Episode 831 – Cultivate Factors of Bodhi to Find the Way Home
>> Though originally the son of a wealthy family, after one instance of foolishness, he wandered in destitution and hardship, impoverished and faced with adversity. Out of compassion, the father looked for his son. As his son had lost his way home, the father traced his footsteps to find him and affirmed that this was his true son.
>> ” You will have oil to apply to your feet, enough to eat and drink and a thick and warm mat. With harsher words he said, ‘Work diligently!.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith and Understanding]
>> ” Then with gentler words he said, ‘Think of yourself as my son’. The elder used wisdom to gradually have him come and go from the house. After a period of 20 years, he put him in charge of household affairs.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith and Understanding]
>> ” Then with gentler words he said, ‘Think of yourself as my son’: According to capabilities, the Buddha taught us to cultivate the Seven Factors of Enlightenment and the Eightfold Noble Path.”
>> Seven Factors of Enlightenment: First is the factor of discernment, which is discerning between truth and falsehood in all teachings.
>> The second [factor] is the factor of diligence, which means to cultivate the teachings without interruption or distraction.
>> Third is the factor of joy; this is the joy we attain from awakening to the True Dharma.
>> Fourth is the factor of elimination. The factor of elimination means to eliminate all [ignorant] views and all afflictions.
>> Fifth is the factor of renunciation, which is letting go of all views and all states of attachment.
>> Sixth is the factor of Samadhi, which is awakening to and understanding all states of meditative concentration.
>> Seventh, the factor of thought says we must [engage in] the practice of cultivating contemplation.
>> Eightfold Noble Path: one, Right View, two, Right Thinking, three, Right Speech, four, Right Action, five, Right Livelihood, six, Right Diligence, seven, Right Mindfulness and eight, Right Samadhi.
“Though originally the son of a wealthy family, after one instance of foolishness, he wandered in destitution and hardship, impoverished and faced with adversity.
Out of compassion, the father looked for his son.
As his son had lost his way home, the father traced his footsteps to find him and affirmed that this was his true son.”
Reading this verse, we are reminded of the past. The Chapter on Faith and Understanding has been describing Subhuti and Venerable Kasyapa. In the beginning of the long-form prose, Subhuti started to describe their own state of mind. They had followed the Buddha for a long time, but they had been unable to mindfully comprehend the Dharma and remained stuck in the Small Vehicle Dharma. For decades, they had been walking in place [They were] just like a son of a wealthy family, who, when young and immature, got lost and was unable to find his way home. This son wandered about aimlessly and lived a life of poverty, destitution and hardship. This describes the difficult life of the child.
“Out of compassion, the father looked for his son.” This father was very compassionate. When his child left him, the father, with a parent’s loving heart, constantly worried about his son. Of course, he kept looking for him and kept wondering where his son was. So, “His father traced his footsteps to find him.” Finally, he saw him; there was a figure who looked just like his son. “It’s true; that really is my son!” With a father’s compassion, no matter how undisciplined his child had been, since the father had traced his child’s footprints and had now seen him, he confirmed that. “This is my true son!” This shows that we sentient beings are lost. Once we go out, we cannot find the way home. We forget how our parents miss us and are saddened by [our absence]. When we wander around out there, we experience so much hardship and torment, yet we do not know the way home.
Every one of us originally came from a family of abundant wealth. Inside our heart, we all have a wealthy household; as if we come from a very wealthy family. Originally, we were wealthy children, children from a wealthy family. But because of a moment’s confusion and ignorance, we left our home and wandered around out there. From one thought of ignorance, 84,000 afflictions arose in our minds; this led us to wander about and do many things, [thus creating karma]. We have been born in the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms; in the Five Realms, we wandered about homeless. This is truly very frightening. So, we must be mindful.
The Buddha’s intent in coming to this world was solely to help all sentient beings realize that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, and we are all able to attain Buddhahood. It is just a single thought of ignorance [that led us astray]. The Buddha came to this world to help us understand how to eliminate our ignorance. After we eliminate our ignorance, we will understand how to walk on the road back to our nature of True Suchness.
Next, let us look at the previous sutra passage, “‘You will have oil to apply to your feet,’ ‘enough to eat and drink’ ‘and a thick and warm mat’. With harsher words he said, ‘Work diligently!’.”
This was the previous passage. The child had been out wandering around when the father finally found him. He had to adopt a very gentle demeanor and put on a disguise to go to where his child was and invite him back. Once he had invited his son back home, his son took cleaning supplies, and every single day he worked very diligently cleaning. This old man that invited him there would often talk with him. Because India is very dry, the skin on people’s hands and feet cracked easily. Being able to protect their skin was something only wealthy people could do. So, he said to his son, “Look, we have such abundant goods. Even when we are working, not only will we have food to fill us and clothes to warm us, but we can also protect our skin. You will have oil to apply to your feet.”
