Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Birth of lnfinite Merits and Wisdom (無量功德智慧生)
Yesterday we began talking about the Six Paramitas. Sentient beings truly suffer in the Six Realms. Some will say that life in heaven is blessed. But after blessings are exhausted one will fall. Living in Heaven is not permanent, it is still impermanent. Even the longest lifespan still has an end. So life in Heaven is not really eternal, let alone life in the Human Realm.
It is rare for people to live to be 100. Very few people live that long. Moreover, the conditions are always changing. In the Six Realms the Asura Realm can be found within the other five realms. There are Asuras in Heaven. Though they enjoy blessings, they are still very discontent. Over time their bad habits become deeply-ingrained. So many of them easily lose their tempers and become angry and hateful.
Even though they are in Heaven, they are still like that, so they have many opportunities to fall. How much more so in the Human Real！ People fight each other, are caught up in anger and hatred, and undermine others openly & covertly. They are Asuras in the Human Realm.
The wealthier a person is, the higher his status and the greater his fame, the greater the disturbance to society he causes when his Asura habits manifest.
Life can be miserable and dangerous in Heavenly & Human Realms, too. When bad habits arise and blessings are exhausted, we fall into the evil realms. Because of anger and hatred, with every word we speak, bad karma is created and accumulated.
Then, once our blessings are exhausted, evil retributions will manifest and we will fall into the Three Evil Realms of Hungry Ghost, Animal and Hell. The suffering will be unspeakable.
Some people will say, “We can see animals, but where are the hungry ghosts?
What does Hell look like?” In truth, this world is already filled with hungry ghosts. If we look around the world, we will see them in impoverished countries that are still undeveloped and unsophisticated, or in civilized countries torn by war and strife. Many people experience manmade disasters. So hunger and starvation can be seen everywhere. Many people have no food to eat.
So if we want to see the Hungry Ghost Realm, we can see it in many places, like Rwanda. Thinking back to Rwanda memories arise that are truly unbearable to recall. I remember the way they looked in those undeveloped places; people still led primitive lives. They were completely naked so they got cold during the winter. To keep their body warm, they covered themselves in animal oil and then placed a layer of sand over it. The animal oil was base for the sand on the surface. So their bodies were covered in oil and sand. This was how they stayed warm.
Are they living in the Human Realm or Animal Realm ? Are they part of the Human Realm or the Hungry Ghost Realm? Looking at the way they live from the perspective of our environment, we see all the Three Evil Realms there.
In Ethiopia there was also a place that we planned to help. But that place was very primitive. Apart from being nude like those I just mentioned, they were also suffering famine and drought. Not only did they eat animals they even ate humans. When hostility and hatred arose they readily killed people, and even ate them. This was not too different from Hell. People there saw each other as enemies. They maimed, killed and ate one another. Don’t we see the Three Evil Realms in this world?
Did those who were born there choose to be there? No. Their birthplace was not something they could control. Fellow practitioners, what things cause us to not have control? Karma. We accumulated these karmic seeds with countless evil deeds in our past lives. We might have done more evil than good, or mostly evil and no good. We have spoken about this earlier. In our everyday lives, whether we commit more evil deeds or more good deeds, each deed becomes a karmic seed. If we accumulate more evil, the power of bad karma will be greater. We will follow those karmic forces and have no control.
Everything we do is karma which arises from our minds and is created through our actions. Sow evil seeds, create bad karma, reap bad retributions. Sow good seeds, create good karma, reap good retributions. We come and go according to our karma. None of it is within our control.
Therefore, as we learn Buddhism, we must maintain this mindset. The Buddha wanted to inspire us to practice. Our aspiration must go beyond seeking Heavenly & Human Realms, beyond fearing the Three Evil Realms. It is not just this. In fact, we should also fear Heaven & Human Realms. Pleasures easily cause degeneration, and human life is very impermanent. Therefore, we must truly develop Bodhicitta, which is our enlightened nature.
Bodhi means enlightenment. It is about developing our pure, intrinsic nature. So we must practice the Six Paramitas. We accumulate these practices over time. With this karmic affinity, we must diligently develop this will to practice. The Six Paramitas are six kinds of tools that help us weather the turbulent waves of afflictions. Sentient beings afflictions are like a great river or like ocean waves. When they arise, they obscure everything and cause us to become lost. So we need to use tools to weather the turbulent waves caused by afflictions.
