must practice among the people. If we are amongst people, we will learn much and come to understand many principles. When we meet bad people, we will learn a lesson. When we meet good people, we will learn many principles.
We can learn from everyone. Therefore we must maintain our Intrinsic Sangha and follow the rules. If we do so, we can apply Dharma to our daily living. Then, Intrinsic Buddha, Dharma and Sangha will abide in our minds. Thus we can develop infinite merits and wisdom. Let us constantly learn from others and constantly give. Let us learn and give simultaneously.
Bodhisattvas “seek Buddha’s Way.” This means they learn continuously. They also “transform sentient beings,” which means they relieve sentient beings’ sufferings. Our wisdom grows as we learn. Our merits & virtues accumulate as we act. So we will spend a long period of time accumulating infinite merits and wisdom. Then Buddha-body, Dharma-body, will arise. It will arise from infinite merits & wisdom from practicing the Six Paramitas, and also from kindness compassion, joy and giving.
The Six Paramitas: Giving, Precepts, Patience, Diligence, Samadhi, Wisdom. Paramita is a Sanskrit word for transcendence, which refers to going to the other shore. The Six Paramitas are also called Six Perfections.
Giving, precepts, patience, diligence, Samahdi and wisdom are vital elements of our spiritual practice. Giving is very important. Giving is a continuous series of acts of charity, performed with no attachment, unconditionally and continuously.
All the teachings in the Buddhist canon relate to the methods laid out in the Six Paramitas.
When we give, we resolve to do so using the principle of the Three Spheres of Emptiness realizing the empty nature of giver, recipient and gift. Then we will not be attached to the act of giving. Let the mind constantly abide in stillness. In the state of clarity and awareness, one has attained the pinnacle of Bodhisattvas-practice. This is true merit and virtue.
The sutras depict one of the lives. Buddha lived in the course of his practice. He was an elder named Xian-tan, who lived innumerable Kalpas ago. He was wealthy and fond of Buddha-dharma. He felt that to practice the Six Paramitas, it was very important to give first. But during that time, the king was a benevolent rule, so most people could live without any monetary aid.
However, he noticed that although people were affluent, once they fell ill, they suffered unspeakably. So he had an ingenious idea. He purchased herbs and medicine from abroad and hired people to administer the medicine.
From then on, whenever people fell ill, they came to this elder. When they came to him, he paid for their diagnosis and treatment until they were cured. His services became well known, so many came to him for medical assistance. The elder also actively travelled to many places, even faraway places, to administer free treatments, like the free clinics we hold today.
More and more people came to him for help so he had to borrow money from the king. But as the scope of his treatment grew wider, he also had to repay the king. So he engaged in trade with faraway places. He became a businessman again and made a lot of money.
One his way back, he travelled by sea and then by land. He carried a lot of money he earned, and travelled with a group of merchants. They passed through an area suffering from drought. They were thirsty, and there was no water. Eventually they found a well in the wilderness. It was in an abandoned, desolate place.
The others saw that he was carrying many valuables, so they said, “Everything we have combined does not measure up to what he has. Let’s kill him, so we can take all his valuables.” With this evil plot in mind, when they saw him peering down to look for a way to obtain water, they pushed him down the well.
This elder, however, was caught by something inside the well. But when the others saw him fall in, they quickly divided his belongings and left. The elder was still inside the well. What could he do? He did not complain, and calmly looked for a way out. The well was very deep, but he saw a glimmer of light. The hole actually led to a tunnel. He followed the tunnel for 7 days and finally reached his hometown.
He reported to the king, “I didn’t make any money on this trip. I will try to slowly repay you.” The king refused to believe that he had not earned anything since he was away so long. So the king ordered an investigation. When he discovered the details of what happened, he summoned those merchants and reclaimed those valuables. Then he threw them into prison.
The elder felt very bad that his belongings landed so many people in jail. Again and again he pleaded for leniency. The king was moved, so after returning the valuables to the elder, he released the merchants. Seeing that the elder was so big-hearted in his willingness to forgive them, and secure their release from prison, all because he practiced Buddhism, these people were moved and transformed.
This was one of the Buddha’s previous lives, part of His process of spiritual practice. In the sutras, anything that is beneficial to people is called giving. It is all called love. Acts of Great Love and selfless giving need to be accumulated over a long time. That’s why giving is foremost of the Six Paremitas.
So in each of the 86,400 seconds in the day, let us take good care of each thought. Life is impermanent. We need to safeguard our mind so we can preserve our Three Intrinsic Treasures. Everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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