Episode 39 – Sever All Bonds of Existence
>> To praise all Arhats, the sutra stated that they had no further afflictions and had exhausted all Leaks. Having attained benefits for themselves, they shed heavy burdens. Those who realize the fruit of Arhatship have attained Nirvana with residue.
>> Though one can eliminate the cause of Fragmentary Samsara in the Three Realms, the body still remains with all its karmic effects. One is not liberated as long as [karma] exists. One still faces retributions. Therefore, it is Nirvana with remainder. If Arhats attain liberation with right wisdom, they will realize Nirvana without residue.
>> “Severing all bonds of existence” is washing away all afflictions, praise for the virtue of no longer giving rise to ignorance.
>> If cause and effect do not end, there is existence. Contrivance creates karma that leads to a place of rebirth.
>> The Nine Bonds are the Bond of Craving, the Bond of Anger, the Bond of Arrogance, the Bond of Ignorance, the Bond of Doubt, the Bond of View, the Bond of Grasping, the Bond of Jealousy, the Bond of Stinginess.
>> Bonds are the karma of deluded habitual tendencies. They are the cause that gives rise to afflictions. By eliminating them with wisdom, we will be free of future retributions. This is “severing all bonds of existence.” This means causes and effects are ended, so nothing will arise.
To praise all Arhats, the sutra stated that they had no further afflictions and had exhausted all Leaks. Having attained benefits for themselves, they shed heavy burdens. Those who realize the fruit of Arhatship have attained Nirvana with residue.
The state of stillness and tranquility is like clear water, like a reflective mirror. This is a state without afflictions. So, the Lotus Sutra states, “they had no further afflictions.” Of those listening to the Buddha on Vulture Peak, all the great bhiksus were great Arhats who had “exhausted all Leaks,” meaning “they had no further afflictions,” meant “they had no further afflictions,” that all their afflictions were gone. This is used to praise all great Arhats for “having attained benefits for themselves” and having shed heavy burdens.
We humans have afflictions that are like heavy burdens pressing down on us. If we can put down these heavy burdens, we will feel lighter and more relaxed. Then we will be liberated. So, those who shed heavy burdens have realized the fruit of Arhatship and attained benefits for themselves. However, Arhats have not attained Buddhahood, they have only realized the fruit [of Arhatship].
At the time of the Lotus Dharma-assembly, the Buddha set aside skillful means from the past and began to teach the Great Vehicle Dharma. Remember that before [He taught] the Lotus Sutra, He said that it could not be described in words. So, [He taught] the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, which treated all spiritual practitioners and all sentient beings as one. The Buddha could not bear for sentient beings to suffer, so He applied the Dharma to help people. This is the Sutra of Infinite Meanings’ essence. So, in the past, Arhats realized the fruits of the Small Vehicle, and now they turned to the Great Vehicle. So, they had to slowly let go of the fruit of Arhatship they had realized before, the selfish mindset of only benefitting and liberating themselves, to turn from the Small to the Great [Vehicle].
But here, the Buddha once again explained that those who shed heavy burdens and realize the fruit of Arhatship have generally attained. Nirvana with remainder, but have not yet attained Nirvana without remainder. So, they were still in Fragmentary Samsara. Although a cause can be eliminated temporarily, the karmic effects of the body still exist and have not been eliminated. This body has not transcended them and will still experience cyclic existence. That cycle is different but the length of their lifespan is still unpredictable. The fruit of Arhatship does not allow one to live longer or feel at ease with life and death. It also does not mean that there are no more surprising karmic retributions. That is not the case.
It means that in that state, one has eliminated afflictions from one’s mind and knows that in this life, one will not create karma that will result in future karmic retributions. But retributions from past karma still exist. Eliminating future karmic retributions is what we should practice now. Even if we can do that, we are still in a state of Nirvana with remainder. Those who attain Arhatship have pure minds and are not bothered by afflictions of life and death. If they then attain liberation with right wisdom, that is realizing Nirvana without remainder.
