Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Solitary Realizations Contemplate Impermanence (緣覺觀十二因緣)
Date: January.28. 2014
“The Six Gateways are endowed with good potential. The eyes read Buddhist sutras, and the ears listen to the Dharma. One realizes the truth from connecting with and observing surrounding conditions. By listening, one understands and approaches the Buddha’s wisdom.”
We should all know what the Six Gateways are, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. By opening our eyes, we open the gateway to eye-consciousness. What kinds of things do we see? What kinds of thoughts arise in our minds? This is what happens when we open a sense gateway to see what is outside. Based on this principle, can we give rise to wisdom when our eyes connect with external conditions? Or, will our minds give rise to desires when we see external conditions? Of course, we engage in spiritual practice in hopes that we can be more understanding. No matter what we see with our eyes in our external conditions, we must quickly be understanding of it. Then when we observe people’s facial expressions, they will all look agreeable to us. When we see smiles and friendliness, we are grateful that we have encountered someone we have affinity with. If we see anger and resentment, we are still grateful that we have met this beneficial friend.
If we can practice this kind of understanding, as every sense gateway opens, we can practice and attain understanding. If we can do this, then the Six Gateways are being used to their full potential.
For example, we read sutras with our eyes. Those in the Buddha’s era were more blessed. They saw the Buddha with their own eyes and their ears took in His Dharma when He manifested in this world. Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas and the people in India at that time were indeed very blessed to have lived in the same era as the Buddha and personally saw Him and listened to His teachings.
In that time, was everyone blessed [to see and hear Him]? Did everyone who listened to His teachings accept and put them into action? Actually, without the right karmic conditions, one could not see the Buddha, even if one wished to. So, even with the Six Gateways, it is not easy to encounter the Buddha-Dharma. What happens in an era without Buddhas? They way Pratyekabuddhas and Solitary Realizers perceive and understand the world is different from normal people. They have greater wisdom, so they themselves can realize the impermanence and cycles of life.
They watch the rising and setting of sun and moon, the waning and the waxing of the moon, so they can comprehend that the conditions of nature are not fixed. By being mindful of natural phenomena, they can realize impermanence. They are more advanced than those who do not know anything until after hearing it from the Buddha.
They can realize impermanence.They are more advanced than those who do not know anything until.[Then they say,] “Oh yes, I know if now.”Pratyekabuddhas have higher capabilities than these people.
Pratyekabuddhas connect with external conditions and then intently contemplate them.So, they are very mindful of the principles of the world.And when they do listen to the teachings, they can also become understanding.But to even slowly reach the level of the Buddha’s wisdom is indeed not easy.They are still [just focused on] themselves, encircling themselves with a barrier to protect and benefit only themselves.
So now, the Buddha [addressed] these Hearers and Solitary Realizers.Aside from helping them listen to the Dharma more deeply, He also wanted the Dharma to penetrate their minds and actions.These Pratyekabudddhas had already been mindfully analyzing everything from the universe to their bodies and they [realized] the principle of impermanence.
However, they were focused on their own practice.They were attached to the small [vehicle] and biased toward emptiness as well as their own awakening.So, the Buddha used these teachings to keep reminding everyone, “You have already realized and understood the principles I have taught and shown you.Now you need to keep moving forward.In the past, you reached conjured cities that were created for you to have somewhere to briefly rest.Now that you have recovered from the fatigue, you must keep moving forward.”This is how the Buddha-Dharma words.Indeed, it is inseparable from the way we live.
In the past, the Buddha only used worldly teachings to guide people to realize the basis of the principles.So, these principles all teach people to refrain from all evils and do all good deeds, practice kindness and form good karmic affinities.In Buddhist teachings, it is said that without forming good affinities with people there is no chance to attain Buddhahood.So, before attaining Buddhahood, we must first create good affinities.We create them by doing good deeds, which brings joy to others, resolves their troubles and helps them.Only by doing this is it possible to attain Buddhahood.
So, the Buddha teachers us to do all good deeds, and at the same time, subdue unwholesome thinking and end all evils.
Through the Six Gateways, our eyes see the sufferings of life.Thus, we must activate our loving hearts to quickly help others and tame the greed in our minds.This is what He taught us with skillful means.But these are based on worldly principles.So, He had to carefully guide us and inspire us to act out of love form good karmic connections and eliminate all unwholesome behavior to subdue our minds.
Though these skillful means are considered clever and provisional, considered clever and provisional, they are still wondrous and based on true principles.These skillful means are used to treat all sentient beings’ mental ailments.All things, including sentient beings suffering arise from the deviation of one thought which spreads negative thoughts in all directions.
