Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Six Practices: Ten Dedications Part 8(六行~十回向行八)
I often say, when the mind is pure, the land is pure. Everything is created by the mind. Aren’t our surroundings very clean? They are very clean, because our minds are clean. Everything comes from the mind. So we have been continuously studying our minds. The minds of ordinary sentient beings are no different from the Buddha’s mind.
But as ordinary people, we allowed our minds to be defiled with greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. These five afflictions have constantly grown until today, when our minds are chaotic, our families are chaotic, our societies are chaotic, and the world has become chaotic. And all of it originated from our thoughts. The eighth of the Ten Dedications is about “connecting to all Dharma.”
Eighth of the Practice of Ten Dedications: See all Dharma, be free from all appearances. Conditions arise with no nature; the body is Ultimate Reality. This is Dedication of appearance of True Suchness.
We have to “be free from all appearances.” From what appearances? The Views of People, Self, a Soul and Sentient Beings are all appearances. People make distinctions between each other. So we separate people into those we love and those we dislike. We pursue those we love by any means. Those we do not love, those we dislike, we those we resent or hate displease us with everything they do and say. We even hate their accomplishments. This creates antagonism and oppositionality. Isn’t it all caused by our minds?
So the Buddha taught us to “be free from all appearances.” We must not have View of Self Sentient Beings or a Soul. We must not distinguish between them. Truly, sentient beings are Buddhas. We often say, “Every living thing has Buddha-nature.” Therefore, we respect all lives, not just humans, but all living beings. To free ourselves from views of discrimination such as “I love this” or “I hate that” is to have an understanding of all Dharma. There are many different Dharma, but they are all about having broad, encompassing love so we can love, protect and respect everything in this world. Thus, “connect to all Dharma, be free from appearances. Conditions arise with no nature, so the body is Ultimate Reality.”
All sentient beings have Buddha-nature. When we do not discriminate, and free ourselves from feelings of love and hate, we can respect everything. This is understanding all Dharma.
What is truly behind loving or hating someone? It is just an affinity. But this affinity really is not anything. If you have not met the person, what love do you feel? Before you meet him, you do not know him, he does not know you, so what affinity is there?
Affinity itself has no inherent nature. It is neither long nor short, neither square nor round, and neither mobile nor immobile. It is nothing. The distinction comes from our minds.
We want to be with people we are attached to, so love arises. If we hate someone, we try to detach ourselves. When we see something we like, we crave it so we try to obtain it. If we do not like it, we leave it. Is that object inherently appealing? No. Our minds make it so. When we like something, we pursue it. It does not come to us. Does anything come to us? So “Conditions arise with no nature.” There is no inherent relationship between that object, that person and me. Conditions are just attracting forces.
So, “the body is Ultimate Reality.” We must respect this “body.” No matter what, as long as humans have this form, they all have a True nature, a Tathagata-nature. This is Dedication of appearance as True Suchness. We have to dedicate merits to this. In the past we talked about Buddha-land, Buddha’s world, and all Buddha-lands. If our minds are pure, then all countries and all environments are pure. When we talked about all Buddha-grounds, we said to “treat all sentient beings equally.” That is all Buddha-lands. If we all know that everyone has a root of goodness, then we must not dislike anyone. We should remember that everyone has a root of goodness, and is inherently kind, so we must respect all. That is turning resentment to love. That is also Dedicating Merit from Small to Large.
In the past we focused on “me, me, me” and what we loved and did not love. Now we are broadening our minds. This person is also someone I love. Pure and undefiled Great Love is our dedication of merit. We must dedicate it to seeing the appearance as True Suchness. True Suchness is pure and genuine. It cannot be defiled. We have to Dedicate Merit from Small to Large to avoid and eliminate our defilements and return to purity. This is Dedication to seeing appearance as True Suchness.
Eliminate the defilements in the mind. Turn around what has gone awry, turn resentment into love; Dedicate Merit from Small to Large. Return to the original purity. This is Dedication of seeing appearance as True Suchness.
In our practice, we must always rediscover what we originally possessed, our selves. We have all lost ourselves, so we perpetuate many difficulties for ourselves, our families, our communities and our world.
