Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Faith in the Buddha’s Way (學佛當生正信力)
Date: January.23. 2014
The Power of Faith can be great or small, profound or simple. If we practice based on external conditions, our minds waver. The Roots and Power of Faith increase the Power of Diligence, of Thoughts, of Samadhi, and the Root and Power of Wisdom.
We also need to be very mindful of this. As I have said, “One must give rise to great Power of Faith.” The Power of Faith can be great or small, deep or simple. What is simple faith? What is deep faith? If we practice based on external conditions, our faith can waver. If someone says, “You should do [more good deeds].” [We may say,] “Fine, I’ll try” because [doing good deeds] forms good conditions and brings blessings. But we do not know what it means to [do good deeds] to form good connections. We do not understand it. If this is why we act, then “we practice based on external conditions.” This mindset is not firm because we do not seek the Buddha-Dharma out of faith. We are only seeking blessings and merits. With this kind of mindset, forming an aspiration is easy, but sustaining it is hard.
What is true faith, faith that will inspire us to work hard? In the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, there are Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers. We must have the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers to be very firm in our faith.
In the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers, the first is the Power of Faith, which is also the Root of Faith. The Power of Faith arises when the Root of Faith grows and naturally destroys all evil beliefs.
We must have faith. As I mentioned, we should not do things or merit. Merits and virtues are cultivated inwardly and practiced outwardly. We must cultivate a firm will and put the teachings into practice to have merits and virtues. So, as our Root of Faith grows and we continuously progress in our study of the Buddha-Dharma, we must seek the Buddha’s knowledge and views, seek His wisdom. [We must learn] His views on everything in the universe and in our world. We must aim to be like the Buddha, accept things and thoroughly understand principles. We must broaden our hearts and also fully comprehend the true principles of all things in the universe. We need “faith” to believe the Buddha-Dharma. The Buddha’s teachings guide us in a direction, and we just need to follow it.
So, the Power of Faith can grow our Root of Faith. Because of this power, we can be diligent. This power grows our Root of Faith, so it can naturally destroy all evil beliefs. What we worry about most is having evil beliefs. If we do whatever others tell us to do, without distinguishing right from wrong, we will easily form evil beliefs. Second is the Power of Diligence.
Aside from having faith, we must also be very diligent.We cannot just say, “Yet, I believe in the Buddha.”We have faith, but do we have Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Views?If we have Right Knowledge and Right Views, we must diligently move forward.
We cannot just march in place or stand there and say, “I believe.”When we do not go forward to seek the Buddha’s true principles and wisdom, we have no power.So, we must be diligent.Sometimes we say that taking the first step is very difficult.Indeed, getting started is difficult, but we really need to take that first step.The Buddhda’s blessings and wisdom are like a person’s two feet.No matter how far we need to walk, we have to take that first step, whether we begin with worldly good deeds or with the Buddha’s teachings.If we start with the teachings, we develop wisdom.
If we start with virtuous deeds, we create blessings.We need both blessings and wisdom.Though we seek the Buddha-Dharma, we will not abandon this world and will still create blessings for others.Therefore,blessings and wisdom are cultivated in parallel.
So, we must be diligent.If the Root of Diligence grows, it can eliminate indolence of the body and mind.If we are diligent, naturally we will not be lazy.
Diligent people do not fear hardship.Lazy people fear hardship.They are afraid of the cold, heat, physical exertion and taking on responsibilities.People like this are indolent and degenerate, not diligent.Therefore, we must be diligent.We have to push aside these obstacles, so we can be diligent.To be diligent, we must practice with our bodies and minds.We must really take action and pursue the Buddha-Dharma with body and mind to be considered diligent.
The third is the Power of Thought.Thought refers to the mind.With the Power of Thought, “the Root of Thought can grow and destroy all deviant thinking”.
Our deviant thinking is the biggest obstacle to our diligence.Therefore, we must use our minds to destroy deviant thinking and thoughts.We must take good care of our minds.
The fourth is having the Power of Samadhi.“The Root of Samadhi grows and can destroy all discursive thinking.”We have discursive and false thoughts and keep thinking about the past.
We linger on and cannot let go of these thoughts.Perhaps we hold on to old hatreds and resentments, or we pursues the future.We seek to achieve future goals and desires.
So when the mind is stuck in the past it is called discursive thinking.Thoughts of the future and flights of fancy are delusions.We must really take good care of our minds and be focused on what we are doing.
Our minds and bodies are here, so our Power of Thought needs to also be here.
We must seize the moment and focus on the present as we interact with people, matters and objects in our surroundings so we will not become distracted.This also depends on the Power of Samadhi.
We must concentrate on the Buddha’s teachings because they are both worldly and world-transcending teachings.As we deal with deal with things in this world, we must be in harmony with others.How can we deal with people and matters harmoniously?
