Contemplating the Dharma of Dependent Origination, emptiness and no afflictions
Venerable Chuan Xi gave a lecture on Venerable Liao(12.01.05)
Believer: Master, you said that the hearts of those who study Buddhism have become too soft, right? The heart becomes too soft and soft, and it is easy to be bullied, isn't it?
Master: This is a process of our self-cultivation, because if we are very hard, it seems that you can walk in this world, but this is a path of reincarnation, because "me" is a seed of reincarnation, and we have to destroy "me" when we practice, "I" is gone, "I" is gone, "I" is gone, "I" is gone, "I don't exist", "I don't exist", "I" is gone, "I" is gone, "I" is gone, "I" is gone. So even though we are bullied a little bit, although we seem to suffer a little loss, we have the power of the Dharma, we have the backing of the Dharma, and "I" will not make mistakes, right? If you don't make mistakes, that's fine, and you're in tune with the Buddha.
Believer: Sometimes endure it, endure it, I can't help it. I always think, you see, before, that is, no one dared to tell you this, that, or how. So now, it's that your temper has changed for the better, and whoever you talk to, everyone is polite, and you become bullied in turn. Forget it, endure and endure, you have learned Buddhism, don't be so angry, just endure. There is a limit to forbearance, the more you endure, that is, if you endure a foot, he will enter a zhang, endlessly, and there is always a time to break out when he is angry. That's why I think it's easy for people to be bullied when they want to learn Buddhism.
Master: It's a process, and gradually we will have the power of justice, and justice will also have power.
Believer: But now I don't experience where the power of justice is, including some of the surrounding ones, business, so sometimes I don't want to do this business. Another point is that this emotion becomes very difficult to reconcile, very lost, and the mood becomes very pessimistic, or very annoyed, or very sad, very pessimistic. What has become of it now, this little thing in the morning to think about it, sigh! Think about it at noon and sigh! Think about it the next day and sigh!
After that, I want to take the book to read, go up to the Buddhist scriptures to find it, how to solve it, practice breathing, practice sitting, meditate. But before I had been meditating for ten minutes, I remembered it again, and I couldn't sit anymore, and I got angry, so it became difficult to reconcile the emotions of the mind. Yesterday, I was so angry that I almost dropped the computer, and I checked it on the computer, how to mediate my emotions, and said that I would learn from children. I said yes, I was a child, I was crying, and I laughed immediately when you gave him candy, think about it. But how can an adult do it, so angry that he almost dropped the computer.
So now during this time, it's really become very annoying, this year, last year, especially the second half of the year, especially my friend's thing, it's okay, it's been released now. But this kind of thing, several companies in the same industry as us, have become our reputation is also very bad, and the outside world spreads this and that thing, of course, we can ignore it. But on the other hand, the more friendly you are, and he says look, he must have a problem, he has no problem, how can he become so polite now, you look at the way it used to be, you see what has become now, no!
At first, you don't have to pay attention to him, and when you really deal with him, the more you get it, the more annoying it becomes, the heavier the pressure in your heart, and the more resentment you feel. If it is pressed to a certain extent, I will not have so much capacity to bear it, and it will explode. Because the negative emotions outside sometimes bring to the home, and sometimes the family is not used to it, and the negative emotions will be brought to the outside. So this seems to mean that there is always a lot of negative stuff piling up, and sometimes the positive stuff can't be seen. Negative things, as soon as you talk about this matter, you know that it is not right, and sometimes if something is not right, others will see it very much, that is, after this person's heart has softened after learning Buddhism, it may be easy to bully!
Master: To test whether your heart is soft or not, to test you.
Believer: Sometimes I think about it, it's better to get stiffer now, and sometimes I wonder what it would be like if my heart became softer and softer.
Master: Actually, that's a kind of wisdom, for example, when you encounter an incident, forget it, don't go toe-to-toe with him, in fact, it shows that your wisdom surpasses him, and that's why it's like this.