To return to True Suchness, we must be free of delusions. If we can get rid of delusions, we will be true “No differentiation is Suchness.” Without delusions, we are all the same. As long as you are not defiled or seduced by external phenomena, you and I are the same, and we are the same as Buddha. That is true Being without delusions is our true nature, making us no different from Buddha. This has always been the case, this nature is what originally was. So “the nature of all Dharma is True Suchness.” All Dharma and our natures were true. It is not simply about our form, which comes from the harmony of the Four Elements. All things and beings arise from their union. When the four separate, we return to zero, to nothing. So “the nature is True Suchness.” The Dharma of people and of objects was originally very pure. Our natures were originally this pure.
Being free of delusions is “True.” Having no differentiation is “Suchness.” The nature of all Dharma is True Suchness. With neither unity nor diversity, with no attachment to either, Ultimate Reality manifests.
In the Sutra, it is said, “Connect to all Dharma, and be free from all appearances.” “Connect to all Dharma” is to approach this Dharma. The nature of Dharma that the Buddha taught is pure. It is like water, water is pure. Water is so pure, and everything relies on water to live. But when water is contaminated, it contaminates our bodies as well. So if the way we treat and interact with everyone and everything in our daily lives is positive, that reflects a pure nature. If we treat them poorly, that causes chaos in society. That happens if we use the wrong methods. We must recognize the Dharma clearly, recognize the innate True Nature. If we all know the Dharma and thoroughly understand this Truth, we see no differences between us. What is there to disparage? What is there to pursue? Nothing, really.
So we should know to seek the principles of the Path. The true principles are in our pure True Nature. So the principles are also true Suchness. True Suchness is the true nature of all humans. So we have to “Connect to all Dharma” and “be free from all appearances.” Do not discriminate because of wealth and class. If we use love, distinctions do not exit. “Connect to” and “being free” are both about one thing. Are you acting in accordance with the Dharma? Or have you deviated and rejected it for the mundane? Truth is enlightenment. Everyone originally possessed Innate Enlightenment. But we turned away from our enlightened nature and toward delusion and confusion. We turn from enlightenment toward the mundane to merge with and be defiled by filth and dust.
We must work diligently to steer away from the mundane and toward enlightenment. We must be far removed from defilement, from mistaken thinking and methods. We have to return to our correct, enlightenment nature. To return, we think about one thing, “Connecting to and being free.” Are we heading in the right or wrong direction? There are wrong methods. And then there is what is right, the truth. This depends on “connecting to and being free.”
There is no difference between them. We are inclined to make mistakes. We often say, “An ignorant thought causes the Three Subtleties.” Everyone innately possesses enlightenment. But then an ignorant thought arises like a bubble on the water’s surface. We call these bubbles; they arise from water. Waves, swells or bubbles are kinds of movements in water. The energy of water is tremendous and manifests. In accordance with conditions. The South Asian Tsunami was an example of this. Why was there such a powerful tsunami? The seabed cracked during the earthquake causing the water to surge. When the water surges like this, it becomes a tsunami. These were some of the conditions. The earth is usually level, as is water. When the Four Elements are unbalanced, an earthquake cracks the earth and water surges. These conditions created disaster. Tremendous waves caused this devastating disaster.
So basically, there are no differences there are no differences. Water is water, no matter its form. Good and bad methods are all methods. But we have to recognize what is right and wrong. Both arise from our minds. It is often said, “When the mind is pure, the land is pure.” If there is a little bit of filth in our minds, no matter how clean a place is, we will dislike it. It’s all in our minds. So “do not be attached to either.”
We also cannot say that we are enlightened if we are deluded. There is enlightenment in delusion and delusion in enlightenment. It all depends on our awareness and how we extinguish delusions. They are one. It is like our hands, one side is the palm and the other side is the back. When we press our palms together, awareness merges with awareness. We call this “palms together. This is the same thing. This palm and that palm are both palms. They look separate, but if we can bring them together, they will be one.
Connect to all Dharma and be free from all appearances. Do not be attached to either connecting to or being free. This is Dedication of seeing appearance as True Suchness.
Therefore, we have to understand and actually experience that everyone has true Tathagata-nature. Therefore, True Nature is genuine and undefiled. What manifests is very beautiful, tranquil, and clear, thus vows will be vast as the universe. Such a state is so beautiful, and it ultimately depends on our thoughts. So, everyone should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)