Though one can eliminate the cause of Fragmentary Samsara in the Three Realms, the body still remains with all its karmic effects. One is not liberated as long as [karma] exists. One still faces retributions. Therefore, it is Nirvana with remainder. If Arhats attain liberation with right wisdom, they will realize Nirvana without residue.
This means that if we do not form bad karmic connections with others now, do not create future causes and conditions and feel at ease with life and death, then we are at the state of realizing Nirvana without remainder.
When we engage in spiritual practice, we must first learn to eliminate afflictions in our minds. Whether we are monastic or lay practitioners, we are still influenced by our minds. With afflictions, ignorance that creates Leaks, we have not severed the bonds of existence. We keep saying that when we attain Arhatship, the mind will be at ease. How can our minds be at ease? We need to sever all bonds of existence.
We need to do so because many of our afflictions were created by ourselves. We often refer to bonds as knots. If we see someone with afflictions, we would say, “What’s wrong? Is your heart in a knot again? Yes, it is tied up in a knot and cannot be untied.” When our minds are tied in a knot, it is [due to] afflictions. Therefore, to sever all bonds of existence means to completely eliminate them, to completely wash away all afflictions. When afflictions are completely washed away, we have attained the virtue of ending afflictions and not giving rise again to ignorance. When ignorance does not arise again, virtue will manifest.
Severing all bonds of existence” is washing away all afflictions, praise for the virtue of no longer giving rise to ignorance.
I have mentioned to everyone that virtue must be attained. Without spiritual practice, nothing can be attained. Without attainment, there is no virtue. We engage in spiritual practice to eliminate afflictions. It is important to know how to eliminate our past habitual tendencies. So, we need to continuously eliminate the habitual tendencies in our daily living. Eliminating habitual tendencies ends ignorance. With every bit of ignorance that is eliminated, a bit of wisdom-life grows. This is called virtue.
If cause and effect do not end, there is existence. If cause and effect still exist, there will still be negative causes and the creation of negative conditions. This results in negative retributions, so this fruit still exists. Therefore, we must start by eliminating the root. If we do not eliminate the root of ignorance, that is like only cutting the treetop and leaving the roots behind. When spring comes, when that season arrives, it sprouts and grows, and then blossoms and fruits. This is why I say that we must eliminate the cause. If we do not eliminate the cause, the fruit will keep growing. If cause and effect do not end, there will still be karma from our deeds.
So, when we say we have changed, that cannot be a temporary statement. If we only change for a moment and not thoroughly, afflictions will still arise. So, what else is there? There are also bonds and knots. Because our habitual tendencies still exist, when we meet people whom we have no karmic affinities with, we may still feel no connection with them. We still do not like them. But for people we have karmic affinities with, no matter how many afflictive things they may say, we simply accept them all. Whatever afflictive things they may say, we embrace them all and treat their afflictions as our own. This is because we still have a partial mind. We still discriminate between those we do and do not have karmic connections with.
So, we must constantly be vigilant of our minds. When we are [caught] in interpersonal disputes, we need to deal with everything calmly. We must be like still waters that can clearly reflect others’ faces and the surrounding environment. It is often said, “There are a thousand moons in a thousand rivers.” So, even though there is only one moon, wherever there is still water, we can see a moon. This is to say that we all possess the same Buddha-nature. If our minds can be still, that clear moon will be within our hearts. If our minds cannot be still, it is because of the existence of knots. Our minds are still bound by these knots that entangle us. So these bonds still exist.I have mentioned to everyone that virtue must be attained. Without spiritual practice, nothing can be attained. Without attainment, there is no virtue. We engage in spiritual practice to eliminate afflictions. It is important to know how to eliminate our past habitual tendencies. So, we need to continuously eliminate the habitual tendencies in our daily living. Eliminating habitual tendencies ends ignorance. With every bit of ignorance that is eliminated, a bit of wisdom-life grows. This is called virtue.