Believer: For example, if you don't do anything like him, if you don't do anything with him, in fact, as I feel, I'm taking refuge in the Master, I'm taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and I feel that I shouldn't have this kind of hatred, but now I don't understand from my heart why I can't afford this hatred, I'm trying to learn how to suppress it, because there will always be a limit to this kind of pressure, for example, if I can't suppress it, it will be full of power. Sometimes I am so angry that I don't explode in the outside world, go back, and give my wife a good scold that day. I said, it's over, this is broken again, so the one is very annoyed. You see, when I didn't study Buddhism, I didn't care at that time, and I didn't feel so much pressure.
Master: When I didn't study Buddhism, I didn't have such a high standard, but now that there is a standard, you know, what direction do you think you want to develop, and you start to have precepts. In the past, it was imaginative, and it didn't matter where you went.
Believer: Yes, I always think, Master, it's very difficult to reconcile negative emotions, and sometimes when you have negative emotions, you get angry, or when you are sad and angry, it's very difficult to regulate these negative emotions.
Master: That's what we in Buddhism means to look at its dependent voidness and refresh it, because all your feelings are subjective, why do you feel them, what do you think is true? When you realize that this is not true, well, deal with this problem with wisdom, to face this problem, then you will transcend the past.
So this, we usually don't say it, it's cold when it's cold, right, everyone thinks it's cold. But really, if you're going to practice, is it cold? When you really transcend this, when you transcend this false appearance, it's very strange at this time, like their practice, to the state of Milarepa, it's not that he doesn't get cold when he wears a lot of clothes, he will also be hot, very hot, others are so cold, he can sweat, he is transcendent, then we ordinary people, this cold is cold!
Practice, we're looking, we're looking at this thing, we're seeing this thing, it's just a thing. Those who study Buddhism are not like this, when they see this thing, they can return to the light, what is it that sees this. We generally see this, I see this thing with my eyes, he is him, you are you.
But from the perspective of studying Buddhism, what is true wisdom? You see, you are you, and he is also you, including the Buddha, and the Buddha is also in this state, and the Buddha is also in existence now. We are now ordinary people, we are discriminating, we are independent of this world, we are independent of everything, we form a subjective thought, this independent thought.
In fact, with this thought, we cling to this as me, living in a false appearance, so we will connect one false appearance to another, and one false to one false appearance. The Buddha said that this suffering, the Buddha said that all life, you see, all sentient beings in this cycle are in this state of suffering, so suffering. He didn't see the truth in the fake appearance, and whether there was a dollar or a million in the fake image, it was exactly the same. It doesn't matter if you are the noblest caste or the slave caste, it is the same in the eyes of the Buddha, so there is no caste in his eyes.
There are social divisions, there are, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, what is noble and what is lowly. As for the Buddha, nobles are the same as sluts, they are all in this sea of suffering, so he accepts apprentices, as long as you are willing to become enlightened, you can be my apprentice, and as long as you understand this truth, you can become holy and become an arhat.
In the past, there was an emperor who saw that the Buddha took a slut, a slave, because the Buddha was a Kshatriya, and his disciples Kshatriya and Brahmins all had them, all of whom were the highest in society, so the emperor's words, so that the status of the exchange was equal, even if he was worshipped as a teacher, it was nothing. Now there is a slave class in the Buddha's Sangha, when the emperor comes to kowtow to them again, he thinks I can't worship, I am the emperor, I belong to the highest in this society, how can I kowtow to the slut! The Buddha wanted this person to show him his supernatural powers, to completely break his arrogance, why he would become an arhat.
Therefore, when the Buddha was preaching the Dharma at that time, everyone would naturally say, for example, when the Buddha said that there is no self, when he talks about no self, where am I, where am I, look for me. Because the Buddha is the selfless, the wisdom of the Buddha is guiding at the moment, and everyone can quickly generate wisdom, that is, beyond this narrow view of the self, true wisdom is present, and everyone enters the state of Buddha-nature at once. We are not Buddha-nature now, we are all following this karma now, and there will be people in this karma, there will be others, there will be self, there will be right and wrong, there will be all kinds of samsaric appearances.
