(Chapter 42) 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 42: Recognize the worldliness as illusion
The
Buddha said,” I view the position of a king and princes as that dust passes through
a gap, gold-jade treasures as rubbles, white-delicate clothes as broken-old silk,
large-thousand worlds as a myrobalan, Anuttana-pool water as applying foot oil,
convenient gate as transforming the treasures gathering, the supreme-boarding as
the gold-handkerchief in dream, the path of Buddha as the flowers in front of
the eyes, the meditation as Sumeru pillar, the Nirvana as the day-night
awakening, the reverse and positive as the six-dragons dance, the equality as
one truth-land, the thriving and teaching as the four-seasons wood.
The introduction
and reminder
This chapter is that the Buddha talked to all
disciples what are the views and attitude of the Buddha’s proving fruit. It could
be the reference and has the key teaching for the people who have the senior
training and have the profound practice in Buddhism and it is very helpful for
them to step further to understand and practice the Buddhism. That is why it is
the last chapter in the Sutra of 42 Chapters Said by Buddha. The 42th chapter
is the last chapter which is not suitable for the ordinary people who are the
beginner to learn Buddhism or who do not understand Buddhism.
Therefore, if you read this chapter in the
first time at random and you don’t have any basic concept of Buddhism, I hope
you don’t mistakenly use the views and attitude of Buddha in your life. And
please don’t slander or contempt Buddhism with your subjective mind. If you are
interested in learning Buddhism, I hope you read the Sutra of 42 Chapters said
by Buddha from the first chapter to the last chapter in this blog, because it
mentions the meaning of Buddhism from shallow to deep, which would help you to
establish the correct concept of Buddhism and the positive outlooks and
attitude in life.
This chapter is to express what the Buddha’s
views and attitude about the human’s worldly life, the realization of Tao, and
the state of Buddha. That is to understand thoroughly about that all existences
which are included any tangible and intangible, such as materials, phenomenon,
affairs, feelings, thoughts, views, dogma, ideology and so on, are as illusion.
That is because any existence is arisen from any cause and condition. Once any
one of any cause or condition is eliminated, any existence is eliminated
accordingly. It is like the beautiful bubbles which are appeared according to
the cause and condition, and are disappeared with the eliminating of any cause
and condition. Therefore, what the purpose of this chapter is to advise the
humans, including the enlightened people, not to attach to all existence, which
is included the existence of the Tao. This chapter echoes all previous
chapters.
I hope you understand that not to cling to all
existence doesn’t mean to deny all existence. Meanwhile, not to attach to all
existence doesn’t mean not to obey the law regulated by the society and nation.
“Not to cling to anything” and “to deny anything” are the different things. We
can do anything with the mind of no-attachment.
There is the
rigorous training in the character for the Buddha and there is the supreme
wisdom about the Buddha’s views and attitude, which is not totally the same
with the ordinary people. If the ordinary people think that they have
conceitedly understood the Buddhism that all existences are as illusion, they
then live with the opinionated mind or they deny all existences with the
negative mind, it is possible for them to deny the positive meaning of life and
any existence, and they then escape their responsibility of personal life and
the others life. If they do not actually practice the Tao of Buddhism from the
fundamental concept of Buddhism or they do not understand the Buddhism, they
will mistakenly understand the Buddhism, and they might make crime and think
that they are not guilty. This sin is what they have made by themself and they absolutely
have to bear the accordingly retribution by themself, it cannot blame the
Buddha. That is what I have to remind the reader in this chapter.
The Buddha’s
perception of the world; to destroy the self-obsession (self-attachment)
The Buddha said,” I view the position of a king and princes as that dust
passes through a gap, gold-jade treasures as rubbles, white-delicate clothes as
broken-old silk.” The position of a king and princes, gold-jade treasures and
white-delicate clothes represent as the power and wealth in the world. These
things are diligently chased by the people. Many people lose their pure
goodness because of cling to these things. And they think that to have the
power and wealth are the symbol of the individual success. However, the Buddha
has destroyed the self-obsession (self-attachment) for anything in the world and has the
different views about the power and wealth. The Buddha thinks that the power
and wealth are like the illusion. It is not worth and is not wise to cling to
anything of illusion. That is because these things are not everlasting. It is
possible for them to be disappeared with the eliminated cause and condition at
any time. The other affairs in the human world are the same reason.