If cause and effect do not end, there is existence. If cause and effect still exist, there will still be negative causes and the creation of negative conditions. This results in negative retributions, so this fruit still exists. Therefore, we must start by eliminating the root. If we do not eliminate the root of ignorance, that is like only cutting the treetop and leaving the roots behind. When spring comes, when that season arrives, it sprouts and grows, and then blossoms and fruits. This is why I say that we must eliminate the cause. If we do not eliminate the cause, the fruit will keep growing. If cause and effect do not end, there will still be karma from our deeds.
So, when we say we have changed, that cannot be a temporary statement. If we only change for a moment and not thoroughly, afflictions will still arise. So, what else is there? There are also bonds and knots. Because our habitual tendencies still exist, when we meet people whom we have no karmic affinities with, we may still feel no connection with them. We still do not like them. But for people we have karmic affinities with, no matter how many afflictive things they may say, we simply accept them all. Whatever afflictive things they may say, we embrace them all and treat their afflictions as our own. This is because we still have a partial mind. We still discriminate between those we do and do not have karmic connections with.
So, we must constantly be vigilant of our minds. When we are [caught] in interpersonal disputes, we need to deal with everything calmly. We must be like still waters that can clearly reflect others’ faces and the surrounding environment. It is often said, “There are a thousand moons in a thousand rivers.” So, even though there is only one moon, wherever there is still water, we can see a moon. This is to say that we all possess the same Buddha-nature. If our minds can be still, that clear moon will be within our hearts. If our minds cannot be still, it is because of the existence of knots. Our minds are still bound by these knots that entangle us. So these bonds still exist.
I have mentioned to everyone that virtue must be attained. Without spiritual practice, nothing can be attained. Without attainment, there is no virtue. We engage in spiritual practice to eliminate afflictions. It is important to know how to eliminate our past habitual tendencies. So, we need to continuously eliminate the habitual tendencies in our daily living. Eliminating habitual tendencies ends ignorance. With every bit of ignorance that is eliminated, a bit of wisdom-life grows. This is called virtue.
If cause and effect do not end, there is existence. If cause and effect still exist, there will still be negative causes and the creation of negative conditions. This results in negative retributions, so this fruit still exists. Therefore, we must start by eliminating the root. If we do not eliminate the root of ignorance, that is like only cutting the treetop and leaving the roots behind. When spring comes, when that season arrives, it sprouts and grows, and then blossoms and fruits. This is why I say that we must eliminate the cause. If we do not eliminate the cause, the fruit will keep growing. If cause and effect do not end, there will still be karma from our deeds.
So, when we say we have changed, that cannot be a temporary statement. If we only change for a moment and not thoroughly, afflictions will still arise. So, what else is there? There are also bonds and knots. Because our habitual tendencies still exist, when we meet people whom we have no karmic affinities with, we may still feel no connection with them. We still do not like them. But for people we have karmic affinities with, no matter how many afflictive things they may say, we simply accept them all. Whatever afflictive things they may say, we embrace them all and treat their afflictions as our own. This is because we still have a partial mind. We still discriminate between those we do and do not have karmic connections with.
So, we must constantly be vigilant of our minds. When we are [caught] in interpersonal disputes, we need to deal with everything calmly. We must be like still waters that can clearly reflect others’ faces and the surrounding environment. It is often said, “There are a thousand moons in a thousand rivers.” So, even though there is only one moon, wherever there is still water, we can see a moon. This is to say that we all possess the same Buddha-nature. If our minds can be still, that clear moon will be within our hearts. If our minds cannot be still, it is because of the existence of knots. Our minds are still bound by these knots that entangle us. So these bonds still exist.
If cause and effect do not end, there is existence. Contrivance creates karma that leads to a place of rebirth.
Arhats have severed all bonds of existence, so karma will not follow them in the future, and they avoid being reborn in some unknown place. Our roots in the Six Realms have not been eliminated. Our deeds keep us in the Six Realms, so we continue to transmigrate [here], without any control of our own. As I said, [we should seek] to return out of our compassion, [because of] our vows. [It should be] because of our promise to this world, not because we are following our karma. If we go along with our karma, we have no control and do not know where in the Six Realms we will end up. Nor can we choose where we will end up in the future because our afflictions have not been eliminated.