At that time, many of us modern people, whether engaged in philosophy or political science, always thought that Buddhism was used by the ruling class to control people. The time of the Buddha was not like this, the mainstream belief in India at that time was Brahmanism, all the emperors were with Brahmanism, including the Buddha himself also belonged to Brahmanism, he belonged to the Kshatriya Brahman, the belief was Brahmanism, he did not use the Buddha's thought to rule, the Buddha's thought was very dangerous, it broke the Indian class system, *** the same. The emperor believes this, if he is only from the perspective of rule, he will not believe this, why does the emperor believe it? I was completely subdued by the truth of the Buddha, and the emperor at that time did not think that I would trust this Buddha in order to rule the country, and there was no such an interest relationship as doing business, which was not like this. Even many emperors listened to the words of the Buddha, gave up the throne, and followed the Buddha to practice.
So this Dharma really has to go deeper, especially when you encounter these afflictions, these sufferings. You feel that this disturbing mantra is controlled by it, locked by it, it's very painful, what should we do, ask the Buddha to save us, the Buddha to save me. Is there such a thing? Where's this thing? Do you have to accept me? Is there one I'm suffering? There is one, for example, this breath of the nest, where is this breath, what is it? Where exactly is it, what is it, where does it come from, does it have a place to go? Does it come from? Is it an actual thing? Even if I am angry with him, do you analyze whether "he" has it, and then go back and analyze me, is there a "me" who is angry with this kind of thing? If I have that thing in my heart, is that thing real, is it actual, and where does it come from? Will it go in the future? Where does it exist now?
Then, on the other hand, is that an object, and there is a subject, is there a so-called me who is angry with him, is it this thing or that? When this wisdom is born, it surpasses both me and my being, and we call it lust and want to do knowledge, lust, and we still have a thought. It's even coarser.,It's someone else who still beats you.,If you think about it, it's still that.,There's a lot of it that comes out of the yin.。 When this is analyzed, the real ...... of this life begins. Studying Buddhism is such a process, learning Buddhism is a process of suffering, suffering is already facing this suffering to analyze it, using the method that the Buddha taught us to analyze, calm down, have a quiet room, calm down, sit down and analyze this, don't go to the computer to find these answers, find what methods. The Buddha said that there is no self, and the first thing the Buddha said was to talk about the Sutra of No Self. When you calm down, when you calm down like this, you can face these so-called nests alone, and that's the best place to enter the practice, because the Dharma itself is suffering, and when suffering arises, the Dharma works best.
What is this life of ours, this is the sixth consciousness at work, this sixth consciousness, separation, separation, I like to compare it to something, like a swimmer, swimming in the water, always this body swimming in the water, changing postures. Our minds are like that, changing and changing, changing and changing. As for the practitioners, you have to relax it, relax, don't change, let it float on the surface. It turns out that all the legs that can change, the feet that can change, and the hands that can change is this body, and the root of this body is the seventh consciousness, and when the seventh consciousness is quietly and quietly over there, let this life, this body, and the water and the world become one, and then enter the state of the eighth consciousness, the eighth consciousness.
There is a video on our website, "The Mystery of the Brain", which is a female brain scientist in the United States, about her own stroke. Stroke, when that time she was also a little scared, because she is a brain expert, this phenomenon seems to be the phenomenon of stroke. Then she thought, I'm studying the brain, and now this is happening to me, that's great, I'm going to study what the hell this phenomenon is, and she wrote down the situation by heart. Her separate half of the brain began to have a cerebral hemorrhage, and when her work stopped, the function of the other half of her brain was still there. At this time, she found that it was so wonderful, it turned out that the whole life was connected to the universe.
