Lecturer: Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Be Clear Mirrors for Each Other (互為明鏡)
A friend who knows our heart is a spiritual friend. We purify each other’s hearts and clearly reflect one another. Being near good friends is like bathing in a pure stream. Being near evil defiles us; we get lost and it is hard to return.
This passage tells us that we need to arouse our own conscience. When we do, we can be spiritual friends for others. Sometimes, when we are confused and there are things we cannot resolve, we can find close benevolent friends and invite them to speak with us. We tell them what is on our minds. We can also be benevolent friends for others, so we need to always develop our wisdom [in order to help them]. If someone is lost and does not know where he is going, we can counsel him right away. Whether we counsel others or they counsel us, these are benevolent friends and advisors. They are called spiritual friends. With spiritual friends, we can help purify each other’s minds. So, if ignorance arises in our minds, they counsel us and brush aside the ignorance in our minds. Thus we purify and reflect each other’s minds. Our minds are like mirrors. When we look in someone else’s mirror, we can see that our own mirror is dusty. Then we clean it at once. Perhaps we see that their mirrors are dusty, so we tell them, “Your mirror is dusty. Quickly wipe it clean.” We are each other’s clear mirrors. So, we say the mind is like a clear mirror. Always clean it diligently, do not let dust accumulate. This just means we need to always clean. This just means we need to always clean the mirror in our minds. Do not let filth accumulate on it, or it cannot reflect who we really are. Then, even if our spiritual friends are in front of us, we will not listen to or see anything. This happens when our mind’s mirror is filthy. So, we must work hard and clean our mind’s mirror, whether we reflect others or reflect ourselves. This requires good teachers and benevolent friends. If we are close to benevolent friends, it is like bathing in a pure stream. If we have good friends, we can always purify our bodies and minds. If we behave mistakenly, our benevolent friends will remind us, so that we will not cross boundaries with our actions. Having good friends is like being in a pure stream. So we must always be close with good friends, like bathing in a pure stream. Then we will have no chance to be defiled in body or mind.
Be defiled in body or mind.
As long as we are in this pure stream, there are no opportunities for defilement.
So, our surroundings and our friends are very important to us.
Therefore, let us choose goodness.
We need to choose good people to be our friends.
If we get close to evil friends, what should we do?
We should self-reflect.
If they are not good, we must reflect on ourselves.
If we see our friends engage in bad behavior, and we cannot turn them around even when we try to be their spiritual friends, we must distance ourselves from them.
We cannot let them influence us.
What happens if we are near evil friends?
Being near evil defiles us; once lost it is hard to return.
We clearly know they are wrong.
But we continue wondering if we could help transform them.
When we cannot, we influenced by them instead.
We absorb some very bad habits.
So, they are confused and we are drawn into their confusion.
Not only can we not pull them back, we are pulled in.
Then we are lost, and it is hard to return.
Don’t we often see this in modern society?
If people make bad friends, they are dragged into drinking and taking drugs and cannot extricate themselves.
So, if we are around unwholesome friends, we absorb bad habits.
Then we cannot extricate ourselves.
That is a pity.
It is rare to be born human and hear the Dharma.
If we enter a place that is like a pure stream, we should have self-respect and cherish the spiritual friends around us.
We must respect the spiritual friends around us, as they are like clear mirrors for us.
Then we can take care of the clear mirrors in each of our minds.
We must develop our wisdom so we can extend our Wisdom-life.
Thus, let us always raise our awareness.
Previously in the repentance text we read, “We may have been addicted to endless drinking and eating.”
“We may have eaten live creatures.”
We talked about this yesterday.
Whether we are drinking alcohol, or just eating and drinking, if we do not set any limits for ourselves around things we should not do, we will harm our bodies.
Not only do we harm our bodies, we create a lot of karma, especially if we “eat live creatures,” devouring them alive.
Perhaps we used many cruel methods to cook these living beings.
Or perhaps we swallowed them alive.
Then we are worse then other sentient beings.
Let’s look at the next section.
“We may have eaten the Five Pungent Roots, or defiled Sutras or statues.”
“We may have disrupted the pure assembly, or freely indulged our whims, knowing no bounds.”
First, let us understand the Five Pungent Roots.
What are they?
The Five Pungent Roots are garlic, onions, scallions, shallots, chives, etc.
Shallots are little onions.
Scallions are a kind of onion with a very small base.
These are the Five Pungent Roots.
They have very strong odors.
Some lay practitioners say they buy them for stir-frying because they have a lot of flavor.
What is the use of strong flavors?
When we smell it we feel it is overwhelming Buddhist vegetarians are scared of that smell And when we peel onions and garlic they irritate our eyes. That is pungency. These things have a truly terrible smell. But people who eat meat find it pleasant.
