Verses demonstrate whose natural wisdom is enlightened.

Author: Tao Qing Hsu (Hsu, Tao-qing)

 

Zen master Hong Ren (A.D.601-674) was the fifth generation of Chinese Zen. He directed a large Zen temple where many disciples learned Zen from him. One of his disciples named Shenxiu was the chief professor who also taught Zen. However, his heart had not yet been confirmed by the heart of the Zen master Hong Ren.

 

All the disciples thought that the chief professor Shenxiu would be the sixth generation of Chinese Zen. And they expected it to be true. One day, Zen master Hong Ren asked his disciples to write down verses on the wall about what they have enlightened in wisdom. 

 

All disciples invited Shenxiu to write verses. Then, Shenxiu wrote verses:

 

The Body is Bodhi tree.

The heart is like a stand of the bright mirror,

Which have to be often wiped diligently, and

Do not make it provoked by dusts.

 

The dusts meant annoyance, trouble, or mistake. The verses meant that we should remove any annoyance, trouble and mistake. It looked reasonable. All disciples agreed with it cheerfully, and thought that everyone should follow the verses to practice. They all thought that the sixth generation of Chinese Zen must be Shenxiu.

 

At that time, Huineng passed by there from kitchen where he worked and felt curious what they were talking about. A colleague told him what verses Shenxiu had written.

 

Hearing that, Huineng had verses in heart and asked his colleague to assist him to write down the verses on the wall:  

 

There is no tree in the Bodhi originally.

The bright mirror is also not a stand.

There is nothing in the original.

Where the dust could be provoked?

 

All disciples read these verses curiously, did not understand what they meant, and were all stunned.

 

Zen master Hong Ren came here and had read the verses on the wall. He knew that Huineng had enlightened his natural wisdom. At the midnight, Zen master Hong Ren spoke Diamond Sutra for Huineng and imparted the Zen to him, including the golden-thread dresses and bowl. From the moment, Huineng was confirmed by Zen master Hong Ren and became the sixth generation of Chinese Zen. That is because his self spirit was awakened naturally.    

 

Those who have such knowledge gain the Dao quickly.    

 

Basically, there is no wrong for the two verses. But, do you know the difference of the verses said above between Shenxiu and Huineng? Shenxiu has not yet seen his self nature. However, Huineng has already seen his self nature. The self nature is the Buddha nature. That is what the difference between them, and such difference has decided their different destiny and future.

 

What is the difference? In a word, it is the difference of the general person and the Bodhisattva. It is also the difference of distinguishing wisdom and no-distinguishing wisdom. It is only the difference by a thought. It is so simple. However, it is very hardly to be understood by the masses.

 

What is the difference between distinguishing wisdom and no-distinguishing wisdom? For the general people, they are good at the distinguishing intellect, especially the elite. The ability of analysis, research and debating is the distinguishing intellect. But, it is not the no-distinguishing wisdom.

 

The distinguishing wisdom could help us distinguish what is the true virtue and what is the true evil, and we know that we should do the true virtue and not do the true evil. So, to have the distinguishing wisdom is a good thing. For the general people, they may have the distinguishing wisdom. But, it is not enough, if we want to learn Buddha.  

 

To learn Buddha, we must realize the no-distinguishing wisdom on the basis of distinguishing wisdom. Only we are in the state of no-distinguishing wisdom, we will realize the wisdom without binary opposition. That is the top supreme wisdom.

 

If we want to realize such wisdom, we have to realize the emptiness nature. However, it is hardly to realize it for anyone. So, Shenxiu may have the distinguishing wisdom. But, he does not have the no-distinguishing wisdom. That is why he cannot be the leader of the sixth generation of Chinese Zen.

 

For the masses, some people even do not have the distinguishing ability to distinguish what is good and what is evil, let alone to have the distinguishing wisdom. That is why they do the evil things and even do not have the feeling of shame.

 

Perceiving the sky, land and the world, to have a thought of the impermanence, it would lead us to realize these natures and essences are emptiness. The essences of the impermanence is the emptiness nature. The changing of phenomenon is the impermanence,  this is like the illusion, and is not real, and this is the perceive of fake. The essences of the impermanence is the emptiness, this is the real and permanence, and this is the perceive of truth. From that, we extend to realize that the nature and essence of our spiritual awakening is also emptiness. Then, what they mean for us? It is the wisdom of no obstacle, and which is the all wisdom, including the distinguishing wisdom and the no-distinguishing wisdom. The changing of phenomenon and the corresponding impermanence are belonging to the distinguishing wisdom.  The essences of the impermanence is the emptiness, this is the truth and permanence, and is belonging to the no-distinguishing wisdom.  The essences of all of them are the wisdom of emptiness nature. That is, the fake and the real are one, the illusion and the truth are one. Huineng realize it and that is why he can be the leader of the sixth generation of Chinese Zen.