In fact, this brain scientist tells us that our left and right brains, one is actually intuitive, this life is one with heaven and earth, and the other half of the brain is logical, it makes you different from heaven and earth, you are you. What we're developing now is that side, the side of the brain that discriminates the mind, but in fact, this has been deviated. You think, is it okay for this brain to turn it off? Turning it off is not actually good, turning it off is a state of chaos, and its brain makes your life feel like a state of chaos, that is, it will fall apart, it will get lost in that state of chaos.
Then when we practice, how do we use our left and right brains? It is to make it stop in the other half of the brain's sense of being in harmony with heaven and earth, and this feeling of unity should be fixed by reason, and this is right. It is necessary to protect the right brain by discriminating the mind, that is, the discriminating mind of the left brain, and this one of the right brain, which is one with heaven and earth, just keeps our life in the best state. This Taoist practice is called "hugging Pu Shouyi", the brain here is the same body as the universe, it is very sensitive to feel that life is not lonely, life itself is a source of energy in the brain, so color, receiving, thinking, acting, this line of yin, that is, our usual line of yin, has become impermanence, has become social changes, all kinds of changes. But according to the words of the Dharma, this yin becomes empowerment and blessing. Tantra means that if you settle in this practice, then you can enter the empowerment position, and then you, a single being, are in the whole universe, and when you connect with the universe, the charging is very fast, so in this way of charging, our brain cells wake up very quickly, which is called supreme enlightenment. What is supreme enlightenment, enlightenment is the development of the original, 100 percent brain cells, this is the supreme enlightenment.
We're asleep now, 98 percent of our brain cells are asleep because we don't have that energy. And then there's a little bit of energy that's spent on the discriminating mind, and there's a little bit of energy that's all gone, and then we're always a poor egg, and we're a poor egg of energy. Therefore, our cultivators should live in peace with the poor and keep the Tao, that is, the values of life, the most important thing, to live here. So if you look at the Hinayana practice of the Arhat, the Mahayana practice, the Mahayana Bodhisattva, the Vajrayana practice, for example, what kind of practice to live in, how long it takes to become a Buddha, a certain practice is ten lifetimes, sixteen lifetimes, one is seven lifetimes, some are three lifetimes, some are one lifetime, and one lifetime can become a Buddha.
What I'm talking about just now is that your life is settled in this left and right brain, which is directly integrated with the universe. But if there is no distinction between the left brain, it is also chaotic to settle in this one-body, and it is useless, just like a stone placed there, it is also one-body with the universe, but it does not know that this one-body is the best state, where is this logical thinking used? To be used to help, the left and right brains are mutually reciprocating, just as we doctors see the growth of the DNA of each of our living beings. If we use the state of consciousness to settle in such a cosmic life, that is, it will also be formed, that is, like the rotation of our DNA, our life will also be united with that.
Then you see this "Om Ma Horn Mi Mi" on both sides of the Jizo Bodhisattva, "Om Ma Ma Bang Mi Mi" is the spiral form of the simplest DNA in our life, so if the Jizo Bodhisattva settles down on this, then wherever He goes, where all beings will be liberated, and he can be pulled out by Him, and that power is very, very powerful.
Our present life is an individual, and the consciousness of separation is predominant. What is over there, there is one with the world, with all things. Some people, through meditation, such as practice, suppress this distinction, let go of the discriminating mind, let go, relax, relax, and then let the other side of the brain become more and more manifest with the unity of heaven and earth, so that we can feel, in concentration, that it is indeed the unity of heaven and earth, and that it is one with all things. So why we cultivate one in our practice, we don't kill, it's because that life is me. Why do you kill it, because the stronger my concept, for me, I want to have nutrition, that's why I eat it, kill it, kill it, eat it. The heavier this ego, the deeper the suffering.