So they always say, “If we do not fry some onions or chives first, then the dishes seem tasteless” Some people will say this Why can’t Buddhist vegetarians eat these five things? In the Surangama Sutra it is written, “The Five Pungent Roots if eaten cooked elicit lust, if eaten raw increase anger”
This means that there are stimulants in these foods. In the past people were told to take Alinamin. Perhaps these people used to take it because they said it made them feel more awake, or that it strengthened their bodies.
It was very popular. After they ate it, they emitted an odor when they spoke. Although the tablet had gone through processing, after people ate it, they emitted an odor when they spoke. Even their feces and urine smelled terrible.
In public restrooms people could smell this terrible odor. The smell came from taking these tablets. They why did people treat this drug as some kind of health food, to take even when they were healthy? Because it contained stimulants.
In the Buddha’s wisdom, He set restrictions on what practitioners ate. When practitioners begged for alms, they could eat anything for the sake of convenience except the Five Pungent Roots, because they contained mental stimulants.
When people are stimulated, lust will arise. Then they will have lustful thoughts and will be uncontrollable. So, if eaten cooked, they elicit lust, eaten raw, they increase anger. If we eat these things raw, we will have a very bad temper. We will lose our temper often, because we are excited.
With stimulation, if anything displeases us, we lose our tempers. So, we cannot consume them in cooked or raw form. These are the Five Pungent Roots. They have a big influence on our bodies and minds. So, the Buddha forbade us to eat them, they include garlic, chives, and so on.
So, we cannot eat them. We are vegetarian, so some people say, “Those are vegetables; they are grown, so why can’t you eat them?” “If we stir-fry with them, it will smell good” But to vegetarians, these flavors are very strong.
And when we speak with others, our breath will be unclean; even ghosts and demons will be scared So, we do not eat them When we teach the Sutras, our speech must be pure. So, when we recite the Sutras, we need the “mantra for purifying verbal karma”.
To truly have a clean mouth ,we must not eat those things.
If we do , the air we emit would stink. These five things have strong odors.
They also include stimulants so we cannot control our minds and
easily make mistakes in behavior.
We have already talked about our behavior in monasteries.
“We may have defiled Sutras and statues “
with bad tempers and by being reckless.
So ,not only are we disrespectful in front of Sutras and statues
we actually defile them.
If we light incense and candles before them ,
all the smoke will blacken these objects.
Not cleaning them up when they are dirty is also wrong.
We must maintain cleanliness before the Buddha.
Some people will not only avoid cleaning,they “ defile it “and make it dirty.
Then they “disrupt the pure assembly”.
Because they cannot calm their minds,
and do not know about spiritual friends.
They cannot be others spiritual friends and even push away other spiritual friends.
This type pf mindset
will easily create discord between people within the community.
Not only can they not be part of the community ,they even “disrupt the pure assembly”.
“We may have freely indulged our whims ‘
We let our minds loose.
Because people are excited their minds cannot calm down ,
and they will do whatever they desire.
They “freely indulged their whims”.
“So what ?”
“As long as I’m happy , why can’t do this ?”
This is “freely indulged our whims,” doing whatever we want.
We know no rules or precepts.
So we “know no bounds ‘.
We often say ,obeying precepts and rules is part of being a person.
There are rules for being a good person.
There are morals. If we cross moral boundaries,we “know no bounds “.
We do not obey and rules that establish limits.
So ,
“We estranged ourselves from good people ,”
“became too familiar with evil friends “
“For these and other transgressions, “
“today we completely repent “.
If we “estrange ourselves from good people ,”
we perversely distance urselves from good people
We deliberately befriend bad individuals ,those who do not follow rules.
If we befriend them ,we will influenced by them.
So as I just said ,the friends we make must be pure.
The pure in body and mind ,
with wisdom and conscience ,
are friends we should treasure and keep close.
A friend who knows our heart is a spiritual friend.
We have so many spiritual friends, so we need to treasure each person every day ,
because they can help us ,
purify each other’s heart and clearly reflect one another.
We can encourage and urge each other on.
They promptly tell us of our mistakes.
If we are lax , they will warn us ,
People like this are very good friends.
Being near good friends is like washing ourselves in a pure stream ;
we can always wash ignorance and filth from our minds.
If we befriend evil friends ,we will become lost
and have a hard time finding our way back.
Everyone , as we learn Buddhism,
we must always cherish this great environment and all the relationships around us ;
they are our good teachers and benevolent friends.
If we can cherish them , we can purify our minds .
Let us always purify our minds,
and be benevolent friends to each other.
So,please always be mindful.