Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Sixteen Views Part 5(十六知見五)
How long is a human life? Life is impermanent. Life may not be very long, but virtue is very important. Through spiritual cultivation, we hope to accumulate merit during our lifetime.
Merit is accumulated in daily living. We often speak of “merits and virtues.” Without merit, we will not have virtue so we have to work hard. Inwardly, being humble and modest is merit. Outwardly, courtesy and accommodation is virtue. To practice is to cultivate our inner nature. If our minds can be free from ups and downs, from frivolous thoughts, and from being obscured by ignorance, we can attain eternal peace, the state of ultimate tranquility and clarity, the state of Nirvana.
If we can do this, we have eternal life, or I should say, Wisdom-life. So we should treasure each day that we are alive. The Buddha taught us that in our lifetime, we should earnestly accumulate virtue.
Of the Sixteen Views, the fifth is the View of Birth. While we are alive, we all talk about birth and death. In fact, between birth and death is life, which is what really needs our attention. Since birth we have never known our future, nor do we know how our birth came about. We had no control over it. The couple with whom we had a karmic affinity became our parents. Birth happens in an instant, then living begins. After being born we must live. This time is the most important.
Life does not last long. Birth and death are only moments; in between we must live. This time is the most important.
Life is not separate from the Five Aggregates. The senses connect with corresponding objects, so the delusion of self arises. We become attached to the people and things of our lives today, as well as those of tomorrow and of the future. We constantly create illusions and conflicts, and even bring up things from the past “How have you always treated me? If you were good to me in the past, I may possibly treat you better.” Some people quickly forget that someone was good to them. Returning a favor with resentment is a common occurrence.
In this present lifetime, people can form a cycle of kindness, returning favors with favors and with gratitude. If people return past, present and future favors to each other with gratitude, won’t this be wonderful? But only a few people are like this. Most people talk about requiting good with evil. This means that in most cases, we quickly forget the people who were kind to us even in this life, let alone those who were kind to us in past lives.
By creating karma, people cannot accumulate virtue. What does it mean to accumulate virtue? It is “returning favors with favors and gratitude.” I return your favor and you return mine. These mutual favors and mutual gratitude gradually accumulate and increase. Thus, we are making good karmic connections. These good affinities keep accumulating. If everyone were to do this, our quality of life would be high. If we continue to do this, we also mutually accumulate virtue, good karma and affinities.
In our relationships with others, if we can be mutually grateful and giving, we will make good karmic connections. If the good affinities can continue to accumulate, we will have lives of high quality.
It is a pity. People, in a momentary slip, requite good with evil. We might have been good to someone in the past. But in life, when there is friction between people we easily become attached to our own views. “No matter how you treated me in the past, now that you are not good to me we begin to have disputes.” This is our View of Birth.
To make a living, people must interact, and thus create friction. This is because everyone is stubborn and attached. This is called the View of Birth. One ponders, “Why was I born to this family?” We may take issue over where and how we were born. “Why was I born in this condition?”
“Why was I born to these parents?” “Why did I have to grow up in this environment?” We compare our condition to that of other people. We keep complaining and are dissatisfied. This is the View of Birth.
It means that we are not satisfied with anything in this life. Complaints and ignorance keep arising. We should always be grateful. When poor parents have children, they have to rear them all by themselves. It is much harder than in rich families. Those born in poor families need to be even more grateful for the pains their parents suffered in raising them.
But people do not think this way. They keep on thinking, “why was I born to such a family, in such an environment?” If they complain like this, they will suffer tremendously. True wealth does not mean having many assets or a good living environment. True wealth lies in our hearts. It is up to us to be rich or poor. I have mentioned the “poor among the rich.” Even if you are born in a wealthy environment, if you are not content, you will feel that you are poor.
I shared a story not long ago about two boys in mainland China who switched families. The boy from the poor family temporarily went to stay with the wealthy family, while the boy from the rich family temporarily stayed with the poor family. The two teens got to experience totally different environments. After the boy from the rich family stayed with the poor family, she realized that life could be really hard. This family had to carry water home to drink. Carrying water is painstaking. He had to collect firewood for cooking. Collecting and chopping firewood is tough. Their surroundings were harsh and life was hard. I’m grateful to my parents for such a good life.” he said, “When I return home, I will show them my appreciation.” “For this poor family, it was really difficult to raise children. Seeing their life woke me up.” Upon leaving the poor family, he bowed and thanked his week-long parents for he bowed and thanked his week-long parents for awakening him.