Don’t greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt all arise from that one thought? In order for each of us to subdue these thoughts, we must eliminate evil. To eliminate evil, we must do good deeds. Therefore, the Six Gateways are endowed with good potential. Whether we see something through our eyes, speak it through our mouths or hear it through our ears and so on, everything is a teaching for our bodies and minds. Everything starts with the Six Gateways. So, through these gateways, we must listen to wholesome principles, allow them to penetrate our minds and manifest through our actions. Otherwise, even if we live in the Buddha’s era, see Him and listen to His teachings in person, if the Dharma does not penetrate our minds, it is useless.
So, when the Buddha comes to the world, His first vow is to take this love and spread it widely among all sentient beings so that we will recognize that our intrinsic nature is one of compassion and benevolence. This is the Buddha’s wish. If we listen without practicing, it is as if nothing happened. Whether we are Hearers or Pratyekabuddha, we must all open up our intrinsic nature to move closer to the Buddha’s wisdom.
He told Hearers and those who sought the Pratyekabuddha-vehicle, “I will enable you to cast off the bonds of suffering and achieve Nirvana”.
This next passage says, “He told Hearers”. Hearers are those with limited capacities who followed the Buddha and became monastics, “Those who seek the Pratyekabuddha-vehicle”. Pratyekabuddha or Solitary Realizers are a step above Hearers in wisdom. When immersed in an environment, they constantly, intensely contemplate all things in the world. People, matters, objects, principles are all subjects of their mindful contemplation.
They are Pratyekabuddhas, those who “realize the truth through contacting and observing the causes and conditions in their surroundings”. They are Pratyekabuddhas. Pratyekabuddha-vehicle: By observing the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, they realize the fruit of true emptiness and Nirva. They are stubbornly biased toward emptiness and do not seek the Buddha-path. Therefore, they are called Pratyekabuddhas.
The Pratyekabuddhas observe the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence describe the way we come to and depart from our physical bodies. Those steps are the Twelve Links. So, after realizing and understanding the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, they attain the fruits of true emptiness and Nirva. But they are still biased toward emptiness. Through the true Buddha-Dharma, we realize that everything is empty and all things return to nothingness. But we should know that within this , there are still wondrous principles.
Pratyekabuddhas have not yet arrived at this state so they have only penetrated the principles of emptiness. Thus, they are “biased toward emptiness”. They “do not seek the Buddha-path. Therefore, they are called Pratyekabuddhas”. They only know the first part, but not the second. The Buddha is the Two-Footed Honored One. To only [develop] wisdom but not create blessings is an incomplete practice. So, Pratyekabuddhas are biased toward emptiness.
The wisdom of Pratyekabuddhas: They observe the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, also called Twelve Links of Dependent Arising, which are the originating conditions for sentient beings to go through the Three Periods and transmigrate in the Six Destinies.
The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence are also called Twelve Links of Dependent Arising. We should understand how our lives came to be. This is related to the Three Periods Time. [Our present lives] are affected by our past lives, and the causes and conditions we created, which led us to come to this world. “Understand that the retributions of this life are the results of what we did in previous ones.
Why do we face these retribution in this life? Some people are born to a comfortable life. Others may not be born to good conditions, but they have a karmic affinity with these parents and this family. So, their arrival in the world change the family’s circumstances, and things go smoothly for them as they grow up. These are good causes and conditions. How are they so blessed to go through life so smoothly?We often hear stories like in our society. Such-and-such famous people grew up in such negative conditions. Before they were born, their parents’ circumstances were so poor they had to beg. After the child was born to this family, they became very fortunate and everything went smoothly. Look at those who are among the world wealthiest in the world, have very successful businesses and so on.
[Their current situation] depends on their past, the blessings they created, the affinities they formed.Thus everything in their life is smooth sailing. This is what happens if we have created blessed causes and conditions. What if we created evil causes and conditions? A person may be born to a distinguished family that is very successful. Then as he grows up, the family experiences impermanence. “Riches do not last longer than three generations” is what the ancients say. He is born to such a family, which then slowly declines and deteriorates. By the time he is teenager, even attending school regularly is problematic. The environment pressures him into shouldering heavy responsibilities and doing very hard work. This can be attributed to his past life.The karmic retributions he created [led to] the events of this lifetime. There are also ordinary families. The parents are not bad, but the children refuse to behave. Due to their negative affinities with the parents they are disobedient and do all sorts of evil deeds. They cause their parents to worry and create disturbances in society.There are people like this, too.
So, this is how sentient beings go through the Three Periods of time.The causes created in past lifetimes result in the retributions in this lifetime through the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, or Twelve Links of Dependent Arising. We all have these originating conditions in our past, present and future.
They lead to our cyclic existence through their sequential arising, so this is the teaching of Dependent Arising. Thus, we are very blessed to engage in spiritual cultivation. If we want to know how our bodies came to be, this is tied to the Twelve Links. So, we should all be ready to put our hearts into understanding how we come and go.
The wisdom of Pratyekabuddhas allow them to intensely contemplate how this life came to be.They can also realize the Buddha’s teachings. So, in addition to listening with our ears, we must also carefully contemplate His teachings we must also carefully contemplate His teachings.So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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