 

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 it is extended to be the truth of life that we can learn and practice in our lives.

Chapter 22: Money and erotic incur the affliction

(Chapter 22) 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 22: Money and erotic incur the affliction

The Buddha said,” That money and erotic for people can not be abandoned are such as honey on the blade of one knife which is not enough to be the perfect of one meal; when a child licks them, it would cause the trouble of cutting tongue. ” 

Personal ignorance and greed bring the harm and trouble to the self and others.

There is no one who does not like money. There is no man who does not like erotic. For seeking and obtaining money and erotic, people do not care about morality and justice. They even do not care about their responsibility for their family members, the public, the society, or the country. Such things can be observed from the history and the news, even around our daily life.

The worse is that such things would cause the chain structure of accomplice. And people may use the legislation or protocol to hide their intention. And such legislation or protocol even is made between one country and the other country.

The evil retributions because of harming others through money and erotic are also truly existed.

What we have observed and seen is that those who want to maintain their own money and erotic always threaten A and bully B, even to lie and twist the facts. What surprise us is that someone is also willing to cooperate with those persons in order to maintain theirs own money and erotic, too.

For those people, they do not know and even do not think that doing so would bring them the trouble. That is because they indulge in the illusory enjoyment of the moment and forget any danger after the enjoyment.

When I am young, I do not understand why such things can be existed in the world. And most good people can not do anything to change it. There is also unbalance emotion in my mind in that time. But, when I deeply observe the history and news, even to my daily life, I find that the retributions for such things are also actually existed.

Many people are suffering because of tangling in chasing money and erotic.

Why the money and erotic incur the affliction? It can be spoken in two parts. One is the retribution in the present life. And the other is the retribution in the next life.

Many people are suffering because of tangling in chasing money and erotic, and they may thus harm others purposely. But, they may not have such self perceiving. Some people may lose job unwillingly, become poorer or go into the jail, even to die. Even though they have a life, they still have to suffer in their life.

Before their dying, they may have ever experienced threatening and panic, even to violence. That is the retribution in their present life. Unfortunately, they even do not know they would be died for such reasons. Once they have dead, their souls directly goes into one of the three evil ways and are suffering there. That is the retribution in their next life.

The fortune and nobility are pursued in the danger.

There is a Chinese saying, ”The fortune and nobility are pursued in the danger. ” Which means that, if people want to pursue the wealthy and noble life, they must have the preparing to lost their life and job, even to take the risk to make crime. Even though they may know that, they still will to risk it.

Why? In the history, the population in China is very large, the unfair is always existed in the society, and the generated wealth and the authority are so attractive. If they want to be the top or the wealthy person from the large population, it is not count on their merit and virtue, but any risk in life. And the money and erotic is the best tool to get the wealth and the authority.  

Money and erotic is sweet as honey. Everyone would like to taste it. However, most people do not know that the honey is on the blade of one knife and can not let us eat enough. Those persons are like the ignorant children to lick the knife's honey and let their tongue to be cut. In other word, they many become the stepping stones of those who desire to be the top and wealthy person.

Pursuing money and erotic is coming from the greedy nature and heart.

No matter the persons become the stepping stones or the persons who have step on the stones to be the top or wealthy one, pursuing money and erotic is coming from the greedy nature. Greedy nature is one of the three poisons which can harm the self and others.

Some evil people not only indulge in such poison but also use such poison to control or threaten others. And its spread damages are beyond our imagination, for example, the biochemical weapon damage. Such damage is global. It not only causes the large death of human beings, but also causes the huge economic loss. It is the Invisible poison and its harm is more beyond than the tangible poison.

In a country, the government may arrest suspect or held accountable who make a mistake because of greedy nature. But, in the international politic, there is no international law which can punish those who cause any large disasters and economic loss in the world because of their greedy nature.

What the Buddha has seen is the mind and true heart inside, not the decorated phenomenon.

The Buddha also observed about this. Any artificial law or agreement may be twisted, despised, fake, bias, or fraud. However, in Buddhism, the retribution through personal reasons and conditions are impossible to be twisted, bias or fraud. Why? That is because what the Buddha has seen is the mind and true heart inside, not the phenomenon which is decorated.

When we understand it, we know that we would not violate our good nature to do evil things. When we do not lie to self, we do not lie to the Buddha and the public.

The ignorant person may lie to the world. But, it can not lie to the Buddha. So, it is better for us to be a wise person and be humble front the Buddha.

