Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Bless Yourselves, Benefit Others. Repent Often (福己利人多懺悔)
Time truly passes quickly. One month follows another as we go through the seasons. Summer truly feels oppressively hot. In this world, aren’t we often oppressing our own spirit?
Look at how unstable people’s mindsets are. When they lose their tempers, they give rise to burning rage. How can we quell our mental climate? Our minds need direction. How do we tame the negative feelings in our bodies and minds? By taking the Three Refuges and Five Precepts and avoiding the Ten Evils. We must also uphold our vows and repent, be kind to all sentient beings, bless ourselves and benefit others.
These phrases seem simple and many Buddhists say, “I know about the Three Refuges, taking refuge with Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.” Yes, that is absolutely correct. We need to know what it means to take refuge. Taking refuge means turning away from darkness towards the light. Darkness is ignorance; light is good teachings. Starting today, we want to eliminate all our ignorance and fully turn our minds toward the Buddha. The Buddha’s teachings are good Dharma. So we must move forward with them. When we take refuge in the Buddha, He is in our hearts and minds. When we take refuge in the Dharma, the Dharma will be present in all our actions. When we take refuge with the Sangha, we show respect to all Three Treasures. These are the Three Refuges.
Is it enough to do this just once? No. Let us always keep the Buddha in our minds, keep the Dharma in our actions, and respect and revere Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. This is a rule all Buddhists must follow and is also a good way to train our minds.
The Five Precepts are no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying, and no drinking.
There are Five Precepts in total. Yes, if we uphold the Five Precepts, we are abiding by most of the rules for being a good person. If we can uphold them, we are righteous and will not fall into the Three Evil Destinies. The Ten Good Deeds come from the Threefold Karma. If we are vigilant about our Threefold Karma, we can absolutely do the Ten Good Deeds.
What is the Threefold Karma? The three of body, four of speech, three of mind. With speech we create four types of bad karma, lies, flattery, gossip, harsh words. Since we want to be like the Buddha, we must learn how to not lie. Not only should we not lie, we must also avoid flattery. Do not only say pleasing things to flatter others. No, when we speak we must speak the truth. We must also not gossip or argue senselessly. No one is more detestable then those who spread rumors to create conflicts. People must be polite and live harmoniously. The same applies to the Sangha. They must have the Six Points of Unity. In a large community, people who gossip, flatter and lie are terrible. Although they just open their mouths and wag their tongues, their karma is tremendous. These are the four evil karma of speech.
There are three evil karma of the body, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct. The body can also do many good things. We have seen very bad people completely transform themselves.
There are also three evil karma of the mind, greed, anger, and ignorance. In addition to being greedy, we can give. In addition to not being angry, we can be gentle in our manner. In addition to not being ignorant, we can act wisely. These are the Ten Good Deeds.
If we can correct the negative karma of body, speech and mind, then we are practicing the Ten Good Deeds. We correct our karma, and do not repeat it. That is the Ten Good Deeds. We must uphold our vows. If we made a mistake, we must quickly repent. Don’t we always talk about repentance? If we do not repent and just talk about changing, we cannot change. We must thoroughly repent. After we repent and eliminate negative thoughts, we will naturally be more kind. When evil disappears, kindness arises and we treat sentient beings with compassion. We bless ourselves and benefit others. If we can uphold precepts and always do good, that is the best way to protect ourselves. It protects us from losing our human form and elevates our character. We will bring benefits to everyone. That is blessing ourselves and benefiting others.
Having said this, I want to share a story from the Sutra. One time when the Buddha’s monks and the assembly were taking the Three Refuges, He spoke of how the merits of the Five Precepts could safeguard them. He told this story. A long time ago, a group of merchants made money by diving for treasures or trading overseas. They had to hire people to move the goods on and off the boats. They hired a laborer for the menial work. Once when the boat was traveling, there was a sudden gust of wind and strong waves. All these merchants on the boat become very scared.
But this laborer was very calm. When the others yelled in fright, he pressed his palms together and chanted the Buddha’s name toward the sky. He even recited the Three Refuges. After sincerely chanting the Buddha’s name, be chanted the Three Refuges toward the sea. In his mind he hoped that all the spirits and ghosts and people in the world could turn their minds toward the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. So he sincerely recited the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts. Inconceivably, the winds and waves calmed down. The boat became steady. Though the boat steadied, the wind and waves died down and the boat could not move. It remained there and could not be sailed.
The night, the leader of this group of merchants had a dream. In his dream, an old man dressed in a while, with a while beard, told this man, “Your boat cannot move because this man, this laborer, is on your boat. That is why it cannot move.” When he woke he thought, “Because this man is on our boat, the boat cannot move. We cannot enter the harbor and sell our goods.” He gathered a few other merchants to make a plan. He explained the dream he had the night before. He explained that this laborer [was the cause of their problems]. Some people thought, “We can’t just stay here because of him. We need a way to get him off the boat.”
Others said, “We cannot push him into the sea. He is good and he did so much for us. He works so hard, we still need him.”
What could they do? The man heard their discussion. He thought, “They don’t know what to do with me. They don’t dare push me into the sea. But my presence is unsettling and keeps the boat from moving. I am causing them so many worries. What do I do?”
So he came up with an idea and told the merchants, “Don’t worry about me. I only ask for a few pieces bamboo to make a raft. Then I can leave the boat.” Some asked, “Is that enough?”
He said, “If I don’t leave, you will be uneasy. The boat won’t move. I just need a few pieces of bamboo. Then you don’t need to push me into the sea. This way I can stay safe and you be at peace.”
They all thought this was a good idea. They just wanted him to leave. So he tied some bamboo together and climbed on to the raft. The wind smooth carried him all the way to shore. After the raft drifted away, the winds and waves grew again. Many giant fish, some white and some black, began to surround the boat. The strong wind and the big fish capsized the boat. People fell into the sea and were eaten.
The Buddha explained that this story was about their collective karma. Their collective karma prevented them from hearing the Three Refuges and Five Precepts. Although the man sincerely chanted the Buddha’s name, the Three Refuges, and the Five Precepts, these people could not accept them. Although the fish, ghosts and spirits accepted his chants and calmed the winds and waves, those people had to face their collective karma. So even if the Three Refuges, Five Precepts, and kindness cannot save others, they can at least protect us.
This story serves as a strong warning for us. I often say that I see many people today we cannot calm their minds. They cannot hear good things. I am also worried about our collective karma.
So I say that we must become Living Bodhisattvas. We can propagate the Way and say good thing to others. If one person out of ten can accept it, we have transformed one person.
Therefore, we need to stay close to good spiritual friends. When we repent together, we can eliminate bad karma.
If our collective karma is strong, the world will experience many disasters. So we must be among spiritual friends and increase the strength of our repentance.
The next passage says, “Seeing a spiritual friend who has attained the Way is beneficial to us all. Therefore, today we sincerely take refuge with the Buddha.
We say that good spiritual friends who have attained thy Way speak very positive words. When we listen to them, we benefit too. They benefit and so do we. So for this reason we must accept positive words. We must guard our body, speech, and mind and improve ourselves. Uphold the Five Precepts, practice the Ten Good Deeds and sincerely take refuge with the Buddha, every day and at every moment. If we can do so, we will eliminate karma and increase our blessings, we bless ourselves and benefit others. Everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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