Not to attach to the power
and the wealth of the worldly.
The Buddha views the position of a king and
princes as that dust passes through a gap. The position of a king and princes
represent the power and wealth. Do you have seen that the light beam generated
by the sun shines when we open a small gap in the door and there is a lot of
fine dust which floats in the light? When the dust has pass through the small
gap, we might have not yet seen the dust pass in a gap clearly. When we close the door
or the light of sun is disappeared, where can you find the dust in the light?
This dust passes in a gap and is disappeared with the disappearance of the
light at any time. That is "dust pass through a gap". Therefore, we
know that this phenomenon is fleeting. That
is, the worldly power and wealth is fleeting.
The Buddha thinks that gold-jade treasures
like rubbles. Many people think that gold, jade, jewelry, pearl and any rare
goods are treasures. These things indicate the money and wealth. In order to
obtain these things, many people are willing to sacrifice their time, energy
and labor, even to damage their esteem and morality, and even to bully others. These
people stubbornly attach to these things, even don’t care to make crime or don’t
care about hurting the self and others. However, the Buddha thinks that these
things are not valuable objects, and thinks that these things are worthless
like rubbles. It is not worth to attach to these things. In the proving of the
Buddha’s fruit, there is full of treasures in the world of Buddha, such as
gold, silver, pearl, corals, amber and so on. The Buddha’s land is formed by
gold. That is everywhere is full of gold which is like rubbles exist everywhere
in the earth.
All offers
to the Buddha can be transformed from the intangible to be tangible and are
existed in front of the Buddha.
Would you use the rubbles on the earth as the
price transaction? People don’t do that. In the land of Buddha, they don’t use
gold as the price transaction. That is because there is no such behavior of
price or of item transaction in the land of Buddha. All offers to the Buddha
can be transformed from the intangible to be tangible and are existed in front
of the Buddha. That is what the most difference between the world of Buddha and
of the ordinary people. In the views of Buddha, all existence is as illusion, because
all existence is transformed from the emptiness. It is changeable. It can be
generated and eliminated according to the causality at any time. Hence, clinging
to all existence is meaningless. However, all existence can be used well in the
different and flexible way to save the self and others to liberate from the
suffering in life and death. That is the meaning of the convenient method in
Buddhism. Therefore, the profound Buddhism neither denies nor deviates from all
existence. Meanwhile, the profound Buddhism thinks that the sentient beings can
become Buddha in the current life according to the actually practice the
teaching of Buddha.
The
inwardness of Buddhism is independent.
All offers to the Buddha are naturally
transformed from no-thought, no-desire, no-demanding and no-attachment, and
from no greed, no hatred, no-stupidity and no-infatuation, and from
no-arrogance and no-jealousy. In a word, all offers to the Buddha are naturally
transformed and generated from the pure mind of the self. The Buddha tells this
truth to the sentient beings and teaches them with many convenient, flexible
and various different methods from the shallow to the profound meaning. And the
Buddha wants to let the sentient beings know that they can become Buddha
someday. That is, once they are enlightened and become Buddha, all offers to
them can be transformed and generated from their pure mind of the self. It is not from the mind of the scheming, the
desire and the demanding. In the broad teaching of Buddha, many people could
not hold and understand this key point. That is because they doubt about this
concept and have no faith about the self to become Buddha someday. That is why
they could not be enlightened and could not enter the realm of Buddha—the free
and easy mind. Therefore, the inwardness of Buddhism is independent. That is
not to depend on the outer existence, but depends on the self-awakening.
Of course, it is impossible that what we need
can be generated without personal effort but only depending on the emptiness.
