Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Acting with Right Faith and Right Mindfulness (正信正念行)
We need to firmly believe in cause and effect. It seems like I remind you of this every day. This is not superstition; this is Right Faith. In every moment of our lives, causes are ripening into effects. Cause and effect is everywhere.
For example, why did everyone come into the Main Hall this morning? Because we live as practitioners and our lives have set practices. We want to correct our minds and seek the Dharma, so after we pay respect to the Buddha, we sit down. This is a cause. I come out at the same time every day, because I want to share my words with you. So, I come out and sit here, and share with everyone. This is also a cause. After you sit down, you quiet your thoughts, so that your body and mind can be at ease, and you can clearly absorb the Dharma. I also contemplate calmly which Dharma will match everyone’s aptitudes; so that I can simplify the teaching. That way, it will resonate and you can absorb it. These are the causes.
What about the effects? After you have listened, don’t you understand a little more? When I see that you understand more, that is the effect. For me, I am also happy, and my mind feels more at ease. This feeling is also an effect. When is our life not ruled by cause and effect? We can feel it in our lives every day. If we bring up the distant past, or consider the far future, it is the same. Using the present we can deduce the past, and we can theorize about the future, since they are inseparable from cause and effect. This is the true Right Faith.
We need to have firm and unwavering Right Faith. Every day, people, things and events are inseparable from the law of cause and effect. Everyone, please gave firm belief, just as you believe in the sky, land and people.
Let me ask you, do you believe in the sky? Of course. Look up and you can see it. Just how high is it? It is boundless. Everyone believes this. Modern science is very advanced and can measure the relationships of the stars. But how high is the sky? It is hard to say. But if we look up, we can see it.
Let me ask you, does the land exist? Of course, since all of us are all standing on it. Every person, whether walking, standing, sitting or lying down, is always connected to the Earth. Even the material objects in our life all come from the land, so we believe that land exists.
Since you believe in the Earth, let me ask if you believe people exist. Of course they do. People are living on the land under the sky. Everyone should believe this; this is the Right Dharma. We believe in the sky, land, and people, so we should believe in the in the Right Dharma.
On the land under the sky, people are born in different circumstances. Some are fortunate, some are not. Does everyone believe this? Believe it. Some people, even under the same roof, in the same environment, have very different experiences. Some people think, “I am very content to be in this house. I am very happy.”
Another in the same house thinks, “I feel that I am mistreated. I am not satisfied. I am not happy.”
This states of happiness and unhappiness exist in our thoughts, so we need to have Right Mindfulness.
Although people have different lives and different behaviors, we all need to believe that practicing the Ten Good Deeds creates blessings, practicing the Ten Evils creates negative karma. If we do good deeds, we receive blessed rewards. If we do evil, we receive evil retributions. Everyone should believe this.
We need to have a firm belief in cause and effect, just as we believe in the sky, land and people. There are fortunate and unfortunate realms. Although people may be in the same place, they can have very different lives and different behaviors. We need to have Right Faith, Right Dharma, Right Mindfulness, and Right Action. We definitely need a firm and unwavering belief.
Firmly believe in cause and effect as you believe in the sky, land and people. People living in the same place can have very different lives. This comes from a single thought. We need to have Right Faith, Dharma, Mindfulness and Action. When everyone has unwavering belief, then society can be peaceful, and the world will be free from disasters.
The Water Repentance says that all our behavior is connected to our karmic cause, conditions and results. Some people do not cherish life and receive retributions for harming and killing others. Some people take things improperly by stealing, looting, robbing, defrauding, and so on. This incurs the future retribution of having to repay these debts. We have talked about this before.
Next, the text says. These are the retributions from theft and robbery. Therefore today, we repent with utmost sincerity. We already know about theft, robbery, fraud, all kinds of improper taking. If someone will not give it to us, does not consent, we may try to think of a method, whether by using force, secrecy or trickery, etc. This kind of karma will lead to the retributions we spoke of before. In the past we were unaware, so we suffered much retribution. How many lifetimes has it been? Perhaps we have been carrying this karma, but now it has grown lighter, and we have the causes and conditions to practice. We understand the principles, we hear the Right Dharma, so we know we need to sincerely repent at once and ask for mercy.