When we have such common sense, we would not be bind in following money and erotic, and would not use them to do the evil things, and would never be exploited, controlled or threatened by others. Under the circumstances, we would be the true free person and make sure that our destiny is on the bright way.

Chapter 5: Correct the vice into the good deed

(Chapter 5) 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 5: Correct the vice into the good deed

The Buddha said,” People have a lot of faults, yet don’t know to repent, suddenly let their heart rest, and the sins come to the body; such as the water return to the sea, being deep and wide gradually. If people have faults, resolve them by themselves and know the mistake, correct the vice and do the good, the sins would be vanished by themselves; such as illness cause the sweaty, being healed gradually.”

No matter whether the status is noble or low in the worldly eyes, people are not holy human. There must be fault in the life. In the chapter four, there are mentioned about ten evil deeds. That is faults. Any one of them is also one of the causes which could incur the bad result in the life. Such as stealing because of greedy heart, it could cause the result of poverty. Or such as killing with hatred, it could cause the result of serious disease or dying badly.

Fortunately, there always are the chances for us to repent our faults. However, not everyone can grasp this opportunity, because they do not perceive their own faults. What badly is that someone has made the mistake but they still think what they have done is right. In the history, we can find such persons a lot, who cause the tragic world, and finally, the end of their life is terrible.

The sins would cause the retributions. If people do not know to repent their faults, their sins come to the body such as the water return to the sea, being deep and wide gradually. It means that the sins and the retributions would become bigger and bigger.

There is a verse said by Buddha:

Even if through the hundred eons,

The evil karma does not be disappeared.

When the cause is met by the condition,

The person still has to bear its own retribution by oneself.

“If people have faults, resolve them by themselves and know the mistake, correct the vice and do the good, the sins would be vanished by themselves; such as illness cause the sweaty, being healed gradually.” It means to repent our faults and do the good things, then, the sins won’t come to our body and any retribution would not appear. It is like to have a cold. The cold would be healed gradually when we lie down on a bed, cover a bed quilt and let our body sweat. This also tells us that it is not difficult to resolve our faults and do the good thing.      

In the Buddhism, there is the basic classwork of learning Buddha for the just getting started, that is to repent our faults for what happened in our present life and in our past life. In the concept of the Buddhism, everyone must be responsible for and burden the result of what they have done. The evil karma is made by whom, which person should be responsible to eliminate its own evil karma by oneself, because the retribution caused by the evil karma would not happen to other person, but to the doer itself.

When we do the repent, we do not repent toward the agent of Buddha, such as Buddhist monk, but, we do our repent to Buddha directly. For the beginning learner or for the learner who could not understand the Buddha-nature for a long time, Buddha is someone else. So, when they have made the mistake again after the repent, they are panic to ask for the forgiving of Buddha, because they are afraid of the sins coming to their body.

But, for those who have understood and realized the Buddha-nature, Buddha is not someone else, but having been converged in their heart. That is two in one; the sentient beings are equal to Buddha. Those who are in this state are basically to have done the repent for their faults for a long time and rare to make the mistake again.

Any wise Buddhist monk or nun, or the enlightened Buddha-learner would not replace the Buddha to forgive anyone. They also have no right to replace Buddha to punish Buddhist because the disciples do not believe in what they have taught about the Buddhism, or because they think that the disciples betray the Buddha. Why? In Buddhism, the first, no argument is one of the Buddha-law. Secondly, any result of personal retribution is arisen from the cause made by oneself. Therefore, to let the personal retribution vanish only depends on the personal action, such as correcting the vice and doing the good.

Someone use the Buddha-law, such as the ten good virtues, to view others faults when people do not obey the ten good virtues. For example, when I began to learn Buddha, I sometimes heard someone to say that some Buddhist nuns had fought with each other in the temple, or that some of the Buddha-learner had done a lot of evil things, such as the negative news.

This is to misuse the Buddha-law. In fact, Buddha-law is to regulate oneself, not to regulate others. Whether to learn the virtue of Buddha or not is coming from the self-motivation, not from the force by others. So, whether to obey the ten good deeds is coming from the autonomy, not from the lure or threaten or violence.

A country might use the lure, threaten or violence to force people to obey its country-law. But, Buddha-law cannot be used like that. If Buddha-law is used like that, it would violate the country-law and also violate the Buddha-nature, the compassion and wisdom. Why? The country-law is directly to regulate the public, the people in the country. But, Buddha-law is used for the personal spiritual improvement, from the self-help to help others, from the self-benefit to benefit others, and from the self-realization to help others realize by themselves. Therefore, it is the very important judgment when we chose a community of learning Buddha.