Category: TLS Chapter 3

Episode 563 – Goodness Creates Conditions for Transformation

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>> “Sentient beings who develop goodness in their hearts have the karmic condition to be transformed. If they cut off their goodness, they cannot be transformed. The Buddha skillfully taught the provisional by expounding the. Three Vehicle teachings so that sentient beings could avoid being harmed by the Five Turbidities and the Eight Sufferings.”

>> Then, the elder saw that all his children had safely made their way out and were all at the crossroads, sitting out in the open; they had no more obstacles. His mind was composed and full of joy and jubilance.

>> “The children each said to their father, ‘You said that you had many fun toys, such as sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts Please give them to us now.'”

>> The children heard that their father would give them what they wanted, which is an analogy for teachings given according to capabilities. Instead of the three carts the children wanted, their father actually only gave one great cart.

>> If sentient beings have goodness in them, then they have the conditions to be transformed, and responding to their capacities and conditions, the Buddha manifested a body accordingly. For the practitioners of the Bodhi-path, the Buddha set an example to guide them to connect to True Suchness and achieve a Buddha-body of universal enlightenment.

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“Sentient beings who develop goodness in their hearts
have the karmic condition to be transformed.
If they cut off their goodness,
they cannot be transformed.
The Buddha skillfully taught the provisional
by expounding the Three Vehicle teachings
so that sentient beings could avoid being harmed
by the Five Turbidities and the Eight Sufferings.”

Is this world filled with suffering or joy? In this lifetime, we may have been born into karmic conditions which cause us tremendous suffering. However, by taking the Buddha-Dharma to heart, we realize we are blessed, so we become happy.

Though some are born to affluent families, they still feel, “I still don’t have enough. I still have many afflictions, so I feel I’m suffering.” Some people are poor but feel very content.

Recently, we have been talking a lot about a group of people in Africa who have always lived in poverty. Would you say they are suffering? These people are truly Living Bodhisattvas who have manifested in this world and been subjected to the poverty faced by everyone in their countries. They shared stories of how they had faced great difficulties in their lives, and how they came in contact with Tzu Chi and realized the joy that comes from helping others. They helped other people to understand, “I have accepted these volunteers’ teachings and have taken them to heart. I put them into practice as well. I also go out and help people. This is what I gained.” In this way, they clearly proved that even poor people are able to help others and thus live a rich and abundant life. Whether people experience suffering or joy depends on how they accept their life.

Several years ago, there was a senior Tzu Chi Commissioner who brought her good friend to see me. If we compare the two of them, the Commissioner was cheerful and full of smiles; she was very happy as she spoke, while the other seemed to be in low spirits. She frowned and constantly said, “You are so blessed to volunteer with Tzu Chi. Over these years, I have seen how happy and blessed you are.” The Commissioner replied, “You were the one who introduced me to Tzu Chi. Now I have to bring you here.”

I said to her, “You joined us very early on. I thank you for bringing this Commissioner into Tzu Chi. But what about you?” She replied, “I am embarrassed. At that time, my business was doing very well so I was really busy.” I said, “What about now?” She said, “I am embarrassed because at that period of time, my husband said business is booming in China, so we gradually moved our manufacturing from Taiwan to China.”

By that point, the story poured out of her. She spoke of how, over these past few decades, her husband shifted his life away from Taiwan and gradually spent more time far away in China. He did not want to come back. When she went to visit him, she found that her husband had established another family there. When she came back to Taiwan, she could not accept what she had seen and felt a deep resentment toward him.

They had started this business together and built it up from nothing, expanding it greatly. They had worked side by side and built a good life for themselves. When they shifted their manufacturing to China, and their son grew older, the son slowly distanced himself from her. His behavior grew worse; he took drugs and committed all kinds of crimes. Then she found out about her husband’s affair. So, she became someone this Commissioner now counseled and cared for. The Commissioner said, “She was overcome, so she tried to commit suicide several times. Now I keep her close to me.”

I said, “Now it is your turn to bring her into Tzu Chi.” The Commissioner said, “There has been some improvement, she is participating in our recycling work. However, her child hasn’t changed and her husband hasn’t come back.” This is the way this woman’s life is; it is filled with unbearable suffering. In the past, was she blessed or was she suffering? While she was dreaming about the future, her husband was establishing a family in China. She was in Taiwan, still having wonderful dreams. This is the way life works.

So I say, “Sentient beings who develop goodness have the karmic conditions to be transformed.” That Commissioner had goodness in her heart. Her friend had told her, “With Tzu Chi you can help save lives by donating a little each month. Look at all the people who are donating; even NT 5 or NT 10 can save people.” It made her very happy to see this, so she became a Tzu Chi member and began volunteering. Gradually she became a Tzu Chi Commissioner. Now, she is over 80 years old. She is healthy and has a blessed family life. She has also continued to help other people. Her volunteer work still makes her happy. So, once goodness arose in her heart, the karmic conditions were right, and she was able to be transformed by the Dharma. Then she was able to save and transform others.

“If sentient beings cut off their goodness,” if their roots of goodness are severed, they cannot be transformed. Indeed, the woman who complained all the time had also been a Tzu Chi member. I do not know if she has continued to donate. Regardless, now this Commissioner is caring for her. This woman is having a very hard time. But fortunately, she has a precious benefactor. This Commissioner she had introduced to Tzu Chi in the past is now her benefactor and has led her to join in with recycling work. We often hear similar stories [in Tzu Chi].

During the Buddha’s lifetime, He saw how these stubborn sentient beings were suffering, yet not aware of it. For people like her, the Buddha “skillfully taught the provisional.” He used many methods, including the karmic law of cause and effect. [I asked her,] “Do you understand? Yes, I do. Since you understand, have you awakened? It is difficult! Whenever I think about this, I feel hateful and very angry.” This woman knew what it meant to be awakened, but whenever she recalled what happened, she was not able to awaken from her hate. She was still trapped by it. Not even the Buddha could do anything about this.

Still, the Buddha continued to teach with various methods in the world, hoping that one day people will become awakened. Even if they do not awaken in this lifetime, at least He has planted a cause in them. Thus He expounded “the Three Vehicle teachings.” Do these people have roots of goodness? If they do, they have the karmic condition to be transformed. If they have severed their roots of goodness, they really cannot be transformed. Sentient beings transmigrate in the Six Realms. If they give rise to kind thoughts, they may be born in the heaven realm or with great riches in the human realm, as the wealthiest among the wealthy. If their roots of goodness are severed, they will fall into the Three Evil Destinies, the hell, hungry ghost or animal realm. Or they may be the poorest among the poor and face unbearable suffering as humans. So, the Buddha taught the Dharma in the hope that their karmic conditions would mature so they would no longer be harmed by the Five Turbidities and the Eight Sufferings.

See, isn’t this world like a burning house? I have been talking about the parable of the burning house, an analogy for sentient beings’ severe afflictions. Our habitual tendencies are quite severe. Though the elder kept calling to his children, “My children, please get out immediately,” these children were still deluded and remained in the burning house. Therefore, the elder came up with many methods [to entice them to come out]. Similarly, Sakyamuni Buddha gave many teachings, all to help deliver every sentient being, to help them all escape this burning house.

The previous sutra passage states, “Then, the elder….” He had been yelling to his children, telling them that outside the burning house were rows of sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts. They were already outside. He told them, “Your favorite things are outside. Come on! Get out of the house.” Hearing that their favorite things were outside, they became motivated [to leave]. They began competing with each other to get out quickly. This signified that people were slowly starting to awaken and diligently practice eliminating their afflictions. By eliminating afflictions and turbidities, they could immediately leave this burning house.

Then, the elder saw that all his children had safely made their way out and were all at the crossroads, sitting out in the open; they had no more obstacles. His mind was composed and full of joy and jubilance.

Only after accepting the Dharma could they let go of their afflictions and rush out nimbly, diligently and courageously. Therefore, at that time, “The elder saw that all his children had safely made their way out and were all at the crossroads, sitting out in the open.” They were safe because they had already accepted the Buddha-Dharma. The crossroads were the truths of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path, the foundation for learning the Buddha-Dharma. They had recognized the suffering in this world.

When we think about this carefully, we realize we suffer the moment we are born. We felt excruciating pain when we left our mother’s womb, when our raw flesh came in contact with the air. That shock all over the body cut us to the bone. That trauma to our nerves caused us to cry out. All babies cry when they are born. That is suffering. However, our memories of this faded away. Gradually, we move from being children to being teenagers, then young adults and middle-aged. Then we move from the prime of life into old age. Our time in this world is painfully brief; our lifespan is very short. If you are from a wealthy and noble family, after enjoying yourself, what are you left with? You will still have afflictions. You may not worry about food, clothing or housing, but you will still worry about growing old and falling ill. Worst are the afflictions surrounding death; the older you get, the closer that day comes. How can we say that we experience no suffering?

Not to mention, over the course of our lives, the people we love cannot always be by our side. This is “suffering of parting from those we love.” At the same time, we constantly encounter people we do not like. We keep hearing and seeing them, which deeply vexes us. This is “the suffering of meeting those we hate.” They may be our family, friends, etc., or someone we do not want to see, yet we end up constantly hearing their name or seeing their person. We resent them, yet always hear how successful and happy they are. In this way, other people’s success can vex us deeply. This is “the suffering of meeting those we hate.” There are various kinds of suffering in our minds, like the suffering of the raging Five Aggregates. How can we possibly say we are free of suffering?

Since we are suffering, we need to understand the causes of our suffering. We must first understand [the Four Noble Truths]. “This is suffering; you should know it. This is causation; you should end it” and so on. The cessation of suffering is what we must attain and the Path is what we must practice. Doing this is the foundation of learning the Buddha’s teachings. After everybody accepted the Buddha-Dharma and understood the Four Noble Truths, they left and “safely made their way out.” So, they were “sitting out in the open.” As long as we understand the suffering of the world and the fundamentals of the Buddha-Dharma, we can gradually eliminate afflictions so that “[We] have no more obstacles.” The road of our spiritual practice will no longer be obstructed. Therefore, “[The elder’s] mind was composed and full of joy and jubilance.” This is what we discussed previously.

The following sutra passage states,

“The children each said to their father, ‘You said that you had many fun toys, such as sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts Please give them to us now.'”

After these children had emerged from the house, they said to their father, “You agreed to give us the various things we love. What exactly are you going to give us?” This means they were beginning to ask their father for certain things. Similarly, we Buddhist practitioners seek something from the Dharma; we know we must seek it. The meaning of this sutra passage is that. “The children heard that their father would give them what they wanted.” When the Buddha gives us what we desire, that means He is teaching, that He is giving us the Dharma. When He teaches, what kind of capacities do we have to accept it? He must teach according to our capabilities.

The children heard that their father would give them what they wanted, which is an analogy for teachings given according to capabilities. Instead of the three carts the children wanted, their father actually only gave one great cart.

Were these children [suited to be] Hearers? They would seek the sheep-cart and be taught about the various sufferings in life for them to earnestly contemplate. Those with higher capacities were taught how they came to be born human. They could earnestly contemplate the. Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence are for people with the capabilities of Solitary Realizers. People with great capabilities were taught the Six Perfections. The Six Perfections allow them to transform themselves and others. They practice giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom, which is the practice of the Bodhisattva-path. This is the cart drawn by a large white ox. The ox-carts were very big. With these large ox-carts, they could not only can transport themselves but also transport others.

These ox-carts [were very] large. A few days ago, we talked about how, in Myanmar, when we provided disaster relief, we found out the farmers had to borrow rice seeds. This was why the farmers remained poor. In addition to providing them with seeds, we also provided them with guidance. They had a bountiful harvest, and, not having to repay anyone for the seeds, they could even donate a part of their harvest to Tzu Chi so we could help other people. They loaded the extra rice onto an ox-cart and brought it to us as a way of giving back. This is what Great Vehicle practitioners do. After they were saved and reaped a bountiful harvest, they wanted to help other people.

This shows sentient beings’ [differing] capacities. Some people just want to save themselves and do not think about saving others. Some, after hearing the Dharma, just want to take things slow; thus there are many Hearers. Many people have heard the Buddha-Dharma, but a fewer number put it into practice.

There are also quite a few people who, after hearing the Dharma, only seek to awaken themselves. In the end, to have people who accept the Dharma and put it in practice by giving and transforming sentient beings is the Buddha’s true goal in tirelessly expounding the Dharma in the world. This is symbolized by, “Their father actually only gave one great cart.” The elder did not just want to give them sheep-carts and deer-carts. The elder intended for every child to have a great cart, which was the ox-cart. So, if sentient beings develop goodness, they will have the conditions to be transformed. This is an analogy for how, “responding to their capacities and conditions, the Buddha manifested a body accordingly.”

If sentient beings have goodness in them, then they have the conditions to be transformed, and responding to their capacities and conditions, the Buddha manifested a body accordingly. For the practitioners of the Bodhi-path, the Buddha set an example to guide them to connect to True Suchness and achieve a Buddha-body of universal enlightenment.

The Buddha comes to the world in response to sentient beings who have the capabilities and karmic conditions. So, He manifested in the human realm as a role model for spiritual practice. He manifested the attainment of Buddhahood. He did this to teach us how to walk the path of spiritual practice. “For the practitioners of the Bodhi-path, the Buddha set an example to guide them to connect to True Suchness and achieve…universal enlightenment.” In this way, He helped everybody understand that they intrinsically have Buddha-nature and have the potential to attain Buddhahood.

If we walk the same path, we will naturally discover our nature of True Suchness. To do this, we must walk the Bodhisattva-path. We must go among people so we can realize the principles of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. Only by doing this can we learn how to eliminate our afflictions and have a way to move forward steadily along the Bodhisattva-path. Then we return to our nature of True Suchness, our original enlightened nature.

So, I always say that if we pave a smooth road in this world, it will connect with the Bodhi-path. This is the Bodhisattva-path we must walk. Living Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings. Wherever there is suffering, Bodhisattvas will appear. When Bodhisattvas appear, people have a chance to be saved and delivered. There must be capabilities and conditions; this must continue so we can transform each other. Dear Bodhisattvas, we must be mindful every day; we must always be mindful.

Episode 562 – To Leave the Burning House,

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>> “Unselfish great love brings great peace and happiness. Understanding and purity bring infinite joy. If we are content with few desires, we will not be greedy or attached. By embracing the world, we bring about utmost harmony.”

>> At that time, all the children heard their father say that there were precious toys which suited their desires, so their minds became emboldened. Pushing and crowding each other, rushing and racing, they competed to get out of the burning house.

>> “Then, the elder saw that all his children had safely made their way out and were all at the crossroads, sitting out in the open; they had no more obstacles. His mind was composed and full of joy and jubilance.”

>> The elder deeply contemplated his great house where disasters had sprung up on four sides all at once. He repeatedly thought of ways to save his children. Yet they were attached and unaware and did not want to leave. Now he saw that all his children had gotten out safely.

>> “This is also like Great Vehicle practitioners who have entered the first ground.” They can attain non-abiding Nirvana, eliminate all obstacles of knowledge and subdue all afflictions. Thus it says they were sitting out in the open; they had no more obstacles.

>> His mind was composed because his children had all made their way out. His children were no longer obstructed, so the father felt composed. Once his mind was at peace, he was very happy; the father’s mind was calm and at peace. Full of joy means that the elder had no worries and no more fears.

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“Unselfish great love brings great peace and happiness.
Understanding and purity bring infinite joy.
If we are content with few desires, we will not be greedy or attached.
By embracing the world, we bring about utmost harmony.”

Everyone, a heart that loves selflessly is very broad and expansive. If our hearts are broad and expansive, when we interact with people, everything will be harmonious. A harmonious world is very peaceful and happy.

This state is not unattainable. As long as we are understanding of others and pure in heart, we can treat others with great sincerity. We will treat each other without any suspicion and without any jealousy, in this way, just as when among friends, we can talk about anything. We have nothing to hide, nor do we have doubts about each other. See, isn’t this a wonderful way to live? To be this way, as we interact with each other, we must be content and have few desires.

If we are content, we feel that we have plenty. It is because we are discontent that we are always afraid of not having enough. Once we give rise to desires, our greed will be boundless. We never feel that we have enough; we never experience abundance. Therefore, we must reduce our desires. It is fine to simply have enough. This means we must not be greedy or attached. If we are not greedy or deluded by our desires, we will constantly live in a state of abundance. Then won’t our mind’s wisdom be clear?

