Author: Tao Qing Hsu
The
meaning of Brightness-Action-Feet
The character Brightness-Action-Feet in
Sanskrit is vidyā-carana-sajpanna, which is translated by me according to my
understanding from the content of Buddhist Scripture said by Buddha. In the
Buddhist Scripture of the Ten Titles Said by Buddha, the Buddha Shakyamuni had
explained its meaning which is translated by me as follows:
Why it was called Brightness-Action-Feet.
The Buddha said. The brightness meant that the brightness of heavenly eye, the
brightness of experienced and predestined destinies, and the brightness of leak-ended.
What the meaning of the action feet was the Karma of the Tathagata’s body,
mouth, and mind. Good at practicing the consummate of possessing feet, the
rightly truth and clearly clean. Such as owning a large clothing and bowl,
etc., being able to perceive and reflect it at ease but without loving or
attaching it. In all actions of the voluntary strength, practice them so as to
make them consummate to possess the feet. It was named Brightness-Action-Feet.
The
summarized explanations of the character Brightness-Action-Feet
Except for the explanation by Buddha, I
also refer to the explanations of the character Brightness-Action-Feet by other
Buddhist masters, and I summarize them as follows:
The character Feet here indicates the two
legs of a Buddha. One of the titles to honor the Buddha is Two-Leg-Respect,
which means that one leg represents the wisdom of the Buddha and the other leg
represents the blessed-merit of the Buddha. A person leans down to the ground,
with his forehead on the ground, his palms facing up, and salutes to the other
person's feet. This is the highest salute done to the respected person in
ancient India. Buddhists today also use this method of worship to worship the
Buddhas who are in the ten directions of space. The statue of the Buddha or the
image of the Buddha itself is only a symbolic representation. It is not
worshiping the statue or worshiping the idol. When we have a deeper
understanding of Buddhism, we can understand that Buddha is formless and
imageless.
The
two legs of a Buddha indicate the wisdom and blessed-merit, and are noble.
Why the two legs of a Buddha indicate the
wisdom and blessed-merit? It derives from the action. That is, the Buddha had
completely practiced the ten good Karmas and had guarded his six roots well not
to do the evil. Therefore, the Buddha’s body, mouth, and mind are clean. That
is, a Buddha has no five poisons and no related negative thoughts, mindsets and
actions. Five poisons mean the greedy, hatred, stupid obsession (infatuation,
addiction and attachment), arrogant and suspicion. The ten evil Karmas derive from the five poisons.
The word Karma means the action and what a
person has done. In the Chapter 4 of A Brief Talk about The Scripture of
Forty-Two Chapters Said by Buddha (Chapter
4: Understand the good and evil at the same time), we have mentioned that
not to do the ten evil is to do the ten good. It is the ten good Karmas. The
six roots mean the root of eyes, ear, nose, tongue (mouth), body and mind. The
essence of the six roots is the emptiness and neutral, which is not to do the
good and not to do the evil. That also means not to think of the good and not
to think of the evil. This is to guard the six roots. That is because there are
no five poisons and no related negative thoughts, mindsets and actions. Under
the circumstance, its self is the wisdom. On this basis of wisdom and to do
the right thing, the blessed-merit can be generated and appeared naturally.
That is why the two legs of a Buddha are noble and worth for being
respected.
Keep
the heart in Brightness.
The definition of and the explanation of
the good and the evil, the right and wrong, and the justice and injustice are
easily manipulated and distorted by the people who own the five poisons. That
is, these people have the scheming and fraudulent mind and have the different
self-interests and positions. Any hatred and hostility are also easily
instigated and aroused in this situation. If we are ignorant, we will easily be
led around by mistaken way. We then may make mistakes and create the bad
karmas. This means that the heart is polluted and is in darkness. That is,
there is no brightness and no light in heart. When we keep not to think of
the good and not to think of the evil, we keep the neutral and objective
position. We then judge anything according to the individually widely
understanding, knowledge and wisdom. Hence, the heart is in brightness.
Four
points taught by the Buddha about no-thinking and no-doing.
No-thinking and no-doing is one of the
states of the Buddha. The further realizing for the no-thinking and no-doing,
there are four points taught by the Buddha. It is according to what I have read
in Buddhist Scripture and what I have learned in Zen of Buddhism. It is as
follows:
1. Not to think of (not to remember,
recall, and regret) the past what happened
2. Not to seek for and expect for the
future what would be happened.
3. Not to addict and attach to the present. That
is, don't be swayed and distracted by what's happening right now so as to avoid
the five-poison thought and mind being arisen.
4. On the basis of above three points, we
cherish the moment and live at the moment with our clean body, mouth and
mind. That is, we do anything, such as eating meals, drinking teas,
sleeping, talking and work, ext., with the normal and peaceful mind. It is pure
in heart without any greedy, hatred and stupid obsessed thought and mind.
The
meaning and function of no-thinking and no-doing
When we deeply understand the teaching of
Buddha, we then understand the profound meaning of no-thinking and no-doing.
