Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Walk the Middle Way with Unconditional Giving (行中道付出無所求)
Yesterday I talked about the deviant views of ordinary people. They see everything in this world as permanent, blissful, pure and “Self”–existent. They are attached to this notion of “existence”. Thus, they get attached to the many names and labels they put on things. Inevitably they are in constant conflict, always fighting with others. They are ordinary people.
Hinayana practitioners, the Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas, practice for their own benefit. They realize that fame, status and desires are all empty in nature, so nothing has real existence. Since nothing really exists, why do anything? Since nothing exists, what is there to gain? To them, everything is Empty. That is the deviated view of Hinayana practitioners. Attachment to either “existence” or “emptiness” is not beneficial to those seeking to learn the Buddha’s way. Since we learn Buddhism to attain Buddhahood we must make a great vow; we must first walk the necessary Bodhisattva-path. To do so, we must be among people and serve them. Only then will we have the opportunity to truly learn the Buddha’s way. This world is where we practice our spiritual path. Being among people is a helpful condition for us. We need helpful conditions wherever we practice. These helpful conditions can appear either favorable or adverse. Under favorable conditions, we must strengthen out will to practice. We cannot lose our way when things go well. Under adverse conditions, we must also remain firm and always raise our awareness.
Things in the world are impermanent, do not provide true happiness, and do not have a truly existing Self. So if this “Self” does not exist how do we practice? There is still a Self. However, this “Self ” is the greater Self, one where we feel interconnected and one with all sentient beings. Thus we say, ”When others are hurt , I feel their pain.” This sense of “I” is about giving and feeling others’ suffering as our own. When we are not attached to a Self, we can stay true to the Middle Way.
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. Thus, pure wisdom will naturally manifest.
If we can emulate the Buddha and maintain a pure mind, everything we see will be pure. I remember that one day, a volunteer walked into a hospital room and saw an old man alone, with no relatives. His body was very filthy but he refused to let the nurses bathe him. This volunteer knew that he refused to be bathed, so she endured his stench and filthy appearance to patiently chat with him. She kept thinking to herself, “If I want to care for him, I must tolerate this. Remember, everything in the world is unclean. I should be grateful for meeting him because now I understand what my teacher meant when she said that nothing in this world is clean.” By contemplating impurities, the volunteer realize, “Life is just this way. It’s not only this old man I am unclean, too.” With such a mindset, this elderly volunteer was able to endure and talked patiently with the old man.
He usually ignored everyone, but as she patiently asked about his life and his relationship with his family and relatives, he gradually revealed his innermost feelings. So she took this opportunity to say, “Grandpa, nothing is worth holding a grudge. Raising our children is our duty. Don’t think too much. Let us seize the moment so when they see us, a sense of joy will arise in them. How can I make them happy? I am depressed. Where will I find happiness?” Our volunteer told him, “If you look happy, then others will respond in kind. Take me for example, are you happy when you see me?”
The old man said, “Yes, you are very understanding and kind, so I am very happy to see you.”
She said, “There are many people like me. Let me help you clean up, shave your face, wash your hair, and help you into fresh clothes. Once you’re cleaned up, you will feel more comfortable and at ease when you have visitors.” She half cajoled and half forced him until he finally agreed to accept her help.
Then she quickly gathered the other volunteers. Some brought water, others brought a razor and scissors to cut his hair. They washed and shaved his face. Then they told him, “Since your hair is neat, why not take a bath so you can change into clean clothes.” With his hair washed and face shaved, he really felt refreshed. So he allowed our Tzu Chi Commissioners and Faith Corps members to help him into the bathroom. After the male volunteers bathed him and helped him put on clean clothes, he went back to lying on his bed. Within minutes, he said, “I think I am about to….” The volunteer who originally chatted with him asked, “Do you need to go to the toilet? Hold on just a second.” But it was too late, so she used her hands to catch his feces.
I asked her, “At that moment, weren’t you horrified by the stench?” She said, “Master, I just kept imagining it smelled like coffee.” Look, defilement and purity are just thoughts. If we can change our thinking and give lovingly to those who are suffering and alone, this heart of love will generate great strength. Thus, in spiritual cultivation we must not be attached to the false view that Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity exist, nor should we be attached to the false view that they do not exist either. Rather, it is about being able to adjust and transform our mind, not letting the mind be attached to phenomena. This is the correct way. By doing so we will attain the fruits of Sarvajna.
When we attain the fruits of Sarvajna, we will reach the Pure Buddha-land and help all sentient beings.
