Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Nurture Wisdom, Speak and Act Cautiously (修心長慧慎言行)
In our daily living, we must have an open heart, as open as the infinite skies. We must embrace everything, as the Earth does. We must be genuine and meticulously mindful.
In the past, we have often said that we should embrace all creatures in the world with an open heart. We are truly loving if we are able to embrace all beings. By expanding our love, we can then protect all sentient beings.
So we must nurture an open heart, one big enough “to encompass infinite worlds.” Our hearts and minds must be open, wide enough to encompass infinite worlds. No matter how many worlds there are, our minds can expand to reach all of them. An open mind has no boundaries. Not only must we cherish everything, we should also be grateful for everything in this world that enabled us to live. Without the mountains and rivers, where would water come from? How would the grains grow? The climate is hot, so we need big trees to emit oxygen, absorb pollution and purify the land so we can live a healthy life. We know to be grateful to the land and plants. With gratitude, we learn to embrace and cherish everything.
Our minds have to be as embracing as the land that supports all things. That is being open-hearted and embracing. Most importantly, we must stay true. Everyone has a nature equal to the Buddha’s. Buddha-nature is pure, so we need to be meticulously mindful of it. Let us spread the light of that pure wisdom everywhere, so nothing is untouched, not even the tiniest particle. A grain of sand is its own world. Do not overlook something just because it seems small.
In Buddhism, we say the tiniest particle is a world. So, we must treat it as something very big. Specks of dust accumulate to become soil; soil makes up swaths of land. This land can then give rise to many things. With our cherishing, loving, and sincere minds, we must be attentive. Earlier we mentioned that sentient beings are careless. We easily violate precepts. So the Buddha established skillful means. The Eight Precepts, Six Purification Days, and Three Months of Abstinence are skillful means.
So we must learn to observe the precepts for at least six days a month. On these six days, we imagine deities come down to observe all sentient beings’ good and evil deed. So on these six days we observe the precepts and aim to do good, or at least avoid doing bad.
On the Six Purification Days, the Four Heavenly Kings observe good and evil in the Human Realm. But evil ghosts also seek opportunities to harm people.
So merits and evil exist side by side and when one decreases, the other increases. Those who do good can prevent disasters and increase blessings. Those who do evil will face the pain of karmic retribution.
So if you cannot practice every day, at least do it six days a month. If you cannot be vegetarian all year around, at least do it three months a year. That is the Three Months of Abstinence. If you cannot even do this, then you have an “inconsistent spiritual practice.” This is a karmic obstacle, so Buddha established [skillful means of] the Three Months of Abstinence. Because we are lazy, the Buddha established the Six Purification Days. If we cannot even practice these, we have no way to observe the 3,000 regulations or be in accord with the Dharma.
When we do not observe the Six Purification Days we create karma of laziness. When we do not observe the three lengthy fasts, we create karma of inconsistent practice. When we do not follow the 3,000 regulations, we create karma of not following the Dharma.
We must broaden our minds, have a big heart and make great vows. We must love all sentient beings. Then we will naturally observe precepts every day. We must be very careful and let nothing go unnoticed. Do not trivialize anything.
Applying skillful means does not mean we can be undisciplined. So we must pay great attention to even the tiniest things. So the text continues on to say, “When we break the 80,000 observances, we create karma of subtle transgressions. When we do not uphold precepts, we create karma of harming our wisdom life.”
Earlier we already said, “When we do not follow the 3,000 regulations, we create karma of not following the Dharma.” Let us continue to discuss this. Besides the 3,000 regulations, there are also the 80,000 observances. So there are many minor violations we may commit. I often say that we must always remember to keep the Buddha in our minds and the Dharma in our actions. Only the Dharma can help us observe the precepts and maintain our practice. If we do not keep the Dharma in our actions, we easily violate precepts, whether the Four or Eight Serious Precepts, the Five Precepts or Eight Precepts. We must keep the Buddha in our minds, the Dharma in our actions, and remain in a state of meditation. Then we will not violate precepts, or damage our Wisdom-life.
We will not harm our Wisdom-life. Our spiritual practice must never cease, just as fish must remain in water. A fish without water will die. For us to stay alive, we must breathe oxygen. We continuously inhale and exhale, every night and day. Day by day, year after year, our lifespan grows closer to its end, like fish in a shrinking pond. We hope to use our time well. Though our lives constantly grow shorter, we hope our Wisdom-life keeps growing stronger.
