Sutra:

The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra-Roll Five

Chapter Fourteen, "Happily-Dwelling Conduct"

Commentary:

This chapter is called Happily-Dwelling Conduct. Happily-dwelling conduct is the Bodhisattva conduct, and the Bodhisattva conduct is itself the happily-dwelling conduct. One happily dwells in the doors of practice cultivated by Bodhisattvas. Both one's body and one's mind reside in the states of cultivation of the Bodhisattva Way, and do so happily, since that is what one likes to do. The "Masters of the Dharma Chapter," the "Devadatta Chapter," and the "Exhortation to Maintain Chapter," which came previously, were very important sections of the Dharma Flower Sutra. This chapter is even more important. The reason one dwells happily is that one sits on the Tathagata's throne, puts on the Tathagata's robe, and enters the Tathagata's room. One cultivates those kinds of happily-dwelling conduct.

Happily-dwelling conduct is the road on which one must travel in cultivating the Bodhisattva Way, hence the name of this chapter, "Happily-Dwelling Conduct," chapter fourteen.

Sutra:

At that time Dharma Prince Manjushri Bodhisattva Mahasattva said to the Buddha, "World Honored One, all these Bodhisattvas are extremely rare. Reverently complying with the Buddha, they have made great vows to protect, maintain, read, and speak this Dharma Flower Sutra in the future evil age."

Commentary:

At that time is when the Buddha had finished speaking the "Exhortation to Maintain Chapter" and was ready to speak the "Happily-Dwelling Conduct Chapter." Manjushri Bodhisattva's name is a Sanskrit word. Some translate it as "Wonderful Virtue," and some as "Wonderfully Auspicious." But Wonderful Virtue is Wonderfully Auspicious, and the meaning is the same. In general, this Bodhisattva's state is inconceivable. As explained in the commentary to the Earth Store Sutra, ten auspicious signs occurred when Manjushri Bodhisattva was born, setting him apart from other Bodhisattvas.

While Manjushri Bodhisattva was cultivating the Bodhisattva conduct, he never lied, killed, or stole. He kept the precepts very carefully. There is proof that he never stole. One time he said to the other Bodhisattvas, "From the time I first brought forth my resolve to cultivate, I have always maintained the precept against stealing. That's why no one ever steals from me. Why, I could set my most valuable possession down on the ground, and no one would steal it."

Some of the Bodhisattvas did not believe him and said, "We should test this out. Bring your most valuable possession, and we'll put it in front of the city gate." They chose that spot because it was where the most people came and went. "We'll leave it there for three days, and if no one has taken it by the end of that time, that will prove what you say is true."

Manjushri Bodhisattva said, "Fine, let's try it out." He took his most valuable gem-Bodhisattvas have many treasures-and put it in front of the city gate. People came in and out of the city through the gate for three days, but no one took the jewel. The Bodhisattvas then knew that Manjushri Bodhisattva had truly maintained the precept against stealing.

This Bodhisattva has the greatest wisdom. Why? Because he cultivated Prajna practices. From the time he began to cultivate the Bodhisattva Way, he cultivated Prajna. He cultivated Literary Prajna, Contemplative Prajna, and Real Mark Prajna-the three kinds of Prajna. As a result, he has the greatest wisdom.

Before Shakyamuni Buddha realized Buddhahood, he studied the Buddhadharma under this Bodhisattva, who appeared earlier in the Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra as the Bodhisattva Wondrous Light. Manjushri Bodhisattva is also the Dharma Master Wondrous Light.

So, you who are cultivating the Way and have taken precepts must truly keep the precepts. If we don't truly keep the precepts now, later when it's time for us to realize the Way, our realization won't be true either. For that reason, we should be like Manjushri Bodhisattva: We should not kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, or take intoxicants.

"Dharma Prince" is Manjushri Bodhisattva's title. The Buddha is the Dharma King. He is The King within the Dharma, The God among Gods, and The Sage among Sages. Bodhisattvas are Dharma Princes; they are the sons of the Dharma King. That's why Manjushri Bodhisattva is called the Prince of Dharma.

"Bodhisattva" is a Sanskrit word. "Bodhi" means "enlightenment," and "sattva" means "being(s)," so the whole word means "one who enlightens beings." A Bodhisattva can help other living beings to become enlightened. A Bodhisattva is also a living being who is enlightened. He is a living being just as we are, but he is an enlightened living being among sentient beings. That's the meaning of Bodhisattva.

"Mahasattva" is also a Sanskrit word. "Maha" means "great," and "sattva" is the Bodhisattva. Mahasattvas are the great Bodhisattvas among Bodhisattvas, which means they are old, not young Bodhisattvas. Young Bodhisattvas are those who have just brought forth the resolve for Bodhi, who have just decided they want to be Bodhisattvas. It's not certain that Bodhisattvas who are newly resolved will necessarily become Bodhisattvas. Why not? Because some make the resolve for one, two, or three days and then run away. For example, Shariputra wanted to practice the Bodhisattva Way, but then he retreated. The ancients had a verse that describes this very well:

Fish eggs, amalakas,
And newly resolved Bodhisattvas:
All three are many on the causal ground,
But few at the level of fruition.

Fish lay many eggs, but a large number of them never hatch into fish. The amalaka is a fruit found almost exclusively in India. The tree blossoms profusely, without necessarily bearing even one fruit. Also, many people bring forth the beginning resolve to cultivate the Bodhisattva Way; they hear how good it is to practice the Bodhisattva Way, so they bring forth the Bodhi mind. But after a while they realize it's not at all easy, and they prefer not to practice it. Thus, there are many newly-resolved Bodhisattvas, but few actually become old Bodhisattvas. And so there are many of these three-fish eggs, amalaka blossoms, and newly-resolved Bodhisattvas-at the level of planting causes; but few of them actually come to fruition.

Old Bodhisattvas have been thoroughly smelted; they've passed through the fire. That's not to say that Bodhisattvas are actually burned. It means that they have been through experiences as painful as being burned by fire and as difficult to endure as being drowned by water. By passing through so many demonic tests, the Bodhisattvas have been successfully smelted and forged. That's how they become old Bodhisattvas. Manjushri Bodhisattva is not only an old Bodhisattva, he is a great and inconceivable Bodhisattva, which is why he is called a Mahasattva.

He said to the Buddha, "World Honored One, all these Bodhisattvas are extremely rare." He said, "All these many Bodhisattvas who are now before the Buddha making great vows are very unusual and rare. Reverently complying with the Buddha, they have made great vows. They are extremely respectful of the Buddha, and so they have accorded with the Buddha's intent and brought forth mighty resolutions. In the evil world of the five turbidities, they want to practice the ascetic practices of bearing what others cannot bear and doing what others cannot do. Their great vows are to protect, maintain, read, and speak this Dharma Flower Sutra in the future evil age. In the future, when it is the Dharma-ending Age, they will guard those who receive and maintain this Sutra, those who read and recite it, and those who explain The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra.

Therefore, now as we explain the Dharma Flower Sutra, there are one-knows-not-how-many myriads of Bodhisattvas, Hearers, and Condition-Enlightened Ones protecting and supporting this Bodhimanda. Why? All these Bodhisattvas made the vow that wherever there is a Dharma Flower Assembly, they definitely will protect it. It's similar to Many Jewels Tathagata's vow that wherever there is a Buddha speaking the Dharma Flower Sutra, he will appear before that Buddha to give certification.

Sutra:

"World Honored One, how can Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas speak this Sutra in the future evil age?"

The Buddha told Manjushri, "If a Bodhisattva Mahasattva wishes to speak this Sutra in the future evil age, he should dwell securely in four dharmas.

First, by dwelling in the Bodhisattva's range of practice and the Bodhisattva's range of association, he will be able to expound this Sutra for living beings."

