Episode 371 – Cleansing the Mind’s Impurities with the Dharma
>> Being born human is rare, being able to listen to the Dharma is even more rare. Covered by turbidities and obstructions, we are stubborn and hard to transform. The Buddha compassionately gave us teachings and spoke of the truth of suffering.
>> Deeply attached to illusory things, they cling firmly and cannot let go. With self-arrogance, they brag of their loftiness. They are flatterers, their hearts insincere. Throughout ten billion eons, they never hear the Buddha’s name.
>> Deeply attached to illusory phenomena: Sight, sound and so on are the five desires. They are also the five arrows that can destroy all goodness. They are temporary in essence and not real. Therefore they are illusory. They cling to them firmly and cannot let them go: Ordinary people cling to and are attached to deviant thinking and delusional thoughts. Lost in delusion and tempted by gain, they do not let go of anything. They remain firmly stubborn and cannot attain liberation.
>> With self-arrogance, they brag of their loftiness: People with self-arrogance are proud of themselves and disparage others. This self-satisfaction is harmful. People who are petty are arrogant and proud of their abilities, so they bully and humiliate others.
>> They are flatterers, their hearts insincere: Their arrogance increases day after day. They are averse to those different from them. Because they are flatterers at heart, they charm people to take advantage of them and diverge from the truth. Though they know the Buddha-Dharma, they are not easily transformed.
>> Throughout ten billion eons, they never hear the Buddha’s name: Time and space are like a long river that keeps flowing by. Immersed in cyclic existence in the Six Realms, they rarely encounter Buddhas, so how could they hear the Buddha-Dharma?
In this state of tranquility, we can hear the raindrops outside. With this state of mind, we can imagine what things are like for people affected by disasters. For those who are displaced, when they [hear] the sound of rain, they must feel so physically and mentally unsettled.
Consider what things are like right now in. New York, New Jersey or Long Island. A large area has been affected by wind, rain and floods for almost 20 days now. Over this long period of time, New York has experienced wind, snow and rain. These [disaster survivors] have not been able to clean and restore their homes. The floods and hurricanes destroyed their homes. What can they do? At the sound of rain, my heart is deeply troubled and I cannot settle my thoughts.
When I realize that my mind is unsettled, I feel a sense of remorse. Why am I unable to calm my mind when I wish? Because of my habitual tendencies. My mind is constantly connecting to external conditions; immediately pulling it back is truly difficult.
We also say that it is rare to be born human and being able to hear the Dharma is even more rare.
Being born human is rare, being able to listen to the Dharma is even more rare. Covered by turbidities and obstructions, we are stubborn and hard to transform. The Buddha compassionately gave us teachings and spoke of the truth of suffering.
I think about how the Buddha-Dharma has been in this world for over 2000 years. It has benefited so many people. But sadly, though it has been here for over 2000 years, many people have not heard the Buddha-Dharma.
One day, as the Buddha was walking with a group of bhiksus, He swiftly bent down and grabbed a handful of sand from the ground. He suddenly asked the bhiksus, “Is there more sand in my hand or on Mt. Sumeru?”
The bhiksus saw the Buddha’s handful of sand, and upon hearing His question about comparing the sand on Mt. Sumeru to that in His hand, they knew that the Buddha was about to teach. So, they responded by saying, “Venerable Buddha, how can we compare the sand in Your hand to that on Mt. Sumeru?” The Buddha released the sand He held and said, “My disciples, in the long period of time you have spent by my side, how much Dharma have you heard?”
Sariputra answered, “Fellow practitioners, although we listen to the Buddha’s Dharma daily and see Him transforming sentient beings, the scope of what we can see is very limited. Compared to all the principles in the world, the Dharma we have heard is very limited.”
Hearing these words and seeing how Sariputra understood His intention, the Buddha joyfully told these bhiksus, “Indeed, Sariputra’s words are true. Even though you listen to my words and learn to transform sentient beings every day, how much have you truly understood? Moreover, so many people have no way to hear, or see, or encounter the Buddha-Dharma at all. These people are as numerous as the rocks and sand on Mt. Sumeru. The number of those who truly hear and see does not even amount to this handful of sand. So, being born human is rare, and being able to listen to Buddha-Dharma is even more rare.”
