Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Be understanding, Avoid Resentment and Jealousy (隨緣善解不怨妒)
Are we always reflecting on and contemplating our habits? I always say we must take good care of our minds. If we do not safeguard our mindsets, what else is there to practice?
Practice is tied to our habits. How do we correct bad habits and cultivate good ones? We must depend on constant “self-reflection and contemplation of our habits.” If we can, then as good and bad affinities grow or decline, they are clearly separated and stored in the storehouse. Good or bad, we face the results of our actions.
This means we must always self-reflect. We must work on nurturing good tendencies. We should all know by now that all of our actions and all of our thoughts are either good or bad seeds. Everything is part of causes and conditions. Not too long ago, we talked about causes and conditions, which arise from fluctuations in the mind. These fluctuations are expressed because of our habitual tendencies. If we cannot control our bad habits when we encounter negative situations, those habits will be quickly expressed, then we create negative affinities. These karmic connections are part of daily living. They are all either positive or negative.
Good and bad causes and conditions grow and decline. Decline does not mean it is gone; it still exists. But if the bad grows, then there is less good. Less does not mean it is gone either. If good grows, then there will be less bad. If we continue to accumulate good, we are not accumulating bad, and vice versa. “Good and bad affinities grow or decline,” and are “clearly separated and stored in the storehouse.” The good is relegated to the good side. The bad seeds are placed on the bad side. The difference between good and bad is clear and they are stored separately.
Each of us has a huge storehouse, which is our Eighth Consciousness, also called the Storehouse-consciousness. The Storehouse-consciousness is like the different warehouses we use to store the harvest, one for grain, one for wheat. If we harvest wheat, we store it in the wheat silo. If we harvest grain, we store it in the granary.
So in our Eight Consciousness, our storehouse, karmic seeds are also clearly separated and stored. Whatever we do will be stored in our minds. “Good and bad are distinct; we reap what we sow.” Isn’t that what is said in the teachings? “Good or bad, we face the results of our actions.”
Everyone, spiritual practice is truly very simple. In our daily living, if we can always be vigilant and reflect on ourselves, then how could we possibly create so many obstacles for ourselves?
Next, it says, “Today, I sincerely pray and prostrate to all Buddhas of the ten directions and the noble assembly. I ashamedly repent and vow to eliminate all obstacles to practice.”
We already know that for an unknowably long period of time, we have been continually accumulating obstacles to the practice of many good deeds. We are obstructed, so starting today, we should sincerely pray and prostrate. We should mindfully and sincerely pray. To express our reverence, we must prostrate with our bodies to reflect our deep sincerity. So we “sincerely prostrate,” to be genuine and attentive “to all Buddhas of the ten directions and the Noble Assembly.”
We should know that “Buddhas of all ten directions” does not only refer to our fundamental teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha. It includes those of the west, east, south and north, the points in between, up and down. Countless worlds have Buddhas in them. We must pray to those Buddhas and to all noble beings, with a most reverent heart.
Didn’t we say that in the space of a thought we can travel to the Buddha-lands in the ten directions to listen to the Dharma? That is all in our minds. However, the minds of ordinary people run wild. They do not arrive at the Buddha-lands to listen to the Buddha-Dharma. Our thoughts roam between love, hate, passion and anger. They go everywhere and we cannot rein them in. The minds of ordinary people are like that. If we can have utmost reverence in our ordinary minds, we can let go of scattered thoughts of the past, of how others treated us. We can let go, and quickly pull our thoughts back. Maybe we are thinking far into the future. We should not do that either. We must rein in those delusional thoughts. We bring the past and future together in the present so we can focus on it reverently, facing all Buddhas and all noble beings, expressing our remorse and repentance.
All Buddhas of the ten directions each have an assembly of noble beings. If those beings can be so focused on the Dharma in their practice, why can’t we? We should have a sense of shame about this. However, due to all of the karmic obstacles we have created, we may not have a sense of shame, and continue to create more obstacles. So we must quickly wash them away. When we act we create defilements, which cause us to keep producing ignorance. We must quickly cleanse our minds.