Cultivation is soft, the heart is soft, the heart is soft, what is this softness? It is to be special, for example, when a person is quiet, or when he is meditating on the Buddhist scriptures, he must be soft, soft, soft, so soft that I have not fallen off, and this is like a door, and I suddenly enter this door, which is also called the realm of cultivation. When people really enter a state of selflessness, we should strive for it in our practice. You have not tasted this, as if you had not tasted it yourself in this life, alas! It is true that there is no self, it is true that it can be the same as heaven and earth, and even heaven and earth do not have it, my master told me that if you practice for three years without mentioning a single word of heaven, you can achieve the same.
I've thought about it for many years, why don't you mention this heaven, because there will be heaven and earth in our consciousness of separation, when you are really the same body as heaven and earth, there is no sense of heaven and earth, it is manifested in physiology, what is the feeling of our body, when your life is really like that, the veins of your body are connected to the universe of heaven and earth, and it is the same as the great Zhou Tian mentioned in Taoism.
Our current veins are all locked, because I am attached, ego-attached, and the more ego-grasping, the more this vein is locked, and the energy is like an island, the less we use it. The blessings of this world are over, and if it's bad, the blessings and longevity will be over. If this vein of ours can be one with heaven and earth, and even if this heaven and earth are still alive, with a layer of heaven, a second heaven, and a third layer of heaven, and if we have attained a high level of enlightenment, then in the past, the Taoist doctrine said that we would live with heaven and earth, and we would die without dying. Let's talk about the word longevity, this longevity word is called "death without death" in the "Tao Te Ching", called longevity". Like our master, he has cultivated to this, although he has passed away, we think he has passed away, but he still exists, and many people can see it.
This time I went to Singapore, the Dharma heart was there, and Master had something to say to me quickly. As far as I'm concerned, it's as if I'm fixed in the way of the world. If I'm going to get into that state completely, sometimes it's okay, and sometimes the power to spread the Dharma is stronger. But we have to have faith, I know that this is the path, like the Jizo Bodhisattva, "Hell is not empty, you will not become a Buddha, all sentient beings will be exhausted, and you will attain Bodhi." "You see, the Buddhas, He has become a Buddha, He has entered the Gate of Nirvana, and then He has come to the realm of living beings, and He is in another form. Even the arhats were, and when He finally left this world, He never came again in this physical form.
If you can understand this, then you will know why Buddhism is like this, why you want to be like this, why it is called a small thing and a big plan, after all, it is a small thing, how much is the business worth, you see through this, you think it is ridiculous, he put that big thing that day. That is for us, we have a higher value in our hearts, and where is my life going to develop? You talk about business, but you are doing it, your wisdom can still be surpassed, you are the method for them, you can not do it at any time, it doesn't matter, right, you can not do it at any time.
I used to have an idea that you can earn this money reasonably, and even if you burn it, there will be merit. Why, because those people, people who don't understand the reason, when the money comes to him, he will do bad things, that's really it. What's more, for example, if you earn this money, you can also use this money to give back to the society and promote social goodness. This society is like this, don't say that you do good deeds, I don't do those good things when I earn this money, I have merit in burning it. If he has a good character, it doesn't matter if he earns a little more. It's not good, then you don't let him, you can earn as much as you want. But this earning, as I said earlier, the money in your hands is just, first, it shows that you have the blessing, you have the power, and the money is in your hands. The second step is the right one to truly become your blessing again. One is that the good fortune shows the money, and then the money becomes the good fortune, and the most important thing is to turn it into good fortune.
There are many people who have cultivated good fortune in their previous lives, they will give alms or something, and they will have good fortune in this life, but they don't make good use of this money, but this money has become his sinful karma again, which is too much in society, and that kind of person, money has become something harmful to him. Many people are like this, cultivating diligently in this life, and giving alms or something, which is really good, and has exchanged some blessings. But in the second life, he forgot about it, and he used that good fortune to create bad karma again, and then he fell even deeper, and this is also mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures. Even in our Chinese culture, it is said that "heaven, if you want to bring disaster, you must first use blessing". If Heaven wants to harm you, give you blessings first. "Heaven, if you want to bless people, you must first bring disaster." If the heavens want to save you, if it is good for you, give you a little trouble, so that you will be very cautious, and it will be good for you.