We must repent the thefts and robberies we may have committed in the past. We need to use a repentant mind every day.
Next it says, “We disciples and others, from beginningless time until now, may have stolen others’ fortunes by brandishing weapons, and taking them by force.”
So, we repent again. It is as if we are washing something very dirty. After washing once, it is still not clean. Even if you use soap and strength to scrub and wash, and then use clean water to rinse it, if you look again closely, it still is not clean. So you have to wash it again. Use soap to wash it again, use water to rinse it again.
Repentance is the same. We need to always repent, layer by layer. We do not just repent once. We do not just repent one day. We need to be self-vigilant all the time. We must have a repentant mind in all interactions. When we see something that belongs to someone else that we really like, that we really need, don’t we first ask for their consent before taking it? Even if it is a piece of paper, or something that is not even worth a penny, something insignificant, if the other person is not willing to give it away and you take it, or if you take it without asking permission, that is stealing, the transgression of theft.
To spell it out, even if we do not commit serious transgressions, like robbery, mugging or theft, in our daily lives we often do not ask permission and take things. This happens. So we still need to always be mindful of our subtle behavior.
So it says, “We disciples and all others, form beginningless time until now, up until today, we may have been robbing others’ valuables, or brandishing weapons to take them by force.” Using weapons to rob people is terrible. Some people take things with bare hands; that is bad enough. Using a knife or gun is really too much. The wrongdoing of armed robbery is very serious.
After this it says, “We may commit the robbery ourselves or compel others to do it. We may abuse authority, or misuse our power.”
The meaning of this is that we may do something ourselves and seize something form another. Or we may compel others to steal, by using force and threats. It may not only be physical threats, but threats to their property as well. This is how we compel others to rob.
“We may abuse authority.” Some people have power or position, and abuse their authority. You may have seen movies or plays in the past, where some people really abuse their authority. There are many example of this. What about now? It has been this way throughout history, and today it is still the same. Some people say that being a public servant is a spiritual practice. If they do not see it as a spiritual practice, not only will they be unable to serve others, they will use their power to oppress or steal from them. This is common. Abusing authority or claiming false power truly causes people to suffer unspeakably.
I will give you an example. In July of 2006, war broke out between lsrael and Lebanon. Why did this happen? Of course, there had been a long cold war, with ceaseless conflict and invasions from both sides. There was no love lost between the two countries. So on this day, Lebanese Hezbollah forces crossed the border and kidnapped two soldiers. They kidnapped them to coerce lsrael into releasing some Arab prisoners of war. Since there had been a long cold war, there were many prisoners of war. lsrael did not agree to Hezbollah’s demands. Not only were they unwilling, they began shelling Lebanon, attacking Hezbollah and southern Lebanon.
Once it started, there was shelling every day. Hezbollah was also unwilling to show weakness, so both sides armed themselves and began fighting. American and European countries have always tried to bring peace to the region but have had very little success.
The war became more fierce. The two countries fought for 34 days, causing the deaths of over 1,200 people, and around 900,000 people were displaced. The homes of 900,000 people were shattered, with over 1,000 casualties, all because of the thoughts of a few people. They captured two soldiers to exchange for political prisoners. The talks failed, and the shelling began. Within 34 days, so many people suffered from this. Even the environment was affected. In the midst of the fighting, the oil storage tank of a Lebanese power plant was blown up and 15,000 tons of oil began to leak. This oil drifted throughout the entire Mediterranean Sea. The oil slick covered more than 70 kilometers.
Think about it. Not only were people killed, but the environment was polluted. So what do you think? Isn’t this abusing authority or misusing power? Citizens suffered because of a few politicians whose minds were not on track. One evil thought arose, and created so many disasters. The mind is really terrifying. Natural disasters arise from man-made disasters. Fortune and misfortune depend on collective karma. Look at where different sentient beings live.
In some places, some people live in enjoyment, in happiness and in peace. But on that same day, in another part of the world, bitter wars are being fought. This is their collective karma. Their politicians had these evil thoughts. This is all the karmic law of cause and effect.
We still need Right Faith, Right Dharma, Right Mindfulness and Right Action. With everyone’s mind and actions proper, there will be no disasters in the world. Everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)