If we do not wash away the filth in our minds, the layers of dirt will grow and get worse. Furthermore, over a million Asankhya Kalpas, such a long time, our minds have accumulated so much. How can we not repent? If we are repentant, we must vow to eliminate past karmic seeds. Many keep seeking revenge and retribution, so the cycle never ends. How do we resolve enmities?
There is a way; it is not impossible.
There is a story that took place in the Warring States Period, in the State of Liang. There was a senior official named Song Jiu. He was the magistrate of a border county on the edge of the State of Liang and the State of Chu. He was very wise. He hoped that the people living on the border could get along peacefully, and that everyone would simply take care of their own duties, and work hard to improve the quality of their lives.
But the people could not do so. One time, the season for planting watermelons arrived. The land was vast. On both sides of the border, the quality of the soil and the climate were the same. So people on both sides planted watermelons.
The people of Liang were diligent and earnest. They planted the seeds according to the season. They followed the rules for fertilizing and watering their crops. The melon farmers were very mindful, so their watermelons grew beautifully. What about the State of Chu? They also sowed the seeds, but they were lazy. They did not fertilize or water at the right times. So although their watermelons grew, they were not big, beautiful or plentiful. They saw their neighbors and wondered why they had such big beautiful melons and a plentiful harvest. They shared similar land, so why was their harvest much better? They saw their sparse harvest and tiny melons and became angrier and angrier. This anger grew out of jealousy. They were jealous that other people were better.
When this envy arose, they thought up ways to ruin the other farmers. So at night, they crossed the border to destroy the Liang crops. When the people of Liang saw their crops, they wondered what happened. Why were their plants and melons destroyed all of a sudden? What could have happened? So they mindfully took up watch in the middle of the night. They saw that it was the work of people from Chu. They got very angry, but did not act rashly. They went to the commandant, the person overseeing the land, to lodge a complaint. What action should they take against those people?
This commandant did not know what to do either, so he went to Lord Song Jiu, the magistrate, and explained the matter. The magistrate was very calm and analyzed the situation with great wisdom. He said, “Bad thoughts are the source of “resentment and disaster. If we repay bad deeds with vengeance, the cycle of enmity will continue and the hatred will only deepen. That is not good. Let me tell you a way to resolve this.”
What was the method? He told them, “They are upset because their melons are bad. So at night you should send people to fertilize and water their crops so their melons can grow and be more like ours. Then this problem can be safety resolved. But don’t let them know. We will just do it in secret.”
“Really? They destroyed our crops, why should we help them water theirs?” but since the magistrate said so, they listened and secretly watered and fertilized at night.
After some time, the melons in the State of Chu truly prospered and grew. The seeds flowered and bore fruit. The melons grew in size. They started thinking, “That’s strange. We haven’t taken special care of our melons. Why did they grow so well? We will have a bountiful harvest soon.” So it was their turn to take up watch at night. “Oh, someone is secretly watering for us at night. We are very grateful.”
So this story began with resentment and jealousy. Resentment led them to harm other people. If those who were envied and attacked can repay resentment with virtue, and secretly help the others become successful, then those people will become grateful.
So the opposite of resentment is mutual respect. Gratitude will resolve resentment and enmity. The same goes for our practice of Buddhism. What is cultivation? We must fulfill our duty, and do what needs to be done. If we are mistreated by others, we must open our hearts and accommodate them. We should try to understand why they are treating us that way. If we could see things from their point of view and be understanding, would we still feel any resentment, hatred, jealously, or enmity? Would we treat anyone with those evil attitudes? Absolutely not.
We must fulfill our duty, so what needs to be done. When we are wronged, we should not feel resentful or jealous. We must open our hearts and be understanding. That is true spiritual cultivation.
So in front of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, we must sincerely repent, and feel shame for our past. Starting now, we must make a vow to eliminate those obstacles, the obstacles that hinder us and prevent us from learning the teachings. We must apply the good Dharma we learn. Do not let a thought become an obstacle.
Earlier I spoke about the many mindsets we have that hinder us. Starting today, we must vow to eliminate them by any means. So everyone, we must be mindful and always self-reflect. We must reflect on and contemplate our habits. As good and bad affinities grow or decline, they are clearly separated and stored in our storehouse. Good or bad, we face the results of our actions.
Treating others well will help our spiritual cultivation. So everyone, always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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