If our minds are not well-balanced and adjusted then when afflictions arise, afflictions will truly blot out everything. This is very dangerous. So the Six Paramitas are tools that allow us to cross (this sea of afflictions).
The Six Paramitas are practices Bodhisattvas use to transform, benefit, and enlighten themselves and others. Paramita is a Sanskrit word. It means going to the other shore. If we practice the Six Paramitas, we can cross from this shore of life and death, through the currents of affliction, to the other shore of Ultimate Nirvana.
Yesterday we spoke about giving the first of the Six Paramitas. After that comes precepts. We all know that precepts stop evil and guard against wrongs. Whenever conditions appear and engage us, and unwholesome thoughts are about to arise, deep down in our minds we must promptly become alert and immediately stop them. If it is too late and we have committed the wrong, we can instantly repent.
Upholding precepts is to stop evil and to guard against wrongs. When evil conditions manifest, be highly alert and aware. Thus, when we commit wrongs, we can instantly repent.
The sutra tells the following story. Innumerable Kalpas ago there was a Brahman practitioner, that is, a non-Buddhist practitioner. At that time, there was no Buddha-dharma. But there was a community practicing another path. The practice of these Brahmans also included precepts and regulations. This practitioner adhered strictly to the precepts, so he was very pure.
He went out one day and walked from the day until night without drinking water because there was no water to drink. When it became dark, he arrived at a village. It was late at night and the village was quiet. But he saw a pond with water in it. Immediately a thought arose, “What I really need now is water.” He quickly cupped some water and drank. After he drank, another thought quickly arose, “This pond must be owned by someone. I did not ask anyone for permission, I just drank it. I have violated a precept. What should I do?”
He did not know who the owner was, so he turned himself in to the king and asked the king to punish him for his crime. The king found it quite amusing, “There was no crime. You just drank some water. You are not guilty.” But this practitioner said, “In my mind, I know I am guilty. My conscience gives me no peace heart. Your Majesty, please punish me for my crime.” The king found this inconceivable. “How am I supposed to punish you? The king became bothered and said, “All right, all right. I am very busy now.” So he told the crown prince, “Please accompany this practitioner to the garden, I will go there after I finish my tasks.”
The prince brought him to the gazebo in the garden and then told him, “Why don’t you wait here?” With that the prince left. The king was very busy. Six days passed and the king suddenly wondered, “What happened to that Brahman? The king immediately asked someone to check. This practitioner had waited there for six days. No one came, so he did not eat or drink. At this point, he was very dehydrated and his body was very dry and emaciated. But he was still alive. The king saw him and asked, “Why are you still here?”
He replied, “You asked the crown prince to bring me here, so I must follow the rules and wait here.” The king found this unbearable. Why did practitioner act this way? The king then said, “This counts as the punishment. You do not need to feel guilty anymore.” Then he promptly asked his queen to prepare a nutritious meal for the Brahman. When the queen saw this practitioner, she found him ridiculous and took exception to his actions. Why did he wait for nearly six days, just because he drank some water? So she gave him a slight and patronizing smile.
At this point of the story, the Buddha said, “Do you know? The kind who made that unintentional mistake was I, Sakramuni Buddha. As a result, I ate one sesame seed a day in my six years of ascetic practices. I starved for six years. The prince who brought him there and then ignored him is now my son, Rahula. This is why he had to spend 6 years in the womb. That queen with the patronizing smile is now Yasodhara, (Rahula’s mother). Yasodhara was merely arrogant and mocking. But just because of that smile, her pregnancy lasted for six years. That engendered a lot of gossip in the kingdom of Kapilavastu. “How can a woman be pregnant for six years? Was it because she was unfaithful after the prince left the palace?” So for six years, she endured their ridicule.
The Buddha said, “We must take good care of our heart and remember karmic retributions.” If we commit wrongdoings purposefully, that is transgression. When we do so unwittingly, that is a mistake. A wrongdoing, be it intentional or unintentional, will be a karmic seed. We will eventually face karmic retributions. So in our daily interactions, let us always be vigilant of our thoughts. Let us be mindful in upholding precepts so we can be pure in body and mind.
Upholding precepts is the foundation of spiritual cultivation and learning Buddhism. Constantly be mindful so that delusional thoughts can be easily eliminated and good thoughts can easily arise. Then naturally our minds will be calm and peaceful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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