Commentary:

Manjushri Bodhisattva addressed the Buddha, saying, "World Honored One, how can Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas speak this Sutra in the future evil age? How can all those great Bodhisattvas propagate The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra in the future Dharma-ending Age, when offenses and evils fill the world?" In our present world, everyone likes to fight and wage war. People fight with people, families fight with families, countries fight with countries, and worlds fight with worlds. This world wants to conquer that world, and that world wishes to vanquish this one. As a result, human beings want to migrate to the moon, and moon-beings wish to invade our Saha World. That's what is meant by the future evil age. "During the Dharma-ending Age, which is so full of evil, how can Bodhisattvas explain The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra?" Manjushri Bodhisattva asks the Buddha that question.

The Buddha Shakyamuni told Manjushri Bodhisattva, "If there is a Bodhisattva Mahasattva, a great Bodhisattva who has brought forth the resolve and wishes to speak this, The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra in the future evil age, in the future world of corruption, he should dwell securely in four kinds of dharma. The first of the four dharmas is that, by dwelling in the Bodhisattva's range of practice and the Bodhisattva's range of association, he will be able to expound this Sutra for living beings. He should reside where Bodhisattvas cultivate, that is, in the Six Paramitas or the Ten Paramitas. They cultivate the Ten Paramitas of giving, holding precepts, patience, vigor, Dhyana samadhi, wisdom, expedients, vows, powers, and knowledge. They should reside in these Ten Paramitas, which are the Bodhisattvas' range of practice.

The Bodhisattvas' range of association means the places Bodhisattvas draw near to. If one dwells in the state of the practice of Bodhisattvas and draws near to the state that Bodhisattvas should draw near to, then one will be able to lecture on The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra for living beings.

Sutra:

Manjushri, what is meant by the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's range of practice? If a Bodhisattva Mahasattva dwells on the ground of patience, is gentle and compliant, not impetuous or volatile; if his mind is not alarmed; if, moreover, he does not practice in regard to any dharma, but contemplates the marks of all dharmas as they really are-not, however, practicing nondiscrimination-that is called the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's range of practice. What is meant by the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's range of association? Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas do not draw near to kings, princes, great ministers, or officials.

Commentary:

This section of text discusses the Bodhisattva's range of practice. What is the Bodhisattva's range of practice? Shakyamuni Buddha calls out to Manjushri Bodhisattva, "Manjushri, do you know what is meant by the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's range of practice? Do you know what constitutes the scope of cultivation of a great Bodhisattva?" If a Bodhisattva Mahasattva dwells on the ground of patience-when a Bodhisattva cultivates the practice of being patient and resides at the level of patience-what is he like? It must be that he is gentle and compliant, not impetuous or volatile.

Being patient is not at all easy. In the past, when Shakyamuni Buddha was a Patient Immortal, King Kali dismembered his body, yet as a Patient Immortal, he didn't feel any hatred or anger. That qualifies as dwelling on the ground of patience. Those who have heard the Vajra Sutra know that story, but those who have not will not know it.

Limitless kalpas ago, Shakyamuni Buddha was in the mountains cultivating the practice of patience. You may wonder, "Since there aren't any people in the mountains, with whom was he being patient? No one came into conflict with him or had any dealings with him, and so how could he cultivate patience?" His cultivation of patience did not necessarily involve being insulted. He simply endured things people cannot bear. For instance, in the mountains there are many mosquitoes, and they bite people all the time. When the mosquitoes came to bite him-the Buddha, a Patient Immortal-he was patient and didn't drive them away. First of all, he wanted to practice patience; and secondly, he was afraid that if he drove them away, he would terrify them. That's an example of how he was patient with small creatures. As to larger creatures, if snakes came to bite him, he would bear it. If wolves, bears, tigers, and leopards came wanting to tear into him, he endured it. He practiced patience toward all the animals, since there were no people there.

One time, King Kali came to the mountain to hunt. He brought a large group of people with him. There were ministers, generals, and quite a few women, including the queen and the ladies-in-waiting from the palace. During the sport, each of the men went off in pursuit of whatever kind of animal he spotted. The women didn't hunt, so they wandered around amusing themselves on the mountain. In the course of their explorations, they saw a very strange creature. The hair on his head was matted together like a rug, and his beard was very long. His fingernails were several inches long and had curled into several loops at the ends of his fingers. As soon as the women saw him, they exclaimed, "What kind of monster is that?" Many of them were frightened and wanted to run away.

But then the "monster" (they couldn't tell if it was an animal or a human being) spoke to them. He said, "Don't be afraid of me. I won't eat you."

The women said, "Oh, it's not a monster. He can talk like a human being." Then the ones who had started to run away came back, for people tend to be curious. They said, "Let's go see how he can talk." They asked him, "What are you doing here?"

He answered, "I'm cultivating."

"What does 'cultivating' mean?" they asked.

He replied, "No matter what kind of trouble people give me, I endure it. I am cultivating the practice of patience."

Once he had said a few sentences, the women were no longer afraid, and they thought, "He talks. He's a person like us." They drew closer and closer until they had surrounded the Patient Immortal.

Meanwhile, King Kali had finished hunting and came back to look for his women. He was a long way off, but because there weren't any other sounds on the mountain, he could hear them chattering with someone. As the King approached, he saw the person had long hair and a long beard. However, he wasn't a hippie. You shouldn't be misled to think hippies are like the Patient Immortal. The Patient Immortal specialized in being patient, whereas hippies specialize in being impatient, in breaking the rules and doing every kind of disreputable thing there is to do.

As soon as the King saw the strange man talking with his women, he became jealous and thought, "You freak, you must have some special skill to be able to confuse my women like that. In the royal palace they are well behaved, but now they've fallen in love with you!" Feeling incredibly jealous, he exploded, "Hey, you freak! What are you doing here?"

The Patient Immortal replied, "I'm cultivating patience."

"What do you mean 'patience'?" the King bellowed.

"Patience means that if people scold me, I bear it. If people beat me, I bear it. No matter how badly people treat me, I still bear it."

King Kali said, "I don't believe a word you say. You are simply tricking people. How can anyone in the world stand it if people scold or beat him?"

The Patient Immortal said, "Not only can I stand people scolding or beating me, even if someone were to kill me, I could bear it."

King Kali fumed, "Did you hear that? He's lying right to my face. He says he would stay patient even if someone killed him. Okay, I'm not going to kill you now, but do you really think you can remain patient?"

"You can give it a try," the Patient Immortal said.

King Kali replied, "Oh, so I can try you out, can I? Even if I didn't have your permission, I would still try you out. Do you think I don't dare? Hah! You say you could bear even someone trying to kill you. Well, I'm not going to kill you now."

Then what did he do? He took out his sword, sliced off one of the cultivator's ears and asked him, "Does that hurt or not?"

The Patient Immortal replied, "It doesn't matter."

King Kali raged, "You are a liar! I don't believe that when I cut off your ear, you didn't get angry. It had to hurt terribly, and yet you still say, 'It doesn't matter'. Okay, I'll cut your other ear off." And he did. "How about now? Does it still not matter to you?"

The Patient Immortal replied, "Of course it doesn't matter."

That made the King even angrier. "You lie right to my face and say it doesn't matter that I've cut off your ears. All right, I'll cut off your nose." Then he cut off the Patient Immortal's nose and asked, "What about now? You'd better hurry up and tell the truth. Don't keep lying. What I can't stand most is that you are obviously full of anger, but you say you're not. That's a lie."

The Patient Immortal said, "It still doesn't matter. It's not important that I don't have a nose."

The King said, "Fine, you don't mind not having a nose. I'll chop off one of your hands. There. Are you angry now?"

The Patient Immortal said, "I'm not angry."

"Wonderful," said the King, "you're not angry, so now I'll chop off your other hand and see how you take it. I want to help you accomplish your work in the Way. You cultivate patience, and no one else would dare challenge you like this. I'm an Emperor, and even if I killed you, I wouldn't commit any crime." Then he hacked off his other hand. "How about now? You must be very happy. Both your hands are gone, and you definitely aren't angry, right?"

The Patient Immortal said, "Of course not. You really do understand me. I'm not angry."