Our minds must be expansive; not only must we accommodate each other, our minds must encompass the universe. As we live on this planet, however vast the world may be, our minds must be just as big. Since we coexist with the rivers and the land, not only must we love people, we must also love the sky, the earth and all of nature. If we can do this, we will not be greedy and thus not cause damage. If we do not damage nature, naturally, the world will be safe and peaceful. A natural state is most beautiful.

If everybody can follow the laws of nature and accord each other the proper degree of respect as they interact with each other, ethical behavior will come naturally and be clearly apparent to them. By “illuminating luminous virtues,” we will naturally “rest in the utmost goodness.” These are all very natural principles.

Let us look at an example in Myanmar. On the 14th, 15th and 16th day of the seventh lunar month, their tradition is to hold a Festival of Lights. For this festival, over these three days, everyone goes the temples to pay respect to the Buddha. They also kowtow to and pay respect to their parents. They treat their teachers in the same way; they prostate to their teachers as a sign of respect.

Tzu Chi volunteers had the causes and conditions to go into Myanmar in May 2008, after that country was hit by [Cyclone Nargis]. The wind and rain had caused a huge disaster, so Tzu Chi volunteers went there and began to provide material assistance while also sharing our spirit and principles with the people there. Then our volunteers discovered that the people there had such great traditions and such wonderful rituals. So with these conditions, we went into the schools to motivate the students to study and to understand the sutras, to understand the principles of the world.

Therefore, this year (2013), as they paid respect to the Buddha and to their teachers, Tzu Chi volunteers led these children to express the principles that they had learned and understood; they taught them to make sandwiches and desserts so that by making food themselves they could understand the hard work their mothers do. We let the children make the desserts themselves. Once they were done, they held the dessert with great respect, walked toward their parents and then knelt down to offer it to them. At the same time, they told their parents, “Thank you for raising me; I’m very grateful.” As the mothers and children held each other, the mothers all cried and

the children repented to their parents. “In the past, I didn’t know better. So my attitude and the way I talked to you were often disrespectful. I also caused you to worry.” The children expressed their true feelings and repented their ways in front of their parents. Their parents had never felt so close to them, hearing them repent so honestly and express their love so clearly. The hearts of their parents opened up. They had been worried about their children, but now seeing their mature understanding, the parents felt at peace.

So, if we sentient beings can return to our pure hearts and follow the principles and the laws of nature, wouldn’t we all feel infinite joy? As we interact with people, if we give to each other with selfless love, we will feel great peace and happiness. We must be understanding of each other and remain pure in heart. If we live a pure life and stay on the path of ethics and morality, won’t we be very happy? Won’t we feel safe and peaceful? So, the only way to be peaceful, happy and free of afflictions is to be content and have few desires.

If we do not have greed or attachments, then naturally we will remain pure in heart, very kind and undefiled. If we can do this, the world will be wide open to us. If our minds are as expansive as the world, then the world will be very harmonious. To achieve peace and joy is not difficult, as long as we have the will. As long as our minds are pure and free of greed and attachments, we will enjoy a most wonderful life. If we all have broad minds and pure thoughts, the world will be very peaceful.

The burning house of the Three Realms is what the Buddha worried about the most. Because human minds are complicated and we have severe afflictions and impurities, we have gone off the path of ethics and morality. Thus we continually give rise to afflictions. Consider the elder with the burning house. When he sees the house on fire, doesn’t he feel uneasy and worried? Doesn’t the Buddha feel the same way?

Therefore, these sutra passages revolve around this burning house. This great house had already caught fire, so the elder continuously called out. He yelled to everyone, “Come out quickly. It is dangerous inside, come out!” However, the children still could not understand. They saw him, but could not hear what he was yelling. Even if they heard him, they were still unaware. Their minds were still afflicted, confused and dulled. So, with these teachings, whether the father’s calls or the Buddha-Dharma, either they could not hear it, or they heard but could not understand. This is what we ordinary people are like. We live in this evil world of Five Turbidities, where disasters frequently arise, yet we are still unaware.

Thus, for us sentient beings living in the world now, we all must awaken immediately. The previous sutra passage states, “At that time, all the children heard their father say that there were precious toys which suited their desires.”

At that time, all the children heard their father say that there were precious toys which suited their desires, so their minds became emboldened. Pushing and crowding each other, rushing and racing, they competed to get out of the burning house.

Now they had heard what he was saying and saw that, outside the burning house, there were many precious toys in the open field. There were sheep-carts, deer-carts, various other treasures and great ox-carts lined up outside. The carts were all decorated beautifully. Everybody felt, “These are the things that I want,” so everybody quickly rushed out.

Thus, “Their minds became emboldened.” Now they all wanted to get out, so they pushed and crowded against each other. They began to realize that to get through the door of the burning house, there was only one condition, that they let go of their afflictions. Once we have eliminated afflictions, we will then rush and race to get out. This means that everybody has practiced earnestly and eliminated their afflictions. Then with pure minds, we can diligently progress.

This next sutra passage states,

“Then, the elder saw that all his children had safely made their way out and were all at the crossroads, sitting out in the open; they had no more obstacles. His mind was composed and full of joy and jubilance.”

When we get to this sutra passage, everything suddenly lightens up.

The elder deeply contemplated his great house where disasters had sprung up on four sides all at once. He repeatedly thought of ways to save his children. Yet they were attached and unaware and did not want to leave. Now he saw that all his children had gotten out safely.

The elder saw that these children had finally heard his words. Seeing the things they wanted, they had begun to emerge from the house.

This tells us that the elder had engaged in deep contemplation. Fire had arisen on all four sides of the great house; all kinds of disasters had broken out. As a previous sutra passage states, “All at once, a fire broke out.” In fact, this represents an imbalance of the four elements. All kinds of disasters arise in this evil world of Five Turbidities. This great house was in a state of severe turbidity. The beams and pillars had deteriorated. The fire, this disaster, had arisen on all sides. The Buddha, or the elder, had already left the burning house but saw that the burning house, this world of the Three Realms, was truly surrounded by danger. The Buddha, as the kind father of the world, could not bear for His children to remain inside and suffer pain, harm and hardship. So, He did everything He could think of. He deeply contemplated this, using all His effort. This house was already unsafe, so He kept wondering, “How can I save them?” He contemplated this question again and again. But again and again,

the stubbornness of the children and the ignorance of sentient beings were very severe. They still did not want to leave the burning house. The path to leave the burning house was right in front of them, but no one chose walk this broad and bright path. However, the Buddha was compassionate, so He was determined to teach the True Dharma, the path of the One Vehicle. Because of this, in His old age. He began to expound the True Dharma. Then it just depended on whether people were willing to accept it. The True Dharma is the Bodhi-path, which is the Bodhisattva-path. He had seen that everybody had begun to accept and understand [the Dharma].

He saw that “all his children had safely made their way out.” They came out and were all at the crossroads. They had arrived at a safe place where they could then go in all directions. They were now out in the open field and could see a clear and bright road in that place. So, [the crossroads] is an analogy for the Four Noble Truths.

We must reconnect with our initial aspiration for listening to the Dharma. Everybody must thoroughly understand that. “This is suffering; you should know it.” Everyone should know, “This is causation; you should end it.” Everyone must know that they must eliminate their afflictions. Therefore, everybody must understand suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. We must know how to walk this path in order to be safe and at peace. So, Small Vehicle Practitioners rely on the principles of the Four Noble Truths.

The Four Noble Truths are the foundation for the Great and Small Vehicles. However, Small Vehicle practitioners stop here. They only rely on the principles of the Four Noble Truths. Once they reach this stage, they stop, “sitting out in the open”; they sit down in peace and comfort. This is an analogy for how, with their wisdom, they have realized the Four Noble Truths, and that is all.

“This is also like Great Vehicle practitioners who have entered the first ground.” Indeed, the Four Noble Truths are the first ground in entering the Great Vehicle. Therefore, we continually talk about suffering, causation, cessation and the Path, which are the foundation for practitioners of the Three Vehicles to learn the Buddha’s teachings. This is not only the stage the. Small Vehicle practitioners have stopped at, but also the first ground for. Great Vehicle practitioners who are practicing the Bodhisattva-path.

Thus, they can attain non-abiding Nirvana. After passing through this stage, they have no obstructions and can keep going until their minds are in Nirvana. Nirvana is a state of tranquility and stillness. With an undefiled mind, they pass these crossroads. This means they have already accepted the principles of the Four Noble Truths. After passing this road, their minds are still pure as they courageously move forward.

“This is also like Great Vehicle practitioners who have entered the first ground.” They can attain non-abiding Nirvana, eliminate all obstacles of knowledge and subdue all afflictions. Thus it says they were sitting out in the open; they had no more obstacles.

“Eliminating all obstacles of knowledge” means that they have completely eliminated all afflictions covering their minds. This is what Great Vehicle practitioners do. People who practice the Great Vehicle Dharma will also sit out there in the open. At the crossroads, they will sit comfortably. After they have eliminated their afflictions, they will sit down calmly and comfortably. This represents how Great Vehicle practitioners will no longer face any obstacles. There are no other obstructions. Since they have put an end to “causation,” and eliminated all kinds of afflictions and attachments, now they are on a bright and broad path, which is the Bodhisattva-path. This is what Great Vehicle practitioners do.

Therefore, the Four Noble Truths are the foundation for the Great and Small Vehicles. These are the things that we must understand, that we must practice and that we must eliminate. They are indispensable. Then “[We] no longer face any obstacles.” If we can do this, we will no longer have any more obstacles. “His mind was composed and full of joy and jubilance.”

His mind was composed because his children had all made their way out. His children were no longer obstructed, so the father felt composed. Once his mind was at peace, he was very happy; the father’s mind was calm and at peace. Full of joy means that the elder had no worries and no more fears.

Actually, we should not give the Buddha cause to worry. Once we have accepted the Dharma, we should follow the course laid out in the teachings. If we follow the principles, naturally, our minds will be very happy, open and peaceful. So, [when we practice] the Dharma, “Unselfish great love brings great peace and happiness.” If we take the Dharma to heart, then our minds will naturally be very open, peaceful and full of joy. If the Dharma is in our hearts, we will be understanding of everything. If we are understanding, our relationships will be genuine and pure. This will make everyone happy.

So, we must be content and have few desires. That means we must take the Dharma to heart, only then can we be content and have few desires. Otherwise, ordinary people, because of the arising of evil thoughts, will constantly produce afflictions. They will be unable to escape through the door, because they still carry many afflictions. Once they let go of their afflictions, they will be able to safely exit the burning house and everybody will feel peaceful and at ease. Whether they were Great or. Small Vehicle practitioners, they had arrived at a safe space and were diligently practicing the Buddha-Dharma. If we can reach a harmonious state that embraces the world, the Buddha will be at peace and rejoice as the elder did.

In summary, as Buddhist practitioners, we need to truly take the Dharma to heart. Once we take it to heart, we must put it into practice and apply it in our daily living. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 561 – We Learn the Teachings of the Path

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>> “With our wisdom-life and Dharma-essence, we make the great vows. Unwilling to let sentient beings flounder, we seek to transform them. We clearly contemplate right and wrong and eliminate afflictions. We learn the teachings of the path to escape the burning house.”

>> “Of these, there are many kinds, sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts, outside the door right now for you to play with. You should quickly leave this burning house;”

>> “At that time, all the children heard their father say that there were precious toys which suited their desires, so their minds became emboldened. Pushing and crowding each other, rushing and racing, they competed to get out of the burning house.”

>> All the children took joy in what suited their minds and their hearts’ desires. This is similar to the Three Vehicle practitioners in how they sought the teachings that suited them and made them happy. They heard that there were sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts for them to play with, which all suited their desires.

>> The sheep-cart that some children went for is an analogy for the Hearer Vehicle. “They can only transform themselves; they cannot transform others.”

>> The deer-cart describes the Solitary Realizers. People who practice the Solitary Realizer Vehicle “can transform themselves and uphold the Dharma.”

>> Then there is the ox-cart. The ox-cart describes the Bodhisattva Vehicle. People practicing the Bodhisattva Vehicle not only transform themselves, they can universally deliver sentient beings.

>> “Pushing and crowding each other, rushing and racing,”

>> “They competed to get out of the burning house.”

>> Due to the Buddha’s teaching of skillful means, they accepted the teachings according to their capabilities and diligently advanced. By starting to put them into practice they were able to leave the burning house of afflictions.

>> “Pushing and crowding each other, rushing and racing” is an analogy for how they became courageous and diligently practiced good deeds.

>> They have promptly stopped committing evil and rejected the creation of negative karma to renounce the burning house of the Three Realms.

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“With our wisdom-life and Dharma-essence, we make the great vows.
Unwilling to let sentient beings flounder, we seek to transform them.
We clearly contemplate right and wrong and eliminate afflictions.
We learn the teachings of the path to escape the burning house.”

This physical life is our vehicle for learning from the Buddha. With this body and our existence in this lifetime, we are fortunate to have heard the Buddha-Dharma. So, we must earnestly seize this opportunity and make use of this body and this lifetime to earnestly absorb the Buddha-Dharma. We must spend our lifetime diligently practicing. Then the Dharma-essence that we attain will invigorate our wisdom-life.

Life is filled with suffering, and ordinary beings flounder in the Six Realms. Since we have been born in the human realm, in this realm, we will experience both suffering and joy because they coexist in this world. Moreover, good and evil are intermixed. So, the human realm is the place where the Five Destinies coexist. The Buddha has compassion for sentient beings who live where the Five Destinies coexist and where good and evil are intermixed. This place is truly very hazardous, so out of His compassion. He came for one great cause, to transform us all. Transforming sentient beings is very hard work. He tried everything He could to teach us to clearly understand right and wrong so that we would be able to eliminate our afflictions. So, we must “learn the teachings of the path.” The Buddha teaches us how to practice and how to choose the correct path.

Among the six paths to choose from, He tells us which one to follow, the human path, because only in the human realm can we hear the Buddha-Dharma, and it is in this realm that we can put it into practice. When we choose to engage in spiritual practice, the human realm is where we can put the Bodhisattva-path into practice. Only humans have this opportunity. So, we have already attained a human existence, which was not easy. This gives us the chance to hear the Dharma and engage in spiritual practice. This is what gives us the opportunity to escape the burning house of the Three Realms.

Over these past few days we have discussed how the elder had arranged, outside the door, all the things the children would want. Those things were the three carts. Sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts were all arranged outside so that people could immediately come and choose one. “Which cart appeals to you the most?” Thus everyone quickly left the burning house. “When you escape from the burning [house], you can choose from among these carts. So hurry up and come out.”

․”Of these, there are many kinds, sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts, outside the door right now for you to play with. You should quickly leave this burning house;”

“then I will give you whichever you desire.” When I read this sutra passage, I recall a recent report from Myanmar (in October, 2013), a very touching true story. In Thanlyin Township in Myanmar, there is a Buddhist temple. Outside the temple, there were many ox-carts; around one or two hundred ox-carts. A group of Tzu Chi volunteers had been invited there by some of the farmers.

Though they were invited as guests, the Tzu Chi volunteers brought tarps with them as gifts for the farmers. When these farmers cut down the rice stalks, they do not have big open areas like we do with which to spread out and dry the rice. They do not have these, so after they cut down the rice stalks they used to leave them in the paddies and wait for them to dry before harvesting them. Then if it rained, the stalks would soak up water. Therefore, Tzu Chi volunteers quickly prepared large tarps for them so that when they finished cutting the stalks, they could put the tarp under the stalks to protect them from the wet ground.

After they were invited, Tzu Chi volunteers prepared these tarps as gifts, along with red envelopes [of blessings and wisdom]. When they arrived, they saw [an amazing sight]. “Wow! There are so many ox-carts here!” The farmers had neatly piled up bags of rice in a corner of the temple. They had already harvested this rice and wanted to give back to Tzu Chi.

I heard that, on average, each bag contained almost 22 kilos of rice. Tzu Chi volunteers could distribute the rice to help farmers who were living in poverty. Normally, the farmers had to borrow rice seeds, and the interest they had to pay was very high. If they borrowed one or two bushels of seeds, after the harvest they would have to repay the loan with two or three bushels of rice. Each time, after harvesting the rice and repaying their debts, they would barely have enough to eat. Thus, they were trapped in a cycle of poverty.

