Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Do Not Enter the Dense Forest of Deviant Views (莫入邪見稠林)
Date: August. 13. 2014
Sentient beings are tormented by suffering, so with great compassion, all Buddhas aid beings. To enable all to realize true, wondrous wisdom, all Buddhas have the world-transcending intent to teach the path to enlightenment.
We must constantly reflect on ourselves because as sentient beings, we ordinary people are tormented by suffering. We create afflictions and karma for ourselves, thus we suffer. Then we are unable to free ourselves of these impure entanglements. We cannot understand and cannot be liberated. Seeing this, the Buddha feels compassion for us. He cannot not bear for sentient beings to [remain] deluded and confused.
So, out of love, the Buddha comes to this world to exercise great loving-kindness and compassion to benefit sentient beings. How does He benefit sentient beings? By promptly saving those who are suffering and patiently teaching those who cannot resolve their afflictions. He does this not just for one lifetime, but lifetime after lifetime. In Buddhist sutras, we often see “infinite kalpas” used to denote a long period of time. So, I constantly remind everyone that heavenly beings look at us in the same way we look at water bubbles. When water quickly rushes downstream, bubbles are formed, and then quickly disappear. Along the same lines, one hundred years in the human realm is but one day in the heaven realm. So, when heavenly beings look at humans, our [lifetimes] seem very brief, and the Buddha has already transcended the heaven realm.
In Buddhist sutras, one day in Trayastrimsa Heaven is 100 years on Earth. For heavens even higher than that, 1000 years or 10,000 years in the human realm is just one day in that heaven realm. So, a human lifetime is so short [in comparison]. Yet in such a short period of time, we find ways to create so much karma. The karma that is created and those who created it are all in this world. Since there is much karma in the human realm, the Buddha has to come here and not the heaven realm.
The heaven realm is a place of blessings. If people create blessings in the human realm, they will be reborn in heaven. Although they can live comfortably for a long time, [the karma] is still within them. In the past, they did more good deeds than evils. Yet, those few evils cannot be offset by good deeds. Good deeds bring good retributions, but the evils still remain. After they enjoy all their good retributions, they return to cyclic existence in the Six Realms. This is what the Buddha told us.
Those born in the heaven realm cannot hear the Buddha-Dharma because the Buddha will not be born there. He cannot spend enough time in the human realms, so how would He have time to teach in heaven? Teaching the Earth Treasury Sutra to His mother in the Trayastrimsa Heaven was the one exception. The time it took for Him to do that was equal to a summer in the human realm. The Buddha only has a very short period of time to speak to sentient beings.
To people in this world, it feels like a long time. But to someone in heaven, it feels very short. 49 years here is only one morning in the heaven realm. The Buddha taught in this world for 49 years, which was such a short period of time. Yet, lifetime after lifetime, the Buddha continuously manifests among people to transform sentient beings. This is how, “with great compassion, all Buddhas aid beings.”
Sentient beings also include animals, not only humans. Therefore, all living creatures are called “beings”.The Buddha continuously manifests among people to transform sentient beings.This is how, “with great compassion, all Buddhas aid beings”.Sentient beings also include animals, not only humans.Therefore, all living creatures are called “beings”.Thus, with great compassion, the Buddha aids and benefits sentient beings.
Sentient beings are tormented by suffering, so with great compassion, all Buddhas aid beings.To enable all to realize true wondrous wisdom, all Buddhas have the world-transcending intent to teach the path to enlightenment.
“To enable all to realize true wondrous wisdom.”The Buddha hopes, by [sharing] what He realized, we can all awaken and discover our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.
This was the information He wanted to transmit. Because we do not know this, the Buddha has to come keep us company.He uses skillful means to guide us to enter the True Dharma, which is the [path] to attaining Buddhahood.He paved this road to guide us to the Bodhi-path.This is why we must always be grateful [to Him].
So, when we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must faithfully accept and practice Right Dharma.Our minds must be disciplined.We must not allow improper thoughts, views and practices to enter our minds.This is like avoiding drugs or quitting them.Otherwise, once we fall into that trap, we will never be able to escape.This is like entering a dense forest of deviant views.Entering the dense frost of deviant views is like going into the mountains without a guide.If we go astray even by a little, we will be completely lost and unable to find our way out.
Moreover, in a dense forest, in addition to trees, there is an abundance of tall grass.