That enraged King Kali even more. "There isn't anyone in the world who wouldn't get angry if both his hands were cut off. Well then, I'll chop off one of your feet." He did so, and asked, "Now aren't you sorry? You've cultivated patience to the point that now you don't have any hands, and you are missing a foot. You've only got one foot left. Right now if you tell me the truth, I can still let you off easy. Really, are you angry or not?"

The Patient Immortal said, "I'm not angry. If my feet are gone, they're gone. Do what you like."

King Kali said, "He's lying through his teeth!" and he cut off the other foot. "How about now?" he asked. "You're missing both ears, your nose, both hands and both feet. Are you angry?"

The Patient Immortal said, "I'm not angry."

The King was beginning to feel that something strange was happening. He said to himself, "This person must have some kind of deviant dharma. I've cut off so much of his flesh, but it doesn't hurt him, and he still says he's being patient." He started to wonder, "Is he really being patient, or is he faking it?" He turned to the cultivator and asked, "You say you're being patient, but ultimately what proof is there that you're really patient? You've got to have some proof. Maybe I should take out your heart and see if there's any anger in it or not." He'd already chopped off the Patient Immortal's hands and feet, and now he wanted to take out his heart and look at it!

The Patient Immortal, who was Shakyamuni Buddha cultivating patience, said, "If you want to look at my heart, go right ahead. But now I'll give you some proof. You have cut off my four limbs. If I have any anger, then in the future I will not become a Buddha. Instead, I will fall into the hells, become a hungry ghost, or become an animal. If I don't have any anger, then the ears you cut off will grow back, and the nose you cut off will become the way it was before you cut it off. Not only that, my four limbs will also return to being just as they originally were. That's if I don't have any anger. If I am angry, then I won't be able to return to the way I was." After he said that, in fact his ears did grow back, and so did his nose, his hands, and his feet.

When King Kali saw that, he shouted, "It's a monster! It's a monster! Quick, cut him down with your swords! I won't be able to handle him myself." He commanded his generals to chop the Patient Immortal to bits. Right at that moment, what do you think happened? Wei Tou Bodhisattva and the Dharma-protecting spirits were outraged, and said, "You're really going too far!" Then the heavens thundered and pelted down hail on King Kali's head. The King said, "This monster is using spiritual penetrations! His powers are so great, what can I do?"

The Patient Immortal said, "It's not that I'm using spiritual penetrations; the good Dharma-protecting spirits are punishing you."

The King said, "What should I do?"

The Patient Immortal said, "Quickly repent. If you don't repent, you're in for trouble."

King Kali said, "Please help me repent. I'm afraid it won't work if I do it myself."

And so the Patient Immortal asked the good Dharma-protecting spirits not to punish King Kali. He said, "Dharma­protectors, good spirits, don't blame him. He's just a stupid, foolish person. Not only am I not angry with him, but what is more, after I become a Buddha, I will first save this person who cut off my four limbs. I'm going to save him first."

After the Patient Immortal made that vow, King Kali was very moved. He said, "This cultivator is truly great. I treated him so badly, but he is still going to save me first!" Then the King began to cry bitterly, and he said, "After you become a Buddha, I definitely want to be your Number One great disciple. I want to be first." Consequently, when Shakyamuni Buddha realized the Way, he first took across Ajnatakaundinya, whose name means "understanding the basic limit." This disciple had previously committed such heavy offenses against his teacher, and yet his teacher still treated him so well and wanted to save him first. Therefore, in Buddhism, enmity and kindness don't present any problems that cannot be resolved.

After hearing this account, we should think it over. Are we able to be like Shakyamuni Buddha was when he cultivated patience? If someone cut off your hands, feet, ears, and nose, could you remain patient? I hope you could not. Why is that? It's because if you could be patient, then someone would have to cut you up like that. If no one cut you up and you said you could be patient, would it be true or false? There's no way to tell! That's one problem. I also hope you could be patient. If you could be patient, that would indicate you were just like Shakyamuni Buddha when he was practicing as the Patient Immortal. That is why I have those hopes for you.

You may say, "But I don't want to be a Patient Immortal like Shakyamuni Buddha was then. I'd like to be a King Kali. If there were someone practicing patience, I would cut off his hands and feet, slice off his ears, and sever his nose. After that, I hope he would vow to save me first after he became a Buddha. That way I would save a lot of effort in cultivating the Way, and I could certify to the fruition."

That kind of thinking is not reliable, and it's not even logical. Why is that? If you really met someone like Shakyamuni Buddha, it might work. But ordinary people cannot be compared to the Sages. If you were to cut off the hands, ears, or nose of an ordinary person who had not certified to the fruition, he would feel pain. As soon as he felt the pain, he would get angry. Once he became angry, when he died, it's to be feared he would become an asura. As an asura, he would want to kill you, and then the resentment between the two of you would increase day by day. For that reason, don't imitate King Kali.

It's a good thing the King encountered Shakyamuni Buddha, who made the vow to save him first. Otherwise, what he did to the Patient Immortal would have been very dangerous. What if Shakyamuni Buddha hadn't made that vow? How could the King have been sure that Shakyamuni Buddha would make the vow to save him first? He wouldn't have any control over it. He wouldn't be able to count on it. And so, instead of acting like King Kali, you'd better think of another method.

"How should I be?" you may ask. You should be without patience.

"If I should be without patience, then why are you telling people to be patient?" you may wonder. "If I shouldn't have any patience, then why are you even bringing the subject up? If there's not supposed to be any patience, then why did the Buddha talk about the Paramita of Patience?"

Being without patience is true patience. Not having any patience is real patience. No patience is genuine patience.

You may ask, "How do you explain that? When the Dharma Master speaks the Dharma, it's not reasonable. He says whatever he wants."

What's meant by 'being without patience'? It means you are patient, but you don't feel like you are being patient. You don't think, "Oh, I'm being patient. I was patient that time." That's an attachment. You should be patient as if you weren't being patient. Having patience should be 'as if not having any':

Having as if not having;
Being real as if being unreal.

For instance, suppose someone scolds you, and you think, "I'll be patient with his scolding." In your mind there's still a "scolding." If you are 'as if without patience,' then you basically don't even know that you are being scolded; it's as if it weren't happening. Then there's no patience involved. That's what is meant by no patience. If you have the concept of "patience," then you have an attachment.

"I don't believe it," you say.

Well, if you don't believe it, then believe what you want.

"It's not that I don't believe it, but Shakyamuni Buddha still remembered that when he was practicing as a Patient Immortal, King Kali cut off his limbs. He hadn't put it down. He was still attached. If he wasn't attached, then why did he remember it?"

His remembering was not remembering, and your understanding is not understanding. That is the general meaning of patience. Sometimes it's easy to be patient once or even twice, but by the third time, one loses patience. As soon as one loses patience, one loses all the merit and virtue acquired from being patient before. That's why it's said:

One spark of fire
Burns up a forest of merit and virtue.

Furthermore, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva "is gentle and compliant." Gentle means yielding and not contending. Compliant means good-tempered and agreeable. The great Bodhisattva who practices patience and cultivates the Bodhisattva Way must be gentle and compliant, and "not impetuous or volatile." Being impetuous means being overly hasty and doing things all in a rush, very abruptly. Things done that way end up being not at all in accord with principle. Being volatile means having an explosive temper. A Bodhisattva who cultivates the Bodhisattva Way should not have a volatile temper. His mind is not alarmed. His mind doesn't become alarmed or terrified concerning anything. Why not? Because he has the power of samadhi.

If, moreover, he does not practice in regard to any dharma. A Bodhisattva Mahasattva is without any "doing" in regard to all dharmas, but that doesn't mean he doesn't act. Rather, he has no thought of attachment to cultivation. He doesn't have that kind of attached thinking. He does practice, but it's as if no such thing were going on. Why is that? It's because he can really put everything down. But contemplates the marks of all dharmas as they really are. A Bodhisattva contemplates all dharmas as empty. If you were to tell most people that all dharmas are empty, they wouldn't cultivate. They would think, "All dharmas are empty, and so what is there to cultivate? Cultivation is empty, too. If I don't cultivate, that's also empty, and so why do I have to cultivate?" That's the outlook and understanding of those externalist ways, and the sort of thing they say. A Bodhisattva, however, contemplates all dharmas as empty. He knows that they are empty and enters the reality of all dharmas, being in accord with the wonderful principle of reality.