Anything would not be happened without cause and condition. To obtain what the
things are required in our life without effort but by depending on the outer
existence is not as good as to obtain it by depending on the individual effort
in learning the common sense, professional knowledge and morality. This good
self-cause will lead to the good self-consequence. That is the meaning that all
things generated from the self-emptiness.
The Buddha
has got rid of any tangle or of any obstacle in bad cause and condition.
Learning Buddha is also learning the morality.
Learning Buddha needs the personal effort and progress. That is to actually practice
the teaching of Buddha in life. It is the state of the stable and everlasting
when one person becomes Buddha. That is that the Buddha has got rid of any
tangle or of any obstacle in cause and condition. The state of Buddha has
combined with the emptiness as one, which contains all existence, which is
called the body of Buddha-nature or the body of Law (Dharma). It is also called
the supreme-wisdom and liberating body. It is like that all bacteria, cells,
viruses and so on, whatever it is judged as good or bad, which is all in our
physical body. Of course, our physical body would be destroyed someday.
However, our body of Buddha-nature or our body of Law (Dharma) is neither
generated nor eliminated. That is because there is no generation and
elimination in the emptiness. That is also why it is everlasting and liberating.
If we learning Buddha, we have to know that the emptiness is not generated by
any cause or condition, but is proved by our realization and actually experience.
It is not the fantasy by our imagination. Therefore, if we have become Buddha
someday, we will be the state of Buddha forever. Once we become Buddha, it is
impossible that we are not Buddha in our next time, or we return to be an un-awakening
people.
Not to
attach to the appearance of anyone.
The Buddha views the white-delicate clothes as broken-old silk. That
is because that the Buddha has proved the heart of no-distinguishing. That is,
there is no vain hope, no differentiating and no obsession in the heart of the
Buddha. That also means it exists no worry in the view and thinking in the mind
of Buddha. That is why the Buddha has a different view from the ordinary
people.
The white-delicate clothes and broken-old
silk represent as the appearance. The appearance includes the materials which
are used or worn by humans, such as cars, house, furniture, necklace, ring, shoes
and so on. Appearance affects personal views and feelings. It also forms the
personal prejudices and stereotypes. Regarding everyone’s appearance, there are
the heart of the vain hope, differentiating and obsession in the mind of the
ordinary people. When they dress the white-delicate clothes, they feel good and
superior more than others. And when they dress the broken-old clothes, they
feel bad and self-abasement. When they see others who dress the expensive and
decent clothes, they think that these people are noble, wealthy and superior
more than others. When they see others who dress the broken-old clothes, they discriminate
these people and think that these people are poor, ugly, mean and lowly more
than others.
Laid aside the worldly
views and prove the no-differentiating heart of no-thinking, no-gaining and
no-viewing
Ordinary people judge the value, success or
failure of themselves and others based on their secular views on valuable
things. This forms a personal bias. They cling to this idea and entangle in the
trouble it brings. That is, they are bound and entangled in the worries caused
by the heart of vain hope, differentiating, and attachment in their own and
other people's minds. This is one of the reasons for the suffering of the
people.
The Buddha has completely laid aside the
worldly views and has proved the no-differentiating heart of no-thinking, no-gaining
and no-viewpoint. That is why the Buddha has got rid of the worldly worries and
lives in the free and easy way.
That there is no vain-hope,
no-differentiating and no-obsession heart is the individual sublimating attitude
and state to the change of phenomenon. It doesn’t mean that we thus need to
dress the broken-old clothes so that we can be more similar to the Buddha. It
also doesn’t mean that we need to give up any valuable things. Many people mistakenly
understand the profound meaning of Buddhism and think that the devout Buddhists
need to eat the rough food and use the rough items. This is totally wrong.
Actually, the Buddha always eats the delicious food and does not exclude to dress
the gorgeous clothes. When the Buddha eats the delicious food and dresses the
gorgeous, the Buddha doesn’t think that he is superior more than others. This
is also the demonstration of that there is no vain-hope, no differentiating and
no obsession in the mind. In a word, it is to eliminate the heart of differentiating
the noble and humble.