Tzu Chi volunteers had been in Myanmar since 2008 when extreme winds and rain created a large-scale natural disaster. That was when our relief efforts began. Besides bringing them timely material assistance, we also considered how we could stabilize their lives. They were all farmers, and we learned that they had to borrow rice seeds for planting. Every year after the harvest, once they repaid this debt, they would not have much rice left. This is why we decided to donate rice seeds to them. We bought the best rice seeds we could and provided fertilizer as well. At the same time, we continued to interact with them. The farmers saw that Tzu Chi volunteers provided not only temporary assistance, but ongoing care as well.

When we distributed rice seeds to them, we told them about the spirit of the bamboo banks. Thus the farmers absorbed this Dharma and wanted to find a way to give back. Over the last couple of years, these farmers have given back every year so that Tzu Chi volunteers could go to a different village every year to distribute aid to other poor farmers. This happened again this year. More than 200 farmers brought their harvest in ox-carts.

This is such a wonderful thing. Isn’t this the essence of the Dharma? The Dharma has entered their hearts. In their daily living, though they do not lead comfortable lives, they are still willing to give to others. They have already transcended their state of living in poverty and needing help. Now that they have transcended it, even though they are not very wealthy, they are still able to help others. They have spiritual wealth in their hearts, which is the Dharma. This is how we can develop our wisdom-life and take the Dharma into our bone marrow. Thus we can live out our wisdom-life.

The next sutra passage states,

“At that time, all the children heard their father say that there were precious toys which suited their desires, so their minds became emboldened. Pushing and crowding each other, rushing and racing, they competed to get out of the burning house.”

This sutra passage continues to describe these children who, though in the burning house, were still deluded and did not immediately leave. They were having fun in the burning house and did not realize that the fire could harm them. This is similar to people in the world who cling to their objects of desire, not realizing that their desires are very harmful. Thus they remain deluded and unawakened. Perhaps we have heard the Buddha-Dharma, but after hearing and accepting it, we still have attachments and cling to what we think we need. This applies to all sentient beings in the Three Realms.

The Buddha feels for them, because sentient beings are lost in the desire, form and formless realms. Even if they are not attached to material things, they may have a bias toward certain teachings. They may be attached to what they think they need without realizing that it is only a part of the process they need to go through. The Buddha paved a path of skillful means for them to walk on. But before they had reached the safe and broad path, they stopped on this path of skillful means.

Thus the Buddha had to think of more methods. He told everyone, “Come out quickly! There is something even better outside. It is what you need, so come out quickly!” Thus the sutra states, “All the children heard their father say there were precious toys which suited their desires.” They knew that what was outside was better. Thus they all quickly came out. This showed that “all the children took joy in what suited their minds.” These things happened to be what they were looking for. These were “what suited their desires.” When everyone saw that what was outside was what they truly wanted, they began leaving the burning house.

All the children took joy in what suited their minds and their hearts’ desires. This is similar to the Three Vehicle practitioners in how they sought the teachings that suited them and made them happy. They heard that there were sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts for them to play with, which all suited their desires.

This is the analogy of the three carts. The three kinds of carts, sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts had been arranged outside so that the children could see them with their own eyes. More than just hearing what their father said, they could actually see that outside the house, the carts that they wanted were lined up there. They could take these carts and go wherever they wanted to. This made them happy because this suited their minds and their desires. This is an analogy for the Three Vehicle practitioners and how they each sought suitable teachings which delighted them.

When Bodhisattvas hear the Buddha teach the Dharma, they know that, by walking the Bodhisattva-path, they can make great vows. Those who take the ox-cart take joy in the Great Vehicle Dharma and can transform themselves and others. Each kind of cart meets a certain need. What Solitary Realizers need is the deer-cart. What the Hearers need is the sheep-cart. These are all carts, which can be played with and taken wherever they want to go. So, carts are used as analogies. With these carts, they can attain [what they want]; they can play, “which suited their desires.” The sheep-cart that some children went for.

The sheep-cart that some children went for is an analogy for the Hearer Vehicle. “They can only transform themselves; they cannot transform others.”

They can only transform themselves. They know to “refrain from evil” but they have not achieved the state of “doing all good deeds.” They understand karmic cause and effect, but they do not know how to further realize the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. They do not yet understand the principles behind how to come into and leave this world.

The deer-cart describes the Solitary Realizers.

The deer-cart describes the Solitary Realizers. People who practice the Solitary Realizer Vehicle “can transform themselves and uphold the Dharma.”

They are able to transform themselves and will work hard in their cultivation of the Dharma so they can uphold their precepts. Thus they “can purify their own minds.” This is the deer-cart. They awaken only themselves. They only care about the purity of their own bodies and minds and do not care about anything else.

Then there is the ox-cart. The ox-cart describes the Bodhisattva Vehicle. People practicing the Bodhisattva Vehicle not only transform themselves, they can universally deliver sentient beings.

This is the analogy of the great ox-cart. These are analogies for the Dharma, for the Great, Middle and Small Vehicles. The Great Dharma is suitable for sentient beings with sharp capabilities. Upon hearing a teaching, they can instantly realize that they intrinsically have Buddha-nature. However, to return to their intrinsic nature, they must walk the Bodhisattva-path. They are Great Vehicle practitioners with sharp capabilities. They can realize the Buddha’s intent, so they aspire and vow to deliver sentient beings. In the process of transforming sentient beings, they are also transforming themselves. By transforming themselves and others, they can perfect their conduct. This is the ox-cart.

“Their minds became emboldened.” They had already seen that the things outside were what they wanted. So, they summoned up their courage and became brave and energized.

“Pushing and crowding each other, rushing and racing,”

they all wanted to get out.

“They competed to get out of the burning house.”

This tells us that because of the Buddha’s skillful means, His skillful methods of teaching, they “accepted the teachings according to capabilities.” He devised these teachings in accord with their capabilities. Because these teachings suited their capabilities, everyone found what they were looking for and began to diligently practice.

Due to the Buddha’s teaching of skillful means, they accepted the teachings according to their capabilities and diligently advanced. By starting to put them into practice they were able to leave the burning house of afflictions.

Hearers have their practices that they must diligently cultivate. Solitary Realizers have their practices that they happily cultivate. Bodhisattvas have their practices which they have awakened to. So as the Buddha taught according to capabilities, everyone could apply those teachings. Everyone was diligently advancing and “by starting to put them into practice,” by putting the teachings into practice, taking the Dharma to heart and manifesting it in their actions, they were able to “leave the burning house of afflictions.”

“Pushing and crowding each other, rushing and racing” is an analogy for how they became courageous and diligently practiced good deeds.

Once courage arose in their hearts, they began to diligently advance. They began to take action and engage in practice, so they courageously and diligently advanced. Once they started moving, they were only afraid of falling behind.

But for people who chose the sheep- or deer-cart, the Buddha still wanted to help them realize that they were only awakening themselves. Yet, they diligently practiced since they had accepted the Dharma. Thus they could slowly attain realizations and still have opportunity to shoulder this mission. So, they had “promptly stopped committing evil.”

They have promptly stopped committing evil and rejected the creation of negative karma to renounce the burning house of the Three Realms.

Whether they choose the sheep- or deer-cart, Small Vehicle practitioners have stopped committing evils; they will not do it again. Though they have not earnestly benefited others, at least they are benefiting themselves and “purifying their own minds.” They will no longer be confused and degenerate again. This is how the Buddha made use of skillful means, these three methods, the Small, Middle and Great Vehicle Dharma, to teach everyone. These helped everyone reject the creation of negative karma. We must immediately reject wrongdoings and courageously walk the path to doing good. We must reject what is not good and courageously and diligently practice on the path to doing good. This is how we can “escape the burning house of the Three Realms.” So, this “pushing and crowding each other” is about pushing aside all the bad things. Then we will have a clear road to diligently walk. So, we rush and race to diligently advance.

So, as Buddhist practitioners, it is very important to be mindful. We must earnestly take in the Dharma so that it becomes a part of us. The Buddha told us that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. The principles are always there in the world around us, so at any time we can take them as our Dharma. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 560 – Awaken Yourself and Transform Others

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>> “We take the Buddha’s awakened state as our aspiration and keep His loving-kindness in our hearts. We awaken ourselves, transform others and make great vows. We meticulously contemplate the wisdom of suchness.”

>> The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy. So, he told them, “The toys you like to play with are rare and difficult to obtain. If you do not take them, you will regret it later.”

>> “Of these, there are many kinds.”

>> There were many kinds of things.

>> “Outside the door right now for you to play with. You should quickly leave this burning house; then I will give you whichever you desire.”

>> The ox-cart mentioned is big and the ox is strong. It can carry many things. So, those who appreciate it are likened to those with great capabilities. The sheep-cart and deer-cart are [pulled by animals] with average or weak strength. Those who appreciate them are likened to those with average or limited capabilities.

>> The Buddha’s original intent is to teach the true Dharma of the One Vehicle. There was originally no second or third vehicle. But since sentient beings like the Three Vehicles, they do not know they are skillful means and do not progress after attaining realizations.

>> “Those who practice meditation can be greedy for the joy of Samadhi.” Those studying the teachings’ meaning can become attached to the wondrous language.

>> But they did not know that the Tathagata wanted to enable sentient beings, with these teachings adapted to their abilities, to escape from samsara and no longer wallow in the Six Realms.

>> These three carts are analogies. The ox-cart is an analogy for the Great Vehicle, the quest to realize fundamental Dharma-nature.

>> Acquire “subsequently attained wisdom.”

>> The Two Vehicle practitioners, as they have not yet realized the Dharma-nature, cannot attain this cart. But because they have heard of this ox-cart, they can proceed from this and finally attain it.

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“We take the Buddha’s awakened state as our aspiration
and keep His loving-kindness in our hearts.
We awaken ourselves, transform others and make great vows.
We meticulously contemplate the wisdom of suchness.”

Don’t we engage in spiritual practice to take the Buddha’s mind as our own? This is what I often say. To develop a Buddha-mind, we first awaken to the workings of the world. If we do not understand worldly matters, how can we possibly take the Buddha’s mind as our own?

The Buddha’s enlightened state is so tranquil and clear. Living among people, the Buddha does not consider gain or loss. He only works for His one great cause, to share His state of mind and His insights with everyone, so that He can inspire everyone to reach the understanding that everyone has the same awakened state as Him. This awakened state is the same in all of us. So, we must constantly “take the Buddha’s awakened state as our aspiration.” We must quickly find our own Buddha-nature. This is our vow as Buddhist practitioners.

We learn the Buddha’s teachings because we want to attain Buddhahood. So, now we must “learn by doing.” By being diligent in our learning, we “awaken through learning.” We must have this kind of mindset to diligently advance in our practice. This is our vow. What we want to learn is to have the same state of mind as the Buddha “and keep His loving-kindness in our hearts.” Our hearts should be compassionate like the Buddha’s.

The Buddha considers all beings as His only child. He treat the Four Kinds of Beings impartially. He “shows compassion to all equally” because He sees them all as equals. He treats them all like His children. So, with His loving-kindness, He coexists harmoniously with all life. In this world, and in our relationships, there is no need to differentiate between different ethnicities. We are all part of the universe, one of the Four Kinds of Beings.

So, we have to awaken ourselves. In addition to ourselves, we also hope that everyone in the world can be like the Buddha and have a broad and open mind, one that is truly tranquil and clear and pure like crystal. We want to reach that kind of state. So, we must establish our resolve and make great vows to transform all sentient beings. When we hear the Dharma, we must share it with everyone. When sentient beings are suffering, we must help them mindfully.

How mindful must we be? We must engage in meticulous contemplation. At all times we must be very meticulous as we contemplate the wisdom of suchness. The “wisdom of suchness” is the nature of True Suchness. This is intrinsic to all of us; we all have this nature that is of one essence with the Buddha’s understanding and the Buddha’s enlightened state. If we meticulously examine the Buddha’s teachings and mindfully seek to comprehend them, there is nothing we cannot achieve. We will be able to find a way to merge our minds with the Buddha’s mind and feel the same compassion; we will look at all sentient beings with that same compassion.

Look at how modern technology has verified the Buddha’s wisdom. Throughout the Buddhist sutras, it is said that when those who practice the Bodhisattva-path save sentient beings, their “head, eyes, marrow and brain were all given to others.” When we hear this, we may wonder, “Is that possible?” Yes, it is. As part of our Mission of Medicine, we have a “bone marrow donor registry” and a “bone bank.” People are willing to donate, so, when a match is found, they are able to do so.

In 2010, in Singapore, there was a young mother whose child had just entered elementary school. She suddenly felt unwell, so she went for an exam. The doctor’s diagnosis shocked her. The only thing that could save her was chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. But could they find the right match? This was the beginning of her suffering.

In Singapore, although they found two matches, those two people were not willing to donate. She had felt a glimmer of hope, but very quickly her hopes were dashed and her whole family was very sad and in deep despair.

But the hospital told her there was still Taiwan. So, they sought assistance from Taiwan. In Taiwan, after a period of constant searching, three people were found who were suitable donors. One of them was willing to donate, so her hopes were raised again.

The bone marrow donor was in Taiwan and the recipient was in Singapore, so it was as if her salvation came out of thin air. Think about it, didn’t the Buddha say, “Head, eyes, marrow and brain were all given to others”? Now if some of us are willing to donate our organs after we die, the whole body can be of use. Even the bones can be removed and stored. Even the skin can be removed and stored. Then patients who need them can make use of them.

Whether it is the heart, liver, kidney etc., everything in our body can be used to save others. This is the Buddha’s 2000-year-old wisdom; it is that meticulous and thorough. After more than 2000 years, in our present time, medical technology is capable of making this happen. From this we can understand that the Buddha-Dharma can be verified in this world. It is intimately related to our lives, so we should take the Buddha’s awakened state as a concrete goal of our spiritual practice.

All in all, making the great vows requires a certain state of mind. Since we are learning from the Buddha, we must contemplate very thoroughly. “Meticulous” means very thorough; we must use very comprehensive wisdom to earnestly contemplate. Thus we listen, contemplate and practice. As we listen, contemplate and practice, we must earnestly put our hearts into returning to our pure nature of True Suchness. This is why we must always be mindful as we learn the Buddha’s teachings.

After reading the previous sutra passages, the Buddha seems like the “kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings.” He treats the Four Kinds of Beings in the Three Realms as His own children. These children were undisciplined, mischievous, deluded by the things that they like. They did not quickly leave this dangerous place and time was running out, So, the father used various methods [to draw them out]. Right outside the door he placed many precious toys to entice them to quickly come and take them.

“If you do not come out quickly, it will be too late for you to get any of this. If you miss out on this, you will regret it.” This is the general idea of the previous passage.

The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy. So, he told them, “The toys you like to play with are rare and difficult to obtain. If you do not take them, you will regret it later.”

Now we will talk about,

“Of these, there are many kinds.”

What exactly did he place outside?

There were many kinds of things.

There were “sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts.”

“Outside the door right now for you to play with. You should quickly leave this burning house; then I will give you whichever you desire.”

“Everyone, hurry up and come out. Look outside, there are sheep-drawn carts, deer-drawn carts and ox-drawn carts. See, all the things you love are right outside. Hurry outside, these are gifts that I want to give you. It is dangerous inside; come out to safety. Then you can choose to take any one of these things.”

This was how the father enticed them. This means that when we compare the ox to the sheep and deer, of course, the ox is very strong. Because the ox is strong, the cart he pulls is very large. The ox-cart is bigger. This is like people with great capabilities. This cart is the Bodhisattva Vehicle, the Great Vehicle. These people willingly leave [the burning house]. Once they encounter the Buddha-Dharma, they choose the Great Vehicle Dharma. They walk the Bodhisattva-path and go among people to transform sentient beings. They must have the strength and willingness to pull a big cart.

The ox-cart mentioned is big and the ox is strong. It can carry many things. So, those who appreciate it are likened to those with great capabilities. The sheep-cart and deer-cart are [pulled by animals] with average or weak strength. Those who appreciate them are likened to those with average or limited capabilities.

As for the sheep-cart or deer-cart, they are used for fun. They are smaller and people who appreciate them are likened to those with average or limited capabilities. These are the Middle Vehicle and Small Vehicle. As we said earlier, Bodhisattvas form great aspirations, establish great vows and transform sentient beings. If one is a Solitary Realizer or Hearer, one will only seek to awaken oneself. This is like picking the deer-cart or sheep-cart.