Not, however, practicing nondiscrimination. He also does not form views of nondiscrimination. Externalists say that all dharmas are empty, and so they don't discriminate and don't cultivate. That's the externalists' view of nondiscrimination. "Everything is empty," they say, "and so why are you discriminating?" They cultivate this kind of deviant view of nondiscrimination, but a Bodhisattva does not cultivate this kind of deviant view.

That is called the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's range of practice. What was just described is the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's happily-dwelling conduct of the body, the range of practice of the body.

How are the places that a great Bodhisattva should draw near to defined? What is meant by the Bodhisattva Mahasattva's range of association? Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas do not draw near to kings. They do not take advantage of situations in order to be able to draw near to kings; they don't try to set up lines of communication so that they can become friends with kings. That's called "seeking to be in favor with those in high positions." This also applies to princes, great ministers, or officials. Bodhisattvas don't seek to get involved with those kinds of people. They don't interact with officials. On the other hand, there are certain ways in which they may be involved that are appropriate. If such people, of their own accord, draw near to the Bodhisattva, without the Bodhisattva having sought out such people first, then it is permissible. For instance, if the Bodhisattva is in a monastery and does not have any intention of ingratiating himself with a king, and yet the king comes to the monastery to draw near to and bow to the Bodhisattva, then there's no problem. The Bodhisattva can speak appropriate Dharma for the king. That's what is meant by there being no fixed dharmas. You shouldn't be rigidly attached to this passage, saying, "Oh, the Dharma Flower Sutra says that Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas who are cultivating should not associate with kings, princes, great ministers, or officials," so that if a king did come to pay his respects, you wouldn't even see him. That would also be incorrect. It is all right for such people to draw near to you. As long as you are not the one actively seeking to associate with them, it's okay. It's not all right for you to go to the king's quarters and say things like, "Ah! Today is your birthday; I've come to commemorate it. I'll recite the Limitless Life Sutra to guarantee that you'll live long and never age." That's just being obsequious and is incorrect behavior. If you are residing in an aranya, a peaceful place for cultivation, and the king wants to approach you, that's okay. However, you don't need to search for a method to induce the king to come. If you induce him to come by using some plan, then you are the one who is drawing near to him. You are thinking, "If the king were to come and bow to me, how great my fame would become! Or if the President came, ah!" It's not correct for you to scheme like this day and night.

Rather, you should seek a response. Seeking a response means asking Wei Tou Bodhisattva to go and tell the king to come. If you have cultivation, Wei Tou Bodhisattva sees you and thinks, "This Bodhisattva has nobody to protect him. I'll find a great Dharma protector to protect him." Then he finds a wealthy person to help you. That is acceptable. So, you should be clear about this principle.

Sutra:

They do not draw near to externalists-Brahmacharins, Nirgranthas, and the like-or to writers of worldly literature, to those who sing praises of externalist writings, to Lokayatas, or to the opponents of Lokayatas. They also do not draw near to violent amusements such as boxing and wrestling, to displays of martial arts that involve mutual attack, to Natas, or to any entertainment that uses magic. They do not draw near to chandalas; to those who raise pigs, sheep, chickens, or dogs; or to those who hunt, fish, trap, or engage in any other evil activities. If such people should on occasion come to them, they speak the Dharma for them, but they have no expectations. They also do not draw near to those who seek to be Hearers, whether Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas, or Upasikas, and they do not bow from the waist to them. They do not remain in a room, a promenade, or a lecture hall with them. Should such people sometimes come to them, they speak Dharma as is appropriate, but seek nothing in return.

Commentary:

They do not draw near to externalists. Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas only study the Buddhadharma. They absolutely do not draw near to those of externalist ways, such as Brahmacharins, who are ordained in an externalist sect. Nirgranthas are another externalist way. At the time of the Buddha, there were six major teachers of externalist ways in India, and as their teachings were developed further by their disciples, there came to be ninety-six sects. And the like refers to those other sects. Nirgrantha translates as "apart from bonds." They were trying to attain liberation, but they had not yet attained it. They were seeking to free themselves from bonds, but had not yet succeeded. They were one of the externalist sects. Or to writers of worldly literature. This includes writers of worldly novels, plays, and movie scripts. It refers to those who write novels that incite people's desire. All of these are considered worldly literature.

They do not draw near to those who sing praises of externalist writings, delineating the ways in which they think the externalist sects are good, or to Lokayatas. Lokayata is a Sanskrit word and is translated as "evil discourses." Such discourses are not wholesome; they go on and on, but contain no true principle. They teach people to create evil karma. For example they say, "Taking more drugs will make your enlightenment greater; by the same token, taking less drugs will give you less enlightenment. Therefore, take more drugs." Not only do such people encourage others to take drugs, they use those drugs themselves. Such evil discourses enable the teacher to defeat his disciples, because in them the teacher always appears to have the loftier wisdom and in every way be better than his disciples. Whatever the disciples say is wrong; and even if they are right, they are "wrong." Those who give such evil, unprincipled discourses are called Lokayatas.

The opponents of Lokayatas are those with "discourses that incite rebellion." For example, they say, "If you were to murder your father or give your teacher a beating, you would be a great hero!" Such discourses incite people to rebel. "Wreck the Buddha image, and I will bow to you." This kind of discourse encourages people to be destructive. In this case, the disciples specialize in destroying the teacher. Nothing the teacher says is right: "We disciples are much better and much more intelligent than you." In the Lokayata sect, the teacher concentrates on ruining the disciples. In the opponents' sect, the disciples concentrate on ruining the teacher. In both cases, slander is involved. The teacher slanders the disciples, and the disciples think, "If we don't return the favor, then we aren't acting properly." So they come up with their rebellious discourses to slander their teacher. "Don't listen to him, he doesn't have any education. Listen to me." That's the opponents of Lokayatas.

They also do not draw near to violent amusements where mutual killing is involved, such as boxing and wrestling, where people fight and beat each other up in public competitions or in movies and plays. One should not go to see such things or listen to them. This includes going to displays of martial arts that involve mutual attack.

No wonder someone has brought up a criticism, saying that we should not watch the kung fu performance. That is very reasonable since the Dharma Flower Sutra prohibits it. However, we aren't Bodhisattvas. This prohibition is only for Bodhisattvas. You should understand this point. Right now we are still ordinary people. Ordinary people do a lot of wrong things, and it's okay.

But we've got to change, and then it's actually okay. If we don't change, then it's not okay. Nobody should say, "The Dharma Master says it's okay, so let's go commit some more offenses." That wouldn't do.

Or to Natas. Nata is also a Sanskrit word; it means "man of great strength." "You can lift five hundred pounds? Well, I can lift six hundred." They're very boastful. Natas also like to show themselves off as great heroes whose strength is unsurpassed. Bodhisattvas do not draw near to such people. Or to any entertainment that uses magic. Magicians can manifest things out of nowhere or make things disappear. They have many sleight-of-hand tricks. They try to get you to believe that what you see is real. Children believe it's real, but adults know it is an illusion-a magic trick. Bodhisattvas do not watch that kind of show.

They do not draw near to chandalas. Chandalas are the lowest caste in the Indian caste system. There were four main classes: Kshatriyas, Brahmans, Vaisyas, and chandalas-outcasts, such as butchers. They were restricted to their own paths and are not allowed to walk on the roads that other people use. They even had to wear signs on their heads identifying them as chandalas. The Indian caste system is extremely rigid. Bodhisattvas do not draw near to chandalas; to those who raise pigs, sheep, chickens, or dogs; or to those who hunt. Bodhisattvas do not raise chickens, dogs, pigs, or sheep, and they must not hunt.

