Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Opening the Gates of Wisdom (開啟智慧之門)
We have been talking about creating karma. As Buddhist practitioners, how do we avoid creating karma? First, we close the door of desire, then we open the gate of wisdom. We must subdue our desirous minds. We have previously talked about precepts. Precepts prevent wrongdoing. They protect our Wisdom-life. They prevent us from taking wrong actions and following deviant paths. We need precepts. So, we have the Bodhisattva-precepts. To become a Bodhisattva, we must uphold these precepts. In addition to the precepts, we must also promote “love.” Once desire is shut off, selfless Great Love must be brought out; this is the Bodhisattva-path.
A Bodhisattva practitioner will not abandon suffering sentient beings. We often say, “Bodhisattvas exist because of suffering sentient beings.” Bodhisattvas manifest in the world because there are so many suffering sentient beings. Suffering beings are the causes and the conditions of Bodhisattvas.
Since we were born in the Human Realm, have an affinity with the Buddha and chose the Buddha-Dharma, the path we must now follow is the Bodhisattva-path. We must cultivate a mind of empathy so that we cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer. This empathy for all suffering beings that we are cultivating is called compassion. If we all had this compassion, we would not let others suffer. We wouldn’t seek our own enjoyment. If we see other beings suffer, but only look after our own security or our own happiness, we not only lead a meaningless life, we also create karma.
If we see sentient beings suffering but only think of our own peace and happiness, we are living a life with no way to create meaning, and creating negative karma instead.
We talked about enjoying our food, clothing, homes and transportation. We are always so picky about name brands, or convenience.
We see many high-rise apartments today. Everyone wants to enjoy themselves as they come and go. We push a button, and the elevator comes down, even if we are only going up one flight. This is all a desire for convenience. What about clothes? We are picky about dressing very well. Now everyone cares about name brands. Haven’t I told you about this before? One piece of clothing was hanging in a boutique for a long time. No one bought it. The owner thought it was very strange. The piece was made of high quality material, so why did no one buy it? Many people came and felt it. They would take it off the rack to look, and say “It is so beautiful! How much does it cost?”
“$2000 NT dollars.”
Then they would put it back. The owner thought it was odd because it was so beautiful, and the price wasn’t that high. Why?
One day her friend came and also felt the clothing and took it down. The owner said, “You can see this piece is quite nice. “Why don’t you buy it?
She replied, “Yes, it’s nice, but the price is so cheap, are you sure it’s good quality? Is it really name brand?”
She was able to grasp how customers think. So after her friend left, she took this piece of clothing down, ripped off the tag and put a new price on it: $8000 NT dollars. Then she hung it back up. The next day someone came in and took the piece down to look. “So pretty.”
Seeing the NT$8000 price, she said “Good, can you wrap this for me?” and bought it, just like that.
The proprietor of this store is a Tzu Chi commissioner. She brought in NT$6000 to donate and said, “Master, Once I would have been really happy, but now I feel guilty, and cannot face my conscience. The price was NT$2000, but to quickly sell it and to suit the consumer’s mentality, I raised it to NT$8000. Now I cannot face my conscience. I made an extra NT$6000, so I am donating it.”
Actually, you might be able to buy the same piece of clothing for NT$200 from a street vendor. But in a store, if it is NT$2000, people suspect it is too cheap and aren’t satisfied. The nature of name-brand goods is that they are expensive; only then can they be name-brand. Sentient beings are deluded and confused. With that NT$6000, we can give aid to a number of families. So it is often said, “The price of a meal in a rich family can feed the poor for months.”
These people’s lives are misguided. As we have said, some are picky about food, clothing, home and transportation. Even though they see others suffering, they do not have any compassion. Indulging freely in their passions and desires is being wanton with their minds and enjoying the pleasures of the Five Desires.
Enjoying clothing, food and beautiful landscapes brings karma of idle indulgence. If we indulge freely in desires while in the prime of our lives we create karma of many transgressions.
Bodhisattvas are empathetic towards suffering sentient beings; they do not seek their own happiness. We should remember what we talked about yesterday. In our daily lives, we must be very frugal. Thrift is a virtue. Now we are always promoting a “low-carbon lifestyle.” We are trying to cut down power usage and rampant consumption.
When I was at the hospital, the superintendent reached for the elevator call button. I asked, “Which floor are we going?”
He said, “Second floor.”
“Have you forgotten? I would even climb sixteen flights, so why take the elevator to the 2nd floor?”
“Master, I thought your feet hurt.”
“I can still climb a few flights.”
