Episode 130 – The Subtle Spiritual Training Ground of the Mind
>> “Next they rain down the profound Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.”
>> “Ignorance, old age, illness, death and so on. Such violent, fiery suffering is like concentrated sunlight.”
>> “Desires are originally dried and wilted. New desires do not arise. Current desires do not grow. Without a sense of me or mine, we eliminate the bond of doubts.”
>> “Then from the heavens there fell a rain of. Mandarava flowers, Mahamandarava flowers, Manjusaka flowers and Mahamanjusaka flowers.”
>> “Then from the heavens there fell a rain of. Mandarava flowers, Mahamandarava flowers,” Mandarava flowers are “pleasing flowers.”
>> “Manjusaka flowers and Mahamanjusaka flowers. Manjusaka flowers and Mahamanjusaka flowers” are called “softening flowers.”
>> [The flowers] were scattered upon the Buddha and the entire assembly. All Buddha-worlds experienced six kinds of shaking.
>> The “six kinds of shaking” “are the achievement of demeanor in” “the physical realm of existence,”
>> “At that time, in the assembly” aside from “bhiksus and bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas,” there were “heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, beings human and non-human, as well as minor kings, wheel-turning sage kings, and so on.”
>> “All attained what they had never had before.” They rejoiced, put their palms together and wholeheartedly gazed upon the Buddha.
Every day, we always start by talking about “the mind.” Our minds and consciousness are the place for our spiritual practice. Are we carefully cleansing them of their pollution every day? We need to make sure that our inner spiritual training ground is always dignified.
That is why previously we have discussed the ways to purify our minds, get rid of all kinds of afflictions and eliminate all kinds of sufferings. As we transmigrate within the Six Realms, how do we remove all suffering from this world? The Buddha has already clearly opened and revealed [His teachings] to us. So, we need to take the Four Noble Truths, the teachings expounded to Hearers, to heart. Moreover, the Buddha will teach the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence to those with higher capabilities. These teachings help us thoroughly understand how we come into and leave this life.
In this lifetime, we [face] the karma we brought from past lives until we grow old and die. During this time, if we recognize [the effects of karma], we must eliminate [this karma] immediately. This is how we remove the defilements from our inner spiritual training ground. We need to dignify ourselves immediately and cleanse our minds so that there are no traces of pollution, no traces of afflictions. This is why Buddhas come to this world and give teachings to everyone. They hope everyone can understand the teachings and take the Dharma to heart. This is called an awakening, which is realizing and entering.
The Sutra of Infinite Meanings says that.
“Next they rain down the profound Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.”
The Buddha [rained down] “the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence upon.”
“Ignorance, old age, illness, death and so on. Such violent, fiery suffering is like concentrated sunlight.”
After He helps us understand the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, we will be able to cleanse our minds. Our defilements come from ignorance, I talk about ignorance every day. Ignorance is affliction. We do not want to carry this with us throughout old age, illness and death. Even though everyone will age, fall ill and eventually die, [karma] does not terminate when this life ends. We will still carry our good and bad karma and conditions with us to create more in future lifetimes. These kinds of influences and entanglements are truly unbearably painful.
To our next life we bring “such violent, fiery suffering…like concentrated sunlight.” These causes and conditions for afflictions are with us at the end of this lifetime and will influence us in our next lifetime. Even without considering the next lifetime, there is much to discuss about what happens in this life when we do not eliminate our afflictions. Upon hearing the teachings of the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, we must quickly eliminate them now so that we will not have these “violent, fiery” afflictions in our minds.
The Buddha thoughtfully gave us the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. How can we not work hard? How can we not earnestly and diligently tidy our minds? In the Buddha’s lifetime, there were all kinds of monastics in His Sangha. One of them was referred to as Elder Bhiksu. He felt that he needed to live alone, act alone and stand alone. He often praised those who lived and acted alone. Because of this, he created many bad karmic affinities with others and was very antisocial.
Another bhiksu told the Buddha that there was a monk who was very difficult to get along with, who told everyone that, to engage in spiritual practice, they must live and act alone. He was creating a disturbance in the Sangha. The Buddha said to him, “Go and ask him to come.” Indeed, the Elder Bhiksu came to the Buddha. The Buddha then asked, “I heard that you praise and advocate living alone, acting alone and standing alone, is this true? Yes, I believe, to practice, we must shed everything and recognize the entanglements of karma. Forcefully creating conditions brings hardship. To be liberated, I need to live and act alone.” The Buddha then said, “Come, I have a more wondrous method than your method of living and acting alone. What do I mean by living and acting alone? It means:”
“Desires are originally dried and wilted. New desires do not arise. Current desires do not grow. Without a sense of me or mine, we eliminate the bond of doubts.”
This is most important in spiritual practice. Originally, our minds were very pure and desires were originally dry and wilted. Originally, there were no defilements. As long as we remember what we have practiced, all cravings and desires will dry up. There will be no more cravings or desires as we have already eliminated them. Desires that arise are traps. We will not be enticed by them, so “new desires do not arise.” Even if conditions that foster desires appear, they will not stir up our thoughts. This results from the skills we cultivate.
Also “current desires do not grow.” New desires do not arise and current desires do not grow. Then, at no moment will our minds give rise to improper thoughts. Hence, “without a sense of me or mine”. We need to live naturally; there is nothing we need to particularly pursue. This is our true spiritual aspiration. Among other people, we need to eliminate doubts about each other. We must go and be among people without being suspicious of them. That is why we want to avoid thoughts of living and acting alone and distancing ourselves from other people. It is best to eliminate this kind of ignorance.