Here it says “sever all bonds of existence.” If afflictions and ignorance are in our minds, the Dharma can only stay in our minds temporarily, and will quickly leak away. What is left behind are afflictions. This happens because of our ignorance, because the “bonds” have not been severed. Therefore, we must sever the bonds.
The Nine Bonds are the Bond of Craving, the Bond of Anger, the Bond of Arrogance, the Bond of Ignorance, the Bond of Doubt, the Bond of View, the Bond of Grasping, the Bond of Jealousy, the Bond of Stinginess.
We see people give rise to afflictions out of cravings and desire. If we cannot obtain something, we become angry, and we will feel very distressed. If we do obtain it and own all kinds of things, we become proud and arrogant. Some people cannot do anything so they develop an inferiority complex. These are all called bonds, bonds of ignorance. There is so much ignorance. Greed, anger and delusion completely take over our minds and stay with us in our daily living. They follow us like shadows.
This is how afflictions follow us. So, the arising of doubt begins with our views and understanding. If our views and understanding are not open, we will become attached. Aside from views and understanding, when we want something, we become attached. Things have to be a certain way. If we see that others succeed and are better than us, we become jealous. When we cannot let go of what we have, we are stingy and greedy. These nine kinds of bonds are the causes of afflictions. The ignorance in our minds, the cause of afflictions, starts with these bonds.
Why can’t we eliminate them? Because we are tied up and entangled, we cannot let go. These bonds are the karma of delusions and habitual tendencies. These bonds are accumulated from previous lives, over many lifetimes. They keep binding and entangling us. The afflictions of each lifetime accumulate and entangle us like a rope tied in a knot a rope tied in a knot. This delusion is the result of ignorance from our past lives and is the reason we do not understand things. This ignorance has been brought by us to this life, so we become deluded and create karma, and we will do the same in our future lives. These are called bonds. Bonds are the karma of deluded habitual tendencies. One life after another has been continuously influenced by past karma.
So, I often tell everyone that we need to change our habitual tendencies. Doing this is called spiritual practice. When we say “they are the causes that give rise to all afflictions”, it means these bonds are the causes, the seeds of all afflictions. Thus, bonds make things very difficult for us. “By eliminating them with wisdom, we will be free of future retributions.” We must exercise our wisdom. We need to be truly courageous and vigorous in cutting the rope of the bonds. If we cannot untie the rope, then we cut it. If we can cut it, it will loosen
and our burden will be lightened. Passions and cravings are our heaviest burdens. If cravings and desire arise, they lead to greed, anger and ignorance. Everyone, this is truly exhausting! Because of the ignorance, Leaks and bonds of existence in our lives bonds of existence in our lives, we transmigrate from birth to death within the Three Paths and Six Realms, without any control. We are continuously deluded and cannot wake up. This is very tiring. So, we need to “sever all bonds of existence.”
To practice and reach the state of Arhatship, we must purify our minds and eliminate afflictions. To eliminate ignorance and Leaks, we must sever all bonds of existence. When causes and effects are gone, we will not create that cause again, so naturally, there will be no effects to entangle us. If nothing arises, there is no future karma, no Three Paths or Six Realms to make us lose our way and suffer unspeakably.
Bonds are the karma of deluded habitual tendencies. They are the cause that gives rise to afflictions. By eliminating them with wisdom, we will be free of future retributions. This is “severing all bonds of existence.” This means causes and effects are ended, so nothing will arise.
Everyone, when learning Buddhism, we really need to be mindful at all times. Our minds give rise to a state of ignorance. No matter how many external distractions exist, if we can be mindful and calm our minds, they will be like still water or a reflective mirror. If we can do this, our minds will not be affected by external conditions. Then we will easily attain the fruit of Arhatship.
Indeed, we need not be monastics to have pure minds. Actually, lay practitioners can grow in wisdom and eliminate afflictions. Those with sharp capabilities can quickly eliminate afflictions and change whenever they want to. We can witness such examples in our greater surroundings at Tzu Chi. So, we each need to mindfully study the teachings that every person manifests. So, everyone, please always be mindful.