There
is no longer the attachment about the relative concept of large and of small.
The Buddha said,” I view large-thousand
worlds as a myrobalan, Anuttana-pool water as applying foot oil.”
Large-thousand worlds means the space of universe. Large-thousand means that the
space of the universe is larger more than that human can image. A myrobalan is a
very small fruit of plant in India. Its scientific name is Terminalia chebula.
It can be used as the medicine and is generally used in India and China. The Buddha
said,” I view large-thousand worlds as a myrobalan.” It means that the Buddha
views the large as the small. That is, in the mind of Buddha, there is no
differentiating about the large and small in any phenomenon. For example, the
records, pictures and information of the history and news from the ancient time
to the current time are a lot. These culture relics take up a lot of space. Humans
have to build the large museum to store these cultural relics. But now, all of
these cultural relics can be stored in a small chip. Now humans have entered
into the metaverse. All space of universe can be stored in a small chip and
humans can communicate with each other in the virtual space. Doesn’t it be like
that the large-thousand worlds are as a myrobalan?
How
can a mustard seed contain the Sumeru ?
In one of the Chinese Buddhist Scriptures, there
are the famous sentences, “The Sumeru can contain a mustard seed; a mustard
seed can contain the Sumeru.” “Sumeru” is in Sanskrit and means the wondrous
and high mountains in India. A mustard seed is the very small seed.
In the Tang Dynasty of China (A.D.618-907),
there was a prince who questioned about these sentences and asked a monk. The
prince talked to the monk and said, “I can understand that the Sumeru can contain
a mustard seed. But, how can a mustard seed can contain the Sumeru?”
The monk asked the prince, ”Do you have
read a lot of poems and books?”
The prince replied to the monk, “Of course,
I have read a lot of poems and books, and all of them are in my head.”
The monk asked the prince, ”Are the poems
and books that you have read larger or your head? ”
The prince replied to the monk, “Of course,
the poems and books are larger.”
The monk talked to the prince, “Now these
larger things are all in your head. Isn’t that a mustard seed contains the Sumeru?”
The prince talked to the monk, “I finally understand
it. Thank you. ”
Our
brain itself is the virtual space.
If you have paid attention to experience of
our head, you would find that there is the virtual space in our brain and we
can feel and observe the size of large and small, and the distance of near and
far, and the height and low. It is also like that our head can contain the
space of the universe. In this virtual space in our brain, we can see the ocean
and mountain, the lane and the house. We also can walk, travel by tour bus, see
the people and speak with each other in this virtual space. It is also like
that a mustard seed contains the Sumeru. This experience also can be observed
in our heart-mirror or in our third-eye, when we practice the profound meditation
in sitting. It is not appeared by our imagination but appeared by the
self-nature naturally. When we have deeply practiced the meditation in sitting,
we can distinguish the difference between the emerging by our imagination and
that by our self-nature. It needs the deep training of meditation. The ordinary
people who don’t have the deep training about the meditation could not identify
what the difference is. It is like the scene in our head, which is not appeared
by our imagination, when we are dreaming.
The Buddha had experienced the deep
training of meditation and he had eliminated the heart of differentiating about
the space of large and of small. That is, there is no longer the attachment
about the relative concept of large and of small in the heart of Buddha. It
doesn’t mean that the Buddha denies the actual existence of the space of large
and of the small in the reality. "Viewing it as illusion and not cling to
it" doesn’t mean "to deny its existence". Any similar concept
can be used to generate logical analogy.
Everything
in heaven and on earth is no different, which is all illusions.
The Buddha said,” I view Anuttana-pool
water as applying foot oil.” Anuttana is in Sanskrit and means “supreme”. Anuttana-pool
water is the water in heaven and means that it is supreme sacred water. Since
it is the supreme sacred water, it is extremely precious, very sweet and worth
for humans to adore it. However, the Buddha views Anuttana-pool water as
applying foot oil. In the ancient India, most people are poor and are barefoot
when walking. They apply the foot oil to protect their foot. The applying foot
oil represents the least valuable item on earth.