“You will have oil to apply to your feet” refers to spiritual powers, the power of transporting oneself. It means that if we practice earnestly, we will have the Six Spiritual Powers. Within the Six Spiritual Powers, there is the power of transporting oneself. Actually, the power of transporting oneself means that our thoughts are free and abundant. This is called the power of transporting oneself. I often tell everyone, “You are all here, but let me tell you about the Philippines. On the streets in the Philippines, there is a group of homeless people.” If we have watched Da Ai TV we will think of the streets in Manila, Philippines and what they set up there, such comfortable places which were provided for many people to shower. When they came out, they were like new people. After getting haircuts and new clothes they were given plenty of supplies.
This is what we would think of. These poor and destitute people were wandering the streets; when they met some good people, their lives were totally changed. Using the same principle, we can clearly understand that we all intrinsically have the Buddha-nature. Our nature of True Suchness is complete, but we continue to have ignorance [covering us]; there are still defilements in our minds. We are covered by ignorance, with defilements and disease in our minds. For example, if we are hungry and thirsty and the skin on our hands and feet has cracked, it will be very difficult for us to do work.
Now that we are listening to the Dharma, our minds have started to become spiritually rich. We should be able to make use of it, and not only for our own benefit; we should have “more than enough” that we can use to help others. Just look at the volunteers from the Philippines. You see, their hearts are filled with love. Not only are their own families well-off, they are willing to come out [to help others]. They prepared many things for those homeless people, so they could be relaxed and at ease and obtain needed supplies. Isn’t this the power of transporting oneself? When we have more than enough, we can go wherever we want; wherever people are in need, we can take action and go to that place to help. The principle is the same. So, our minds will gradually become rich.
This was because the elder could not bear for his child to live in poverty and suffer so greatly. Thus he used different methods to teach him. This is just like the Buddha.
The next sutra passage says, “Then with gentler words he said, ‘Think of yourself as my son’. The elder used wisdom to gradually have him come and go from the house. After a period of 20 years, he put him in charge of household affairs.”
We should read this sutra passage carefully. Using different methods and different words, how could he guide his son?
” Then with gentler words he said, ‘Think of yourself as my son’: According to capabilities, the Buddha taught us to cultivate the Seven Factors of Enlightenment and the Eightfold Noble Path.”
Next it says, “Then with gentler words he said, ‘Think of yourself as my son’.” The father had already approached his son and now started to speak to him. “According to capabilities, the Buddha taught us to cultivate the Seven Factors of Enlightenment and the Eightfold Noble Path.” At first, this was like how the Buddha taught to people of average and limited capabilities; He gave them the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. We talked before about the Fourfold Mindfulness, Four Bases of Fulfilling Power, etc. After the three Fours are the two Fives, the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers, as well as the Seven and the Eight, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment and the Eightfold Noble Path.
“Of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the first is the factor of discernment, which is discerning between truth and falsehood in all teachings.”
We must choose well among the teachings and take the Dharma into our hearts. When we learn teachings, it must be Right Dharma. Nowadays, the world is very complicated, with many deviant paths and views. One can easily go wrong, toward a deviant path. When people are lured onto deviant paths, it is truly very frightening.
We are learning from the Buddha, and “Buddha” means “Enlightened One.” The Buddha was an enlightened person, so He was called the Buddha. Therefore, when we choose the religion we want to have faith in, we must choose very carefully. How should we practice within our religion? We must very carefully discern this, so we can find a [method] that is worth practicing. As for “the truth and falsehood in all teachings,” we must earnestly look for and seek to understand what our True Dharma is and what Dharma is worth mindfully accepting. So, this is called the “factor of discernment” or the “discernment factor.”
A “factor” is the same as a “branch.” A “factor” is [an element of something], and a “branch” is [a part of a group]. So, we can call them the Seven Factors of Bodhi or the Seven Branches of Enlightenment. These two terms are interchangeable
“The second [factor] is the factor of diligence, which means to cultivate the teachings without interruption or distraction.”
This is very simple; we understand it just by looking at the words. When we are practicing the teachings, we cannot have discursive thoughts. We need to be single-minded in our resolve to walk the great, straight Bodhi-path. We need an upright mind to walk the Bodhi-path without any complications. The True Dharma is very simple, without any complications. So, if we practice with simple and straightforward spiritual aspirations, it will be easier for us to experience it. We must not have overly-complicated thoughts
“Third is the factor of joy; this is the joy we attain from awakening to the True Dharma.”
If we can be joyful, what did it take to make us joyful? [We are joyful] when the Dharma and our minds can resonate with each other. What are our intentions? What exactly is the Dharma? After we have heard it, we understand it. Why is a “poor son” used as an analogy for our nature of True Suchness? In regard to our nature of True Suchness, “I am I, and the poor son is the poor son; what does he have to do with me?” As individuals we are not related, but in terms of the principles, the poor son has a lot to do with us. Analogies help us understand the principles. The principles are so profound that if we only hear them we may not understand. So, people and matters are used as analogies [to help us understand them].