Now, they had all come outside, so everyone could play. This shows that the Buddha’s original vow was to help everyone transcend the Three Realms, the desire, form and formless realms. The desire realm is our desirous thoughts. The form realm is everything in the realm of physical existence. If there are desires in our minds, material objects in our external conditions will entice us and cause afflictions to arise. Though we cannot see and touch them, these [formless] afflictions fill our minds. These are the Three Realms.

The Buddha hoped that everyone can transcend the Three Realms, turning desire into love and turning selfish desires into selfless great love. If we can do this, we will use the material objects around us to save and transform sentient beings. If we help others without any expectations, our hearts will be pure. This Bodhisattva state of mind is a pure formless realm. They had quickly gone out of the door, but out of their compassion, they wanted to save and deliver sentient beings. So, they went in again to save and deliver them. They are Bodhisattvas.

This was the Buddha’s original intent; He only wanted to teach the true Dharma of the One Vehicle. The Buddha’s original intent was to help everyone return to their intrinsic Tathagata-nature. As part of this process, they must walk the Bodhisattva-path and go among people. They must keep their hearts pure, free of expectations and attachments. Only by developing this state of mind would they be able to “comprehend the great path” and realize the true principles of this universe.

This is what the Buddha hoped to teach us, so that we can open the door to our wisdom and be one with the universe. This kind of awakening reveals the principles of the One Vehicle. Originally, there were not even Two [Vehicles], so how could there be Three Vehicles? We have the Two Vehicles and Three Vehicles because the Buddha observed that sentient beings had varying capabilities. This is why He developed the Three Vehicle teachings. In the Buddha’s original intent, there is actually just the One Vehicle, that which helps everyone return to their pure intrinsic Buddha-nature.

The Buddha’s original intent is to teach the true Dharma of the One Vehicle. There was originally no second or third vehicle. But since sentient beings like the Three Vehicles, they do not know they are skillful means and do not progress after attaining realizations.

“There was originally no second or third vehicle.” They were taught according to sentient beings’ interests. It was according to their preferences and inclinations that the Buddha established the Three Vehicle Dharma. But people did not understand that these are skillful means. They clung to the state of a Solitary Realizer and to attaining realizations.

In fact, to truly attain realizations, we must practice the Bodhisattva-path and experience the compassion of the Buddha’s mind. Then this is a true realization. But people do not realize that they are practicing skillful means, and “do not progress after attaining realizations.” They think that just by sitting in meditation, they will be able to awaken and attain realizations. It is not that easy! But nowadays everyone says that this is what Buddhist practitioners should do. So, we have to really be mindful and follow the Buddha’s teachings.

“Those who practice meditation can be greedy for the joy of Samadhi.” Those studying the teachings’ meaning can become attached to the wondrous language.

These are all attachments. “But they did not know” that these are teachings that the Tathagata gave sentient beings in order to teach according to their capabilities.

But they did not know that the Tathagata wanted to enable sentient beings, with these teachings adapted to their abilities, to escape from samsara and no longer wallow in the Six Realms.

People do not understand, so they are still in the burning house and do not try to get out. To help draw these people out, the Buddha used various skillful means in hopes that everyone can escape samsara and not be attached to or stuck in cyclic existence in the Six Realms.

These three carts are analogies. The ox-cart is an analogy for the Great Vehicle, the quest to realize fundamental Dharma-nature.

This is the only one that can help us return to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness and.

Acquire “subsequently attained wisdom.”

By attaining this subsequently attained wisdom, the things we comprehend through taking action, we can perfect the fruit of Buddhahood. That is all-encompassing wisdom. At the beginning of our discussions, we constantly mentioned “all-encompassing wisdom,” which is Buddha-wisdom and our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.

As for the cart itself, the ox is very strong so the cart is very large. The cart is like “subsequently attained wisdom.” Because the ox is so strong, imagine how many things we can fit in the cart. It can indeed carry heavy burdens.

Then the passage continues, “You should quickly leave this burning house; then I will give you whichever you desire.” Everyone must hurry up and get out. This is directed at the Two Vehicle practitioners.

The Two Vehicle practitioners, as they have not yet realized the Dharma-nature, cannot attain this cart. But because they have heard of this ox-cart, they can proceed from this and finally attain it.

People with great capabilities practice the Great Vehicle and are already free. As they want to shoulder the Tathagata’s mission, they have already escaped [the burning house] and go among people to save and transform them. Those who are still inside are attached to the state of Samadhi and attached to the words. They claim to be studying, but they are still attached to this place and remaining within their own limits. They do not want to earnestly contribute. There are two kinds of people like this. Solitary Realizers are one; Hearers are the other. Both practice for their own benefit. Buddhist practitioners like this have “not yet realized the Dharma-nature.” This means they have not yet experienced it.

They “cannot attain this cart”; they cannot yet do this. They do not want to pull this heavy burden, so they choose the sheep-cart or deer-cart because they do not want a big responsibility. When they engage in spiritual practice, they only care about their own liberation. Therefore, it is impossible for them to attain the ox-cart.

“But because they have heard of this ox-cart….” They have heard about the Great Vehicle, but they are unwilling to practice it. There are many people like this, and they end up choosing the sheep-cart or deer-cart. Whether they choose the sheep-cart or deer-cart, it is fine as long as they can get out. The Buddha felt that the priority was to get them out right away. Once they make an effort to accept the Buddha-Dharma, there is hope for them.

Even if we are Solitary Realizers or Hearers, in the long run we can also form aspirations. At least we understand the law of karma and will not create negative causes and conditions.

In summary, the Buddha-Dharma is wondrous, so we must always be mindful.

Episode 559 – The Freedom Found in the Six Paramitas

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>> “Bodhisattvas in the world play effortlessly without any hindrances. Purifying the mind brings joy; benefiting others is best. By perfecting the Six Paramitas, we can deliver ourselves and others and freely travel between the two shores, those of noble and of ordinary beings.”

>> The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy.

>> Or the Six Perfections, to deliver them to the other shore. To “deliver” means to cross the sea of samsara and reach the other shore. We must cross the sea of samsara and reach the other shore, which is to reach the shore of Nirvana.

>> So [the elder] told them, “The toys you like to play with are rare and difficult to obtain. If you do not take them, you will regret it later.” Practitioners of the Three Vehicles who were fortunate enough to draw near the Buddha were led out by Him with skillful means. Otherwise, their greed and attachment to the burning house of the Three Realms would make it difficult for them to escape. This was worrisome and if nothing was done, it would be too late for regrets.

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“Bodhisattvas in the world play effortlessly without any hindrances.
Purifying the mind brings joy; benefiting others is best.
By perfecting the Six Paramitas, we can deliver ourselves and others
and freely travel between the two shores, those of noble and of ordinary beings.”

Living Bodhisattvas effortlessly play and travel through this world without any hindrances. Isn’t this a very wonderful state?

If we are able to listen to the Buddha-Dharma, form aspirations and walk the Bodhisattva-path, nothing in this world can hinder us. Depending on our state of mind, we can go among people to transform, help and save suffering sentient beings. To do all this without hindrances is truly something we must all pray for. So, our minds must be pure. If our minds are pure, whenever we give to others and see that their difficulties have been resolved, this will bring us the greatest happiness. We do not ask for anything else. This is why we talk about a pure mind. A pure mind will not greedily expect anything.

The happiness and peace of sentient beings bring happiness and peace to Bodhisattvas. So, when we form Bodhisattva-aspirations, we always have to hold on to this mindset, to happily give without expectations. When we do this, it is called actualizing the Six Paramitas. The Six Paramitas are giving, [upholding] precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. These are six requirements for walking the Bodhisattva-path.

With all of these necessary conditions, we will be able to transform all sentient beings and help end their suffering. Although we say we are transforming or saving others, we are in fact, also transforming ourselves, because we are still in the state of ordinary beings. This is why we must form Bodhisattva-aspirations. We need to learn from the Buddha, learn the Great Enlightened One’s state of mind. We must travel from this shore to the far shore, to go from the state of ordinary beings to that of noble beings and from having the mind of an unenlightened being to being able to experience the mind of the sages. In between these states lies the river of afflictions. We must cross it to go from this shore to the far shore.

On the Bodhisattva-path, if we have these six necessary conditions, then we will be able to cross from this shore to the other shore and then return to this shore so that we can deliver other people to the far shore; we can travel back and forth freely and unhindered. This is why we must form Bodhisattva-aspirations. It is possible to experience this state of freedom while living in the human realm.

During the Buddha’s lifetime, every summer there was a retreat for the Sangha. One year, after they wrapped up their summer retreat, disciples from all the monasteries traveled to the Jetavana abode. Once the Buddha saw that all His monastic disciples had arrived, He was very happy, so He asked everyone, “During the three months of your summer retreat, did things go well?” In unison, they answered Him, “Yes, they did.”

The Buddha then asked, “Did you lack anything in those three months?” They all answered, “No, we did not. All our daily necessities were provided by the local lay disciples. They gave us ample support. We are grateful that Your virtue has allowed us to practice in peace and [inspired] the lay disciples to reverently support us. So, all of us are very grateful for. Your virtue, because it has safeguarded us so that we can practice in safety.”

Ananda saw how the disciples from all over gathering together brought the Buddha great happiness as He listened to their experiences from their three-month summer retreat. Everyone was full of gratitude and Dharma-joy. At that moment, Ananda wondered, “What kind of karmic affinities did the Buddha form with sentient beings in the past? He has so many disciples who feel gratitude, respect and reverence toward Him; the monastics diligently practice and the lay disciples support them out of great compassion. In His past lives, what kind of vows did He make and what spiritual practice did He engage in so that He could form so many good affinities with so many sentient beings?”

He could not help but raise these questions and asked the Buddha to teach on this. The Buddha smiled and answered Ananda, “All my disciples, listen carefully. This began countless kalpas ago, an incalculable number of eons in the past, when I was in hell.”

“In hell, there were many instruments of torture. People who had committed crimes fell into hell and faced truly unbearable suffering. One instrument of torture used by prison guards was an iron cart heated until it was red. They would partially flay a person and stretch out his skin and tie it to the iron cart. Two people would be attached to each iron cart by their skins, and then they would be told to pull it. The iron cart was tremendously heavy and had been heated until it was red-hot. If they could not pull it, the prison guards would whip them. Whether the guards hit them with a rod or a whip, their suffering was tremendous.”

“Among those being punished this way was one who could not take it anymore. He simply collapsed. The other person saw that his companion had collapsed and that the prison guard was continuing to beat him until he would stand up and continue pulling the cart. So, this other person said, ‘Let me do it by myself I can put in more effort and take his place Please be compassionate and spare this person who is suffering so much.’ The prison guard was very fierce and hateful. He said, ‘You cannot even save yourself, yet you want to save this other person.’ Out of anger, he hit him with both rod and whip. This person who was still pulling the cart with his flayed skin gave rise to this one thought, causing him to be beaten with both whip and rod at the same time. Thus he passed away.”

“Upon his death, he was born in heaven. From heaven, he saw the human realm. He looked back on everything that he had experienced in the human realm, on all the karma he had accumulated, which led him to fall into hell and experience tremendous suffering. From that moment on, he aspired to willingly go anywhere in the Six Realms; wherever there was a need and sufficient conditions, he would go to transform people.”

The Buddha stopped at this point of the story. Facing the crowd, He called out to Ananda. “Ananda, you know, this person who wanted to save others even as he was being punished, this person who was beaten to death by the prison guard, do you know who he was? That was I, Sakyamuni Buddha. From the time I formed that aspiration in hell until this lifetime, I have repeatedly returned to the Six Realms with great ease. This is how I walked the Bodhisattva-path over many lifetimes.”

The Buddha told this story about how. He was inspired to form His aspirations by the tremendous suffering He experienced in hell. “Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings.” The Buddha enlightened Himself and others. He had already attained enlightenment, but He still renewed His aspirations because. He did not want sentient beings to create karma in the human realm and thus fall into the Three Evil Realms to suffer. So, the Buddha advocated the Six Paramitas, the practice of these six methods.

To practice giving, we must give of ourselves. Once we recognize the needs of sentient beings, we devote ourselves to helping them. This is the first step. In addition to giving, we must uphold precepts, have patience and be diligent so that we can achieve Samadhi and wisdom. We must practice all six. So, in order to “freely travel between the two shores, those of noble and of ordinary beings,” we need to apply a world-transcending spirit as we unceasingly carry out our mission in this world traveling freely back and forth.

In the previous sutra passage, the elder, the kind father, could not bear to let his children remain in the great house without knowing they needed to get out, without knowing they needed to leave immediately. So, the elder had to think of a way. He put the children’s favorite things right outside the house to entice them to come out.

He yelled loudly, “Everyone hurry and come out.” He said, “If you don’t hurry up and quickly come out of that burning house, if you don’t come out quickly, you won’t get any of these things. If you don’t get any of them, you will really regret it. So hurry up and come outside!” The children heard him calling and knew their favorite things were outside, so they thought, “I should hurry up and go out.”

The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy.

This represents how people prefer spiritual practices that are suitable for their capabilities, that are suited to what they need. So at first, He taught the Four Noble Truths because, with their capabilities, people could accept it. Later on, the Buddha taught the Six Paramitas,

Or the Six Perfections, to deliver them to the other shore. To “deliver” means to cross the sea of samsara and reach the other shore. We must cross the sea of samsara and reach the other shore, which is to reach the shore of Nirvana.

This is a state of tranquility and stillness, the land of calm illumination. Calm illumination is a very radiant state. It is also a state of tranquility and clarity. Such is the shore of Nirvana. With our spiritual practice we can go from the mental state of afflictions all the way to a very pure state in which afflictions do not cause our minds to fluctuate. That is a most tranquil state of mind. So, to cross into that state, there are six methods to use, which are giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom.

The Sutra of the Benevolent King also mentions that we must practice the Six Paramitas and the Four All-Embracing Virtues. Everyone’s practice must include the. Four All-Embracing Virtues. Everyone should know that these are charitable giving, beneficial conduct, loving speech and working together.

These are the Four All-Embracing Virtues. In fact, the people we interact with are our colleagues in working together. Whenever we meet someone, whenever we work with someone and so on, we have the opportunity to transform them. Therefore we must all work hard to “transform through working together.” Since we are all living together in this world, we must transform whomever we meet. Then, in all that we do, we must benefit all beings; we need many people to come together with the single resolve of helping everyone. That is called “beneficial conduct.”

What about “loving speech”? This is the Dharma that is taught. We always say that. “Dharma-children are born of the Buddha’s mouth.” The Dharma comes out of the mouth. For everyone to learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must constantly talk about the Dharma the Buddha taught. Then the Dharma will remain in the world. We have already taken the Dharma to heart, so if we keep the Dharma in our minds, we speak it whenever we open our mouths. Then we can persuade people to form aspirations and make vows. That is called “loving speech. Loving speech” is something we must constantly give to others. Nowadays, what sentient beings need the most is to have their minds nourished with Dharma-water. So, Dharma-water is what we need to give them right away. The giving of the Dharma is something we must give to all sentient beings. So, we need the Six Paramitas and the Four All-Embracing Virtues in all of our actions. They are the key methods for walking the Bodhisattva-path.

Next, we focus on the elder’s worries. He worried that if the children did not come out, what was he supposed to do? So, he used all kinds of precious toys and unusual objects to tempt them. What did the children need? This is similar to how the Buddha developed all kinds of Dharma-treasures according to sentient beings’ capabilities.

But eventually there was this urgent need for Him to proclaim this most important teaching and for everyone to come receive it right away. Otherwise, it would be too late. The next passage states, “If you do not come take them, you will regret it later.” If they did not come out quickly to earnestly receive the Dharma, the True Dharma of the One Vehicle, they would regret it later. This was what the Buddha told sentient beings who were receiving the Dharma and learning the path.

So [the elder] told them, “The toys you like to play with are rare and difficult to obtain. If you do not take them, you will regret it later.” Practitioners of the Three Vehicles who were fortunate enough to draw near the Buddha were led out by Him with skillful means. Otherwise, their greed and attachment to the burning house of the Three Realms would make it difficult for them to escape. This was worrisome and if nothing was done, it would be too late for regrets.

