Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Six Practices: Ten Abiding Conducts (Part 4) (六行~十住行四)
Time continues to move on and our environment also keeps on changing. Life is a mix of joy and sorrow. We enjoy the peaceful times and fine weather, but are distressed by interpersonal conflicts. We deal with people and events, which involves happiness, sadness, and other vicissitudes of life.
Thus, in our Buddhist practice, in our place of cultivation, I always remind everyone to practice earnestly and diligently. We have to safeguard our state of mind, for life is impermanent and the environment changes constantly. There is only one thing that will become permanent if we are mindful of it. It is our Wisdom-life.
Wisdom-life is eternal. It does not increase or decrease, nor does it arise or cease. The objective in our practice is to cultivate an always abiding Wisdom-life.
Life is impermanent. The conditions change constantly. Only Wisdom-life remains eternal. Spiritual practice is about cultivating a forever-abiding Wisdom-life.
Yesterday we discussed the Ten Abiding Conducts. The fifth is Abiding in Perfect Skillful Means. Although we abide in Skillful Means, we do not depart from the Truth. Moreover, our minds should be righteous. With right mind, we will not deviate a bit. Without any deviation, our minds will be equal to the Buddha’s mind, and we will always be on the right path.
Therefore, being righteous is very important. Today we are going to discuss the seventh practice, Abiding in No-retreat. It means to cultivate our mind and body and not retreat. This is called No-retreat. We often say that whether our life is perfect or imperfect depends on how we live. What is a perfect life? What is a content life? Perfect means content. If one is content, one leads a perfect life. If one is not content, one will always lack something, which is a life of scarcity.
When one is content, one leads to a perfect life. If one is not content, one leads a life of scarcity.
The deficiencies of the world and society include scarcity, hatred, remorse, etc. At the end of our lives, we have no way to feel satisfied and content. Even at age 100, we will still want to live a few more years, unwilling to let go. Dharma Master Yin Shun, my master, your grand-master, live to 101 years old. Were we content? No, we were not. We felt that he was a very worthy person. He had inspired and nurtured people’s Wisdom-life. He should stay and live longer. All the doctors, nurses and the entire medical team did their best. All of his disciples had hoped that he could stay longer.
However, the physical body has a limit. Therefore, this day came and the Master disappeared from this world. In our physical form, the body, we always feel that we lack something and are never satisfied. But in our minds, we know what the Buddha had taught us. The Buddha came to this world and taught us wholeheartedly.
The Buddha lived for 80 years. Isn’t this a bigger regret? If the Buddha were still with us, how wonderful would it be? But the Buddha came to this world to teach us that there is a limit to a lifespan. When our time comes, we have to leave. So we should not see it as a regret. This is the natural course of life.
The time that we can spend with each other has a limit. So the Buddha reminded us to be content. Comparing the age of Master Yin Shun and the Buddha, the Master lived 20 years longer. When we compare it this way, we should be content.
Since we know that impermanence is with us all the time, we should raise our alertness. We often say, “We never know if we will live to see tomorrow.” We know that life is impermanent. The Era of Decay has appeared and manifests continuously. Therefore, in our minds, we should always be vigilant.
In early August 2005, I went to the Tzu Chi Hospital in Dalin and met one of my very devoted disciples. He came to me and in a loud and cheerful voice, he told me that he had just returned from Indonesia. He saw that our Tzu Chi volunteers in Indonesia are very diligent. Tzu Chi in Indonesia has inspired a lot of hope. He told me about what he had seen and learned there. He said he would make a new aspiration to be grateful every day.
Just then he felt sick to his stomach. He went to the doctor and found he had an ulcer. He took medication immediately, but I said to him, “This is not enough. You should have a thorough check- up.” After the check-up, he seemed to have some health problems. Hospital Superintendent Lin asked him to return for more follow-ups. So I told him to listen to and cooperate with the doctor to complete the check-up.
In mid-August, when I left Dalin for Taipei, I received a phone call Dr. Lin said to me, “Master, the medical report for Brother Hong is not optimistic.” I could not believe what I heard. He was in such great shape. His body was so strong, his voice so sonorous, and the ulcer was already cured.
Dr. Lin said, “The problem is not his stomach, it’s his liver.”
I answered, “If we know the problem, we should start the treatment now.”
He answered, “It’s not optimistic, because the problem area is very difficult to deal with.”