So, fellow Bodhisattvas, if we want to engage in spiritual practice, this is the way. We know we want to be among other people that are beneficial for engaging in spiritual practice. We will encourage each other and live together. We need to distance ourselves from desires that tempt us. At every moment, desires flourish. If we can be with people who are pure instead of people filled with desires, that will truly be our spiritual training center. Having a dignified inner spiritual training ground is very important.
The following passage from the Lotus Sutra states,
“Then from the heavens there fell a rain of. Mandarava flowers, Mahamandarava flowers, Manjusaka flowers and Mahamanjusaka flowers.”
These things dignified the Dharma-assembly.
After Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha finished teaching “the Lotus Sutra without words,” He entered a state of Samadhi. The Dharma-assembly was very dignified.
“Then from the heavens there fell a rain of. Mandarava flowers, Mahamandarava flowers,” Mandarava flowers are “pleasing flowers.”
These flowers fell from the sky, leading us to feel very pleased so our minds would not give rise to afflictions. This is just a description. Indeed, this happens when the Dharma is very pleasing. “Pleasing” things help purify our minds. It is just right, neither cold nor hot. Then when we are in such an environment, we feel very happy and do not give rise to afflictions. This is called “pleasing.”
“Manjusaka flowers and Mahamanjusaka flowers. Manjusaka flowers and Mahamanjusaka flowers” are called “softening flowers.”
[All these flowers] not only made us feel pleased, just right and free of afflictions, there were also softening flowers that made us feel very warm and happy. There were both small and big flowers. “Pleasing” and “softening” are also descriptions of this spiritual training ground. Pleasing and soft flowers, big and small, were seen falling from the sky and scattering upon the Buddha. They were not just [scattered around] the Buddha, but also among the crowd. This made everyone realize that the mind, Buddha and sentient beings were all in the same state. There were also the six kinds of shaking.
[The flowers] were scattered upon the Buddha and the entire assembly. All Buddha-worlds experienced six kinds of shaking.
The “six kinds of shaking” also describe the states of our minds. When our minds are active and “vibrating,” we can thoroughly shake off our past afflictions.
We have explained the “six kinds of shaking” before, but this time we use different metaphors. In order to quickly and completely remove the afflictions in our minds, we need to feel moved and be touched after hearing the Dharma. This is our real gain after hearing the teachings. Our heart needs to feel very pleased and softened. And we must quickly shake loose our past afflictions. That is our goal when we listen to the teachings.
The “six kinds of shaking” “are the achievement of demeanor in” “the physical realm of existence,”
just like when Sakyamuni Buddha expounded Dharma.
Indeed, we have spent a very a long time explaining these six kinds of shaking. We know that the physical realm of existence is comprised of tangible and material things that can physically move. However, I believe that our minds must also begin to move. They cannot lie dormant anymore. If we do not awaken after hearing the Dharma, we are still sleeping. Therefore, to awaken, we need to be shaken up. This is about the state of our minds, not just the demeanor of the physical realm of existence.
An example of that is the way you are sitting right now. With a great demeanor, I am also sitting here, and our relationship is that of a speaker and listener. This assembly is in the physical realm. The speaker teaches very earnestly. The listener listens intently. This is called the physical realm of existence. You can see it. I can see it. You can feel it. I can feel it. All things that are tangible and can be felt are called the physical realm of existence. At this Dharma-assembly, all the proper demeanors have been achieved, so the causes and conditions for this Buddha to begin teaching continued to be fulfilled, “just like when Sakyamuni Buddha expounded the Dharma.” This was how Manjusri Bodhisattva described the assembly of Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha. His Dharma-assembly was just like that of Sakyamuni Buddha. The sequence of the six kinds of shaking was also the sequence of the Six Fulfillments.
Next,
“At that time, in the assembly” aside from “bhiksus and bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas,” there were “heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, beings human and non-human, as well as minor kings, wheel-turning sage kings, and so on.”
The Buddha came to this world for one great cause, solely to open and reveal [the teachings], hoping sentient beings can realize and enter them. This was a very extraordinary Dharma-assembly. Other than the fourfold disciples, both monastic and lay, there were also people who had not taken refuge but came joyously to hear the Dharma. There were also Dharma-protectors, both those of this world and those of the eight classes. All the Dharma-protectors were present. In this assembly,
“All attained what they had never had before.” They rejoiced, put their palms together and wholeheartedly gazed upon the Buddha.
All of them, whether heavenly beings, eight classes of. Dharma-protectors or humans, attained joy they had never had before. What were they so happy about? They were just sitting neatly at the Dharma-assembly. Every one of them worked hard and was diligent, and they were all waiting to hear the Buddha’s teachings. The whole Dharma-assembly was filled with joy, and they were very reverent. They “rejoiced, put their palms together and wholeheartedly gazed upon the Buddha.” Their hearts were in harmony and were free of discursive thoughts. After removing all desires, they naturally united as one. It was a most subtle, wondrous Dharma-assembly and inner spiritual training ground.
We must ensure that “previous desires do not grow, subsequent desires do not arise.” Then the mind will be completely tranquil. That is more important than isolating ourselves from others and being antisocial. That is also a kind of attachment. Therefore, we need to get rid of attachments. There must be no sense of me or mine, and no attachments. Then we will be true spiritual practitioners. Please carefully tidy up your inner spiritual training grounds. Do not allow the Dharma to leak out. Do not let afflictions remain. Please always be mindful.