Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Understand Karma with Flawless Wisdom (無漏智慧了悟因緣)
Date: October. 31, 2013
In our daily living, do our minds arise and cease as time passes? Are thoughts arising, abiding and ceasing? As we engage in spiritual practice, we must practice mindfulness and take good care of our hearts.
So, in the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, there is this passage, “Some reach the state of Pratyekabuddhas, free of Leaks of unconditioned. Some attain the Bodhisattva Ground of non-arising and non-ceasing.”
This passage also encourages introspection and self-reflection. We have talked about “free of Leaks” before. As I have said, “free of Leaks,” and Leaks are afflictions. If we can attain a state free of Leaks, then the Dharma has penetrated our minds and afflictions do not trouble us. If we just listen to the Dharma without allowing it to enter our minds, our minds will only contain afflictions. This means we “have Leaks”.
Next, I will explain, “A Leak is another name for affliction. It means to leak out.”
A Leak is a flaw through which [teachings] continue to flow out. If a water bucket is clean, the water it contains is also clean. If we fill a dirty bucket with water, and the water leaks out, the filth still remains. What are these filthy things? They are afflictions such as greed, anger and ignorance. These afflictions will cause the Dharma to leak out when it enters our minds. I often tell everyone that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature and wisdom equal to the Buddha’s. But greed, anger and ignorance has covered our intrinsic pure nature and wisdom, the way [Leaks] cause clear water to flow out and leave dirty and filthy things behind. These are afflictions and ignorance.
Where do they come from? From our daily living, from the external conditions we face when our Six Roots come in contact with the Six Dusts. So as our senses encounter these sense objects, afflictions such as greed, anger and delusion arise in our minds.
So in Buddhist terms, “afflictions such as greed and anger [arise] day and night from the Six Gateways, eyes, ears and so on. When [wisdom] flows away continuously without pause, that is called a Leak.”
This is how our wisdom constantly flows away. Thus, pure wisdom cannot remain in our minds because in our daily living, we are constantly influenced by external conditions and [afflicted consciousness] has replaced our wisdom. To put this even more clearly, “consciousness” has replaced “wisdom”. Consciousness refers to the Six Consciousnesses and wisdom is pure and undefiled Dharma.
So, the Six Roots and Six Dusts will cause our pure Dharma-essence to flow out.
Therefore, afflictions will cause our wisdom to continuously leak out, so they are called Leaks.Exactly what kind of damage can afflictions cause us?They can cause great harm.
“Afflictions can cause people to fall into the Three Evil Realms.”
So, Leaks are afflictions.Because afflictions lead people to create more afflictions, our bad karma grows in this cycle and our wisdom cannot manifest.Therefore, [our minds] are filled with darkness.At we have created is a lack of clarity, a path of ignorance, so we easily fall into the evil realms.If we do not act based on principles, we will create a cycle of enmity and disasters.This is the root of the Three Evil Realms.So, we must be careful.
How can we leave the evil realms behind?We must cultivate flawless Dharma, so the Dharma can enter our minds and not leak away.This is called cultivating flawless Dharma.Aside from being free of Leaks, “the state of Pratyekabuddhas is unconditioned”.To be free of Leaks is to be unconditioned.
What is unconditioned?“No causes, conditions, or creation is called unconditioned.”
“It does not go through the four states of arising, abiding, changing and ceasing.”This is another term for true principles.
If we can be free of Leaks, we can naturally attain the unconditioned state and preserve our wisdom.Unconditioned means that we will not create any cause or conditions, which cause various complications in people’s lives.Because of the interconnections of causes and conditions, there are many afflictions.When there are many afflictions, naturally there will be arising, abiding, changing and ceasing.
Every day, our minds give rise to thoughts in response to people, matters and objects.
This arising, abiding, changing and ceasing is the workings of our minds.Because of causes and conditions, our minds will naturally create much karma from afflictions.
So, if we are unconditioned and do not create [Kama], there will be no afflictions in our minds.
So, “the state of Pratyekabuddhas is free of Leaks and is unconditioned”.
Pratyekabuddhas are solitary realizes, those who have awakened themselves.
By coming in contact with the four seasons, spring, summer, winter and fall, they realized the impermanence of life, of the cycle of birth, aging, illness and death.
So, they are also realizes of conditions.
Their method of practice is to clearly understand principles.By also eliminating afflictions, they can attain a state that is free of Leak and is unconditioned.This is “the state of Pratyekabuddhas.”“Some attain the Bodhisattva Ground of non-arising and non-ceasing.”How can we experience no arising and no ceasing?We should know that everything in the world changes and goes through arising and ceasing.All things must arise and cease.
If there is dawn, there will be night.The aggregate of action leads to constant change.
The months continue to take each other’s place, so arising and ceasing are illusory appearances.Are they real or not?When we look at the past, everything is gone without a trace.It is all an illusory appearance. So, “something that is non-arising does not arise from illusions”. Something that is ever-abiding is non-arising. I have said that we have had Buddha-nature since Beginningless Time. It is impossible to say when Buddha- nature arose. It has always existed, so it is called non-arising. Non-arising means there is no arising of illusion. “Since there is no arising, how is there ceasing?”It has been there since the very beginning. Buddha-nature is also non-ceasing. Whether we are in the Six Realms, in the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost, or animal realm, our Buddha-nature always remains. So, Buddhist sutras state, “All living beings have Buddha-nature”. Thus, we need to understand that our Buddha-nature is non-arising and non-ceasing.