When we are in the state of no-thinking and no-doing, we know that any
manipulated binary opposition is not functioning and any deceive dogma and
seemed plausible reasons that fools people's hearts will fail. Any attempt to
manipulate us under the guise of religious teachings, including those who use
Buddhist teachings to manipulate us, will not succeed. The Buddha is not always
in the state of no-thinking and no-doing. If a person is always in the state of
no-thinking and no-doing, it is called the stubborn emptiness (the stupid
emptiness) and the death-silence (the stupid silence). This is not the state of
the Buddha. Therefore, when we have any troubles and any sufferings, we know
that it is better for us to be in the state of no-thinking and no-doing until
our wisdom without any toxic mind arise and we thus know how to solve any problems.
And then, we take any action.
Buddha's
state and action
The clean state of the Buddha’s body, mouth
and mind is based on the wisdom, empathy, benevolence and compassion. In
Buddhism, the wisdom means to completely eliminate the individual greedy,
hatred, stupid obsession (infatuation, addiction or attachment), arrogant and
suspicion. To sum up, that is to completely eliminate any negative thoughts,
mindsets and actions. Meanwhile, this person with wisdom has completely
understood that these five poisons and the related negative mindsets and
behaviors are existed in those persons who have not yet been enlightened.
Any empathy, compassion and benevolence for
others are on the basis of wisdom. This is what the state of a Buddha. At the
same time, a Buddha is capable to take use of any flexible and convenient way to
teach, lead and reform those un-enlightened persons so as to make them be in
the state of the brightness. That is to make them remove the five poisons and
any related negative thoughts, mindsets and behaviors so as to relieve any
sufferings. Therefore, we know that the Buddha is full of the positive energy
and is always doing such positive things for the sentient beings and the world
on the basis of the no-thinking and no-doing.
The
meaning of the consummate feet
From above explanation, we know why the action
of the Buddha is good at practicing the consummate of possessing feet, the
rightly truth and clearly clean. The two legs of the Buddha also mean the
wisdom and compassion (mercy, empathy and benevolence). One leg represents the
wisdom, and the other leg represents the compassion. To possess both of these
two legs at the same time and without lack of any one of them means the
consummate feet. No matter what the leg represents, what the action of the
Buddha is, its essence is the rightly truth and clearly clean. That is, there
are no five poisons and no related negative thoughts, mindsets and actions. It
is also like owning a large clothing and bowl that are used by the monk and the
monk is able to perceive them and to reflect them at ease, but the monk doesn’t
love them and doesn’t attach them.
What
we can learn from the meaning of the consummate feet.
That is to teach us that we can use
anything what we need actually but not what we desire to possess, and that we
can do anything to really help the self and the others with our wisdom and
compassion so as to relieve our troubles, worries and sufferings. We can
perceive these things and reflect them at ease. However, it would be better for
us not to love it and attach it so as to avoid any troubles, worries and
sufferings. Meanwhile, this teaching of Buddha is also to remind us, when we do
anything and take any actions, we keep the wisdom and compassion in mind. At
the same time, when we are walking and pay attention to our legs, we think of the
meaning of the wisdom and compassion taught by the Buddha.
Buddha’s
actions are coming from the voluntary strength.
“The Buddha said. In all actions of the
voluntary strength, practice them so as to make them consummate to possess the
feet.” It means that all actions of the Buddha are coming from the voluntary
strength of the self. There is no compulsion and no impure motives. By this way
of practicing all actions, it can consummate to possess the wisdom and blessed
merit. That is why the Buddha's two legs of wisdom and blessed merit are so
noble and being respected. Whether you are willing to own the wisdom,
compassion and the blessed merit or not, it depends on the self, not on the
others. That is, the noble and being respected is coming from the honesty
learning and practicing by self, not from others expectation and manipulation.
There
is no situation of opposition to each other in the honesty Buddhist groups.
From above explanation, we know how we can
learn if our goal is to achieve the Buddhahood. In Buddhism, there is no issue
of religious divisions. In the world and in the different countries, there are
a lot of different Buddhist groups. What the different is the method of
practicing and learning. It is the different in the process and experience. And
their goal is the same. That is to achieve the Buddhahood. It is as if someone
wants to cross the river from the left shore to the right shore, one takes use
of the small boat, however, the other takes use of the large boat, their destination
is the same, the right shore. That is why there is no situation of opposition
to each other in the honesty Buddhist groups.
There
is also no situation of opposition to the others who believe in different
religion from the Buddhism in the honesty Buddhist groups.
