Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity (常樂我淨)
The Buddha constantly expounded the concepts of Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity to us. He explained that what seems permanent is actually impermanent.
But ordinary people mistake all that is impermanent, unreal, and ever-changing for being permanent, real and fixed. This is the invented view of permanence that ordinary people have.
Ordinary people take what is impermanent, unreal, and ever-changing as permanent, real and fixed. Thus the four Inverted Views arise.
The Four Invented Views of ordinary people: the Not-Blissful as Blissful, Not-Self as Self, Impurity as Purity.
What in the world can we say is joyful? Nothing really. Think about it. We fluctuate between joy sorrow, and anger in reaction to the conditions we encounter. We never experience true, lasting happiness and joy in our hearts. Yet, most people do not realize this and cling to Bliss where there is none.
As for No-Self. Buddha taught us that the Self does not truly exist. After much contemplation, we see that the Self does not inherently exist. Is my head “me”? Is my foot “me”? Are my hands “me”? Or are my eyes “me”? Is my mouth “me”? Each of these has its own name. If we refer to each of them as “me”, we will be confused.
“Me” is a designation for the whole body. At the end of our analysis, we will realize that the notion of self we have really has no basis.
The Buddha told us that ordinary people cling to the belief that the “self” truly exists, which leads to suffering and many afflictions. Don’t all conflicts arise for the sake of “me” for “mind”? What the Buddha taught as impure, we insist is pure. Look, the world is filled with impurity. Look at our recycling volunteers who collect large amounts of recyclable materials and garbage every day. Most of these recyclables area indeed very dirty. There are so many things that we no longer use and throw away. This is true for our bodies as well. After taking a tour around the hospital, we will better understand that our bodies a one are very unclean. But how much karma do we create on behalf of this unclean body? So ordinary people cling to Impermanence as Permanence, the Not-Blissful as Blissful, No-Self as Self Impurity as Purity. These are the 4 Inverted Views of ordinary people.
Ordinary people are attached to Existence. We believe in the existence of Permanence, Bliss, Self and Purity in this world, so we constantly fight over everything and thus create countless negative karma. If we can transform the Four Inverted Views into the Right View, naturally our pure wisdom will manifest.
There are another set of 4 Inverted Views held in the Sravaka Vehicle and Pratyekabuddha Vehicle. Sravakas emerge when there is a Buddha. They listen to a Buddha expound Dharma and from that, attain realizations and understanding. They are called Sravakas, or Hearers, because they realize the truth by listening to a Buddha.
They follow Buddha’s teachings to realize the Four Noble Truth, the Truth of suffering of causes of suffering, of cessation of suffering, and of the path to cessation of suffering. This is called Sravakayana, the Sravaka Vehicle.
Pratyekabuddhas observed the world through the twelve links of Cyclic Existence. By observing the changing of the seasons and changing phenomena, they contemplated the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. They lived in a time without Buddhas. So they solely relied on their wisdom. They observed the changing of the seasons and of all phenomena in the world. Thus they attained their realizations. They observed birth, aging, illness, death and realized that this cycle came about through the convergence of the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. They realized these Truths on their own, so they are also known as Solitary Realizers.
The 12 Links of cyclic Existence: 1. Ignorance. 2. Volitional Formation. 3. Consciousness. 4. Name and Form. 5. Six Sense Organs. 6. Contact. 7. Sensation. 8. Craving. 9. Grasping. 10. Becoming. 11. Birth. 12. Old Age and Death.
Sravakas realize the Four Noble Truths by following Buddha’s teachings. They are called Hearers. Pratyekabuddhas realize the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence through their observations. They are called Solitary Realizers. Compared to ordinary people, they are sages because they have attained and understanding of the truth. However, they are attached to their understanding. What are they attached to? They cling to the notion that nothing truly exists.
The Buddha taught us the Middle Way, to not cling to “emptiness” or “existence.” Ordinary people cling to existence, Hinayana practitioners cling to emptiness. The Buddha told us there is a state of Nirvana. If we can truly realize Buddha-Dharma, our minds will forever reside in Nirvana, a state ultimate tranquility. In that state of purity we can realize. Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity. But Sravahas and Pratyekabuddhas are attached to the notion that emptiness is the ultimate reality. As we practice Buddhism, we encounter obstacles because we have attachments.
Since Hinayana practitioners are attached to emptiness, they focus on their own practice and on protecting themselves, without seeking to benefit others. The Buddha taught us to uphold and walk the Middle Way. We need to understand the impermanence of life. When we realize the truth of impermanence, we will not be attached to or tied down by worldly appearances.
For example, I saw a report from our Malaysia branch about a group of human traffickers from China. These “snakeheads” illegally smuggled people into other countries. They called themselves brokers, intermediaries. They told people, “I’ll serve as your middleman. For just $50,000 RMB, I will arrange your travel out of the country, get you a job and a place in the new country, so you can really settle down and make money. But, you need to pay $50,000 RMB first.”