On top of the difficulties of being born human and hearing the Dharma, we also live this evil world of Five Turbidities, which brings us many afflictions. Amongst the Five Turbidities, our minds are filled with the turbidity of views and understanding, afflictions and so on. These turbidities then form obstacles. After we listen to the Dharma, we want to put it into practice. But the obstructions from this turbidity have covered our minds.
We are truly stubborn and unyielding in our habitual tendencies. So, to be transformed and to take the Dharma to heart is truly difficult. Even during the Buddha’s lifetime, transforming sentient beings was hard. So, “the Buddha compassionately gave us teachings.” With compassion, the Buddha gives teachings about the various principles of suffering. He wanted everyone to hear in the hope we would all be vigilant of ourselves. Then we would avoid creating karma and seize every opportunity to do good deeds. But sometimes, doing good and benefiting others while keeping our minds pure and in Samadhi is also hard.
There was a bhiksu who was the Buddha’s disciple. One day, while in Samadhi, he seemed to hear a voice calling, “Venerable Practitioner!” He heard this cry repeated two, three times. Although he was in Samadhi, the sound still attracted his [attention]. Then he saw a gigantic snake approaching him from far away. Feeling somewhat nervous, he quickly asked, “Snake, what is the matter?”
The snake seemed to talk back to him, “Have you ever heard of King Agnidatta? Yes I have, but he has already passed away. That is right, and I am King Agnidatta.” The bhiksu said, “That’s impossible. He had faith in the Buddha and made offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha, how could he possibly be reborn as a python?”
The snake said, “That is true. I had faith in the Buddha and made offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha until I became severely ill. Right before I passed away, my servant was fanning me. He accidentally dropped the fan onto my face. At that moment, I became very angry and in my anger. I swallowed my last breath and passed away. At that moment, I responded to my conditions with anger. The next instant, I took the form of a python, a huge snake.”
This practitioner, this bhiksu, told him, “Regrettably, though you made offerings and did good deeds, you did not listen to the Dharma. If you had listened to the Dharma, you would not have ended up like this.” The bhiksu then began to teach the snake the truths of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. He explained these teachings in detail and afterwards, the snake left joyfully.
A few days later, perhaps over a month later, all of sudden a gust of fragrant wind blew into the monastery and flowers fell from the sky. A heavenly being came before the Buddha and the bhiksus and prostrated himself in front of them. He said, “I am grateful for the bhiksu who shared the Buddha-Dharma with me and liberated me from the form of a python. I was reborn in heaven. I came here to thank You and the bhiksus.”
This was something that happened in the Buddha’s lifetime. So, human form is hard to attain, but falling into an animal form is very easy. Before passing away, just this one thought, his anger in response to the conditions, turned him into a snake. Therefore, we must always be mindful. Because of “turbidities and obstructions,” afflictions constantly cover our minds. Even if we have formed aspirations, if we do not take the Dharma to heart, as we create blessings, we will also be creating afflictions. [Those with] these unyielding afflictions are the most difficult to transform.
So, compassionately giving teachings, the Buddha fully taught the truths of suffering for us to understand. Thus we listen to the Dharma to figure out how to eliminate afflictions and how to completely eradicate habitual tendencies. Our minds must always remain on our pure spiritual aspirations.
Deeply attached to illusory things, they cling firmly and cannot let go. With self-arrogance, they brag of their loftiness. They are flatterers, their hearts insincere. Throughout ten billion eons, they never hear the Buddha’s name.
We cannot be “deeply attached to illusory things.” Many things in life are illusory. Sadly, our life is a “conditioned phenomenon” and is not everlasting. In this impermanent and short life, we create much negative karma but “cling firmly and cannot let go.” We firmly cling to and refuse to let go of our momentary desires. This is why we create karma in this world and then face the suffering of our collective karma. “With self-arrogance, we brag of our loftiness.”
Yesterday, we also discussed this. “Sight” is one of the Five Desires, which are like five arrows. Do you remember? The Five Desires are like five arrows that damage or slay our wisdom-life. For the sake of this illusory and temporary life, we create [karma] that brings us endless afflictions, lifetime after lifetime.
Deeply attached to illusory phenomena: Sight, sound and so on are the five desires. They are also the five arrows that can destroy all goodness. They are temporary in essence and not real. Therefore they are illusory. They cling to them firmly and cannot let them go: Ordinary people cling to and are attached to deviant thinking and delusional thoughts. Lost in delusion and tempted by gain, they do not let go of anything. They remain firmly stubborn and cannot attain liberation.