These “practitioners of the Three Vehicles” were “fortunate enough to draw near the Buddha.” People who are fortunate can live in an era with a Buddha. They are fortunate to encounter Him in His lifetime. So, “They were led out by Him with skillful means.” Because they lived in the same era as the Buddha, they could hear the Buddha-Dharma from Him. We should be very happy for them that they had the karmic conditions to do this. The Buddha, for the sake of sentient beings, developed skillful means to patiently guide everyone out of the Three Realms.

In conclusion, whether we encounter the Buddha-Dharma or not makes a big difference. If we encounter the Dharma, we can be Hearers and can understand the karmic law of cause and effect. Upon hearing it, we will be more restrained because we have understood the law of karma. Although we cannot completely purify our minds, we know the concept of cause and effect. This is the state of Hearers. If we are Solitary Realizers, we already clearly understand the principles that life is impermanent, there is no self and so on. We understand the principle of emptiness, but we still need to go one step further. Besides “true emptiness,” we must quickly realize “wondrous existence,” that everyone can attain Buddhahood.

We must seek to attain Buddhahood and feel an urgency to awaken; we must go among people without being defiled by them. We have to advance to this higher level. Only then can we develop a tranquil and clear mind. Otherwise, all we can do is say, “I’m already pure,” but when we are affected by external conditions, we will degenerate again.

It would be better to return to this world where we must live with these conditions, so we learn to keep our lives from being influenced by external conditions. We must not be affected by the gain and loss we experience in life and thus give rise to [discursive] thoughts. If we keep our minds calm and steady, that is the state of Samadhi, which is also one of wisdom. If we have this kind of wisdom, we will not be tempted by other conditions. So, when we learn from the Buddha, we must be thoroughly mindful.

Everyone in the burning house must quickly come out. There are precious treasures which we must seize right away. That is the Dharma. The most precious principles of the One Vehicle is the path we can take to escape the burning house of the Three Realms. So everyone, we must always be mindful.

Episode 558 – The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence

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>> “One ignorant thought initiates the Twelve Links. Volitional formation and consciousness lead to name and form and the six entrances. These lead to the causes of contact, feeling, craving, grasping and becoming, which lead to the suffering of birth, aging, illness and death.”

>> “The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy.”

>> “The toys you like to play with are rare and difficult to obtain. If you do not take them, you will regret it later.”

>> The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence: These links drag sentient beings to transmigrate in the Six Realms and Three Periods. The order of these causes and conditions begins with ignorance leading to volitional formation. Volitional formation leads to consciousness, consciousness to name and form. Name and form lead to the six entrances, and the six entrances lead to contact. Contact leads to feeling, feeling to craving, craving to grasping, grasping to becoming, becoming to birth, and birth leads to aging and death.

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“One ignorant thought initiates the Twelve Links.
Volitional formation and consciousness lead to name and form and the six entrances.
These lead to the causes of contact, feeling, craving, grasping and becoming,
which lead to the suffering of birth, aging, illness and death.”

These verses basically describe the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. How does life come about, and where is it headed? How did our past lead us here? We do not know. In the future, where will we go? That is even more difficult for us to know. But the Buddha came to the human realm to help us understand how we come and go from this world. So, we must be mindful.

As we live through each day, life seems very peaceful. Nothing is really happening and we are not consciously aware of many things happening around us. A lifetime is measured in decades, which is a very short period of time. Moreover, impermanence may strike at any instant, so we may not even have decades. Therefore, we must not idle away our days by not consciously living our lives. That would be such a pity.

So, we must understand the. Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. First, we start with the Four Noble Truths. After we understand the Four Noble Truths, we must go one step further to understand how we came to be born human by following our past [karma]. After our karmic causes and conditions converged in our past life, they eventually dispersed and we thus came to be born in our present life.

I may ask, “What did you do in your past life?” But I would not just ask you this, I would also ask the same question of myself, “What did I do in my past life?” I would say the same thing as you, “I don’t know.” But at the present I do know where I was born in this lifetime. Where did I come into the world? This I know. I know who my parents are and the type of karmic connection I have with them. If you ask me how I came to leave my family and become a monastic to engage in spiritual practice, I know the causes and conditions behind that. This is because in this life, no one knows me better than myself.

So, throughout the course of my whole life, over these many decades, my life has gone through many changes. What exactly is changing throughout my life? My thoughts. All of us have so many thoughts. Who knows how many thoughts can arise in a day? Fortunately, my mind back then led me on a very clear and open road. By paving well my path in the world, I entered the Bodhi-path.

But most people may remain in a state of ignorance. Every day, their thoughts arise out of ignorance. This ignorance leads to other conditions. What does it lead to? It leads to volitional formation, which leads to consciousness, which leads to name and form, which lead to the six entrances, which leads to contact, which leads to feeling, which leads to craving, which leads to grasping, which leads to becoming. These are all causes, which then lead to birth, aging, illness and death. These are the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence.

Yesterday’s sutra passage states,

“The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy.”

That elder, the father, kept calling on his children to come out, but they were immersed in that environment. Although he said that the fire was all around them and that they must get out right away, the children treated the fire as something pretty and fun.

This is like watching the wildfires in Australia (in 2013) on television. They have been burning for seven, eight, nine days and cannot be extinguished. We are worried about them, but when we watch it on television, at night, when the sky is burning red, it seems so beautiful. This is similar to when we see illusive and unreal states. The true state now in Australia, where the fire is actually burning, is a terrifying scene. Moreover, if we see the fires in daytime, we see how the smoke and fire continue to rise. Seeing that makes us worried.

People who are actually there can see the actual situation, just as the Buddha sees the True Dharma behind all things. We must recognize the severity of such disasters, that they must have been caused by something. There must be underlying causes and conditions. If the fires were not caused by the high heat, the dry tree branches, or the wind blowing and causing them to brush up against each other and give off a spark, then the cause must have been manmade, whether intentionally or unintentionally. This is a real situation and real people are actually there. They will investigate the cause of this fire.

Since we are somewhere far away, it can feel like what is happening there has nothing to do with us. Technology allows us to see the images there. See, it may seem very beautiful to us. This is what ordinary people are like. All the images that we see are illusive, so we do not know to be scared.

The father sees how his children are like this, lost and mesmerized by that illusive and unreal state, unable to escape that hazardous situation. He knows they each have different preferences, so he uses various methods to call out to them and draw them out.

So, “The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences.” A father knows his children best. No one knows the children’s minds better than their father, just like how the Buddha understands the capabilities of sentient beings better than anyone. This is the same principle. Sentient beings each have their own pursuits and desires, so He taught skillful means according to their desires and capabilities. This principle is the same.

The following passage then states, “So, he told the children….” The elder knew the desires in their hearts, so he started talking to them.

“The toys you like to play with are rare and difficult to obtain. If you do not take them, you will regret it later.”

He told them they must [come out]. What they needed, what they craved and what they wanted were all outside. “Come; come quickly! If you do not hurry up and come out, you may not get what you want. If you miss out on this, you will regret it.”

The elder knew what they liked, just like how the Buddha understands our capabilities. Thus He began by teaching the Four Noble Truths. Everyone who wants to listen to the Dharma, who wants to understand the principles of life, first needs a good foundation. Whether they have great capabilities, average capabilities or limited capabilities, they all must first have this basic understanding. So, He began by teaching suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. The Four Noble Truths were His first teachings. We must take great care to understand this most fundamental teaching.

So next, we need to know that to understand suffering, we must understand where suffering comes from, and what the origins of suffering are. Causation is something we create at every moment. But these causes are accumulated over the Three Periods, past, present and future. Currently, throughout the course of every day we are constantly accumulating them. What we accumulate now will affect our future. Are we accumulating good causes or evil ones? Accumulating goodness is a state of mind. Every day, we do good deeds and benefit others. Every day, we form good connections with people. Thus we accumulate goodness. If every day we give rise to afflictions and every day we behave improperly, then we will constantly form negative connections. Thus we accumulate evil. Whether we are accumulating goodness or evil, we are accumulating causes. Where will they [manifest]? In our future lifetimes.

So, the karma we accumulated in previous lives led us to this life. If in this life, we are still in a state of ignorance, we will accumulate similar karma, which likewise affects us; in this life, we do not know when impermanence will manifest. Then, we “cannot take anything with us,” but we bring the karmic causes and conditions we have accumulated into our future lives. These are the Three Periods. Everyone talks about the. [Twelve] Links of the Three Periods. The links of the Three Periods all begin with [ignorance]. How many links are there? There are 12 links.

Sentient beings [come into being] because of these links. Beginning with ignorance, each of these links leads us and pulls us to another link. This is how, in every life, we experience cyclic existence in the Three Periods. Not only do we experience cyclic existence, we also transmigrate through the Six Realms. In the Three Periods and the Six Realms, these karmic links lead our way. These causes and conditions arise in sequence, and we follow this order of causes and conditions.

The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence: These links drag sentient beings to transmigrate in the Six Realms and Three Periods. The order of these causes and conditions begins with ignorance leading to volitional formation. Volitional formation leads to consciousness, consciousness to name and form. Name and form lead to the six entrances, and the six entrances lead to contact. Contact leads to feeling, feeling to craving, craving to grasping, grasping to becoming, becoming to birth, and birth leads to aging and death.

These links are arranged in an order, beginning with ignorance. Ignorance is that initial thought. In the beginning, I told everyone that an ignorant thought may arise in a second, and the most critical moment in our whole lifetime may be that one second. In that second we can give rise to a thought that affects our whole lifetime. That one thought is an ignorant thought. Once ignorance stirs, it gives rise to greed, anger and delusion. Once we give rise to greed, delusion will follow. This is all due to that one thought.

Once an ignorant thought arises, the cycle of the links will begin. These links will lead us along. Being ignorant is like being blindfolded and being led by someone else. So, ignorance leads to volitional formation. Thus we begin to take action. Volitional formation leads to consciousness. This starts with taking action, so we often talk about the Six Sense Organs and Six Sense Objects. When we connect with our external conditions, our eyes see forms, and we desire certain forms. When our ears hear sounds, we desire certain sounds. If we hear something, a comment that makes us unhappy, we will react. This is how conflict arises.

When we crave things, we will try to take them. If we cannot take them easily, we try to find other ways, so we end up fighting over things. This is all volitional formation, kinds of actions. Our ignorance leads us to behave in certain ways. Thus, ignorance leads to volitional formation.

After we act, the karma we create is stored in our consciousness. In our eighth consciousness, all the good and evil we have ever done is stored there as seeds. After we act, there is a result. The fruits of our good and evil deeds are seeds, which are collected in the eighth consciousness.

Consciousness leads to name and form; once karma is created, it is beyond our control. We had formed affinities with our parents, so when our previous life ended, we came to this one. “Ignorance” leads to “volitional formation,” which leads to “consciousness.” The seeds planted in our “consciousness” will lead us to a certain pair of parents and a certain place. This is how we ended up where we did. So, “consciousness” leads to “name and form.”

“Name and form” is when a father’s sperm and a mother’s egg converge. We do not yet have human form. Before we have fully taken shape, this is called “name and form.” This lasts until we have our hands and feet. In the womb, we gradually develop and begin to have mind-consciousness, the Six Sense Organs; this is the “six entrances.” The “six entrances” means that, in addition to our feet, hands and head, our consciousness also starts to develop as “name and form” leads to the “six entrances.” These six entrances take shape, leading to “contact,” sensory contact. Once we begin to have mind-consciousness, when the time comes, we come into contact with the outside world.

Do you know the depth of the pain we experience at birth? When children are in their mother’s womb, they are like a ball of raw flesh. They have absolutely no contact with the air outside. It is only when they are born that they suddenly come in contact with the air. Their entire body is completely bare, without anything to protect them. Having never been exposed to air, the pain of that exposure shocks their system. So, when all babies are born, they cry. This is because the moment they are born, they feel a piercing pain all over their body. This shock to their nerves causes them to cry. This comes with “contact.”

“Contact” leads to “feeling.” Being exposed to this world, we start to develop feelings, like pain. The feeling of being exposed to air is very painful, so we cry. After this beginning, [these feelings continue] from infancy into adulthood. As babies we already have desires. When we are hungry, we will cry. When we are being nursed by our mother, we automatically start sucking. We suck the milk because of our “craving. Craving” is when we begin to pursue things. This starts when we are infants.

As soon as we learn to walk, when we see other people’s things we try to take them. Give a toddler something, [and they say,] “I don’t want this; I want that.” They are already picky. This starts when we are little. Humans are like this; we start by craving small things, then we discriminate, become picky and fight over things. Starting from a young age, though both siblings get a share, one will try to take whatever the other has. From the very beginning, life is like this. “Feeling” leads to “craving,” and “craving” leads to “grasping.” We try to take things.

“Grasping” leads to “becoming.” Once we have something, that leads to “becoming.” What comes into being? Good and bad karma. Are you grasping things to do something good? You may need something right now to save people. Then something comes to be; what is it? You become loving; the other person becomes grateful. In their actions, those who give do so with love, and those who receive feel grateful. The opposite is thinking of all the ways you can take what another person has and make it your own. If you take things from other people, if you do it out of a negative intent, an unwholesome mind, out of greed, the person you took things from, the person you fought with, will resent and hate you because he has nothing. This creates karma of hatred and resentment.

So, “grasping” leads to “becoming,” good and bad karma coming into being. This leads to “birth,” giving rise to various things. After we finish creating good and bad karma in this lifetime, when this life is over where will we go? In future lives we will be born, we will grow old, we will become ill and we will die. From the ignorance in our past lives, we created karma that led to our present life. And in this life, we ignorantly create more karma, which will lead us to our next life. In this way, “birth” leads to aging, illness and death.

We need to understand this and comprehend how the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence connect to each other. Then we realize the principles of true emptiness. Indeed, this started with just a single thought. It is just a thought, so it is completely empty. But if we act on it and create a lot of karma, we will fill our lives with suffering. We have accumulated many [causes], so we [transmigrate] through life after life. If we can understand this, we have realized the principles of true emptiness. Dear Bodhisattvas, as Buddhist practitioners we must first understand the Four Noble Truths and the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 557 – Learn the Law of Karma and the Four Noble Truths

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>> “All Four Forms of Birth arise from causes and conditions. Every arising thought creates positive or negative karma. Uncontrollably we bring seeds of karma with us. Ignorance, volition and consciousness give rise to birth and death.”

>> “The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy.”

>> “So, he told them, ‘These toys for you to play with are rare and difficult to obtain If you do not come take them, you will regret it later.'”

>> What the Buddha told them: He urged them to practice and uphold the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, “This is suffering; you should recognize it. This is causation; you should eradicate it. This is cessation; you should attain it. This is the Path; you should practice it.”

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“All Four Forms of Birth arise from causes and conditions.
Every arising thought creates positive or negative karma.
Uncontrollably we bring seeds of karma with us.
Ignorance, volition and consciousness give rise to birth and death.”

All living beings are born through the Four Forms of Birth. The Four Forms of Birth are egg-, womb-, moisture- and transformation-born. Apart from us human beings, there are many kinds of living, moving beings. They all go through the Four Forms of Birth. We all know about the womb-born. We humans and other mammals are womb-born. Cows are like this; they are born very naturally from their mothers’ womb. Sheep are also womb-born. Once a ewe gives birth to a lamb, lambs are known for then kneeling to drink the ewe’s milk. It is very natural for the lamb to do this.

There are many other womb-born creatures. Other than womb-born animals, many animals are born from eggs, chicken, ducks, birds and so on. Animals which fly are egg-born. Some fish give birth to many eggs at once.

In this world, no matter where they live, all living beings come from one of the four kinds of birth, egg-, womb-, moisture- and transformation-born. All creatures come into being through one of these four forms. These four forms all have their own causes and conditions; they arise from karmic cause and effect.

The Buddha said, “All living, moving beings have Buddha-nature.” These four kinds of beings all have Buddha-nature, just like us humans. Whether they are cows, dogs, pigs, sheep or any other animal, they all have Buddha-nature. We saw a of an old female chimpanzee. When she saw her owner doing chores, she copied him. She did the same chores her owner did, in the exact same way. She wrung the cloth, washed the windows and swept the floor. Whatever her owner could do, the chimp could do the same. Do you think she is an animal or a human? She could pretty much do what humans could do.

