Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Refrain from all Evil, Uphold all Good (生善不起惡)
The Eightfold Noble Path: Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
In the Eightfold Noble Path, we have already covered the first five. We let off with Right Livelihood. The next element is Right Diligence. The Chinese characters which make up “diligence” are “precise” which means to be focused and “advancement” which means to not regress. We cannot be diligent without being upright. If we move forward quickly, and the direction is incorrect, we will end up far off course and become deviant. So as we learn Buddhism, it is important to prevent evil from entering our minds.
Evil will hinder correct thinking and block the correct direction. Therefore, we must take good care of our minds so our thoughts do not stray. Moreover, we must be focused and uncluttered. When our minds are cluttered, filled with impurity, this is affliction. This is no longer simple spiritual practice is a very simple thing. We should constantly take care of the mind and never let it deviate or make mistakes. In interacting with people and dealing with things, we should treat people well, work hard and appreciate what we have. This is what spiritual practice is about. It is about living a very simple life. If we become attached to and crave certain objects, those are deviant thoughts that show we have strayed. As practitioners, we should not desire something that does not belong to us.
This attitude toward objects should apply to people as well. Many spouses have antagonistic relationships. They were once happy and loving so they got married. But as the years passed, their minds changed and they began having affairs. When extramarital affairs occur, the family becomes dysfunctional. The extramarital affair is wrong. If people love inappropriately and crave what is not theirs, that will cause family problems. This is not right. It is wrongful.
This applies to people. It also applies to things. When reading the newspaper every day, much of what we see is gossip. Gossip arises when people’s minds have strayed, so they violate the rules of common decency and their actions appear to be strong and inappropriate. When our thinking is not correct, our actions will be misguided. Though we may act with great care, if we are not thinking correctly, our actions will still be wrong. A slight deviation will take us far off course. So when we practice, we must do so with the right mindset. In our interactions with people and things, we must always be simple and pure, and follow the rules, fulfilling our core responsibilities in our daily living. This is also called diligence.
Most importantly, we must refrain from all evils. To do so, we must safeguard our mind and do all good deeds. As long as it is the correct thing to do, and we are on the right course, we must proceed. This is Right Diligence.
“Precise” means to be focused and not be scattered “Advancement” means to not regress. Not only do we need to be diligent in our practice, we must have right knowledge & views so we will not deviate and do evil. So as we learn and practice Buddhism, we must have Right Diligence to attain the Unsurpassed Perfect Enlightenment.
Next is Right Mindfulness, which means to maintain the right perspective. As I mentioned earlier, if our state of mind is not correct, we will advance in the wrong direction. So the two elements are closely interrelated. Therefore, we must have a very correct perspective. In life, sometimes incorrect thoughts arise in our minds. For instance, instead of accepting our lives, we constantly look at others and use them as a standard to measure ourselves. So we will always fall short. Moreover, as ordinary people, we always compare ourselves against someone better, so we constantly feel discontent. Actually, we can have another perspective that makes us always content. If we compare ourselves with those who have less, we will be satisfied. In our daily living and interactions, there may be people who are better off, but compared to many others, we have plenty.
For instance, when a person closest to us passes away, we may wonder, “Why did this person pass away so soon? He or she was so dear to me.” We should remember that “there is always someone younger who has died” How long people live varies and is beyond our control. If we can truly understand this perspective, we will take advantage of our health, treasure our time with our loved ones, and work together with unity, harmony & mutual love. We must know to cherish each other. If we wait until we are sick or dying to express our love, it will be too late.
In a report I received from our volunteers in Indonesia, I read that when our cultural volunteers reached Jakarta, they saw a forest of imposing high-rise buildings. However, in the same city, as they crossed the railroad tracks, they saw many illegally constructed shacks on the side. They were built about one meter away from the tracks. The volunteers stood there for about ten minutes, during which more than 10 trains passed by in quick succession. It was very noisy. Our volunteers stood there to experience it. More than 10 trains passed by in less than 10 minutes. This averages out to more than a train a minute. After experiencing that, they wondered how people could live in such an environment.