Anything that arises and ceases is illusory. So, anything that is non-arising and non-ceasing is the ultimate, absolute truth. This is the truth. I hope our understanding grows deeper, that the Buddha-Dharma will enter our minds and abide within us forever.
All things in the world have illusory appearances of arising and ceasing. Something that is non-arising does not arise from illusions. Since there is no arising, how is there ceasing? Non-arising and non-ceasing are the ultimate, absolute truth.
More importantly, we are worried that if we cannot remain in this state, then our awakened nature will leak away or be covered. If we can be non-arising and non-ceasing, that is abiding in the Bodhisattva Ground. “Some reach the state of Pratyekabuddhas. Some attain the Bodhisattva Ground of non-arising and non-ceasing”.
The Buddha taught us to practice the Six Perfections, a way of giving unconditionally. Giving, [upholding] precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom can bring us clarity and understanding of the ultimate truth of life. So, if we want to be close to the Buddha, we need to start with the Bodhisattva-path. The Buddha's only purpose in coming to the world is to teach the Bodhisattva-path.
So, in the Lotus Sutra, before the Buddha began giving these teachings, He sat in meditation. Maitreya and Manjusri explained the causes and conditions that led the Buddha to come to this world to transform sentient beings by describing Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha and how the radiance of His Buddha-nature illuminated that Dharma-assembly.
So, this passage in the Lotus Sutra states, “Then the fourfold assembly, seeing the Sun-Moon-Lamp Buddha manifest great and powerful spiritual powers, all rejoiced in their hearts. And each inquired of the other. What is the reason for these events?”
At that time, the radiance illuminated the fourfold assembly. Everyone, from beginners to those practicing the Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links, Six Paramitas, etc., all diligently cultivated proper practices among the fourfold assembly Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha sat in Samadhi, radiating light and manifesting auspicious signs. He also manifested spiritual powers. People were very happy to see this and also had questions in their minds. They also made haste to ask for teachings. But what Dharma would He expound? So, they “each inquired of the other”. This happened within the fourfold assembly. They were at the Dharma-assembly and were very joyful. But they did not know what the Buddha would teach.
So, under this circumstance, everyone eagerly wanted to understand “the reason for these events.” This means that everyone was because they were eager to hear what the Buddha was preparing to teach.
The assembly asked each other because they wanted to hear the teachings, because they developed that sincere resolve. The Buddha’s teachings are based on causes and conditions. The Buddha’s noble teachings, from the simple to the simple to the profound, are inseparable from causes and conditions.
So, they wanted to hear the teachings because they developed that sincere resolve. This passage indicates that everyone had quieted down and sincerely wanted to listen to Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha’s teachings. They were sincere in their pursuit of teachings, so the Dharma could enter their minds. If we heart teachings without respect or sincerity, we cannot truly keep the Dharma in our minds.
All Buddhas share the same path, so when Sakyamuni Buddha and Sum-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha prepared to expound great teachings, their manifestations were similar. They both first invoked reverence in the assembly, so people would value the Dharma. Then they would [manifest] the Dharma in actions.
So, “the Buddha’s teachings are based on cause and conditions.” The fundamental teachings of the Buddha begin with causes and conditions. All sentient beings face the convergence of cause and conditions. The convergence occurs naturally create many afflictions. Sentient beings Buddha’s create karma, which leads to the creation of more bed karma. As I often say, sentient beings share collective karma. Every sentient beings has different afflictions and karmic conditions. Regardless of their causes and condition, they are all tainted and have become afflicted, they create many causes and conditions, which are defiled conditions. This is what sentient beings do. The Buddha came to establish sentient beings sentient beings.
So, “the Buddha’s noble teachings” [range] “from the simple to the profound.” He came to give noble teachings, which ranged from the simple to the profound, from the Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, to Six Paramitas. All teachings, from the simple to the profound, are inseparable from causes and conditions. The Buddha had given many teachings, but none of the true principles deviated from causes and conditions.
So fellow Bodhisattvas, the law of karma is the truth that the Buddha-Dharma is based on. We cannot ignore the law of karma; we must uphold and practice His noble teachings because everything originates from causes and conditions. The Sutra of Infinite Meanings also taught that “Some reach the state of Pretykabuddhas, free of Leak and unconditioned. Some attain the Bodhisattva Ground of non-arising and non-ceasing.” Causes and conditions arise and cease as they converge.
In summary, in our daily living, we must take good care of our mind and prevent afflictions from entering it. We must safeguard our wisdom. Our wisdom must be flawless. If there are Leaks, it will flow away and we will be led by our afflictions into the Three Evil Destinies. This was stated in the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, as well as the Lotus Sutra. So, we must world very hard and pay attention to the causes and conditions that we create in our daily interactions. We must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV - Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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