To develop our Wisdom-life, awe must begin with our actions. If we do not physically practice the teachings our Wisdom-life will not grow. Then, aren’t we just adding to our karma? Our bad karma will keep growing as our time here grows shorter and our Wisdom-life keeps disappearing. What can we do? The burden of our karma will increase. If we can uphold precepts, the complete precepts, that is best. I mentioned the Four and Eight Serious Precepts, the Five Precepts, Eight Precepts, Six Purification Days, Three Months of Abstinence. These are all skillful means for practice. It is better if we engage in long-term practice to uphold the complete precepts. Let us uphold these precepts every day, observe vegetarian precepts every day. We can uphold all the precepts in our daily living. If lay practitioners can uphold the Five Precepts or Eight Precepts, that is very good.
The Five Precepts:
No Killing, No Stealing, No Sexual Misconduct, No Lying, No Intoxication.
Eight Precepts:
1. Do not kill 2. Do not take what is not given 3. No sexual misconduct 4. Do not speak falsely 5. Do not drink alcohol 6. No cosmetics, jewelry, dancing or singing 7. Do not sleep on luxurious bedding 8. Do not eat outside the designated time.
We must be very thrifty in our living. Thriftiness is a virtue. Do not be extravagant or wasteful. The Four Demeanors tell us how to walk, stand, sit and lie down. When we need to travel to a faraway place, the most important thing is to get there. We do not need to take a fancy car. There is even a proper way to walk. When we walk forward, our eyes should look forward. Do not glance left and right .There is a proper demeanor to our walking.
“Standing” can also refer to where we live. People talk about living at home. No matter where we live, that place should be simple and clean.
The same applies to sitting. We must also sit with dignity. We have to sit properly even at home. Sit up straight. Do not sit slouched over or in an impolite manner. That is improper. I often mention that Commissioners and Faith Corps members must first go through a training and novice period. They have to learn the rules and right demeanor.
A Faith Corps member was usually very disciplined. But when he went home, he would sit on the sofa and put his feet on the table. One day his son said, “Daddy, Master Cheng Yen’s eyes are on the wall.” The father sat up and put his feet down. He put his palms to together, “Thank you, little Bodhisattvas.”
Look at how this family lives. They teach each other. If one person is a bit lax, other people at home, even the young Bodhisattvas, with their pure minds, will remind them about properly walking, standing, sitting and lying down. The same applies to sleeping. We must sleep a certain way. So “walk like the wind, stand like a pine tree, sit like a bell, lie down like a bow.” These are the Four Demeanors. These simple actions are part of the rules. Others can see this in our daily actions. This is how we keep the Dharma in our actions. The Four Demeanors refer to walking, standing, sitting and lying down.
Uphold the complete precepts. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are called the four Demeanors. To observe precepts, we must be mindful of them. Obvious rules are covered by 3,000 regulations; subtle ones by the 80,000 observances. When we transgress on a gross level, we create karma of not following the Dharma.
Will we observe or violate precepts? The Four Demeanors act as benchmarks. When you walk, be mindful. When you stand, be mindful. When you sit, be mindful. When you lie down, be mindful. Be mindful at all times, so you do not make mistakes.
If we let go the Four Demeanors, then we violate the 3,000 regulations. Besides the 3,000 regulations, there are also the 80,000 observances. The 3,000 regulations are very obvious matters. It would take a long time to explain all 3,000 regulations. So the Four Demeanors are the key points of the 3,000 regulations. If we break down the 3,000 regulations further, we get the 80,000 observances. If we lose control on the major things, we start to make small mistakes. The possibilities are endless. These are “subtle transgressions.”
If we are not careful, we will keep making those small mistakes. We might make one mistake or maybe even tens of thousands. “When we break the 80,000 observances, we create karma of subtle transgressions.” That is what happens if we do not practice. We physically practice be using the Four Demeanors. We can see a person’s practice in his actions. Those small mistakes build up, and soon we may accumulate 3,000, than 80,000. We can first focus on these four things, walking, standing, and lying down. These are the general categories. If we are lax in these four, we will eventually violate all 80,000 observances.
So we must always maintain a dignified appearance. Otherwise, we commit subtle transgressions.
Small lapses of dignity are called subtle transgressions.
There are a total of seven subtle transgressions in body and speech. These are Seven Branches, three of the body, four of speech. There are the Seven Branches. These seven acts are seen and heard. When we commit these, we destroy all the subtle precepts. Once we violate the precepts we become confused about the rules and cannot grow in our Wisdom-life.
There are Seven Evils of body and speech. If we are not careful, we will create karma of harming our Wisdom-life.
Everyone, please be mindful. Although it seems like there is a vast and endless number of precepts, as many as 80,000 observances, it is better if we are mindful of our standing, sitting, standing, and lying down. We must be open-hearted, embracing, and sincere. We must take care of our minds in our daily living. Then we will be less likely to make mistakes, and can observe the rules and precepts. So in summary, it can be easy, as long as we are always mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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