But that was indeed how they lived. Day and night, that was their home. Even more unimaginable was, since they were about a meter away from the tracks, the ground was covered with rocks. The pieces of pulverized boulders were sharp and rough. How did people manage to sleep there? They put down a thin layer of plastic tarp and slept right on it. Moreover, the shacks they rented were very small. A place less than 10 square meters was rented to three families. Three households must share such a tiny space. How do they all fit in there? They take turns to sleep in three shifts. This is why, late at night, we can see children playing and kicking balls outside. When the police patrolled the area, they asked, “It’s late, why aren’t you sleeping? Why are you playing here?” The children replied, “It is not turn to sleep yet. Our turn comes at 4 a.m.” They were playing outside because it is not their turn to sleep. Our volunteers’ description of their living conditions and lifestyle made me sad. Some entrepreneurs accompanied their wives as they visited these poor people.
One of them said to his wife, “if you buy fewer outfits, that money could support these people for over half a year.” The wives looked at one another, and replied at the same time, “I understand what you mean.” Indeed, this was the right time to teach. At that point, one could promptly let them know, if they bought one less piece of clothing, they could support these people for half a year.
Indeed, how are we to compare with others? Therefore, we need the right perspective, with is that we do not compare our lives with others. Constant comparisons will only cause suffering. We need to learn how to just live according to the means we have. We should always be content.
In spiritual practice, only allow good thoughts. Don’t allow evil thought to arise. In realizing the principle, carry out all good deeds without being attached to them. Transform the busy mind into a quite mind. This is Right Mindfulness.
Next is Right Concentration. Concentration means that our minds are correct. After we choose a direction, we should not allow the mind to waver. If we, as ordinary people, allow the mind to waver even if we are on that rare right path, we will easily come to give up what we have chosen. Many people consider Right Concentration to be a state that is achieved by sitting meditation. Actually, it is achieved by talking good care of our minds in daily living. Don’t allow adversity in the world and society to influence your pure mindset and don’t let worldly desire tempt you to deviate in your direction.
Take good care your mind so as not to be tempted by desires or defiled by afflictions. This is called Right Concentration.
There are 37 Practices to Enlightenment: the Fourfold Mindfulness, 4 Right Efforts, 4 Basses of Spiritual Power, 5 Spiritual Roots, 5 Powers, 7 Factors of Bodhi and the Eightfold Noble Path. All together, there are 37 methods. If we can understand each one of them clearly, and live by this code of ethics in daily living, we will strengthen our determination on the path.
Before, we had the 4 Immeasurable & 6 Perfections. The 4 Immeasurables, as you all know, are kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. We must have loving-kindness and compassion. We must have joy and equanimity. Together these are the 4 Immeasurables. The 6 Perfections are Giving, Upholding Precepts, Patience, Samadhi and Wisdom. We must cultivate these six practices. To be a Bodhisattva, we need to have the 4 Immeasurables and 6 Perfections to ensure a smooth transformation. These are the ways of a Bodhisattva.
The 37 Practices to Enlightenment help strengthen our practice of the 4 Immeasurables and 6 Perfections. These 37 practices are methods of living and can be used to and guide us. If we can practice the 4 Immeasurables and 6 Perfections, and abide by the 37 Practice to Enlightenment in our daily living, we will certainly accomplish our spiritual path.
Cultivate the 4 Immeasurables internally and practice the 6 Paramitas externally. Use the 37 Practices to Enlightenment to strengthen the 4 Immeasurables and 6 Perfections. That is the way Bodhisattvas attain Buddhahood.
Everyone, I spend a long time talking about this so that you will all know how to attain a pure Dharma-body equal to the Buddha’s. That is why I talk about all these methods. We must be always be very mindful. It sounds simple and straight forward, not difficult at all. We just need to pay close attention to every move we make and every word we say. Let us be mindful when speak and say only what we should say. When we do something, we need to mindful of doing it correctly. If we can be mindful about everything, nothing we do will deviate from the path. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水).
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