Like most people, they think how good it is to have a temple and how good it is to be the abbot of the temple, but Master Yinguang said that the fastest way to go to hell is to be an abbot. Therefore, the ancestors of the past generations generally did not want to be the abbot, like my master used to swear not to be the abbot. My master is seventy years old as the abbot, and he was pushed and lifted by these great monks. Otherwise, he would have been the abbot of Putuo Mountain, and he was the first to return to Putuo Mountain, and the government also invited him to be the abbot first. He just remembered that I was not an abbot, so he didn't accept the Dharma scrolls, although he was already a Dharma master who cultivated the Tiantai Sect, but when others wanted to pass on the Dharma scrolls of the Tiantai Sect to him, he didn't accept them, because in our Buddhism, it is said that after receiving the Dharma scrolls, he would be the abbot and the abbot. It's the same now, and now it's restored, whoever wants to be the abbot, you can't roll it, it's like this. Now in order to be the abbot to receive the Dharma scrolls, he also did not study the Tiantai Sect, he received a large number of Dharma scrolls of the Tiantai Sect, and this is the case now. My master is very proficient in learning, and he is already a master of the Tiantai Sect, and he doesn't accept the Dharma scrolls.
Even we sometimes swear that in the next life, we will be reincarnated in a poorer family, and we will not be too good-looking, and we will not be too healthy, and we will make a vow like this, so that we can still have a lower posture in our lives, and we will not be arrogant, and we will have a lower posture, so that we will have a clear view of the problem, and our steps will be more stable, so that there will be many opportunities, and you will encounter the Dharma, and then you will be in a good state. If you have money, you are very beautiful, you have good conditions, and your health is very good, then you have just met the Dharma: I don't need it, what do I need the Dharma for? So many great virtues he reincarnated, including some great virtues of Tibetan Buddhism, he deliberately transferred to a poor family, his parents have good moral character, but they are not necessarily rich, they are relatively poor, in ordinary families, so that he will experience life like others, experience all kinds of suffering, why life is like this, where is the true meaning of life. When you think about this, you will pick it up as soon as you encounter the Dharma, because the Dharma speaks of these answers. In this way, he will not be fascinated, and once he receives the Dharma, he will cultivate it well. Therefore, we sometimes say that it is difficult to cultivate the way of wealth and wealth, because he is already in the upper strata of society, and others look up to him, but he does not know, and he will not think about the profound truths of life, the principles of life, and the truth of longer-term life.
That is to say, when you are in the business field, they are not studying Buddhism, you can still do it in the business field, but in your heart you have to know that you have to transcend, you are like playing that role, that is your role in the past.
Believers: I'm too lazy to do it now, I don't want to do it.
Master: If you want to study Buddhism, for example, you can change the environment.
Believer: Sometimes you don't do it, you don't do it.
Master: What are you doing, there are a lot of good things.
believers; It may also be that the way I think now is not the same as before, so I see the problem differently and have more troubles.
Master: The main thing is that sometimes when your own realm has improved, you feel too lazy to worry about this kind of person, and you still have to compete with him for that kind of thing, and sometimes it may be like this. In the past, as Tao Yuanming said, he didn't want to bend his waist for the villain for five buckets of rice, right, he didn't want to be with him and fight with him. I think there is also this, the realm of people is different. On the other hand, if you know that you have studied Buddhism, then these sentient beings will protect you, this profession is very good, in fact, it is also very good for you to do a good job in this profession, if you really have troubles, then you have to return to the light, and the troubles are actually not given to you by others, that is, you have problems with cognition, and through the wisdom of the Dharma, you have to look at it in this way, and then go beyond it.
Finishing: Miao Ran Proofreading: Hui Xiu Editor: Dezang