Sarvajna is Sanskrit for all-encompassing wisdom. This all-encompassing wisdom extends to everything in the world, sentient or not, animals or phenomena. Animals include humans and living beings. With all-encompassing wisdom, we can see into how, in this world, emotions and feelings cause much affliction. It is because of these feelings that we are covered by layers of accumulated ignorance. The Buddha had all-encompassing wisdom. He saw through these feelings and understood the source of these afflictions. Such understanding is called all-encompassing wisdom. Though He lived amongst sentient beings, He had already attained enlightenment. This is called all-encompassing wisdom. With such wisdom he had deep insight into everything in the universe. So the Buddha has a transcendent view of the world and penetrates the Truth of the universe. This is what we must strive to learn.
How can we remain composed so we will not be influenced by anything in the world, and not allow our pure minds to be covered by all the worldly phenomena? This is what we strive to learn. So Sarvajna is all-encompassing wisdom, Buddhas’ ultimate perfection.
We learn Buddhism to have the wisdom to see through everything in the world, to maintain the purity of our minds so they will not be covered by afflictions, and to remain unwavering under all circumstances.
The fruit of Sarvajna is the goal we must pursue. I have already spent some time talking about the 4 Immeasurables, 6 Perfections and the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. These teachings help us cross from the shore of ordinary beings, over the river of afflictions, to reach to opposite shore of purity. When we arrive at the other shore, we have reached the final destination of Sarvajna. Therefore, as we learn Buddhism, we must have steadfast resolve. If we can do so, then we can “realize the pure Buddha-land and help all sentient beings.” I often say we practice to attain Buddhahood. When our hearts are pure, we will realize the Buddha-land of purity. Right now we are in the state of ordinary of ordinary people. We must first create the pure Buddha-land. In our hearts, so in the future we can eventually establish a real, ideal Buddha-land.
To have an ideal Buddha-land, we must help sentient beings. In the case of Amitabha Buddha, according to the Sutras, Amitabha Buddha vowed to realize the pure land. He also made the forty eight vows. As for Sakyamuni Buddha, He returned to the Saha world repeatedly out of compassion. Though the Saha world is different to endure and is a degenerate world of Five Turbidities, in the mind of the Buddha it is pure. The Buddha can transform sentient begins. With his mind a pure Buddha-land, He repeatedly returned to this Saha world to teach and transform sentient beings. Thus, many people feel happy upon hearing or changing Buddha’s name. The Buddha formed affinities with many beings. So His name has reached sentient beings far and wide. So we must recall what has been said before, from the 4 Immeasurables, the 6 Perfections, the 37 Practice of Enlightenment to Permanence, Bliss, Self & Purity. If we see it all clearly, and attain All-encompassing Wisdom, we can realize the pure Buddha-land, and help all sentient beings.
To learn Buddhism, we must make this strong resolve. So remember that even though I have spent a great deal of time discussing this, everything is actually very simple. We just need to abide by the Buddha’s teachings, and practice them by working among people. We must give with the spirit of selfless Great Love. That is what we need to do.
Thus, I often say that self-respect is a way of repaying grace. We often speak of repaying Buddha, repaying our parents, and repaying sentient beings. We must repay their grace. But if we do not have love and respect for ourselves, we will violate many rules and precepts. The Buddha will not abandon sentient beings who suffer in the cyclic existence of the six Realms. The Buddha feels for us. If we do not have love and respect for ourselves, our parents in this lifetime will worry about us. That is the greatest worry of parents. If we are deviant in thinking or in conduct, then we cannot live in harmony with others. This will cause our parents tremendous worry. So self-respect is a way to repays parents’ grace, and the grace of the Three Treasures. We must also have self-respect to repay the grace of sentient beings.
Life after life, sentient beings have served as our parents and children. Thus, all of the sentient beings we encounter, at one time or another, have served as our parents—if not in this life, then in our past lives or in our future lives among the six realms, depending on the karmic affinity we form with them. Thus, we must treat all sentient beings just as if they are our parents. In this way, we can love them willingly. This is called repaying grace. Aside from relaying past, present, or future graces, we must also repay the Grace of Heaven and Earth.
We live on this vast Earth, under the heavens. How do we remain healthy and live comfortably? The first thing we need every day is water. We also need to breathe the air to survive. So we should be grateful everything in the world, for all our food. As we now often say, “Natural disasters arise from manmade calamities, which arise because of lack of self-respect.” If we do not cherish everything in the world, we will create a vicious cycle. This vicious cycle arises when people so not exercise self-respect.
So, this all sounds very simple. By exercising self-discipline, we can repay much grace and also become more spiritually cultivated. So giving is a way to show our gratitude. We are grateful to have the opportunity and the capability to give. So we really must be grateful.
As we learn Buddhism we must not forget to repay the grace of Buddha, of parents, of sentient beings, and of Heaven and Earth. The more we give, the more we realize the Truth of Buddha-Dharma.
Fellow practitioners, in our daily living we must always be mindful. We must also be mindful about Permanence, Bliss, Self, and Purity.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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