Through principles.How can we deal with people and matters harmoniously? Through principles. Those who understand principles do things and interact with people harmoniously. We must regularly take the Dharma into our minds to cleanse our defilements, our greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. We must regularly put in effort to wash away the various improprieties of the mind, deviant thinking, actions, karma, livelihood and all the mistakes of the past. We must thoroughly repent them. If we have the Power of Samadhi, we will know what we did wrong. If we have the Power of Samadhi, we will know how to correct our faults. So, the Power of Samadhi is very important.
“Fifth is the Power of Wisdom. It can help “the Root of Wisdom grow and destroy all delusions in the Three Realms.”
We need to have wisdom. Mere knowledge and smarts are useless. If our Root of Wisdom grows, then we can destroy all delusions in the Three Realms. Delusions mean ignorance. In the Buddhist classics there is a story about a man who constantly sought blessings. He never felt that he had enough wealth, so he kept thinking, “How can I keep the god of wealth with me, so everything I do will be successful?” All he did was try to make money, so someone told him, “If you want to keep accumulating more wealth, pray for it reverently, and all the wealth in the world will be yours.”[The man said,] “Is that possible? Quickly, tell me what I can do to increase my blessings.”
So, the person told him, “That’s easy. Just put your whole heart into it. Buy the best firewood and the best sacrificial offerings and pray to the fire god. Use quality firewood. The better the wood, the bigger the fire. Then throw in the offerings. Conduct this ritual every night and pray to the fire god to bless you with all the wealth in the world. Money will come at you like a blazing fire.”
“Oh, really?” So, he began buying the best firewood available. When he could not buy more, he would cut down trees from the mountains. So, for three years, he burnt firewood. Who knows how many forests he razed? He cut down all the best wood. So, for three years, he continuously prayed to the fire god. He spent a lot of money, but his business did not improve. Not only did it not improve, it kept deteriorating.
So, the person told him again, “If this doesn’t work, you must reverently pray to the sun and moon for wealth to come to you, day and night.” He thought this made sense, so he quickly began to pray. He prepared abundant sacrificial offerings and slaughtered living beings as sacrifices to the sun and the moon. He prepared such abundant offerings and prayed continuously. For the next three years, his business grew worse and worse. The amount of money he spent was enormous.
Because of his deviant thinking and views, he continued to seek blessings, until he fell into a state of poverty. By then, his body also weakened because he prayed day and night. So, he was completely worn out. What could he do? He had no money and his health was poor. What could he do?
At this time, he thought of how everyone said the Buddha was an enlightened one. So, he went to listen to the Buddha teach. As he listened to His teachings, upon hearing each principle, he felt, “Why have I never heard this before? Why haven’t I learned this?” He sat there and deeply contemplated this. The Buddha saw this man and called to him. “Faithful believe, what is on your mind?” When he raised his head and saw the Buddha, heard His soft voice, beheld His magnificence, he wailed loudly. [He told Him about] the blessings he desired and how he hoped to expand his business and attain wealth, fame and benefit. Though he expended so much effort and spent so much money, he completely failed.
So, the Buddha said, “Though in the past, you put your heart into reverently seeking blessings, you need to know that you have created a lot of karma by doing that. Do you realize that? Through your sacrificial offerings, you have taken many lives and destroyed the land. Your offerings may be piled up high as a mountain, but the karma you created can fill an ocean.”
When the man heard this, he said, “Indeed! Why was I so ignorant in the past? How many living beings have I killed? How much of and land have I destroyed?” He reflected on himself and asked for the Buddha’s teaching. So, the Buddha said, “From now on, you must remember to be filial to your parents and aspire to do good deeds. At the same time, gradually eliminate the greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt in your mind and start over. You must be diligent and believe in Right Views and Right Dharma.”
When the man heard this, he felt everything he had done in the past was wrong. So, after listening to the teachings, his mind became open and understanding. The troubles he had in his mind were completely eliminated, and he pulled himself back together. He began to honestly conduct his business and was filial to his parents. He helped those in his family and in society. Because [his belief in] the Buddha-Dharma was of Right Faith, he made a comeback.
Everyone, this story took place in the Buddha’s lifetime. In ancient times, people were also greedy. Indeed, life is filled with suffering. Why do we keep ourselves so busy? So, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must develop Right Faith and great power of Faith. “One must give rise to great Power of Faith” because the Dharma that the Buddha is about to teach is extremely profound and wondrous. He is “setting aside the skillful for the direct” and teaching the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.
So, we must give rise to great Power of Faith. Everyone, the Five Spiritual Roots, Five Powers are what we must diligently cultivate. If we lose faith as we seek the Dharma, we will not find anything. When a thought goes astray, it may lead to a lifetime of mistakes, and then we may become lost for many lifetimes. If we seize the power of Right Faith, we can form great aspirations and vows. If we seize the present and sustain the moment forever, we will always understand worldly and world-transcending teachings. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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