This poor son is actually us. Once our ignorance causes us to take action, a lot of ignorance and afflictions arise. Once we ran away, we did not know how to return.
Now we know the path to return home. This is just like the poor son. The wealthy elder had already met him. He was talking to him every day, and every day he encouraged him to make a resolve. “After you make a resolve, you can receive the treasures of this world. That is how you should begin.” It is just like when we listen to the Dharma; we find that our minds intrinsically have wisdom equal to the Buddha’s. So, we must work hard to dedicate the Dharma we hear to ourselves and take it to heart.
I often say, “We must take the Dharma to heart.” This means that after we hear the Dharma, we must apply it to ourselves and rediscover our intrinsic nature. We should know that being on this road we will soon arrive at our home. So, we are joyful; we call this Dharma-joy.
We often say that we work joyfully; what are we joyful about? Helping other people makes us very joyful, and finishing a task makes us joyful as well. When spiritual practitioners, people who truly listen to the Dharma, take action, if we successfully put the teachings into action, that is Dharma-joy. “This is the joy we attain from awakening to the True Dharma.” Knowing the methods to transform people and allowing everyone to be very joyful gives us Dharma-joy
“Fourth is the factor of elimination. The factor of elimination means to eliminate all [ignorant] views and all afflictions.”
Now we understand the Dharma, and we also understand how to “eliminate all [ignorant] views and all afflictions.” We have already been wandering for “20 [or] even 50 years.” It is truly because of our ignorance that we have wandered for such a long time and in so many rough places. We have truly suffered a lot. But now we have found the road home, so we must quickly eliminate our ignorant views. We must now begin to eliminate our ignorant views and understanding. In spiritual practice, we must eliminate all of our afflictions. If we do not eliminate our afflictions, the path to return home will still be very long. If we can eliminate one affliction, we will get closer to our intrinsic nature and move closer to the road home. If there are obstructions on the road, we must first eliminate the road blocks. When we have cleared away the road blocks, we will have hope of being able to return.
“Fifth is the factor of renunciation. Renunciation is letting go.”
We just had to “eliminate,” and now we must “renounce.” This is “letting go of views and states of attachment.”
Since we are engaging in spiritual practice, we must let go of all our views and understanding. We must eliminate our old habitual tendencies. Whether it be [our attachments to] fame or wealth, we must eliminate them. Since we are engaging in spiritual practice, we should maintain a simple lifestyle and not be afraid of hard work. This kind of simplicity should prevent discursive thoughts and afflictions from disturbing our minds. So, we must let go of our delusions of views and thinking, let go of our discursive thoughts and let go of our thoughts of attachment. If all these external states, the states of our Six Roots and Six Dusts, can be eliminated, we will no longer be tempted by them. If we can “let go” of them, then naturally our afflictions will be reduced.
“Sixth is the factor of Samadhi. We need to have Samadhi. Samadhi is to “awaken to all states of meditative concentration.”
Our minds must have Samadhi; [we must practice] precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. If we uphold the precepts, then naturally our minds will not be chaotic. If our minds are not chaotic, we can eliminate the Five Roots and Five States; if roots, dusts and external states can be eliminated, then naturally our minds will have Samadhi. With the factor of Samadhi, if we can be focused, we are practicing meditation. Carrying firewood and water is also meditation. When the mind is focused, every action is a practice of Samadhi
“Seventh, the factor of thought says we must [engage in] the practice of cultivating contemplation.”
We should rid ourselves of attachments to external states. No matter how complicated external sounds are, we should not worry about them. We should focus on listening to our hearts, focus on the teachings we have heard and on how we should engage in spiritual practice [As we hear] which teachings and methods can be applied to our lives, we feel very joyful. Indeed, this is “the practice of cultivating contemplation.” As we listen to the teachings every day, we must contemplate them earnestly.
Before the Eightfold Noble Path come the Seven Branches of Enlightenment or the Seven Factors of Bodhi. Next is the Eightfold Noble Path.
“Eightfold Noble Path: one, Right View, two, Right Thinking, three, Right Speech, four, Right Action, five, Right Livelihood, six, Right Diligence, seven, Right Mindfulness and eight, Right Samadhi.”
If we can uphold Right Views and Understanding, Right Thinking, Right Speech and. Right Actions, then in our lives, we [can] protect our wisdom-life well. Regarding Right Thinking, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness and Right Samadhi, we cannot lack any of these in spiritual practice.
So, in learning the Buddha’s Way in our lives, I hope that none of our thoughts will stray from the Dharma and that our every action can be aligned with the Dharma. Then it will truly be a road without obstacles for us Buddhist practitioners. After removing the road blocks in our path, we can take one step at a time to steadily return home. This requires us to clean our surroundings. We must put our efforts into this. Everyone, please always be mindful.