You say, "But the Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch, lived with hunters and hunted for sixteen years."

The Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch, did live with hunters, but he himself did not hunt.

A previous passage said that Bodhisattvas do not draw near to kings, princes, great ministers, and officials. The Sixth Patriarch of China was invited several times to the palace by Empress Wu Zetian, and he never went. The Fourth Patriarch was also invited to the palace four or five times by the Emperor Tai Zong of the Tang dynasty, and he never went. They were following the rule set forth here in The Dharma Flower Sutra that Bodhisattvas should not draw near to kings, princes, great ministers, and officials.

Bodhisattvas do not draw near to those who catch fish, trap birds, or engage in any other evil activities. A contemporary example of "other evil activities" are those who call themselves monks, dress up in outlandish costumes, act very strangely, play instruments, and beg for money.

If such people should on occasion come to them, the Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, they speak the Dharma for them, but they have no expectations. One may speak the Buddhadharma for them, but one should not seek anything at all from them.

They also do not draw near to those who seek to be Hearers, that is, those of the Small Vehicle, whether Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas, or Upasikas, and they do not bow from the waist to them. You may have seen some Japanese monks greeting everyone they see by joining their palms and bowing from the waist. That shows they are not familiar with this passage of The Dharma Flower Sutra. If they were, they would not act so indiscriminately. They do not remain in a room, say perhaps their own dwelling place, a promenade where they may be strolling, or a lecture hall, such as our Buddhist Lecture Hall, with them. They do not live with evil people, unless they are people who were once evil but who have reformed. If such people come, for example to our summer session here, and sincerely want to seek the Dharma, then you can associate with them.

Should such people sometimes come to them, they speak Dharma as is appropriate, but seek nothing in return. In accord with their potential, one may speak Dharma for them, but one should not have any ulterior motive. One should not have even the slightest opportunistic thought.

Sutra:

Manjushri, moreover, Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas must not regard women's bodies as objects of desire and speak Dharma for them. They do not take delight in looking at women. If they enter the homes of others, they do not speak with young girls, maidens, widows, and so forth.

Further, they do not draw near to the five kinds of unmanly men or become friends with them. They do not enter others' houses alone. If for some reason they must enter alone, they single-mindedly recollect the Buddha. If they speak the Dharma for women, they do not smile or laugh and let their teeth show, nor do they expose their chests. Even for the sake of the Dharma, they do not become familiar with them, much less for the sake of other matters!

Commentary:

Shakyamuni Buddha called out again to Manjushri Bodhisattva, "Moreover, I will tell you more about the things that Bodhisattvas should not do. Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas must not regard women's bodies as objects of desire. When a Bodhisattva sees a woman, he should not make discriminations about the fineness or the beauty of her appearance and give rise to lust. Bodhisattvas should not be this way.

And speak Dharma for them. Moreover, a Bodhisattva shouldn't feel happiness in encountering women or take delight in speaking Dharma for them while ignoring men who come to request the Dharma from him. When women request the Dharma, he shouldn't be extremely happy and talk on and on, not finishing for days because of his desire for women.

They do not take delight in looking at women. Not only would they not have thoughts of lust toward women, they would not even be willing to look at them, because the female body is unclean. Cultivators of the Way should avoid indulging in looking at members of the opposite sex. For those who have true samadhi power,

The eyes see forms, but there is nothing inside.
The ears hear defiling sounds, but the mind does not know.

Theirs is an altogether different state of being. But if you don't have samadhi power and are turned by states, you shouldn't look at members of the opposite sex so much.

If they enter the homes of others, they do not speak with young girls. If for some special reason, a person who is practicing the Bodhisattva Way has to enter a layperson's home, he should not chat with young girls, or with maidens, or widows, and so forth. People who practice the Bodhisattva Way cannot go to someone's house and get involved in bantering with little girls. Nor should they have conversations with young maidens, especially when the two of them are alone.

"Maidens" refers to young women who have never married and who are still virgins. One must also not have private conversations with widows. "And so forth" refers to any other such women. To "speak with" means to have a conversation that no one else hears. Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas who practice the Bodhisattva Way should not hold private conversations with women.

Further, they do not draw near to the five kinds of unmanly men. Does anyone know what the five kinds of unmanly men are? No? No wonder homosexuality is so prevalent in the West. No one is aware of the problem. Now homosexuality is legal. Pretty soon women will be without anyone to support them-no one will want them-and they will be left to starve. Men will want other men to be their spouses; they won't want women. Women will then be useless to them; men won't even want them to bear their children. It will be that bad. You shouldn't be laughing about this situation; you should be crying, for women may be useless in the future.

"Further, they do not draw near to the five kinds of unmanly men." There are five kinds of unmanly men. If they are unmanly, does that mean they are women? No, they aren't women. There are five kinds of people who are neither male nor female. You can't call them men, because they can't conduct themselves as men do. And you can't call them women, because they cannot do the things that women do. These are the five kinds of unmanly men. They have never been called "unwomanly women" before, but now I'm giving them the name "five kinds of unwomenly women."

What kinds of beings are neither male nor female? They can hardly be considered people. They are of no use whatsoever in the world; all they know how to do is eat. They cannot help women bear children, and they cannot bear children themselves. So isn't it true that they don't benefit the world much?

The Five Kinds of Unmanly Men

1. Unmanly from birth. While still in the womb, such people did not develop as either male or female; and when they were born, they did not have male organs or female organs. They can neither fulfill the man's role of fathering children, nor can they fulfill the woman's role of bearing children. Such people are born into the world unable to fulfill their proper functions. You need to know the cause and effect involved in becoming like that. It comes from practicing homosexuality, lesbianism, or bisexuality in past lives. And so in this life, such people have the appearance of men or women, but they do not have the corresponding sexual organs, and are therefore neither male nor female.

2. Unmanly through dysfunction. In some cases, such people had male organs but were castrated. Some developed diseases that destroyed their male organs. The same thing may happen in the case of female organs.

3. Unmanly through jealousy. When such people see a man and a woman together, they look at the man, become jealous, and "turn into" a man. The change takes place in their minds only, however, and they cannot conduct themselves as a man would. Sometimes when they see the woman, they become jealous of the woman and "turn into" a woman. But they are incapable of functioning as a woman would. They assume their sexual identity mentally as a result of the emotion of jealousy.

4. Unmanly through physical transformation. Such people do not transform into a man only when they see a man, or transform into a woman only when they see a woman. They can make the change by themselves. For instance at noon, the person is a man, but at one o'clock he changes into a woman. He doesn't need to see other men and women to bring about this change. Then at two o'clock or three o'clock or five o'clock, he turns back into a man. This is called being a man, but not a man; being a woman, but not a woman. How does this happen to people? It comes about because of the past practice of homosexuality-men with men and women with women. Or if men or women practice masturbation, in the future they will have this retribution of being neither male nor female. You can't say they are men, because they don't have male organs; and you can't say they are women, because they don't have female organs. Yet they "change" into women or men. Even though they change, they cannot conduct themselves as men or as women.

You have to study the Buddhadharma to understand this principle. Those who don't investigate the Buddhadharma don't ever learn about the five kinds of unmanly men or the five kinds of unwomenly women.

5. Unmanly through Switching Back and Forth. These are hermaphrodites-half-and-half. For half a month they are men, and then for the other half month they are women. The previous kind of transformation does not last such a long time. In the previous case, the person is male for one or two days and then becomes female for one or two days. The changes do not last as long as half a month. But in this case, this person has male organs for half a month and then changes into having female organs for half a month. This is the retribution of being neither male nor female. You should think it over. The Buddhadharma explains every phenomenon that takes place in the world. If such people wished to leave the home-life, they would not be accepted. They are not permitted to leave home; they are not taken across. Not even the Buddha took such people across; they are just too rotten. Such people have the worst kind of thinking-filthy, like putrid water, terrible thoughts. If anyone poisons him or herself-that is, if he or she practices masturbation-it will cause him to turn into one of these five kinds of unmanly men or unwomanly women who are neither male nor female. You might say, "That's being without any mark of male or female," but that is an undesirable characteristic. This is a case of deficient faculties. They lack the proper male or female organs. To be like that is the worst possible way for a person to be. People should conduct themselves according to the natural laws for being human and follow the rules. Those who do not will undergo the future retribution of being perverted. When people have their six sense organs incomplete, it is their retribution for having committed too many offenses.