Many people yearn for the rich and noble
life in heaven. There is a lot of description about the beautiful life in heaven
in any culture relics. For example, there are a lot of beautiful girls,
delicious food, fine wine, palatial house, gold and jewelry. These beautiful
visions encourage humans to do good deeds so that in the next life they can
enjoy themselves in heaven. However, the Buddha thinks that the precious things
in heaven are no different from the least valuable items on earth. That is, in
the mind of Buddha, all existence in heaven is no different from that on earth.
For all existence in heaven, the Buddha neither adores it nor attaches it. The
Buddha has realized that all existence in heaven and on earth is no different, which
are all illusions.
The Buddha-law (Dharma) as illusion is arisen and
eliminated with cause and condition.
The Buddha
said,” I view convenient gate as transforming the treasures gathering, the
supreme-boarding as the gold-handkerchief in dream, the path of Buddha as the
flowers in front of the eyes, the meditation as Sumeru pillar.” These sentences
expresses that the Buddha-law (Dharma) as illusion is arisen and eliminated
because of the cause and condition and thus a realized person doesn’t need to
cling to it. That is because the Buddha-law (Dharma) is appeared because of the
worries of human beings and is disappeared with the eliminated worries of human
beings. The Buddha-law (Dharma) can be created, changed, applied, invisible and
disappeared at any time. It is not the everlasting things. If a realized person
still attached to it, it vainly increased the worries and burden for the self. Convenient
gate means the convenient methods of Buddha-law (Dharma). The Buddha views it
as transforming the treasures gathering. The meaning of transforming the
treasures gathering is similar to the meaning of the magic which can change out
of treasures. It means to observe the different situations of the different
sentient beings and using the different convenient methods of Buddha-law
(Dharma) accordingly can make the different sentient beings realize the
treasure of the self-nature. It is like the treasure of pearl which can
transform a lot of treasures according to the self-wish. These treasures
include the tangible and intangible wealth, such as the intangible wisdom, the
tangible wealth, health, longevity and the real blessings. These things mean
the treasures gathering.
The supreme-boarding means the supreme Buddha-Law (Dharma), which can liberate the sentient beings who have the supreme root of wisdom and are able to become Buddha in the current life. Meanwhile, these sentient beings can create the pure and the own Buddha-land by themselves in the current life. That is, these sentient beings can liberate the self from the suffering of life and death by supreme Buddha-Law of Supreme-boarding. The supreme
Buddha-law (Dharma) is like a large ship which can make the self and all
sentient beings board cross the river of suffering from the one shore of
suffering to the other shore of liberation. The Buddha views the
supreme-boarding as the gold-handkerchief in the dream. The gold-handkerchief
in the dream means it seems very precious and useful, but it is not real and
can be disappeared at any time, when we are awakened. That is, when we awaken
and totally liberate from suffering, we don’t need to bear the ship of
Buddha-law (Dharma) to keep walking forward. If we have reached the shore of
liberation and still carry the ship of Buddha-law (Dharma) to keep walking, it
add the burden in our heart and how could it be called the liberation? That is
why we do not need to attach to the Buddha-Law of supreme-boarding, when we totally liberate
from suffering of life and death.