Some people believe them. To poor laborers in China, $50,000 RMB is a huge amount of money. To come up with such a large sum they need to borrow money, or sell their cattle or rice grains to slowly accumulate $50,000 RMB. So, quite a few people were brought to Malaysia by such middlemen. In the beginning, they had jobs such as construction workers. They worked for 3 months to receive $1000 MYR, only slightly more than 1 month’s wages. After 3 months, they became illegal residents. They could not collect a salary and had to hide from the police. Oftentimes, while they were working if they heard that inspectors or police were coming, they had to quickly run. Sometimes, they hid in the bushes and got cuts all over their bodies. They were hurt and helpless, but going home was impossible without any money. So these laborers become drifters. They hid in construction sites and tried to work there. They constantly worked and hid.
One time, a group of foreign laborers ended up gathering in a small rural village. Some were from China, others were from Indonesia some were from the Philippines. These illegal foreign laborers were all staying there, so that village turned into their gathering place.
A reporter found out about this and publicized it in the newspaper. When Tzu Chi volunteers saw this news, they asked the publisher about the village location, so the reporter took them there, it was a sad sight. They had no proper shelter, food, or work. They lived on instant noodles. Some of them did not even have instant noodles. The Tzu Chi volunteers could not bear to see this, so they quickly went to the store to buy daily necessities, such as rice, oil, salt, vegetables, and fruits, etc. Within just a few hours, they returned and delivered these abundant supplies.
These foreign laborers were very thankful. They had not eaten while rice and vegetables, not to mention fruit, for a very long time. We can imagine their circumstances and how happy and grateful they were. From then on, Tzu Chi volunteers brought them supplies every few days so their daily living was stable. Meanwhile, the volunteers also bought tickets and obtained necessary documents for those who wanted to go home.
So 36 of then went back to mainland China at the same time. Afterwards, they wrote letters to the volunteers to express their gratitude. When they asked the volunteers for their names? The volunteers answered, “Our names are all the same. We are all called Tzu Chi.” They told them that Tzu Chi is an organization from Taiwan. They explained my ideals and described Tzu Chi’s accomplishments around the world. Then they said, “If you want to know what our names are just remember that we are called Tzu Chi.” So when the Chinese laborers wrote a letter to express their gratitude after they returned to China, I was very moved to read it.
Everyone, why did they travel to experience such suffering? Because they believed a false promise. In this world, there are groups that cheat others. They lay traps, but impoverished people think, “Once l reach that place, I will be free of suffering forever and I will make a lot of money.” But in the end, they wanted to go home and still had to work off their tremendous debt. So, in their letter they said that after getting home, they had to work hard to repay their initial loans.
Look, there is so much confusion in this world. Even if they stay in their own country through earnest, hard work, they may still be able to enjoy life and be with their families. But they left to pursue their goals. What were they pursuing? Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity. They were clinging to the belief that Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity truly exist in the world. They took on debt and suffering a lot of hardship.
Our Tzu Chi volunteers are truly very endearing. They told everyone to call them “Tzu Chi.” You see, they did not give their personal names but called themselves “Tzu Chi.” They acted very promptly when they visited those laborers and saw their poor situations, they immediately worked to relieve their suffering. Is this not an example of Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity? Because their hearts are pure, they see everything in the world as their own responsibility.
Therefore, their sense of self is that of a Great Self, which is the mindset of a Bodhisattva who sees through the Four Inverted Views of ordinary people and the Four Inverted Views of Hinayana practitioners. They see through “emptiness” and “existence” in these eight types of inverted views.
The Four Inverted Views of ordinary people plus the Four Inverted Views of Hinayana practitioners are called the Eight Inverted Views.
The Four Inverted Views of ordinary people: clinging to Impermanence as Permanence, the Not-Blissful as Blissful, No-Self as Self, Impurity as
Purity.
The Four Inverted Views of Hinayana practitioners: clinging to Permanence as Impermanence, the Blissful as Not-Blissful, Self as No-Self, Purity as Impurity.
Bodhisattvas help others unconditionally. Because sentient beings are suffering, Bodhisattvas felt happiness and peace when they help relieve this suffering. This is the mindset of Bodhisattvas. Do they truly feel that? Yes. When we give without asking anything in return, we gain joy in our hearts.
To learn Buddhism, we must walk among people, practice the Middle Way and give unconditionally, so we won’t cling to “existence” and be afflicted or cling to “emptiness” and only benefit ourselves.
So Bodhisattvas destroy the Eight Inverted Views. These 8 types of inverted views include four each from ordinary people’s attachment to existence and Hinayana practitioners’ attachment to emptiness. Their inverted views are all related to their views on Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity. So we must always be vigilant of these confusions. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水).
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