In circuses, monkeys can ride bikes and go around buckets and hoops. Their tricks are just as good as human tricks. Many different kinds of creatures can be trained in the same way. Dogs can guide their blind owners to safely go where they need to go. The dogs stay with their owners and guide them along a safe route. Think about this. Isn’t their nature close to human nature? If so, then their nature is close to Buddha-nature.

There are many stories like this regarding animals. We can clearly see that all living beings have Buddha-nature. How did we come to be born human? How did animals come to be born in the animal realm, to be slaughtered at the whim of humans? The environment they live in is so very different from that of humans. What is the ultimate cause behind this? Causes and conditions. We often talk about causes and conditions in relation to the Six Realms. People who do good are born in the heaven realm or in heaven on earth. Even if you cannot see the heaven realm, there is heaven on earth.

Many people enjoy great comfort and luxury. They are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. In this world, they are born to a good family that is well-off. They grow up in that environment and are nurtured with care. The environment they live in feels like heaven. If they have a love for cars, they will have many cars six to seven, maybe more than ten vehicles. They are willing to polish the cars all day and cannot bear to let other people touch them. They are attached to these cars.

One of our honorary board members used to live like this. After joining Tzu Chi he knew he did not need to be a slave to his cars.

Every day he was polishing his vehicles. Every day he worked on a different car. Sometimes he went for a drive. He had no purpose except to drive. After driving it, he did maintenance on the car once he was home. The next day, he switched to another car. I asked him, “How many cars do you have?” He replied, “There are seven days in a week. I drive a different car every day. So you have to polish seven cars in one day?” He said “I enjoy polishing the cars.”

“How much is a car worth? Almost NT 7 million. That is one of the cheaper ones. If almost NT 7 million is cheap, what is the most expensive? Over NT 20 million. Doesn’t this take a lot of work?” After a while, he told me, “Master, now I understand what you were telling me. I’m going to sell all my cars. I’ll just keep one.” One day I asked him, “What are you going to do with the money? I will donate to international relief or some of our other missions.” I said, “This creates countless merits.”

There is another Tzu Chi volunteer like him. He greatly enjoys fine cuisine. He said that I can name any creature that flies, swims or runs, and he would have already eaten it. One time, upon hearing about a famous dish somewhere, he got on a plane to go there and eat it. After living that way, now he is a vegetarian and often shares his story with other people.

His life changed. Why did it change? Because he understood the principles, that the form of birth we experience depends on our causes and conditions. We cannot simply choose for ourselves. It depends on the thoughts that arise in our minds and the positive and negative karmic conditions which we create. After letting go of this body where will we be born in our next life? Will we be womb-born? Will we be egg-born? Will we be moisture-born, transformation-born? We do not know; it is beyond our control. All we can do is take good care of our minds. When thoughts arise in our minds, will we do good deeds, or will we benefit others? We may do good deeds and create blessed karmic conditions. But what if we commit evil deeds? That creates negative karmic conditions. In the unwholesome environment thus created, if we commit evils, then with those negative karmic conditions, the power of this karma will naturally drag us into the evil realms.

We can end up in this world, in the animal realm. We can see all kinds of animals in our world. What if we want to see hungry ghosts? Nowadays, information is easily accessible. So many sentient beings are starving, starving to the point of being skin and bones. They have no muscles. On Da Ai TV, we often see images of sentient beings who suffer from starvation. In the hell realm, there is the hell of iron beds. If we are financially stable and have good karmic conditions, when we are sick we can go to the hospital so that people can take care of us. But some illnesses, no matter how much care we receive, are still impossible to diagnose, and even if a cause is found, there may be no way to treat it. The patients feel like they are on an iron bed. “My suffering is the worst. I have no sense of the suffering experienced by the patient next to me.” It is as if they are in the hell of iron beds. In particular, people who have had their feet or hands amputated, or tongues removed, or were burnt by fire and so on, don’t they feel like they are in hell on earth? This is a result of negative karma. We follow our karmic conditions; it is beyond our control.

See, in this world there are people who are so wealthy they are like heavenly beings. In this world, there are people so tormented by suffering it is as if they are in hell. With these good and evil realms, we do not need to talk about evil realms beyond this world; we can already see them in this world.

So, we must understand the principles. When we are born, “Uncontrollably we bring seeds of karma with us.” When we see people living in luxury, we may think, “If I knew, I would have been born in that family.” Is that possible? Even if we knew, it is still impossible, because even if we knew, we would have had to create good karma in our past lives and not evil. This had to be done in our past lives. “Uncontrollably we bring seeds of karma with us.” We bring good and bad karma with us; we have no choice about this. We have already brought it with us to this life.

Since we have brought karma with us already, now that we have the chance to hear the Dharma, we must change our life. When will we change our life? If we change now, we will reap the results in our future life. If we do not find this life ideal, we should be motivated to change it. If we enjoy this life we should remain vigilant and not deplete our blessings. No matter how much money we have in the bank, eventually we will spend it all. So, we must create blessings for our future lifetimes right now.

What happens in this life is beyond our control. Since we are born human, we are still very blessed, so we should always be grateful. Born human in this lifetime, we are able to hear the Buddha-Dharma and live in Taiwan, which is a great place. We should feel grateful every day.

For ordinary people like us, “Ignorance, volition and consciousness give rise to birth and death.” We have talked about how the Buddha came to this world to share with everyone that they have the potential to attain Buddhahood. But to achieve this state of mind, we must fulfill certain conditions like purifying our minds. Our minds can be purified if we mindfully engage in spiritual practice.

Sakyamuni Buddha was not born enlightened. It took Him five years of traveling and six years of ascetic practice in order to realize the truths of the universe. So, this was the process of spiritual practice that He underwent and the life that He lived. He manifested an example for us, teaching us how to engage in spiritual practice. But actually, He had spent lifetimes over countless kalpas engaging in spiritual practice.

He had already attained enlightenment and His state of mind was as clear as crystal, very pure, tranquil and clear. It was one with the universe. But there was no way for Him to share this state of mind with everyone. So, He had to devise various skillful means according to sentient beings’ capabilities. Thus He taught the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.

The previous sutra passage states,

“The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy.”

He had already understood sentient beings’ capabilities, so He gave them suitable teachings. Only people who willingly draw near the Dharma and listen to it can realize the Buddha’s teachings.

The next passage in the sutra states,

“So, he told them, ‘These toys for you to play with are rare and difficult to obtain If you do not come take them, you will regret it later.'”

Knowing what these children needed and what would bring them joy, the elder called to them loudly. These children were still inside the burning house, not realizing they had to get out. No matter how he yelled, they merely watched him, not realizing they had to get out. The elder had to devise other skillful means. Knowing what these children liked and what made them happy, he called out to them, “Come here. Let me tell you something.”

“These toys for you to play with are rare and difficult to obtain. If you do not come take them, you will regret it later.” He said, “Come quickly, because out here, there many more fun things than there are inside. If you do not quickly leave the house, you will miss out on getting your hands on these very rare and precious things. Then you will regret it.” This was how he called out to his children. He yelled to them loudly in hopes that they could quickly escape the place that was catching fire.

This is why he yelled. This is like how. “[The Buddha] urged them to practice and uphold the teachings of the Four Noble Truths.”

What the Buddha told them: He urged them to practice and uphold the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, “This is suffering; you should recognize it. This is causation; you should eradicate it. This is cessation; you should attain it. This is the Path; you should practice it.”

The Buddha teaches the Four Noble Truths, the truth of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. From the beginning, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths. Do you know about the different kinds of suffering sentient beings experience in this world? “This is suffering; you should recognize it.” This world is a place full of suffering. Everyone in the human realm faces suffering.

How much suffering is there? Everyone experiences some sufferings equally, such as birth, aging, illness and death. After we are born, we slowly grow up and mature. Then we become old. As we age from adolescence, young adulthood to middle-age, we each live in different environments. Some suffer because of their living situation. Some suffer because of their ignorance.

Children who are spoiled grow up to be playboys; they do not understand the principles of the world, so they think others always treat them wrongly. People like this crave many things. If they cannot attain those things, they give rise to afflictions, hate and so on. This is also suffering. What happens when it comes to relationships? If a man loves a woman, he will keep pursuing her by any means possible. During that process, he suffers from not getting what he wants or not being loved by the person he loves. So, [we suffer from] not getting what we want, parting with those we love and even meeting those we hate. Therefore, the Buddha said. “This is suffering; you should recognize it.”

Everyone should know that life is suffering. Contemplate this meticulously, think about this calmly. Is there anything that can make us happy forever? There is not one thing that can make us happy forever. Things are impermanent and constantly changing, and moreover, there are many sudden accidents and unexpected disasters. These cause unbearable suffering. We must understand this. The Buddha said, “This is suffering; you should recognize it.”

“This is causation; you should eradicate it.” Suffering arises due to our attachments. It is because we have attachments that, when in these situations, we take issue over things and give rise to afflictions. When we see something good, we fight for it and want to take it. Oftentimes, when people see jewelry they want to steal and snatch it.

How much damage has acquiring these treasures caused our natural environment? We know that to find these gems people blow up mountains and caves. That is how they discover these precious stones. This is “causation.” Accumulating these causes in the world has led to an imbalance of the four elements. The destruction caused to the earth happens because of people’s minds. This leads to the creation and accumulation of karma. We must put an end to this causation; otherwise, if we keep accumulating karma, we will create endless suffering for people in the future. Who knows where we will end up in our next life? We have no idea. So, “This is causation; you should eradicate it.”

We must not only eradicate it, we must reach a state of “cessation.” In this life, we cannot be greedy any more. At the same time, we cultivate purifying practices in order to understand these principles. This is the state of cessation; our greed and desires must cease. Not only must we refrain from acting on them, even our minds must be cleansed of them. So, “This is cessation; you should attain it.”

“This is the Path; you should practice it.” This is the Path; we must earnestly practice it. The Buddha told us about these principles and paved a road for us to walk on. The Four Noble Truths help us understand how we came to this world. In coming, what factors did we accumulate that led us to be born human? This teaching was followed by the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. The Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths so that everyone can hear and understand the law of karma etc. He used skillful means and analogies in order to teach the Four Noble Truths. Many principles and many truths about the law of karma can be found in the teachings of the Four Noble Truths. But to realize how we came to be human, we need to understand the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.

Everyone, the Four Noble Truths can help us understand many things. Explaining the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence will take more time. So, I ask all of you to, at this time, understand the Four Noble Truths first. Then I will explain the sequence of the Twelve Links. So everyone, please always be mindful.

Episode 556 – Treat Ignorance By Training the Mind

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>> “Ignorance and desires blaze due to the lack of wisdom-water. The wondrous Dharma that can save the world must be used to train our minds. Everything is created by the mind; this is the Dharma of perfect enlightenment. The mind and the Buddha are equal in great compassion.”

>> “I should now devise skillful means to allow all my children to avoid this harm.”

>> “The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy.”

>> The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences: This explains the reason behind the Three Vehicles. He knew that they each had preferences, things which they sought, just as the Buddha knew sentient beings’ abilities gave them strong or weak powers of wisdom. He considered their capacity to accept and apply the Dharma before giving it to them.

>> “He knew they each had their own preferences and things which they sought.”

>> This also shows that their habitual natures were the cause, and their own spiritual practice was the effect. The directions each followed to attain merits were all different. This is why the Tathagata first adapted to their preferences in order to teach the Dharma.

>> Most people take pleasure in various valuable and precious objects, things they can admire and play with, and are attached to desires and sensory pleasures. This is an analogy for the Two Vehicle practitioners, who only take joy in liberating themselves. They are attached to benefiting themselves and take joy in their own teachings.

>> Those with great capabilities had originally studied the Great Vehicle. This is the meaning of “knowing each had their own preferences.” The various precious toys are the. Four Truths, Twelve Links, Six Paramitas etc., which are rare in the Three Realms. Thus they are called unusual objects. He knew what enlightened beings took joy in, so he directly gave them what they liked.

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“Ignorance and desires blaze due to the lack of wisdom-water.
The wondrous Dharma that can save the world must be used to train our minds.
Everything is created by the mind; this is the Dharma of perfect enlightenment.
The mind and the Buddha are equal in great compassion.”

Isn’t the purpose of spiritual practice to help all of us train our minds? If we do not train our minds well, ignorance will arise, which opens the door to many obstacles. If we can train our minds to be stable, the mirror of our clear wisdom will manifest. So, we must always be mindful in training our minds.

During the Buddha’s lifetime, something like this happened in His Sangha.

When the Buddha was at Jeta Grove, there was a group of bhiksus following Him to engage in spiritual practice. The environment of Jeta Grove was beautiful. In springtime, all the flowers were in bloom and the trees flourished. There were also many flowers and grasses. These beautiful springtime images were very enchanting.

Among [the monastics] was a group of four bhiksus. As they sat there, one of them said, “If I could spend every day in this place, I would feel peaceful and at ease. I could enjoy the scenery of the mountains and of the flowers together with others. If I could do this, then I would be very happy.” Another bhiksu said, “If I could be with a few friends and relatives and have a drink, sing a little song and dance together, enjoying the song and dance, that would be so wonderful.”

Another bhiksu said, “If I could live in this kind of state and also have plenty of wealth and treasures, beautiful clothing, an extravagant cart and horses and so on, so that I am the envy of everyone who sees me, if I could live in such a state, that would be so wonderful.” Another replied, “Indeed, I would add one more thing to this state, which is a beautiful wife and concubines. They would be dressed beautifully, have wonderful singing voices and play instruments. If we could enjoy this kind of life, wouldn’t that be the most delightful thing? Playing and enjoying ourselves in this place would be such a wonderful pleasure in life!”

When He heard this, the Buddha felt, “They already took vows and left the lay life. However, their minds are still connected to those states. This is really a pity.”

“It is precious to hear the Dharma and have the aspiration to become a monastic, yet their minds are still connected to these various states, causing these thoughts to stir in their minds.” The Buddha, in His compassion, called for them. He told them, “Everyone should know that life is impermanent. After the spring passes, the blazing heat of summer comes. If it is dry, all the flowers will wilt. Come autumn, all the leaves on the trees will wither. The beauty of this world is impermanent.”

“Also, if you want to gather in a group and enjoy yourselves, remember that, no matter how close you are, you will eventually have to part. If you want wealth and treasures, you must understand that they never truly belong to us. We must also know, if we want beautiful wives and concubines, and the pleasure and entertainment they provide, we must know we will suffer from parting with those we love and from meeting those we hate. Nothing in this world is everlasting. We must all understand this. With your current thinking and mindset, if you continue to connect with conditions, that will be very hazardous. That could evoke and lead you toward depression and fear; it is a path to danger and even death.” This is what the Buddha told these four bhiksus.

So, we have said, “Ignorance and desires blaze.” If ignorance and desire arise, they will blaze like a fire. Similarly, if the fields of our minds are not nourished by Dharma-water, desire will cause the fields to become completely dry, which is very hazardous.

Recently we have spoken of the Three Realms as a great house with many people living in it. If people’s undisciplined minds become impatient from being arid and parched, they will not be able to calm down. So, the house of the Three Realms has been decaying in this very dry state. But the people within are still unaware. Under these circumstances, being in this great house is very hazardous. Not only is it dangerous, already “all at once, a fire broke out.” This fire is ablaze on all four sides. This is how the Buddha warns us to quickly start training our minds. We must aspire to save the world. As the fire begins to burn all around us, we must quickly find ways to extinguish it, or, if the fire has grown too big, we must quickly escape. This is how we save this great house.

To save the world, we need wondrous Dharma. The first method in this wondrous Dharma is to train our minds. The Buddha also told us that. “[To know] all Buddhas of the Three Periods, [know that] all things are created by the mind.” Everything, even past, present and future Buddhas must begin with the mind.

So, “Everything is created by the mind; this is the Dharma of perfect enlightenment.” The Dharma is a method of achieving balance. It can help us balance and stabilize our minds so that we retain our pure intrinsic nature and reach a state where our mind is equal to the Buddha’s. This requires applying great compassion.

We must know that everyone lives together in the great house of this world. So, everyone’s minds must be pure. Right now, the macrocosm of the world is in an era where there is an imbalance of the four elements. Good and evil are mixed up in people’s minds. Most people have strayed from the path of morality. So, what should we do? We must quickly think of a way to help everyone to be more proactive and call out in one voice. The voice of one person is too weak. We need to bring more people’s voices together and call out in unison. This is the only way for the Buddha to not be doing this alone. If the elder is by himself, he will be very lonely. So, as Buddhist practitioners, we must have this awareness.