The Buddha views the path of Buddha as the
flowers in front of eyes. The path of Buddha means the path is walked and lived
by those people who have proved the fruit of Buddha and become Buddha. The Dao
(Tao) also means the path. Regarding the meaning, definition and function of
Buddha, we have explained it a lot in the previous chapters. In the essence,
there is no longer the heart to differentiate the superior or inferior in the
mind of Buddha. The Buddha didn’t think that he is superior more than the
others, when he walked and lived in the path of Buddha. He also didn’t have the
mind of that he has proved and gain the fruit of Buddha or he has the superior
wisdom more than the others. The Buddha has realized the true meaning that
there is no wisdom and no gaining, and no seizing and no discarding in the
still and pure mind. This state of mind is no different for everyone, no matter
you have proved the fruit of Buddha or not. All the Buddha-law (Dharma) includes
the path of Buddha, which is set up according to the worries, causes and
conditions of humans, is as the flowers which are looked beautiful, but will
wither and fall at next moment. After all, the path of Buddha is also as
illusion which is not everlasting and doesn’t need to obsess to it, which means "the path of Buddha" is also the form of name created by humans. It also
doesn’t need to cling to become Buddha, because when the cause and condition
are realized, it is naturally achieved to become Buddha. To sum up, in the heart of Buddha, it thinks that the self, the Buddha and all sentient beings are one. All sentient beings can become Buddhas in the future.
The Buddha views the meditation as Sumeru
pillar. Sumeru pillar is something that doesn't exist. Meditation is also one
of the Buddha-law (Dharma), which is also set up according to the worries of
humans. The purpose is to deal with the worries of the self and the troubles
brought by others. If there are no such worries, why do humans need to
meditate?
Through the meditation, it can help us to
generate the wisdom so as to resolve the problem what we have met in our daily
life. In Buddhism, the function of the meditation is mentioned as above.
However, if you escape the problem and responsibility in your life through the
sitting-meditation, and think that don’t move the heart at the moment, and you don't
think anything, and think that the longer of sitting-meditation is the better, and
think these are the perfect training, this may not be the right way.
What
is the meaning of the Nirvana?
The Buddha views the Nirvana as the
day-night awakening, the reverse and positive as the six-dragons dance, the
equality as one truth-land, the thriving and teaching as the four-seasons
wood. What is the meaning of Nirvana? Nirvana is the term in Sanskrit in the
ancient India. It means the silent and everlasting existence which exist
neither the generated nor the eliminated, and neither the cause nor the
condition. Many people understand the highest state of Buddhism which is to
enter the Nirvana. And they also think that the state of Nirvana is equivalent
to the death of perfect stillness. Actually, Entering the Nirvana is only one
of the highest states of Buddhism. And the death of perfect stillness is one of
the states of Nirvana. In the different Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha had
mentioned many different meanings of Nirvana. In a word, Nirvana is the body of
Buddha-law (Dharma), the supreme wisdom, the emptiness and the stillness, and
the essence of the life and death. All the existence as illusion is generated
according to causes and conditions of the worldly based on the essence of the
emptiness and the stillness of the Nirvana.
The Buddha views the Nirvana as the
day-night awakening. No matter the day or night, the awakening or the sleeping,
and the living or death, the intangible Nirvana is always be there. That is the
emptiness and stillness. To perceiving this point at each moment is awakening
for the Buddha. Relative to this, the sentient beings have not yet understood
this point, are chasing the outer conditions with the inner desire, and are lost
the self and have suffered in the illusion of the worldly. The Buddha thinks
that these sentient beings have not yet been awakened. The Buddha thinks that there
is the same in the essence between a Buddha and the sentient beings. What is
the different is whether the sentient beings are awakened or not. When the
sentient beings have been awakened, they become Buddha.
Based on this point, the Buddha perceives
that all existence is as illusion, including the sentient beings, and that the
essence of all existence is the equality. That is why it doesn't need to cling
to all existence to increase the individual worries and sufferings.
The reverse and the positive phenomenon are formed from the
intertwined of the six consciousness.
The Buddha views
the reverse and the positive as if the six dragons dance. The six dragons mean
the six roots of humans, which mean that the root's nature of the eyes, the
ears, the nose, the tongue, the body and the mind are stillness. However, when these
six roots are influenced by the cause and condition from the outside and
inside, they begin to function. If these six roots are affected by the evil
cause and condition, the function of these six roots would make humans to do
the evil things, which means the evil karma and is regarded as the reverse
phenomenon. If these six roots are affected by the good cause and condition,
the function of these six roots would make humans to do the good things, which
means the good karma and is regarded as the positive phenomenon. No matter it
is the evil karma or the good karma, it will affect the consequence of the
humans’ current life or the next life.