Bodhisattvas do not become friends with them. Bodhisattvas practicing the Bodhisattva Way do not befriend people who are among the five kinds of unmanly men or unwomanly women. They do not become good friends with them.

They do not enter others' houses alone. They cannot go alone to a layperson's home. In that way, they avoid danger and do not cause others to doubt them. If for some reason they must enter alone, they single-mindedly recollect the Buddha. If there is some special reason why they must enter someone's house alone, they single-mindedly recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha," or "Namo Original Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha."

If they speak the Dharma for women, they do not smile or laugh and let their teeth show. You should not laugh out loud or smile and giggle when speaking the Buddhadharma. You see, it's not the case that laughter is necessarily good. You should not laugh and show your teeth when lecturing the Dharma for those of the opposite sex, for if you do, you might cause them to have thoughts of desire, or you might harbor defiled thoughts in your own mind. Nor do they expose their chests. They do not let their chests or bellies show. Even for the sake of the Dharma, they do not become familiar with them. When speaking the Dharma, you cannot become too close to people-so well acquainted that two become as if one. Much less for the sake of other matters! Those who cultivate the Bodhisattva Way should at all times watch over themselves and be very careful.

When lecturing on the Dharma, you must cultivate samadhi power. If you have samadhi power, you can enter the water and not be drowned and enter the fire and not be burned. You can be like pure gold. The best gold has been smelted many times, and no matter how much it is smelted, it does not weigh any less. Let's say there were ten ounces of pure gold. After being smelted, it would still weigh ten ounces. If the gold were not pure, then it would weigh less.

Cultivation works the same way. If you truly cultivate until you have skill, then you won't melt in the fire or be drowned in the water. You will be able to "accord with conditions but not change, not change yet accord with conditions." If you can do that, you have achieved the most inconceivable of states. If you haven't reached that state, you definitely have to be very careful at all times not to have any false thinking.

"Is it a kind of false thinking when you are able to accord with conditions but not change, not change yet accord with conditions? Isn't according with conditions a kind of false thinking?" you may ask. No, not when you don't change. Only if you don't change can you accord with conditions. To be able to always accord with conditions and yet not change, to never change and yet accord with conditions, is an inconceivable state-something special that comes through cultivation. It is not something that most people can manage to do. Until you reach the state where fire won't burn you and water won't drown you, you must be careful in your cultivation.

Sutra:

They take no delight in raising young disciples, Shramaneras, or children; and they do not take pleasure in sharing the same master with them. They always delight in sitting in Dhyana in a quiet place, cultivating collecting their thoughts. Manjushri, this is called the first range of association.

Commentary:

They take no delight in raising young disciples. "Take no delight" means that they don't want to raise them; it doesn't necessarily mean that they don't raise them. If there are unusual circumstances, it's permissible to do so, but not to take delight in doing so. If they were to delight in it, then they'd be making a mistake. It would mean they were fond of children, of young disciples, thinking, "I'm getting old, and I don't have a son or a daughter at home to take care of me. I can leave the home-life and accept a young disciple who can serve me. That would not be a bad idea." But that kind of thinking is incorrect.

Left-home people who cultivate the Bodhisattva Way aren't supposed to enjoy themselves and have people cater to their every need or work on their behalf. Practicing the Bodhisattva Way is very inconvenient-there are many things one is not supposed to do. One who practices the Bodhisattva Way can't get away with being sloppy or casual. One cannot even take delight in having young disciples. Under special circumstances, it might be all right.

Why is one not supposed to accept young disciples? It's because young disciples are sometimes disobedient and very often naughty. Haven't you noticed how enraged parents get with children who won't listen to instructions? Even though the parents get upset, they have no way to control the children. Now suppose you were to accept such a disobedient child as your disciple. From morning to night, you'd have trouble. Therefore, we are advised not to take delight in raising young disciples.

If a child is obedient and good, then it is permissible. If when told to cultivate, the child cultivates, and when told not to get into mischief, he doesn't play around, then the child can be accepted as a disciple. We must apply the teachings in the Sutra to our lives in a dynamic way and not assume the texts are completely inflexible. The point here is that one should not take delight in raising young disciples, and not that one definitely cannot accept any.

How can you know if a child is good or not?" you ask.

If you don't know, then don't flirt with danger. Don't accept the child. Wait until you are sure before you accept him as your disciple. If you are certain that a child is good-natured and has some foundation in cultivation to stand on, then you may accept him.

In Manchuria, I had several young disciples who were only twelve or thirteen years old. However, they were exceptionally obedient. I heard about a child named Zheng De. He was a very unusual child. From the time he was five years old, he bowed to his parents every day. When I heard about that child, I was ashamed, because I didn't know enough to bow to my parents until I was twelve. I certainly wanted to meet that child, who knew to practice the filial way from the time he was five. He was such a filial child and took such good care of his parents, that they never had a care or a worry.

One day, when conditions were ripe, I went to his house in Wuchang County, about thirty miles from my home. He was twelve years old at the time. Before I visited him, many externalist teachers had been intent on converting him to their various religions, because the child was already famous as a "filial son." All the externalist teachers wanted him for their disciple, but when they went to convert him, they couldn't outtalk him.

The child would ask them, "What do you cultivate?" They would answer that they cultivated the spirit in order to become immortal.

The child would ask, "How do you cultivate to become immortal?" They would answer that one needs to meditate and that one should be filial to one's parents.

Then the child would ask, "Were you filial to your parents before?" When asked that, the externalists had nothing to say, and the child would dismiss them, saying, "Right now I am busy practicing filial piety. After I have finished my filial duties, I will cultivate the Way. My father and mother are living Buddhas right here in my home. I will not renounce what is near to seek what is far." None of the externalist teachers had been able to convince him to embrace their beliefs. Many had tried, but they all ended up leaving without accomplishing their aim.

On the day I went to his house, he was inside, and when he looked out the window and saw me coming, he said to his mother, "Mama, my teacher is coming!"

"Since when do you have a teacher?" his mother asked.

"Now! Now I have a teacher!"

His mother thought he was acting very strangely. He came to the door to greet me, and the minute I entered the door, he insisted on taking my bag from me. Wherever I traveled in Manchuria, I carried my "bag of myriad treasures," which held Sutras and all sorts of things I used. But as soon as the child saw me, he insisted on taking my bag to carry on his own back. I went in with him, sat down, and spoke with him a little. I asked him, "Who told you to bow to your parents? Did your parents tell you to do that?"

"No," he said.

"Then why are you bowing every day?" I asked.

"I feel that there is no way I can repay my parents' kindness. They are elderly now, and I bow to them to make them content and not upset with me. I feel it's something a child should do," he replied.

"But you started doing it when you were five years old," I said. "A five-year-old child doesn't understand such things."

"Well, when I was five, I did it because bowing to my parents made me happier than anything else."

"Very good," I replied. "You are a better child than I was. I didn't start bowing to my parents until I was twelve. Nobody told me to do it, either. But you started when you were only five. You're a very good child."

That made him happy. Then I asked his parents, "He bows to you, but doesn't he sometimes do things that make you angry?"

His father said, "We have no virtue in the Way. No doubt my father had virtue, and so he is blessed with such a grandson." The child's father was not conceited in the least. He didn't say, "I'm pretty special. See what a fine, filial child I have?" The child's father understood propriety. He gave the credit for having a good son to his father's virtue and didn't claim to have done good deeds himself that merited such a reward.