Meanwhile, there is also no situation of
opposition to the others who believe in different religion from the Buddhism in
the honesty Buddhist groups. In Buddhism, it thinks that all sentient beings are
the future Buddha who owns the Buddha-nature. However, they have not yet been
enlightened in the aspect of Buddha-nature. That is, they have not realized
that they own the Buddha-nature. Therefore, the future Buddha is also called
the unenlightened Buddha. No matter what your belief is and no matter your race
is and whether you have belief or not, it thinks that you are the future Buddha
and you will become a Buddha someday after experiencing the reincarnation of unmeasurable
times. Therefore, the Buddha thinks that all the sentient beings are equal to
all Buddhas in the ten directions of space. In Buddhism, There is no such
concept of master and servant and there is also no such concept that the servant
served and dedicated to the Lord. The Buddha doesn’t think he is a Lord. The
Buddha thinks that he and all sentient beings are the one and are equal. In the
idea of Buddhism, to harm all sentient beings is to harm the self and such bad
Karma would make the bad response and bad retribution return to the self.
The
three kinds of brightness are based on wisdom and are arisen naturally.
“The Buddha said. The brightness meant that
the brightness of heavenly eye, the brightness of experienced and predestined destinies,
and the brightness of leak-ended.” Now you may realize that the brightness as
said is based on the clean actions of practicing as mentioned above. The word
Brightness also means to clearly know and to know by wisdom. The Brightness
here also represents the wisdom. The wisdom-brightness is based on the clean
action of practicing. It is that the Brightness is based on the Wisdom. When
the body, mouth and mind are clean, that is without five-poison heart and
action, then, the brightness of heavenly eye, the brightness of experienced and
predestined destinies, and the brightness of leak- ended will be arisen
naturally.
The
three kinds of brightness are the power of the spiritual openness.
The brightness of heavenly eye, the
brightness of experienced and predestined destinies, and the brightness of leak-ended
are the power of the spiritual openness. In the translation of mine, the word
Brightness is able to be replaced by the words Spiritual Openness. In Buddhism,
the meaning and function of both of them are the same. It is translated by
someone as the supernatural power. I don’t use the words Supernatural Power. The
power of the spiritual openness is what we owned originally. However, the
spiritual of the unenlightened people is in closeness and their heart is in darkness
because of the five-poison mind and action of the self. That is why theirs such
abilities are unable to be opened up and developed well.
These three kinds of brightness
are included in the six kinds of the spiritual openness in Buddhism. I have explained
it in the Buddhist Scripture of A Brief Talk about The Scripture of Forty-Two
Chapters Said by Buddha. If you are interested in understanding it, you can
read the following linked article. Its link is as follows:
Chapter
15: Ask about the force and brightness
The
brief introduce about the three kinds of brightness.
I briefly introduce these three kinds of
brightness as follows:
The
brightness of heavenly eye
The brightness of heavenly eye: In the
common dramas, novels and cartoons, especially in the classic and traditional
Chinese dramas, it is called the third eye of human. If you have seen the image
and its content, you might have the concept about what it is and what its
function is. The heavenly eye means that it allows you to see what's going on
in the distance about the people and things you care about, or any people and
any things that need you to care about.
The
brightness of experienced and predestined destinies
The brightness of experienced and
predestined destinies: Its meaning and function are the same as the spiritual
openness of perceiving fate. That is, someone who owns this power is capable to
understand and see the past and the future destiny of the self and any person
who you care about. In Buddhism, the destiny usually means the cause and
condition, and the causality, and the reward of good result (the repay of good
consequence), the retribution of bad result, and the response of the effect. In
Buddhist Scripture, it records that the Buddha Shakyamuni always used this
power to perceive his disciple’s destiny or human’s destiny so as to give his
disciples and the sentient beings the correct teaching and to enlighten them to
realize the meaning of Buddha-nature at the same time. The meaning and function
of the brightness of experienced and predestined destinies is different from
that of the fortune telling. In Taiwan
and China, the fortune telling always involves the meaning and concept of the
Buddhism so as to offer the helpful advices and help people to change their
fate and to make them be the good persons.
The
brightness of leak-ended
The brightness of leak-ended: The word Leak
is the analogy of troubles, worries and sufferings in Buddhism. In the Buddhist
Scripture, it records that the Buddha Shakyamuni mentioned the word Having-Leak
and the word No-leak. The word Having-Leak means to have the troubles, worries
and sufferings. The word No-leak means to completely eliminate or remove any
worries and sufferings. The state of a Buddha is ending the leak completely.
That is, a Buddha is in the state of no-leak. The other meaning for the
brightness of leak-ended is that a Buddha is capable to clearly know and
perceive the other person whether to achieve the brightness of leak-ended or
not when this person has achieved the leak-ended brightness.
From above explanation, we understand why
the Buddha is in the state of no-leak. That is because no-leak is based on no
five poisons and no related negative thoughts, mindsets and actions. All
troubles, worries and sufferings are caused by the five poisons and the related
negative thoughts, mindsets and actions of the self and the others. Therefore,
if we want to resolve any problems, it is better for us to resolve any fundamental
causes.
Conclusion
Now we know that when our thoughts, mindsets
and actions are clearly clean as what had taught by the Buddha, and when we
have achieved the Buddhahood, we naturally own the three kinds of the brightness
as mentioned. Above is what and why I translate and explain the word Brightness-Action-Feet.
When we have completely understood the meaning of the ten titles about Buddha,
we will know that all of them are connected with each other.