In the sentient
beings, there is the heart of the differentiating about the reverse and the
positive, or the evil and the good. However, the Buddha has realized the
stillness of these six roots and has trained the self to transform the function
of and the consciousness of these six roots to be the positive wisdom to
benefit the self and others. He also has fulfilled the heart of equality in
mind. That is, there is no such heart to differentiate the reverse and the
positive or the evil and the good. No matter it is the reverse or the positive
phenomenon in the world, the Buddha views these things as illusion which is
like six dragons to dance together. That is, the Buddha's mind and mood are
peaceful and doesn't be affected by the phenomenon of the evil and the good.
The meaning of equality and one truth-land
The Buddha views
the equality as one truth-land. In the ancient time, there are uneven lands in
everywhere. There is one man who leads a group of volunteers to pave the way
with soil every day. He works hard and complains nothing in mind. When he is
working, he always wishes that he would make the land more even so that would
let the sentient beings walk more comfortable. In the process of working, he
thinks that the heart of inequality in everyone’s mind to treat others people
is as the uneven land, that the humans have the heart of haughty or of
inferiority in the deep mind to treat everything is also like the uneven land, and that the humans differentiate the good or bad, large and small, the superior or
inferior, valuable or worthless, noble or humble, wealth or poor, with
prejudice in their mind, to discriminate against others, is also like the
uneven land. Therefore, he wishes that all sentient beings would no longer have
the heart of differentiating, and would really realize the heart of the
equality in mind as the even land, so that they can walk in their road of life
more flatly and comfortable. Then, he keeps working to pave the way with soil
every day. One day, he finally realizes that the essence of the land is even,
which is as the essence of the heart is the equality. Why is the land uneven?
That is because of the cause of outer force, such as the force of wind. Why is the
heart inequality? That is because the heart is turned and affected by the
cause and condition from the outside and inside, and thus to generate the
impurities which are the mind to differentiate the good or bad with the
prejudice, that is the heart of such opposition. We just need to wipe out such
impurities, and our heart would be returned to the initial state of the
equality and the pure without any bias.
The essence of the heart is the equality,
which doesn't differentiate the grade of the humans and things. Because it
doesn’t exist any differentiating, the essence of the heart won’t be turned and
affected by any situation. That is, it doesn’t be joyful or sad because of something. This equality is the land of truth.
Regarding the further and profound Buddhism, there is
no two which means one, and there is no fantasy which means the truth. One truth
land means the realm of one truth, which is the one-truth Buddha-law realm.
That is also the intangible body of Buddha-law (Dharma) and is also the Nirvana
and the emptiness. It has neither the generated nor the eliminated. It is
non-emptying and non-owning. It exists neither the gaining nor the losing. It
keeps away from the name and from the phenomenon. It exist neither the inner
nor the outer. It is no inside and no outside. It is the emptiness and
stillness. It is the wondrous body which can be compatible everything, can
combine everything to be together, and can assimilate all things.
When
we don’t attach to any illusion, there are no burdens and no worries in the
mind.
The Buddha views the thriving and teaching as the four-seasons wood. The thriving and teaching mean to promote
Buddhism and help misguided or erring people to change and to become good persons by persuasion. The
four-seasons wood means that a tree
sprouts in spring, is leafy in summer, is fallen leaves in autumn, and leaves
the dead branches in winter, which also means that the changing from the
flourishing to the withering. That is, to promote Buddhism and teach all
sentient beings, these things themselves will experience the changing of the
generated and the eliminated. Therefore, it is also as illusion and doesn’t
need to cling to it. That we don't cling to it doesn’t mean that we have to give it up. If we are a
Buddha or a Bodhisattva, when we promote Buddhism, we do what we should do and
what we can do. We do these things with our best as possible as we can. But, we
do not need to increase a lot of pressure to ourselves.