About an hour passed, and I put my legs down over the edge of the seat, preparing to leave. What do you suppose the child, Zheng De, did? He immediately got down and snatched my shoes. I thought he was going to help me put them on so that I could leave, but instead he took the shoes and ran off with them. He put the shoes in another room and came back, saying, "Teacher, today is the first time I have met you. You must stay at our home and have a simple meal with us, even though we don't have any especially good food here."

I was pleased with the child: The first time his teacher came, he asked his teacher to stay for a meal, which was also being filial to his teacher. I assented in silence by nodding my head; I didn't answer him verbally. Zheng De prepared and served the meal, and we all ate together.

After we finished, I asked the child, "Zheng De, you have bowed to me as your teacher. Is it the case that the teacher should obey the disciple, or that the disciple should obey the teacher?"

"The disciple should obey the teacher, of course," he replied. "How could it be that the teacher should obey the disciple?"

"If that's what you think is right, then why, without asking my permission, did you take my shoes away from me and put them away before asking me to stay for lunch? If you were obedient to your teacher, you should not have hidden my shoes and then asked me to stay. You could have simply invited me without using some way to coerce me into it. Now wasn't that a case of the teacher having to obey the disciple?"

The child immediately knelt before me and said, "Teacher, I'll never do it again. I thought if I did it that way, my teacher would certainly not leave."

"If you knew that if you did that your teacher could not leave, then weren't you using force to make him stay?"

"I understand now," he said, "I won't ever do that again. Please, Teacher, forgive me!"

The reason I didn't answer him verbally when he invited me to stay, but only nodded my head in assent, was that he was forcing me into it. What else could I have done? He took my shoes, and without shoes I couldn't walk on the roads, because in Manchuria there's a lot of snow. Actually, I was able to walk barefoot in the snow, but it was difficult to endure. In Manchuria, the snow stays about three feet deep in the winter, and I would walk around in Arhat sandals and no socks. Because I was able to do that, most people said I had virtue in the Way. Actually, it wasn't a matter of virtue in the Way, it was a matter of being able to bear it. I could be patient and not fear the cold and not fear hunger. I would say to myself:

Freezing to death, I face the wind!

Starving to death, I stick out my stomach!

When I was first practicing wearing only cotton clothing and no padded clothes, I was always freezing. But after you get used to the freezing cold, you are no longer afraid of it. The weather that I'm talking about it not like anything experienced here in America. That kind of freezing weather doesn't occur in America. In Manchuria, people's ears get frozen stiff. It's very painful, and if you hit their ears, they fall right off! That's really true! Even so, I never wore a hat; but I never lost my ears, either. At first, that kind of cold hurts worse than needles, but I would grit my teeth and say, "Go ahead and hurt! Fall off, ears, I don't care!" I endured it and eventually got used to it, so that it wasn't so bad.

As to that filial child, Zheng De, I knew when I first saw him that he was to be a left-home person. He was very chubby and had great big ears. His countenance showed that he had tremendous blessings. He was also quite intelligent. Children like that are perfectly all right to accept as disciples-the more the better! They are quite good and know how to follow the rules; they can cultivate the Way and they are obedient.

Shramaneras refers here not to elder Shramaneras or young Shramaneras, but to "scarecrow Shramaneras." In the monasteries in China, the monks planted the fields; and when the crows came to try to eat the vegetables, the monks sent the very young Shramaneras out to scare the birds away. That's how they got the name. Scarecrow Shramaneras are between the ages of eight and twelve.

Shramanera is a Sanskrit word. It is the title given to novice monks. It is derived from the word Shramana, the title given to fully ordained Bhikshus. Shramana means "diligent and resting," because a Shramana diligently cultivates precepts, samadhi, and wisdom and puts to rest greed, hatred, and stupidity. "Diligent" means not being lazy; "resting" means not getting angry. If you diligently cultivate precepts, samadhi, and wisdom, then greed, hatred, and stupidity will be put to rest. Unless greed, hatred, and stupidity are put to rest, you will be unable to diligently cultivate precepts, samadhi, and wisdom. People who are greedy are fond of leisure and don't like to work. In cultivation, you should not be lax. You must be vigorous, and only when you achieve the fruition can you rest at ease. People who are hateful get angry all the time. People who are stupid are always having false thoughts. If one thing doesn't work out, they want to try another, and when that doesn't work out, they think of another. There's a saying that describes this:

At night you travel a thousand roads;
But in the morning you get up and sell bean curd.

As you lie on your bed, there are a thousand possibilities for you to consider. But in the morning, you go back to selling bean curd. That is the false thinking of the stupid mind. If you don't put to rest greed, hatred, and stupidity, then precepts, samadhi, and wisdom cannot appear. Precepts guard against greed. Most importantly, they help us restrain our greed so that we do not always want more of everything and so that we are not fond of leisure and unwilling to work. If you have samadhi, there's a saying that describes it:

You have a thousand wonderful ideas;
I have a definite principle.

No matter what methods or good ideas you have, I have samadhi. No matter what ways you might think of to try to move me, I will not be moved. Regardless of how you might try to trouble me, you cannot do so, because I have samadhi power. Thus, samadhi guards us against hatred. No matter how angry you get, I don't pay attention. Wisdom counteracts stupidity. If you have wisdom, you can turn stupidity into wisdom. If you are stupid, your wisdom turns into stupidity. Actually, the two are one-two sides of the same thing. Turning to one side is being wise; turning to the other is being stupid. One side is yin; the other side is yang. If you try to take advantage of situations, you are being stupid. If you do not, you are being wise. If you were born as if drunk and if you die as if in a dream, if you go about doing upside­down things all the time, you are being stupid. If you are absolutely pure and clean without any greed or defilement, then you are wise.

If you are pure for one moment, then in that moment you are on Magic Mountain;
If you are pure in every moment, then in every moment you are on Magic Mountain.

Magic Mountain is the Bodhimanda where Shakyamuni Buddha speaks the Dharma. But actually this just refers to purity of mind. That's why it is said, "If you are pure for one moment, then in that moment you are on Magic Mountain; If you are pure in every moment, then in every moment you are on Magic Mountain." You are always in the Dharma Assembly on Magic Mountain. Don't seek outside; it's right there with you. All you have to do is understand that and know how to use it, and you are that way. If you cannot use it, you cannot be that way. That's what cultivation is all about: diligently cultivating precepts, samadhi, and wisdom and putting to rest greed, hatred, and stupidity.

Bodhisattvas don't take pleasure in raising children, and they do not take pleasure in sharing the same master with them. Not only do they not take children as their own disciples, they do not say to them, "You should take refuge with my teacher. My teacher's status is more long­standing than mine; probably he can teach children. He's no doubt more talented at it." That is also not permissible. You shouldn't work it so that you share the same teacher. If you do, the child will always be calling you, "Elder brother!" and you will have to take care of him. If you don't take care of him, it will be as if you aren't fulfilling your responsibilities as a Dharma brother. All day long he will call to you, "Elder brother, I want some candy!" and you will have to buy him some candy. "Elder brother, I want some cookies to eat!" and you will have to find some cookies for him to eat. Wouldn't you say that was a lot of trouble? That's why you shouldn't try to arrange it so that you both have the same teacher. The meaning of the text is that you should not take delight in sharing the same teacher with children. The meaning is not that you might not have the same teacher as children do. If your teacher likes children, you cannot object!

When I first began to lecture on the Sutras here in the West, people came to listen, but how do you suppose they listened? They sprawled out on the ground to listen to the Sutra. Or they lay down with their feet propped up on a chair and their heads under a chair. They resembled worms wrapped around the chairs. Why did they get in those positions? They thought that was a way of practicing yoga. I never said anything to them about it, because at that time people here didn't know anything at all about the rules pertaining to Dharma Assemblies. That's why no one followed the rules.

Later, when the first group of college students came to listen to the Sutras, things became a little better. They had some understanding regarding the rules followed in Dharma Assemblies. Gradually the rules have been established here, and people follow them.