The previous sutra passage states,

“I should now devise skillful means to allow all my children to avoid this harm.”

We spoke of this before. The elder repeatedly called to them, but the children remained inside. So, he had to quickly think of various methods to draw them out. These children have been immersed in desires, so he had to find methods based on what it was that delighted them in order to draw them out. This was the compassionate father, the elder of the world, the world-transcending enlightened one, the Buddha.

The next passage states,

“The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy.”

This explains the Three Vehicles. The Buddha wanted to share the enlightened state He had attained with everyone so that everyone’s minds would be in a state equal to the Buddha’s. Sadly, their habitual tendencies were already quite severe, so He had to teach the Three Vehicle Dharma.

The father knew his children, that they each had their own preferences: This explains the reason behind the Three Vehicles. He knew that they each had preferences, things which they sought, just as the Buddha knew sentient beings’ abilities gave them strong or weak powers of wisdom. He considered their capacity to accept and apply the Dharma before giving it to them.

Next,

“He knew they each had their own preferences and things which they sought.”

This is an analogy. The Buddha knew that among sentient beings some had exceptional capabilities and some had very limited capabilities. Therefore, He had to mindfully contemplate and evaluate them to see what kind of people they were and what types of methods He would need to use.

The Buddha always observed their capabilities and taught accordingly. According to each person’s “habitual nature as the cause,” He allowed them to attain “spiritual practice as the effect.” Each person’s habitual tendencies determined the teaching that each could accept. This was the cause. Then, the effect depends on their capabilities and how they engage in spiritual practice.

This also shows that their habitual natures were the cause, and their own spiritual practice was the effect. The directions each followed to attain merits were all different. This is why the Tathagata first adapted to their preferences in order to teach the Dharma.

Those with great capabilities walked the Bodhisattva-path. Those with average capabilities observed the states of the four seasons and so on. In this way, each followed their own capabilities to “attain merits.”

Those who walk the Bodhisattva-path engage in internal cultivation and external practices. Those with average capabilities only engage in internal cultivation. Their spiritual practice is focused on themselves. This has a certain effect. Although engaging in internal cultivation to “purify their own minds” likewise allows them to attain virtues, they are not Bodhisattvas who go among people. The Dharma they spread is not that of the Four Great Vows so it does not result in that great virtue. So, they each engaged in their own practice, and each attained their own virtues. Thus, “They were all different.”

The Tathagata adapted to their preferences and used various treasures and various valuables to entice them from that place. Depending on what they wanted, they could quickly come out to get it. This is the mindfulness of the Buddha.

Most people take pleasure in various valuable and precious objects, things they can admire and play with, and are attached to desires and sensory pleasures. This is an analogy for the Two Vehicle practitioners, who only take joy in liberating themselves. They are attached to benefiting themselves and take joy in their own teachings.

Most people “take pleasure in various valuable and precious objects.” The things that people can play with or admire are the things that are craved by many people. Some people are happy when they see wonderful things, so they want to take them, to possess them. Clinging to them, they lose their resolve. They remain immersed in that state and do not want to move forward or exercise the pure potential of their nature. They remain immersed in and greedily cling to that state. This is an analogy for Two Vehicle practitioners, who only seek to awaken themselves.

This is true whether they are. Solitary Realizers or Hearers. Solitary Realizers realize on their own that all things in the world are impermanent. They are like Sariputra, who had stopped with the [realization of] true emptiness. He could not penetrate wondrous existence, how to transform sentient beings to help them return to their intrinsic Tathagata-nature.

After penetrating the principles, he had made use of them himself. He understood “true emptiness,” but not the Buddha’s original intent. The Buddha’s heart is as vast as the universe; “His mind encompasses the universe.” He sees the Three Realms as His own house and sentient beings in the Three Realms as part of His own family, His own children. This expansive and spacious mind is truly in a state of “wondrous existence.” Meanwhile, Sariputra had stopped with realizing the principles of “true emptiness” and sought only to awaken himself.

Others still had desires in their minds. These Hearers were like the four bhiksus we just spoke of. They were in a place of spiritual practice but still allowed discursive thoughts to arise. You see, these Hearers had heard the Buddha expound the Dharma, yet this was still their state of mind. Their minds were still fluctuating. So, these were all Small Vehicle practitioners. They had not yet realized great principles, so the Buddha had to use various methods to draw them out.

This is how the Buddha teaches according to sentient beings’ capabilities, based on what the practitioners would accept. What exactly do they want? So, when it comes to joy, the Two Vehicle practitioners only take joy in liberating themselves. “They are attached to benefiting themselves and take joy in their own teachings.” This is [the mindset] of ordinary practitioners. They have not yet taken the Great Vehicle Dharma to heart and still dwell on the Two Vehicle Dharma.

Those with great capabilities “had originally studied the Great Vehicle. This is the meaning of knowing each had their own preferences.”

Those with great capabilities had originally studied the Great Vehicle. This is the meaning of “knowing each had their own preferences.” The various precious toys are the. Four Truths, Twelve Links, Six Paramitas etc., which are rare in the Three Realms. Thus they are called unusual objects. He knew what enlightened beings took joy in, so he directly gave them what they liked.

The Buddha already “knew that they each had their own preferences.” In the past, some had developed great aspirations and had maintained their capabilities up to the present. So, they could quickly accept the Great Dharma and go out to transform sentient beings.

Thus, “the various precious toys are the. Four Truths, Twelve Links, Six Paramitas, etc. Four Truths” refers to the Four Noble Truths. “Twelve Links” refers to the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. The Six Paramitas are the teachings of the Bodhisattva-path, giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. These Six Paramitas are truly “rare in the Three Realms. Thus they are called unusual objects.” This Dharma really is very precious.

We understand that enlightened sentient beings are Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas are enlightened sentient beings who would certainly be delighted with it, so He gave them their favorite Dharma. They form great aspirations and make great vows, so the Buddha taught the Six Paramitas to them.

Engaging in spiritual practice is like the way farmers cultivate a field. The field cannot survive without water. See the many countries experiencing droughts now. The ground is cracked and left uncultivated. If the fields are unplowed, crops cannot be harvested. Thus, the people’s lives are in crisis. If we do not cultivate the fields of our minds, we will lose our wisdom-life. When there is ignorance in our minds, it is like an arid land with dried out grass; the slightest spark of fire will set it ablaze. So, we must have the water of wisdom.

Then we can earnestly use our wisdom to train our minds. If our minds are trained well, the mirror of our minds will be like a flooded paddy, which reflects the moon in the sky so the image of a bright moon appears. The mirror of our minds is just like this. We must exercise great compassion to go among people. Suffering, causation, cessation and the Path, the Four Noble Truths, must be understand along with the. Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence of our past, present and future. Most importantly, we must practice the Six Perfections. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 555 – Developing Liberated Understanding and Views

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>> “The Buddha, with an ocean of enlightenment and the love of a kind father, contemplated and had thoughts about how to save His children. He established wondrous provisional teachings by teaching the Three Vehicles. Like clouds suddenly dispersing, afflictions will be eliminated.”

>> At that time, the elder had this thought, “This house is already burning with great flames. If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.”

>> “I should now devise skillful means to allow my children to avoid this harm.”

>> “I should now devise skillful means to allow all my children to avoid this harm”: The elder, in his old age, worriedly thought about how to quickly get the children out, to protect them and help them avoid being injured by the fire.

>> This explains how He contemplated the methods for saving sentient beings from severe hindrances of attachments and afflictions: Lethargy and afflictions will disturb our minds and spirits so that we cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature. This is the obstruction of afflictions.

>> This is an analogy for how the Buddha’s affinity with the world was almost over. The Three Vehicle practitioners had not fully attained liberated understanding and views, and His only fear was not saving them in time.

>> Sentient beings had lost focus and were greedy for, attached to and deluded by all the external conditions they connected with. Thus they could not remember their original goodness. They had lost sight of their nature. The Buddha could not bear for this to happen. He compared [the children to] “sentient beings who had lost focus” and were “greedy for, attached to and deluded by all the external conditions they connected with.”

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“The Buddha, with an ocean of enlightenment and the love of a kind father,
contemplated and had thoughts about how to save His children.
He established wondrous provisional teachings by teaching the Three Vehicles.
Like clouds suddenly dispersing, afflictions will be eliminated.”

This tells everyone that after the Buddha’s enlightenment, His mind encompassed all things in the world. Therefore, we refer to the Buddha as the Great Enlightened One of the Universe. The Buddha’s wisdom encompasses all things in the universe. How could His wisdom possibly be so great? Because His love is limitless. This is why we talk about compassion and wisdom. [That love] is His compassion. With His compassion and wisdom, He is one with the universe and has the love of a kind father.

This “kind father” is different from ordinary parents. Once we make the comparison to parents, we think about how parents’ hearts are such that however badly their children behave, they will generously forgive them, hoping their children can return to a proper path. These parents never stop hoping. But, no matter how great their parental love is, it only lasts for one lifetime; they only have the karmic conditions to be parents to their child in this life. However, the Buddha is a kind father with an ocean of enlightenment in His heart. The love of such a kind father lasts lifetime after lifetime.

However vast the universe is, His heart is just as vast. However long the universe lasts, His enlightened nature will last just as long. The Buddha’s loving-kindness makes Him the father of the Four Kinds of Beings, and this state of mind is everlasting. He is not only our kind father for one lifetime, but will be the kind father of sentient beings forever. His love for all sentient beings in the world is everlasting.

This is why we always talk about unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion. How “universal” is His compassion? He treats all people as He would His own body. With the Buddha’s ocean of enlightenment and His loving-kindness, He treats sentient beings as if they were a part of His own body. This is how much He cares for them. The suffering of sentient beings is suffering that the Buddha experiences as His own.

As we live in this world, we unceasingly give rise to afflictions and karma. We have accumulated so much collective karma. The world is already giving us constant warnings. These warnings tell us, “Look at the state we are in!” In the macrocosm of the world, there have been endless disasters of water, fire, wind and earthquakes. See how an imbalance of the four elements results in frequent disasters in this era. The Buddha sensed this, so over 2000 years ago He made predictions about what things would be like now. He continuously “contemplated and had thoughts about [this].” The Four Kinds of Beings in the Three Realms are like His children. How could He bear for them to stay in this world, in the Three Realms? All these disasters in the world are

caused by the impurity and evil in the human mind. We sentient beings in this world just continue to create karma and do things to harm the land, all in order extract the earth’s resources. People continuously mine mountains and dig into the earth. This planet was once very safe, but humans, for their personal gain, unceasingly excavate and destroy the land.

Yet regular people do not care about this and only think about their own comforts. They continue to enjoy themselves and play. Even if a father is anxiously waiting outside, repeatedly warning [his children], they are foolish and “merely look at their father.” They do not know how to react. This is because the world’s sentient beings have let afflictions cover their wisdom; their wisdom has been covered, so their ability to react slows down greatly. They are always greedily attached.

This is why the Buddha continued to engage in contemplation, devising many provisional teachings to teach the Three Vehicles. But sentient beings were still slow to understand. Now, at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, the Buddha urgently called out to them to “tell them of these fearful matters.” He began to tell the people in the world that this world is truly frightening and fearsome. He began to call out to them and also say to them, “Come back quickly. Return to your intrinsic nature of True Suchness. Do not be an unenlightened being any longer, trapped in that burning home, not knowing that disaster is closing in from all sides. You must immediately awaken. Ignorance is like a black cloud. Only when that cloud is swept away can afflictions be eliminated.”

So, I hope that everyone will [understand] that the Three Vehicles the Buddha taught are in fact wondrous provisional teachings. These teachings are called “wondrous” because they contain true principles. It is just that we lack the capabilities to directly accept them. We also have the intrinsic nature of True Suchness that enables us to attain Buddhahood, but we do not know how to bring it out, so the Buddha taught us various methods.

The best way is to eliminate our sense of self. We must open up our hearts and minds and cherish all things in the world. Only by cherishing all things can we understand their true principles. The most accessible way for us to experience this is by going among people. We must go among people and experience their suffering. Only by doing this can we clearly understand the principles. In this way, “Like clouds suddenly dispersing, afflictions will be eliminated.”

At that time, the elder had this thought, “This house is already burning with great flames. If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.”

The previous passage stated, “At that time, the elder had this thought,” that this house already had flames surrounding it on all sides. “If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.” They could wait no longer; time was running out. There was no time to take things slowly, to listen gradually and gradually awaken, no. He was already out of time. It was time for them to awaken right away.

The next sutra passage states,

“I should now devise skillful means to allow my children to avoid this harm.”

After the Buddha had attained enlightenment, He wanted to share the state of mind He realized with everyone. But sentient beings are foolish and dense, so they could not embrace it immediately. Then He had no choice but to use skillful means to save them from their ignorance and habitual tendencies. He taught methods to help them to quickly sweep away their ignorance and afflictions.

So, in over 2000 years, how many lifetimes have we gone through? Have we been able to accept the Buddha-Dharma? If we have accepted the Buddha-Dharma, have we attained any realizations? So, the Buddha endlessly devised skillful means, and we have accepted the Buddha’s skillful means and have been gradually guided by them. However, our progress can no longer be gradual; it must happen quickly.

So, seven years before He entered Parinirvana, the Buddha gave the Lotus teachings. It took the Buddha seven years just to teach it, to say nothing of us unenlightened beings. The era we live in now and the way people live now are different from the Buddha’s lifetime. As I expound these teachings every day, have you comprehended them? As disasters occur more frequently, we must immediately discover ways of escaping this burning house and awakening to the Buddha-Dharma so we can still our minds and earnestly consider how we can live in harmony with all things in the world. This is why we must make an effort to reflect on ourselves and awaken.

“I should now devise skillful means to allow all my children to avoid this harm”: The elder, in his old age, worriedly thought about how to quickly get the children out, to protect them and help them avoid being injured by the fire.

“The elder, in his old age” refers to the master of this burning house. This elder was already advanced in years, ․so he felt more and more urgency. Seeing his children becoming more undisciplined, his sense of urgency grew, especially as the house was becoming older and more dilapidated. “He worriedly thought about how to quickly get the children out.” No matter what the children were like, he just wanted to get them out quickly. This illustrates the Buddha’s thinking. With wisdom, He devised methods for relieving sentient beings from “severe hindrances of attachments and afflictions.”

This explains how He contemplated the methods for saving sentient beings from severe hindrances of attachments and afflictions: Lethargy and afflictions will disturb our minds and spirits so that we cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature. This is the obstruction of afflictions.

What are sentient beings attached to? To our desires. Our ignorance and desires have brought about our state of delusion. With desires come delusions. Look at the many countries which are experiencing natural and manmade disasters. Sentient beings, in their delusion, have brought about many natural and manmade disasters, This is because people’s desires and possessiveness give rise to delusion, confusion and attachments. These are very serious obstacles. Most of us are just like this;

we experience “lethargy and afflictions.” These afflictions cause us to become lethargic so that we cannot awaken. We seem to keep falling asleep. As soon as we listen to the Dharma we nod off. Then we remain asleep until the teaching is over. This is a lethargic and afflicted state. This happens because we unenlightened beings are dense when it comes to pure, wondrous Dharma. Because we lack wisdom, we are slow when it comes to the Dharma, very lethargic and afflicted. These obstructions are afflictions. These afflictions “disturb our minds and spirits.” They have disturbed our minds so that we are unable to concentrate. Though we listen to the Dharma, our minds are not focused.

“We cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature.” Because we still cannot focus, our precepts, Samadhi and wisdom continue to leak away. So, our practice of the Three Flawless Studies is still not very stable. As soon as we take the Dharma to heart, it quickly leaks out again. Because of this, “We cannot reveal our wondrous and bright nature.” This is the obstruction of afflictions.

Every morning after listening to the Dharma, we chant, “I vow to eliminate the Three Obstructions and all afflictions. I vow to attain wisdom and true clarity. I universally vow to eliminate all karmic obstacles and life after life follow the Bodhisattva-path.” For our minds, we “vow to eliminate the. Three Obstructions and all afflictions.” In our daily living, are there discursive thoughts in our minds? We are filled with discursive thoughts. Whose discursive thoughts are these? They are ours. Who can eliminate your discursive thoughts? Only you can.