After all, we
cannot shoulder the other persons' life and their problem in their life. That
is, we cannot shoulder their retribution resulted from their karma. We also cannot
take the place of their life. What we can do is to company with them and help
them improve their life. The Buddha doesn't shoulder the sin made by sentient
beings. The Buddha has proved the supreme wisdom and has been beyond the Six
Paths of Reincarnation. He views the sin made by sentient beings as illusion.
As we have mentioned above, the Buddha views these reverse things as the
six-dragons dance. Even it is as illusion, it doesn’t mean that the sin and its
retribution doesn’t exist. Those people who have made these things have to
shoulder the responsibility and the consequence by themselves, which is also
viewed by Buddha as illusion. Now you will understand that the Buddha won’t
carry the things of illusion to increase the burden by self. That is also why
the Buddha has liberated from all suffering. It is because the Buddha has
realized that the essence of all sentient beings is pure and still. The pure
and still essence of all sentient beings is the truth. The illusion and the
truth are as one. The heart of the shaking (the moving) and of the stillness
are as one. No matter the good things or the evil things made by sentient
beings, the Buddha views these things as illusion, which is generated from the
same heart-- the pure and still heart initially. In this point, there is no
different for all sentient beings, whatever what your color of eyes, hair and
skin is, and whatever the language you speak.
The theory that
there is no cause and no effect is based on the state of the pure and still
heart which doesn’t be affected by the inner and outer situation, that is
because it is still and no-doing at the moment. And there is also no argument
because of no-phenomenon. However, once the pure and still heart is turned and
affected by the inner and outer situation, and the function of the six
consciousness has begun to generate accordingly. And there is thinking,
differentiating, doing and argument so as that the individual cause and effect,
and the repay or retribution is generated continuously at the same time. At
this moment, the theory and the fact of what happened that there is the cause
and effect are generated.
Before people
become Buddha, they must have experienced the life of a Bodhisattva. A
Bodhisattva has vowed to save all sentient beings. However, he has not yet
profoundly realized what the teaching and saying as mentioned above. That is
why some of the Bodhisattva have still shoulder the sin-karma of all sentient
beings to walk in the path of Bodhisattva, teach and persuasive the sentient
beings, even they die for the sentient beings, that is also why they still have
a little worries, and have not yet beyond the Six Path of Reincarnation.
Concluding
remarks
First, the profound Buddhism views all
Buddha-law (Dharma) and all things as illusion. But, it doesn’t deny their
existence and their function. Not to cling to the as-illusion doesn’t mean to
give it up. That is because that the as-illusion can generate all positive
applying and good function to benefit the self and others, when we have
practiced and realized the profound Buddhism.
Second, the profound Buddhism is the
philosophy to listen, think and meditate
in our life, and is the psychology about the practice of and realizing of moral
by self, and is also the science which still cannot be understand and explained
by humans. The worldly law regulated by the country and society should be still
obeyed by us. These two things don’t conflict with each other. The profound
Buddhism doesn’t deny the existence of the worldly law. If you only had known
the profound Buddhism a little, and you had denied and despised the existence
of the worldly law with the arrogant heart, it was your ignorant. Many senior
learner and teacher don’t speak of the profound Buddhism. That is because they
are worries about the ignorant people to despise the Buddhism and the worldly
law.
Third, the profound Buddhism doesn’t deny
the existence of the self and the positive applying and good function of the
self-existence. If you knew that the self is as illusion, and thus gave up
yourself easily, it was your ignorant and lack of the wisdom by self.
All Buddha-law and the worldly law are
regarded as the convenient methods, and are existed as illusion, which can be
applied by us with the different ways to teach and persuasive the humans. Based
on the mercy and wisdom, and what we have understood the profound Buddhism, we
can use these illusions well so as to benefit the self and the others. May we
can deeply understand the profound Buddhism taught by Buddha. And may there are
no longer the worries and suffering for the self, meanwhile, we can help others
to leave the worries.
May you have the grand wisdom and benefited
from the Sutra of 42 Chapters Said by Buddha. And may we become Buddha together
someday and walk together on the path of Buddha.
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.