I have shared with everyone about hiking in Mt. Dulan.There were no paths on the entire mountain.How did I end up there?At that time, I went because I believed a shady character who told me an immortal lived on the mountain.So, four or five of us followed him [to hike up the mountain].We could not tell where he was leading us.We ended up in a dense part of the forest where we could not even see the sky.It was a formation of countless tree that shared the same root.We were lost in there for one, two hours.
Not seeing a way out, we were scared.Moreover, the ground we walked on was very soft.
Why was this land so soft?Because for thousands, tens of thousands of years, the tree leaves kept falling to the ground.No one had walked there before, so the ground was covered in very soft leaves.[We asked,] “Why are things this way?“Don’t make a sound. There are bears here that will come out when they hear people.”
This also frightened us.
[He also said,] “Be careful, there are green bamboo vipers on the trees.When you see something green, pay attention.The green bamboo viper is the same color as the leaves.”Wow, we had to beware of the soft ground, and be afraid of the green things around us, even the grass and leaves.On top of that, we could not make sounds because bears would come out if they heard us.
So, when I read this sutra passage, I always think back to when I was young, when I went into this forest of very dense trees and overgrown grass.After walking through a difficult stretch of road, we approached a cliff where every rock was covered by thick moss.At that spot, the path we were taking very slippery and damp.This part of the path was very slippery, so we wanted to hold on to the trees and vines.Very quickly, the shady character said, “Don’t touch just anything these are ‘biting cats’ and ‘biting dogs’.The trees are named this because touching them feels like being bitten by them.”
You know, when I think of that road and the day we crossed Mt. Dulan, I feel it was an incredibly foolish thing to do.
If we were to place our faith in improper views, that would be like traveling through this forest.We would be scared and afraid all day, no matter where we were going.In summary, I can only describe this as “terrifying”.I cannot describe it in any other way, every step was very terrifying.Deviant knowledge and views will lead to the same.
If we enter a [forest of deviant views], we have to ask about everything and wait for instructions, otherwise, we will not be able to move a single inch.
This is what many things in this world are like. [There are] proper teachings about “existence, non-existence”, and the like, so in this human world, we must have Right Faith.
“They enter the dense forest of deviant views, those of existence, non-existence, and the like. They become dependent on those views, 62 of them in all. Deeply attached to illusory things, they cling firmly and cannot let go.”
Every day, every second, every step we take must be solid. We must be grounded and do what needs to be done each day. This is how we keep moving forward. Are we hesitating over whether something exists or not? There is no need to hesitate as long as we are on the right course.Following the Dharma taught by the Buddha, we keep walking forward; this is progress.
So, “they become dependent on those views’. If we stray from the course even slightly; we enter the dense forest of deviant views. Then we will hesitate over “existence, non-existence”, and the like. If we become dependent on those views, we will easily be replete with “62 of them in all”. Our minds will give rise to the 62 Views and become “deeply attached to illusory things”. We will become more attached to these things. “We cling firmly and cannot let go”. We stubbornly hold on, unwilling to let go. So, “they become dependent on those views”, 62 of them in all. Please examine the words, “dependent on”, very closely.
“They become dependent on those views, 62 of them in all: Those who rely and depend on attachments are heretics. They depend on the 62 Views, which include existence, non-existence, nihilism, eternalism and so on. They are deeply attached to them.
“Dependent on” means to rely on. We rely on and get attached to heretical teachings. We willingly take a heretical path and rely on and get attached to heretical teachers. We
depend on existence, non-existence, nihilism and eternalism”, these four concepts. So, we [may get attached to] “existence, non-existence”, or “nihilism’, which means we will cease to exist. Or we may think, “Yes, we will come back”. These are views of “existence, non-existence, nihilism and eternalism”.
Some people say, “When people come into this world, they are born and then die, so what is there to be afraid of? That is just the way things are. There is no such thing as a future lifetime. There is no such thing as hell. There is no such thing as heaven. This is it”. Yet some other people say, “There is more; with law of karma, cats, dogs and humans are all reborn. After being reborn as a human, in my next life I want to be …” So, they talk about “existence”. People may believe in existence, non existence, nihilism or eternalism. People argue over these things. “Existence, non-existence, nihilism, eternalism” from their views. As they experience the Five Aggregates, their attachment grows deeper and deeper. By clinging to these, they create the 62 Views.
“The 62 Views are based on form, feeling, perception, action and consciousness. The Fiver Aggregates are the objects that give rise to views that things are permanent, impermanent, both permanent and impermanent and neither permanent nor impermanent. With the Five [Aggregates] each having four [views], this forms 20 views. Multiply this by the Three Periods to get 60 views. With the fundamental views of nihilism and eternalism, it adds up to 62.