The boy from the poor family stayed with the wealthy family. He rode in a luxury car when he went out, and he also had a cell phone. If he wanted someone to do something for him, he called the person with his cell phone. Tea would be served as soon as he opened his mouth. Everything was done for him. Life was so good. He thought of his parents living in poverty, and a spirit of striving upwards rose in him. “In the future I should have a life like this. I want to study hard and be filial to my parents. Some day in the future, I want my parents to have such a life.” This is also an education.
What is poor? What is rich? Poor and rich are only mindsets. In the Lotus Sutra there is a chapter called “The Parable of the Poor Son.” You should read it often. We all know about the poor son who once had a wealthy family, but got separated from them. He was very poor and led a rough life. He did not know that he was originally from a wealthy family. His father found him and took him home. The little boy did not realize that the man in front of him was his father and that his family’s wealth now belonged to him. He did not know. This is the parable in the Lotus Sutra.
Through the parable, the Buddha tried to teach us that though the poor son was homeless, his father mindfully looked for him. In order to get close to his son, the father changed out of his good clothes and put on dirty, ragged clothing to be his peer and do the same kind of work as his son. Eventually, he let him know that he was actually a rich man, and that he, the son, was equally rich. The Buddha used the parable to show that in order to save and educate living beings, He returned to the Saha world as an ordinary person. He was born into the human world and came to know its principles. He appeared as human and observed the human world.
The stage of his life were recorded and passed down. Just like many others, He wanted to learn and to understand, so He traveled around India and learned from every Brahman group. But He found their principles unsuitable. The Buddha had already attained Buddhahood, He was merely appearing as a human, going through the same experiences as we do “I have tried to learn from other groups, but their teaching was not the ultimate truth so I abandoned them. Then, I merged my own heart with the truth of the world and the universe. After that, I confirmed anew the truth of Heaven and Earth. Then I returned with the Truth and expounded the Dharma to people of the world.”
This process was all a “manifestation.” He appeared to be a human just like us. He was “born” into such an environment to experience the inequality of the castes. He left home in order to seek human equality and to realize the truth. Through seeking and leaning, He finally became one with the universe He taught people the ultimate Truth. But many people, though they are Buddhists, are not aware that they should diligently work toward Buddhahood. They only know that know that life is impermanent, that life is illusive and short. They only know that the physical body is an illusion that will not last long. But they do not know how to accumulate virtue. We must be diligent. How can we accumulate virtue? We must do it working among people, not practicing in solitude.
Having learned the Buddha-Dharma, if one still not diligent work among people to accumulate virtue, one becomes a solitary cultivator working to only benefit oneself.
These solitary cultivators, the disciples of Hinayana, only look after themselves. Although they know the truth, they shut themselves in “I know I must practice quickly. I know the physical body is an illusion. I know human life is not long. I know I must practice.” But their practice benefits only themselves. They do not know they must quickly move forward. Therefore they cannot open the way to Mahayana principles, so they remain solitary practitioners of Hinayana. They will not be dignified by the virtues gained from practicing Mahayana teachings.
The virtues from practicing Mahayana are like those of the father in the story. To be close to the disciples of Hinayana, he had to take off his dignified clothing and put on the clothing worn by ordinary people. Actually his dignified clothing symbolizes his virtuous appearance. Therefore in manifesting this virtue, “Truth’s wind and virtue’s fragrance permeate all.” How can we be dignified with virtue’s fragrance? It takes wisdom. There is a saying, “Without experience, one cannot gain wisdom.” If you avoid getting involved and remain a solitary practitioner, even if you are a Buddhist, you are still in poverty. So we must accumulate wisdom. We must be brave and go into the world to create good affinity with people. We should be grateful all the time. It is very important to be grateful.
It is difficult to be born in human form. Even with human form, how long can we live? We do not know. So we should seize this lifetime. We should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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