I said, “What about an operation? His previous chick-up did not show any symptoms, so it should be at is initial stage.”
“The area is difficult to operate.”
“What about embolization?”
“Not much help.”
“What other choice are there?”
“Even today, this location is always a problem.” I said, “How about a transplant?”
“Not optimistic.”
Every phrase from the phone sounded like an announcement of the bad news.
From then on, my heart was very pained. Every day, his sonorous voice and bright smile would emerge in my mind.
After I returned to Hualien, I wanted to get a deeper understanding of his illness. He had always treasured his life? Normally he was quite cheerful and always at ease. But as he approached the end of his life, he wondered if it was really the final stop, for no one would want give up such a wonderful life. He was well-off, and had a good wife, outstanding children, and many Dharma-friends in Tzu Chi. Since he liked to participate in the international relief works, he had traveled to many countries and left his footprints in many places. Indeed, he had lived a very meaningful life. But I think the period after he joined Tzu Chi was the most beautiful time in his life.
The length of life is not important, what is important is the quality of life. On the path of our life, we must be responsible first for our actions, and second for our family and society. Then we must have proper faith in order to walk on the right path. If we could live such a life, it would be the most perfect life. The length of our life is not that important.
During this period of time, although I had prepared myself for the bad news, it was still very difficult to let go. At the final stage of our life, we should broaden our minds. If he was at ease, without fear and very tranquil, I would feel very relieved. We have had many senior volunteers who were commissioners or Tzu Cheng members, who, knowing that their lives were coming to an end, accept the medical results while remaining calm and tranquil. They even made arrangements for how to spend their final days and arranged to donate their bodies for medical purposes. Once the decisions were made, their minds were at ease.
We have seen many such volunteers. There was Jing-rong, who waited until all the Dharma-sisters arrived and surrounded her bed. She looked at them one by one. Seeing that everyone was there, she thanked everyone, bade everyone goodbye and left. This day will always come. Brother Hong really wished that I could go see him. I also really wanted to see him. But I had so much to do that I simply could not make it. On Oct. 3, 2005, I received a call at noon. I told his wife, "Qing-yin, we have done all that we can. I can't go see him, would you let him come back to Hualien?."
"Yes, he's been insisting on returning to Hualien."
For a few days, he had been insisting on coming back to be with me.
"Then let him come back."
After our phone conversation, she asked her husband, "Do you want to go to Hualien now? Do you wish to donate your body to the hospital?"
Initially, she had wanted him to seek a transplant. Arrangements had been made with the US and Japan for this procedure. But the doctors from both countries said that the transplant might not buy him too much time. With this uncertainty, the doctors did not insist on it. He also knew that, and donated all the transplant money to Tzu Chi.
At around 6 pm on Oct. 3, 2005, he passed away. I believe he had already returned to be by my side.
Everyone, No-retreat means that we cannot backside on this path. Our life may be perfect sometimes, and imperfect at other times. However, we should keep a content mind in our daily lives. Whether something is tangible or intangible, we should always be very content. Our physical body and our age are tangible and can be calculated. As time goes on, all tangible materials will change.
Thus, regardless of how long it takes, they will all disappear one day. It is most important to constantly maintain a mind of cultivation, behave properly, perform our family duties, contribute to society and remain unwavering in our spiritual practice. To be able to achieve all these is of utmost importance.
There are always changes and imperfections in life. Whatever is tangible will disappear. The most important is to remain unwavering in our spiritual practice after we become a believer.
Thus, we should cultivate our body and mind. Physically practicing the Bodhisattva-way spiritually nurturing our Wisdom-life and not having any deficiency in any way is called No-retreat. In any case, when we truly understand life, we know that life passes away like a meteor in the sky. But if we give rise to a Bodhisattva-mind, it will brighten the world, like the emergence of new stars. One will leave and come back with a Bodhisattva-mind, and the number of living Bodhisattvas will increase. Therefore, during the Era of Decay, more virtuous people will be born. So we should welcome the returning of this beautiful life. That is what we should look forward to.
As we practice the Bodhisattva-path physically, we should nurture our Wisdom-life with spiritual growth. Leaving and returning to this world with the heart of a Bodhisattva is Abiding in No-retreat.
Well everyone, although it is so difficult to let go, we still look forward to the future. Let us encourage each other and always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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