The 62 Views are [based on] the Five Aggregates, form, feeling, perception, action, consciousness. All phenomena are inseparable from the Five Aggregates. Each flower has a form. “What is its color?”. “Yellow”. “What is its color?” “Green, light yellow, bright red, pink.” It may be all different colors. “What does it look like?” “It is patterned”. “No, it is solid-colored” or ‘This one is a butterfly orchid”. Each flower has its own name, appearance, color. See, they are all just flowers, but their appearance, name and form are different. Living things have different appearances, even just in terms of “form”. Ultimately, is this “form” in a state of existence, non-existence, nihilism or eternalism? We may consider a seed to be in a state of “eternalism”. Can a seed alone become a flower? It requires causes and conditions; it must have soil, sunlight, air and water. If this seed has the causes and conditions to be planted in the soil, it will sprout and give rise to the same kind of flower. People may say this is “eternalism”. But if the cause and conditions are absent, people may say this is nihilism”. This is a fundamental principle, this is a given. But many people still discuss and argue over it. They are attached [to all kinds of ideas]. All things of this world are inseparable from form, feeling, perception, action, consciousness. But these five things can be considered in four ways, so five multiplied by four is 20. This gives us a total of 20 [views].
[Multiply that by] past, present and future, and we get 60. Then we add nihilism and eternalism to get a total of 62 Views. [They] give rise to views that things are permanent, impermanent, both permanent and impermanent and neither permanent nor impermanent”. All these are labels and perspectives that cause the slightest thoughts to arise. Ordinary people experience the Five Aggregates, and based on our mind-consciousness and understanding, endlessly create karma. This is our experience in the past, present and future. We are endlessly accumulating past moments; this is known as the long period of the past. We are endlessly accumulating present moments; this is know as the long period of the present.
Yet the present is the most impermanent moment. In one lifetime, how long can we remain in the present? Then there is also the future, a very lengthy future, that will become our present. So, in our lives, we must thoroughly understand the principles of everything from long to short periods of time. But, if we can seize the present and quickly attain realizations, then we can eliminate our past deluded beliefs. Now that our minds are clear, we will not commit the same mistakes again. Then we will continue doing this in the time to come. With our present clarity and awakening, we can diligently advance.
Thus, we must promptly reflect on ourselves. We must also promptly accept the Dharma. Thus, as we learn the Dharma, “multiplying them by the Three Periods to get 60 views” is something we must mindfully try to comprehend. This is not only calculating numbers for us. We must know that our past is endless and our present is continuously becoming the past. We constantly take in form, feeling, perception, action and consciousness. If we have deviant knowledge and views, listening to the Dharma will make us unhappy. If we have other discursive thoughts or thinking, we cannot concentrate on accepting Dharma. If we can focus and purify our minds so we can accept the Dharma, we will deeply believe in it we will deeply believe in it. Then the more we listen, the happier we will be. “Oh, this is the way things really work. In daily living, with all our perspectives, when we come into contact with something we have the 62 Views.” The views of “nihilism and eternalism” will give rise to afflictions and may result in an attachment to illusory things, one so deep that we keep clinging to them.
Deeply attached to illusory things: Sight, sound and the rest of the five desires are temporary in essence and not real. Therefore they are illusory.
So, sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, are part of the “five desires”, and also the “four views”. The “four views and five desires” are constantly [perpetuated] in this world. But they are all illusory and not real; they cause us to give rise to more afflictions.
Then, we “cling [to them] firmly and cannot let go”. This means we are constantly unwilling to let go of our improper opinions. So, we “ordinary people cling to and are attached to deviant and false thinking so we are lost in delusions and tempted by gain”. We are unwilling to let go of all kinds of things. “We cling stubbornly and cannot attain liberation”. This is how we sentient beings [behave].
Everyone, we ordinary, unenlightened beings will perversely create afflictions to torment ourselves. We are also attracted to deviant thoughts and views, so we delude ourselves as well as other people. All Buddhas, out of great loving-kindness and compassion, come to benefit sentient beings and give them teachings.
So, They hope that all sentient beings can achieve an awakened state and attain the “true wondrous wisdom” the Buddha did. This comes from the Buddha’s compassion and is His intent in coming to this world. He came to teach us the path to enlightenment. Thus, I hope all of us will be mindful. Do not let [this teaching] slip away [Abiding in] Right Dharma, we must not let percepts, Samadhi and wisdom leak away. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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