Chapter 12 ﹝13﹞ : Not to despise the un-learner is difficult.

(Chapter 12 ﹝13﹞ ) A Brief Talk about The Scripture of Forty-Two Chapters Said by Buddha

Co-translators in the time of Eastern Han Dynasty, China(A.D. 25 - 200) : Kasyapa Matanga and Zhu Falan (Who translated the said Scripture from Sanskrit into Chinese. )

Translator in modern time (A.D.2018: Tao Qing Hsu (Who translated the said Scripture from Chinese into English.)

Teacher and writer for explaining the said Scripture: Tao Qing Hsu 

Chapter 12: List the difficulties and exhort to practice   

The Buddha said,” There are twenty difficulties for people. Giving something to others is difficult when people are in poor. Learning the Dao is difficult when people are in the huge wealth and are the nobility. It is hard to the people when they must die because their lives have to be abandoned. Being able to see the scripture of Buddha is difficult. Being born in the time of Buddha is difficult. Enduring the erotic and desire is difficult. Seeing the self-interest and not to pursue it is difficult. No resentment when being humiliated is difficult. When having the authority and not to draw near to ordinary people  is difficult. When contact with things and no heart  is difficult. Learning widely and researching extensively are difficult. Removing the ego-arrogance is difficult. Not to despise the un-learner is difficult. Practicing the equality in heart is difficult. Not saying its right or wrong is difficult. Meeting the good-knowledge person is difficult. Seeing the Nature and learning the Dao are difficult. According to conditions to reform people so as to save them is difficult. Seeing the circumstance and unmoved in heart are difficult. Good at understanding the convenience is difficult.

Chapter 12 ﹝13﹞ : Not to despise the un-learner is difficult.

Not to despise the un-learner is difficult. It is the thirteenth difficulty in the twenty difficulties said by Buddha Shakyamuni in this Chapter.

“the un-learner” means those who have not yet learned Buddha. In the history or in Taiwan, we have experienced that those who have learned Buddha and have a little knowledge of Buddhism, however, who have not yet enlightened completely and have regarded themselves more better and superior than other people. When we are talking with them, we feel a lot of pressure and uncomfortable. That is because they have not yet removed the ego-arrogance.

They are our reflection. When we have learned Buddha, we have to self-reflect that do we have removed the ego-arrogance? Do we have despised the not-learner? When I am learning Buddha, I also have made such mistake. I also have despised those who are not interested in learning Buddha, till I have read the Buddhist Scripture which mentioned that everyone is equal in the body of Emptiness and all living beings have Buddha-nature.

A story about Bodhisattva Often-not-despising

In another chapter, I have mentioned a Bodhisattva who is named as Often-not-despising. When he was a Buddhist monk and saw the people, he closed his palms together, respected and bowed to those persons, and said to them that you would become a Buddha in the future, so I do not dare to despise you. He often did that and said such things. Some people regarded him as a mad person and threw stones to him. He ran away, and then stood far away to face those people, always closed his palms together, respected and bowed to those people, and said loudly to them that all of you would become Buddha in the future, so I do not dare to despise you. That is why people call him Bodhisattva Often-not-despising. The story is talked by Buddha Shakyamuni in Buddhist Scripture. This story reminds us that we should not despise any person, even though they are un-learner in Buddhism.

If we are lucky to have knowledge, specialty, and wisdom, or we own the special resources, we should not despise those persons who are suffering in life.

In our life, we have ever faced different people who own different kind of knowledge, specialty, and technology, and even they own the special resources in country or in the world. They own the superiority and thus despise the lives of the ordinary people.

Most people are living in the poverty, and are suffering in life. Unfortunately, they do not know why they are poor and suffering in life. They do not have enough knowledge and specialty to improve their life, let alone to own the special resources in country. They might know that they are despised. But, they cannot do any thing to change the fact by positive wisdom.

If we are lucky to have knowledge, specialty, and wisdom, or we own the special resources, we should not despise those persons who are suffering in life. It is better for us to do our best to help them liberate themselves from the suffering, because we are equal in the body of Emptiness and have the Buddha-nature. They would become Buddha in the future. To help them is also meant to help ourselves.

The best helpfulness is to give those who ask for help the true wisdom.

There are many ways to help people. But, do you have found that some people are zealous to help other people, however, it makes the zealous persons being tangled in the helped peoples’ problem. And then, such problem would birth new problem to the zealous persons. In other word, it is not only the problem of being helped people. It has become the problems of both of them.

 

In my practical experience, I have found that some people who ask for the help from outside are because they are lack of wisdom to deal with their personal mental problem. In other word, when they ask for people from outside to do things and help them, that is not the master problem. What the master problem is their disorder in mental activity. They are tangling and stocking in their negative emotion and thinking. And that affect their relationship with their family and the methods to handle things. They also have felt about their mental problem and attend the mind course. What have shocked me is that such course almost is no helpful for them. Their disorder in mental activity has still been there. Why? Because such course does not touch the core of the true wisdom.

So, if we are zealous to help people, we should not be blind. It is better for us to use our brain and wisdom so as to avoid that we fall into the tangled problem and trouble. The best helpfulness is to give those who ask for help the true wisdom. The second helpfulness is to give them knowledge. When they have wisdom and knowledge, they would be strong in heart and independent in life, and finally could find the way, including knowledge and specialty, to improve their problem, including the poverty.    

If we understand such method and have such ability to help people, we would not despise the un-learner.

Supplementary note: Dao is transliterated from Chinese, meaning way and method, deeper meaning as a system of learning or religion. Dao is Tao, which is transliterated from Chinese. The original meaning of Dao is the way and path, and it is extended to be the truth of life that we can learn and practice in our lives.