So, if we vow to eliminate them but do not actually make the effort to clear them away, that is like hoping a filthy place will become clean but refusing to pick up any cleaning tools to tidy things up. Who will do it for you? Perhaps a Bodhisattva will come and clean for you. But a Bodhisattva can only clean the things that are around you. Tzu Chi Bodhisattva[-volunteers] constantly help people clean their house. But how can they clean the inside of someone’s mind? They have to put the Bodhisattva Way into practice and first purify their own minds before dedicating themselves with love to clean other people’s living environments. This is the way they move people and teach them.

So, we vow to “comprehend the great path,” have “wisdom like the ocean” and “lead the people harmoniously.” If we do not “comprehend the great path,” we cannot eliminate the Three Obstructions. If we do not have wisdom, then we cannot mature. If we do not penetrate the sutras, there will be no Dharma in our hearts to nurture our wisdom. If we cannot develop our wisdom, we cannot cultivate virtue. If we have no virtue then we will be unable to eliminate our afflictions and will be unable to deliver sentient beings.

So, we must “eliminate the Three Obstructions and all afflictions.” We must constantly clear out our discursive thoughts and hold fast to precepts, Samadhi and wisdom in our minds. This is the only way we can go among the people.

This is also an analogy for the Buddha’s karmic affinity for being in this world. We always say that time is running out. Indeed, there is not enough time left.

This is an analogy for how the Buddha’s affinity with the world was almost over. The Three Vehicle practitioners had not fully attained liberated understanding and views, and His only fear was not saving them in time.

The Buddha lived in this world for 80 years. Out of these 80 years, He spent 49 teaching the Dharma. Those 49 years passed quickly and. His “affinity with the world was almost over.” The Buddha taught [the Three Vehicles] because sentient beings’ limited capabilities prevented them from directly accepting that the Buddha’s enlightened state of mind is intrinsic to everyone. He wanted to share this with everyone, but there was no one who could comprehend it, so He had to teach the Three Vehicles. He taught with the Three Vehicles for 40 years.

But though they heard the Dharma that was taught, they would take in one part of Dharma but give rise to nine parts of afflictions. This is why they remained in the Six Realms and among the Four Forms of Birth, transmigrating endlessly. This was what worried the Buddha the most. Time was running out. We are now in the evil world of Five Turbidities. There are more and more opportunities for us to be tempted to create afflictions. We keep losing the sense of love in our hearts and the compassion in our relationships. This is why the Buddha felt a sense of urgency,

especially as He was in His later years. His “affinity with the world was almost over,” and the “Three Vehicle practitioners had not fully attained liberated understanding and views.” They still did not clearly understand. So, He feared “not saving them in time.” This is why the Buddha felt a sense of urgency. He was like the elder who quickly devised more methods to see if he could quickly get everyone out. Only if everyone could escape the burning house would the elder, the father, feel at ease.

“Sentient beings had lost focus and were greedy for, attached to and deluded by all the external conditions they connected with. Thus they could not remember their original goodness. They had lost sight of their nature. The Buddha could not bear for this to happen. He compared [the children to] “sentient beings who had lost focus” and were “greedy for, attached to and deluded by all the external conditions they connected with.”

This is because they come in contact with external conditions. When the Six Sense Organs connect with the Six Sense Objects, the mind takes in external phenomena and begins to engage in thinking, leading us to act and create much karma. This is the mind of unenlightened beings. If those who hear the Dharma are still attached to their external conditions, if they hear the Dharma but still stubbornly cling to all the external phenomena they have encountered, “they cannot remember their original goodness.” They have already forgotten that people are inherently good. This is how they lost their intrinsic nature. The Buddha could not bear this.

Everyone, the Buddha is so compassionate that. He hoped that His children could quickly perfect all the ways of living in and transcending the world and have the flawless wisdom to transform themselves and all sentient beings.

Everyone, time is passing by with every second, yet there is so much Dharma left to teach. Everyone, in this world that we live in, everything is the Dharma. But we are not consciously aware of this, so we treat everything as something separate from and unrelated to us. In fact, we are all part of the same world. If there is a disaster anywhere, how can we feel at peace? So, we must awaken right away. To transform others, of course we must first transform ourselves. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 554 – A Father’s Urgent Concerns

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>> “Sons and daughters all over the world do not understand their parent’s hearts. With long-lasting compassion and great love, parents forever cherish their children. The children are ignorant and defile their consciousness with attachments to sensory objects. Confusion and awareness are decided in a single thought; good and evil are created by the mind.”

>> Moreover, they did not know what fire was, what the house was or what the danger was. They just ran about as they played and merely looked at their father.

>> “At that time, the elder had this thought, ‘This house is already burning with great flames.’ If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.”

>> In the Buddha’s kindness, He did not have the heart to allow anyone to remain ignorant and undisciplined. Absorbed with their playthings, they lost their resolve and did not awaken. The fire had already been ignited, yet they remained unaware.

>> The kind father saw his children weakening their virtues and their resolve and remaining completely muddled and ignorant. Thus the father worried for his children. His heart burned with anxiety, so he quickly called for them to come out.

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“Sons and daughters all over the world
do not understand their parent’s hearts.
With long-lasting compassion and great love,
parents forever cherish their children.
The children are ignorant
and defile their consciousness with attachments to sensory objects.
Confusion and awareness are decided in a single thought;
good and evil are created by the mind.”

Are sons and daughters all over the world able to understand their parents’ hearts? The way people live now is completely different from the past. In the past, three generations, four generations or even five generations lived in the same place as one big family. Everyone lived together, mutually upheld proper family relationships and respected their elders. This was how they lived.

Things gradually changed over time; these days, once the children grow up, they move out of the house. The parents remain in their hometown. Will their children’s children, the grandchildren, the next generation, actually know their grandfather’s name or their grandmother’s maiden name? It is possible the second and third generation’s affection for the first generation has continued to fade away. So, there is no sense of closeness between them. This is the way families are now.

For those people who live in cities, even if they are living with their children, when they become elderly, they may think, “If I live at home, I’m a bother to these young people. I’ll go to the nursing home.” But they are still hiding a feeling of sadness and loneliness, a deep loneliness.

In some families, people are unable to care for their sick parents, so they likewise send them to nursing homes so that professionals can take care of them. There are a lot of these kinds of issues with the elderly now.

We often sigh about how life is full of suffering. In our current society, people have lost sight of morals and ethics. These values have faded and become distant. As we take a look at people’s families, many seniors still live in the countryside. As for the many seniors in the nursing homes, when we ask them, “Do you have children?” [they say,] “We do. Then why do you live here? I don’t want to be a bother to the young people.”

When parents are taking care of their children, no matter how poor they are, they still want their children to be well-fed and warmly-clothed. Parents who are wealthier work hard to expand their business so they can give their children a solid foundation. As the children grow up, they encourage them to increase their knowledge in order to earn a higher status. This is the mindset of parents. Gradually, the mindsets of the parents and of their children become polarized. Everything parents do is for their children’s sake. But their children eventually leave them and move far away. This is a phenomenon we see in the world right now. The lack of understanding children show for their parents is the suffering elderly people experience most these days.

“With long-lasting compassion and great love, they forever cherish their children.” Whether they are living in nursing homes or somewhere else, parents still have “long-lasting compassion.” They will always be concerned about their children and grandchildren living far away. They constantly think about them. These people who are in their later years have these kinds of worries; this is the mentality of seniors.

However, what exactly do these children do after leaving [their parents]? “The children are ignorant.” After leaving their hometowns, many of them lead an undisciplined life. This is really worrisome for their parents. If their children become successful, they are too busy with their work or career to come home. Then, when their parents are asked, “What do your children do? He is a teacher, She is a professor” and so on, is how they proudly respond. But if their children stir up trouble and do bad things, or if they should become frustrated and depressed, as parents they will be concerned. They worry that people will find out. With this fear comes a sense of disgrace. This state of mind also causes suffering.

Actually, affection and love are inherently impermanent. Unfortunately, nowadays, people easily forget about the affection and love their parents have shown them. But with other kinds of affection and love, they become inextricably entangled. Love, hate, affection and animosity all lead to great suffering.

In summary, in this world, just the feelings of affection and love alone can cause many complications. Are they really that complicated? Actually, they are very simple. Whether we are deluded or awakened is decided in the space of single thought. Goodness comes from following ethics and morals. When we follow these ethics and morals, everything we do will be good. If we deviate from them, we will commit evil deeds. Good and evil both arise from the mind. Oriented one way, our minds think good thoughts and can turn from evil toward goodness. But with a shift in mindset, we can also turn from goodness toward evil.

In this world, there is so much imbalance in the macrocosm of the world and so much confusion in the microcosm of people’s minds. These lead to poor physical and mental health. Once people’s minds are unhealthy, every action they take will be wrong. This is the reason that so many interactions between people in this world have caused such large-scale disturbances. These problems all originate from the mind. The majority of people are living in suffering. Take a look at Mozambique. A group of compassionate South African volunteers has been bringing their love across the borders into Swaziland and then all the way to Mozambique. Wherever Tzu Chi volunteers have walked, lotus flowers bloom with each step.

Though these Bodhisattvas from South Africa are themselves poor and lacking in material goods, their hearts are filled with an abundance of love. At the beginning of this year (2013), when Mozambique experienced a disaster, South African Tzu Chi volunteers once again accompanied the local Bodhisattvas to visit the disaster area and taught them how to survey the disaster and conduct assessments of each [affected] family. After learning these methods, the Mozambican volunteers put them into practice, steadfastly following their teachings.

One of them was a volunteer named Victoria. She had gone into those filthy conditions. Several months after the flood, the places that were affected had still not been cleaned up. In the places she had to pass through, there were many dead pigs and dogs. Many things were still rotting in the water and there was a terrible stench because the garbage and stagnant water had not been cleared away. To pass through areas like this, Victoria would take off her shoes, roll up her pant legs and walk through these filthy and foul-smelling areas to care for people. What she did was very touching. But she said, “My family is very poor, and I am also living in poverty, so I cannot offer food to the survivors. However, I have feet and good health, so I can walk. I will visit this place every day and at least let the people who are suffering know that someone cares, that there are still people with love who care.”

She also said, “Now, if I don’t do a good deed every day, or provide care to one or two people, I do not feel at ease, mentally or physically.” This all comes from the mind. In the past, [some volunteers] complained a lot. In the past, they felt, “You are poor; well, so am I. You are suffering; so am I.” They did not want to give something they needed to anyone else. This kind of mindset they used to have is that of the poor among the poor. Now, we see a large group of volunteers who are happy every day. Each day, they take care of other people. This brings the volunteers great happiness. When they encounter the elderly and the sick, they care for them by physically guiding and supporting them.

Though volunteers who live in these conditions lack material wealth, they have spiritual wealth. This long-lasting compassion and great love is not limited only to their own parents and children. Actually, their great love has expanded to encompass all human beings. Their compassion goes beyond loving their own parents. They also often hold activities that honor parents. They teach people ways of practicing filial piety by encouraging children to wash their parents’ feet. They said, “We have never done this before. Now we do this often.” In that place of poverty, people are getting back on the right course. Because they have extended their compassion and spread great love, every day, the volunteers think of the suffering. Their love is gradually growing.

So, delusion or awakening are still determined by our minds. In this burning house of the Three Realms, we need to find ways to help everyone quickly awaken to the fact that being immersed in this state of delusion is not right. Everyone must quickly awaken and find ways to change the environment so it can be safe for everyone. They need to learn how to put out the fire, to avoid the places where the fire is burning and to rebuild their home. This is very important. It is said, “Harmony and unity are precious.” With harmony and unity in our hearts, we will work together in concert and rebuild the compassion and love between all people.

The previous passage mentions how the elder saw that the children were still inside the burning house. They did not realize how the fire was raging, so they remained inside and “just ran about as they played and merely looked at their father.” They just kept on playing.

Moreover, they did not know what fire was, what the house was or what the danger was. They just ran about as they played and merely looked at their father.

Now, this sutra passage continues,

“At that time, the elder had this thought, ‘This house is already burning with great flames.’ If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.”

He was thinking, “If I do not quickly get out, what will I do?”

Though the elder was already outside, he saw his children continuing to play. The fire was almost upon them, but they still treated it as a plaything. No matter how their father cried out to them, they merely looked at him. They did not want to listen to what he was saying. From this passage, don’t we see how hard it is to be a father? He had already contemplated and devised many ways to reach out to them, yet the children did not change their ways.

This is an analogy for how, “In the Buddha’s kindness, He did not have the heart to allow anyone to remain ignorant and undisciplined.” Though the father was standing outside and crying out to them, everyone inside still remained indifferent. This burning house was very hazardous. If they did not get out immediately, they would certainly be burned by the fire. This is how the elder felt. The elder is the Buddha, and in His compassion, His heart went out to those sentient beings.

In the Buddha’s kindness, He did not have the heart to allow anyone to remain ignorant and undisciplined. Absorbed with their playthings, they lost their resolve and did not awaken. The fire had already been ignited, yet they remained unaware.

The Buddha continued to establish teachings, but when He directly taught the True Dharma, people could not understand. Therefore, He used skillful means to expound various teachings. Actually, the Dharma and the truths He taught encompass all things in the world. Unconditioned Dharma was taught with causes and conditions, analogies and various other conditioned phenomena. The workings of matter, body and mind, known as the Four States and the Three Principles, and all kinds of material and tangible things were used as analogies.

In this world, we also see the Four Kinds of Birth. They are womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born and transformation-born. Human beings are womb-born. [Because of this] we can be compared to many other womb-born animals. The Buddha used these animals as analogies for our lives. With the suffering experienced by animals that we can see, the Buddha taught about the law of karma. We can see suffering people, so the Buddha taught about hell. We see people who suffer from starvation, so the Buddha taught about the hungry ghost realm. In life, some people enjoy great wealth, so the Buddha taught about the heaven realm and how the karmic law of cause and effect guides transmigration in the Six Realms, all to help everyone understand more clearly. The Buddha used various kinds of analogies, but those listening to the Dharma still had not truly awakened; it was as if they were sleepwalking. So, people “remain undisciplined” and unaware. Therefore, “Absorbed with their playthings, they lost their resolve and did not awaken.”

When we are inspired, we must form great aspirations, make great vows. “We vow to deliver countless sentient beings. We vow to eliminate endless afflictions.” Then we must put these vows into practice. With unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion, we go among people. Such is our resolve and such are our great vows. Unfortunately, after listening to the Dharma, people only partially understand and remain partially deluded.

“Absorbed with their playthings” means indulging in their desires, and thus being unable to awaken. “The fire has already ignited.” The disasters that people have caused are like the fire that has been ignited. Think about the society we are living in. According to what we discussed at the beginning, people used to clearly understand family ethics. Nowadays, the ethics of family interactions have already been lost. Moreover, often when people interact, they oppose each other, fighting openly or plotting secretly. They do all this to satisfy their desires. So, habitual tendencies are hard to eliminate. This has already brought about disasters; a fire has already been ignited. Yet “they remain ignorant.” So, the elder said, “If I and my children do not get out now, we will certainly be burned.” If they did not quickly escape, they would be burned. “The kind father saw his children weakening their virtues and their resolve. Weakening virtues” refers to how people who like to play only want to play. They do not want to do anything serious.

In today’s news reports we often hear about how young people want a workplace that is more relaxing, more comfortable, with higher salaries and many other perks. So, when they look around, they do not see any jobs that suit them. See, many people nowadays just want to play. Even when they are working, they may still be playing on their computers or using the internet. Out of ignorance, they weaken their resolve and focus on their playthings. Where do virtues come from? Without spiritual cultivation, how can one attain virtues? People have already “weakened their virtues and resolve” and so they “remain completely muddled and ignorant.”

The kind father saw his children weakening their virtues and their resolve and remaining completely muddled and ignorant. Thus the father worried for his children. His heart burned with anxiety, so he quickly called for them to come out.

The father was very worried, and his heart burned with anxiety. Therefore, he loudly called out, “Everyone, get out now.” He yelled this over and over, feeling a great sense of urgency. He had already reached the stage of “calling out.” This is because if we sentient beings do not quickly reflect upon ourselves, repent and immediately change our ways, who knows what society will be like tomorrow. Therefore, we must constantly take the Dharma to heart and manifest it in our actions. Thus we must always be mindful.