I quickly turned to the stairs, and started up. When we reached the floor above, I said, “That wasn’t too hard, was it?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
We normally climb the stairs, in response [to environmental concerns].
Everyone, in our ordinary routines, we should live a life adapted to nature. This is not only about avoiding indulgence.
The Water Repentance also says, “Performing Flawed Good Deeds for merit in the Three Realms, is an obstacle to transcending the world.”
Not only must we not indulge, we must open our loving hearts, close the doors of desire, and perform good deeds well. Some people start with a vow to do good, but they “perform Flawed Good Deeds.” They do good to seek a reward. Some people say, “I will be blessed if I do good, so I pray that when I help others I can increase my own merit.”
Or when giving, they think, “If I get this piece of work and earn some money, then I will give, so my business runs smoothly.” There are others who think, “I should chant and pray, or even give alms I have suffered so much this life. I want a better life next time. Maybe I can be born in a rich family and enjoy life.” These “Flawed Good Deeds” are done with a desire for reward. Don’t Tzu Chi volunteers always say, “Give without asking anything in return.” On top of this, we must also be grateful.
Our volunteers all over the world are like this. Everyone is willing to work. No matter how hard it may be, they all happily accept the difficulties. If they are doing marry good things and are very committed; even if the environment around them changes, they can transform their minds and accept these difficulties with wisdom. Professor Xie of National Taiwan University rode his bike to work every morning for exercise. An insane person saw this professor and started hitting him, pounding on him from the head down. A scholar, suddenly struck with such tremendous force, all over his head and body, simply fell over. This crazy person started kicking him as well, while continuing to hit him. He was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital. The autopsy revealed that his brain had hemorrhaged, and all his internal organs were shattered. His wife, who is a member of our Teacher’s Association, happened to be in Hualien at the time. When she received the news, she was very calm. She quickly returned home, along with many members of the Teacher’s Association. Arriving home, she saw so many Tzu Chi volunteers by her husband’s body. They had arranged everything well, and comforted her three children. She saw all this. Before she put down her bag, she said to everyone, “Thank you, thank you.” Although her face was covered in tears, she stayed calm and kept saying, “Thank you.”
Without putting her bag down, she went to her husband and prayed for him. She took an incense and said to her husband, “I am sorry. Tzu Chi is such a good organization, and I never brought you into it. I’m sorry.” Encountering such a catastrophic change, her mind was able to stay calm and even grateful. If she had and regret, it was that she never brought him to Tzu Chi. At that time, someone asked her how she felt about the person who did this “I want to practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is kindness to ourselves, so I want to forgive him.” Afterwards she told her children, “What happened today to your father is a very shocking lesson. We should accept it with gratitude.”
This is a very wise wisdom. So even said, “I wish my husband could be the last victim.”
Look at this mindset of giving. She is a member of our Teacher’s Association, who teaches with love. She was certified as c Commissioner, actualizing Tzu Chi’s spirit in communities. Hasn’t she done enough good deeds? Yes, she has done a lot. But sentient beings are like scripts that have been written in their past lives. Everything is already set. Sentient beings are subject to karma, the law of cause and effect. Everything that happens in this life is, the fruition of seeds planted in past lives. She heard this often and understood. Pursuing the matter further was useless. She was compassionate and felt for her husband. Her heart went out thinking that he had been assaulted with such force that his brain and lungs were damaged. Although no blood came out, his entire brain hemorrhaged and his organs were shattered. She was sad, but she had compassion for the other man.
He had gone down the wrong path, and this life was already set to be full of suffering. He received legal punishment and will spend a long time in jail. After he gets out, he will have lost everyone’s trust and respect. So, he will probably live the rest of his life in misery. Thus, she was compassionate and forgave him. This is having compassion being empathetic towards others suffering.
Actually, if she continued to have grievances, her mind couldn’t be free. The legal case could drag on painfully for years. So, she abandoned the conflict, abandoned being unforgiving. She used forgiveness. When she visited the Abode, she came to thank me. Though saddened by the loss of her husband, with tears streaming down her face, she still smiled. She brought her three children and said “Be grateful to the Tzu Chi family.” This “family” helped her out of darkness and brought her family toward the light. Now they can live a life of peace and harmony. If we can open our mind of compassion, we can eliminate all karma. If we are committed to do good, we should not engage in “Flawed Good Deeds.” We should give without asking anything in return.
Everything is [related to cause and effect.] Following the Bodhisattvas-path, we should see the importance of cause and effect. Haven’t I said we should pay attention to karma? Everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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