Ordinary people will always be ordinary people if they attach and cling to deviant thinking and delusional thoughts. Deluded and tempted by gain, we cannot let go of anything. We want this, and we want that, too. We want to take everything for ourselves. This is how we are “firmly stubborn.” We cling firmly to these attachments, so they tightly entangle us and prevent us from being liberated.
We must be mindful of this and not have “self-arrogance and brag of our loftiness.” We may believe we are more educated or more knowledgeable than others. In truth, knowledge and cleverness does not equal wisdom. So, we must not be arrogant or proud.
With self-arrogance, they brag of their loftiness: People with self-arrogance are proud of themselves and disparage others. This self-satisfaction is harmful. People who are petty are arrogant and proud of their abilities, so they bully and humiliate others.
If we have the inflated belief that we are better than others, we can become “self-satisfied.” This self-satisfaction is harmful; we harm ourselves. There is nothing lovable about arrogant people. So, these people will not be respected. People who harm themselves like this are petty. They consider themselves great, but others consider them petty and not very great at all. This kind of people are very proud and arrogant and take advantage of others. We often see people like them in our lives. They abuse their ability, authority and so on.
“They are flatterers, their hearts insincere.”
They are flatterers, their hearts insincere: Their arrogance increases day after day. They are averse to those different from them. Because they are flatterers at heart, they charm people to take advantage of them and diverge from the truth. Though they know the Buddha-Dharma, they are not easily transformed.
[People who] “flatter” are not straightforward, and speak in a roundabout way without saying a single sincere word. They tailor their words to whoever they see. When with those who have greater wealth, fame or power, they act in a very obsequious manner. When those with a lower status ask them for help, they will secretly do things to make life difficult for them. There are many people like this. So, to “diverge” means to depart from and go against the truth.
We must always be vigilant of whether or not, in our daily living, we are taking good care of our minds. If we have the mindsets just discussed, we are “deeply attached to illusory things.” Even after hearing the Buddha-Dharma, we refuse to let go of deviant understanding and views. Refusal to let go, pride and arrogance, flattery and insincerity, if we have these mindsets, then “throughout ten billion eons,” we will “never hear the Buddha’s name.”
Throughout ten billion eons, they never hear the Buddha’s name: Time and space are like a long river that keeps flowing by. Immersed in cyclic existence in the Six Realms, they rarely encounter Buddhas, so how could they hear the Buddha-Dharma?
[How can we] attain this Dharma? “The universe, like a long river, keeps changing.” Time and space are like a long river without a beginning or end that unceasingly flows past us. Actually, throughout the past, present and future, we are constantly transmigrating in the Six Realms. Being born into the human realm is rare, and being able to listen to the Dharma is more rare. Of those who have attained human form, heard the Dharma and had the chance to accept it, some still go against and [twist it]. Or, they are so arrogant and proud that they refuse to come in contact with the Buddha-Dharma. Even if they come in contact with the Dharma, they still go against it and act improperly. Indeed, this is very regrettable. Immersed in cyclic existence in the Six Realms, encountering the Buddha is hard to do.
If we do not have faith in the wisdom of Sakyamuni Buddha, if we refuse to accept the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha, we are no different from those who have not heard it. It would all just be a series of terms to us. And if we do not have Dharma in our hearts and do not understand its principles, we will never be connected to the Buddha-Dharma.
So, we must faithfully accept and practice the Buddha-Dharma because we “rarely encounter Buddhas.” There is no other way to hear the Buddha-Dharma. It is rare to encounter Buddhas. As it is hard to encounter Buddhas, it is even harder to hear the Buddha-Dharma. This all depends on our minds. So, I hope we will take good care of our minds and not allow our spiritual aspirations to be obstructed. We must not allow obstructions of turbidity to cover our minds. If our thoughts run [astray], we must rein them in immediately.
We must earnestly listen to the Dharma. Then, whenever we talk to other sentient beings, they can also benefit from it. So, we must continue to pass on the teachings. This depends on whether we engage in spiritual practice and take the Dharma to heart. Only when we take the Dharma to heart can we use these teachings to transform the minds of others. In summary, everything is about training the mind. Everyone, we must always be mindful.