During the first summer session I was quite strict. I didn't allow people to take off a minute from work or rest for even five minutes at a time. There were people at that session who wanted to make trouble, but because I was so strict, they didn't manage to do it. That was the first time. The second time, things were a little better. In the beginning no one knew that it was appropriate to bow to left-home people. Then there was one student who began to bow to me every day. He had heard that someone had kneeled before me for four hours, and he said that he could do that, too. I said, "Fine," and later he started bowing to me every day. Actually, I don't like people to bow to me, but since I've come here, I've learned that Americans don't like to bow to anyone. And so even though I don't like people to bow to me, now I like to have you bow. It's a case of learning to like what you basically don't like. I don't like to receive bows, but I must learn to allow you to bow. You don't like to bow, but you must learn to like it.

So, one disciple took the lead and started bowing to me every day. Seeing that, another person said I had told everyone to bow to me. But I never said that, because I know I have no virtue. That's why I don't like people to bow to me. That person also started bowing to me, in a flippant way. He didn't do it seriously, because he felt he was an authority, and that it would have been beneath him to bow to me seriously. So he bowed as a joke, but later he felt he no longer had any face to come here. The Buddhist Lecture Hall has established some rules now, and you Americans have set up the rule that people shouldn't talk. I agree completely with that rule, I don't like to talk either. If we talk less to each other, we will create less trouble. You are doing pretty well now, and the rules are much better kept than in the beginning. I believe that day by day it will get even better. In America everything is beautiful, and so I'm sure that the rules established here will not be ugly either.

You must delight in sitting in Dhyana, and then you will be able to do so. If you don't delight in doing so, then even though you may sit in Dhyana, it won't be of any use. They always delight in sitting in Dhyana. This is the most important requisite for cultivating the Bodhisattva Way. If you don't delight in sitting in Dhyana, I believe you will be quite scattered. If you sit in Dhyana, you can obtain samadhi power.

"Do you have to 'sit' in Dhyana?" Yes, you have to sit. It is also 'not sitting'. We can define "not sitting" as being before you have ever sat in meditation. However, after you have done the sitting, can also be defined as "not sitting." The actual period when you are sitting in meditation can be defined as "sitting." And so I say it's also not sitting, because once you have achieved Dhyana, then when you sit you are in Dhyana, when you walk you are in Dhyana, when you are asleep you are in Dhyana: walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all Dhyana. But before you have understood Dhyana, you must first sit in Dhyana. Once you have attained Dhyana, you never leave it. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, Dhyana is you, and you are Dhyana. Dhyana follows you, and you follow Dhyana. Just as a shadow follows a form, you couldn't leave it even if you wanted to. That's samadhi power.

"You've been talking and talking about it, but what exactly is Dhyana?"

It isn't anything at all! If you think it is something, you have an attachment. It's not anything at all, so there is no attachment to anything.

You say, "What you're saying is too indefinite." Of course! If it were definite, it wouldn't be Dhyana. Dhyana is not definite. It is emptiness. Out of emptiness your samadhi power arises.

Chan is the abbreviated Chinese transliteration for the Sanskrit word Dhyana. The entire transliteration is chan no. Translated, Dhyana means "cultivating one's thoughts" and "quieting reflection." You sit there and cultivate your thoughts; you sit there and quiet your reflections. If you don't have any skill, then you will sit there and strike up false thoughts. You should chase those false thoughts away. Once you chase away the false thoughts, you won't have any. You should not think that "striking up false thoughts" is necessarily a bad expression. Change it to "chasing away false thoughts," and it's not bad. Do battle with your false thoughts. When a false thought first arises, use the demon-quelling pestle to beat it to death. When the next one comes up, use the demon-quelling pestle to beat that one to death, too. Sometimes after you have beaten one to death with the demon-quelling pestle, the same one comes back to life again. In that case you should use the demon-slicing sword. With it, you can slice right through a false thought the moment you see it arise. Once it's sliced in two, it won't come back to life again. That's how powerful the demon-slicing sword is. Once you slice through your false thoughts until they die, then your wisdom can arise. Wisdom, in fact, is the demon-slicing sword. If you have wisdom, you have a demon-slicing sword; if you don't have wisdom, you won't have a demon-slicing sword either.

You say, "I've been listening to Sutra lectures for a long time, but I have never heard an explanation like this." Why does it have to be explained in a way you've already heard? Sutras can be explained any way one likes as long as one accords with principle. They can fly up to the heavens and hide in the earth, just like dragons. What is the demon-quelling pestle? It's your samadhi power. If you have samadhi power, you have a demon-quelling pestle; if you don't have samadhi power, you don't have a demon-quelling pestle. Now do you understand? Dhyana can give rise to samadhi power. Giving rise to samadhi power, you can beat your false thoughts to death. If you continue sitting in Dhyana, you will give rise to wisdom power. The power of wisdom can also kill false thoughts. For that reason, Bodhisattvas always delight in sitting in Dhyana. They like to cultivate samadhi power.

"Where should one sit in Dhyana? Can it be done at the movie theater while watching a movie? Can it be done at a playhouse while watching a play?" you ask. If you are able to sit in Dhyana, then you can do it anywhere at all. If you are not able to sit in Dhyana yet, then you certainly could not do it in those places. If you are able to sit in Dhyana, then:

Walking is Dhyana, sitting is Dhyana;
Speaking, silent, moving, or still,
The substance is at peace.
In the dream, the six paths are clearly seen;
But once awake, all is empty, and even the universe does not exist!

If you awaken, then even the three thousand great thousand world system does not exist, how much the less anything else. While you are still in the dream, the six paths of rebirth exist. You get born again and again, and die again and again. You can't put this down, and you can't give up that. That's your husband. That's your wife. That's your father, that's your mother, and there are many more-a lot of them! It's really meaningless.

"What should we do, then?" If you have not yet attained samadhi power, then when sitting in Dhyana, you should sit in a quiet place. The character for "quiet" also means "idle," and so you say, "I understand. I shouldn't do any work, right? I should be idle all day long. To put it another way, I can be lazy. Well, that's just my style. I don't like to work, so I'll sit in Dhyana!" Here, the word doesn't mean "idle," it means a place that is not busy and noisy. It means an aranya, a tranquil and pure place. You don't want to mistake the meaning of the word here and think it means you can be idle. Don't be like a certain disciple who mistakenly thought that men wai han, which means "amateur," was the same as luo han, which means "Arhat." How funny! This is one of the wonderful things that happens when Americans are learning Chinese: He thought "an amateur" was "an Arhat." Well, maybe in the future he will become one, but he isn't one now."

In a quiet place, Bodhisattvas enjoy cultivating collecting their thoughts. They cultivate collecting their thoughts, just as a magnet collects iron filings. They don't let their minds run away.

"Oh? My mind can run away?" you ask.

Oh? Did you think it couldn't? Not only does your mind run away, it runs for 108,000 miles! You don't even know where it's run off to. In the first thought, it runs to Europe. In the second thought, you've gone to Australia. In the next thought, it's in Asia. It's in Vietnam at the front line fighting, with the guns going off "bang, bang, bang!" and many people being killed. You don't have to use any money or buy any tickets, and you can traverse the five continents. You think you are getting a bargain, but in fact you are using a tremendous amount of your "gasoline"-the gasoline (energy) of your own nature. You just don't realize it. What is that gasoline good for? It can enable you to emit light. If you use it up, you won't have any light. Without light, you will be dark. What I'm saying right now definitely contains genuine principle. If you understand, then it will be very helpful to you. Don't use so much gasoline! If you don't understand, you will use up your gasoline, become dark, and run off to the path of hungry ghosts. Mencius said:

When people lose their chickens and dogs, they know to look for them.
But when their minds run away, they don't even know to search for them.
What a sad state of affairs!

When a chicken or a dog runs away, its owner knows to look for it. "Oh no," the owner cries. "My pet is gone!" The owner immediately put an advertisement in the newspaper, saying, "If you see my lost dog, please call 397-3675." But when people's minds fly off in all directions, they do nothing about it. They don't need to buy a ticket, but they can still travel the world, fly up to the heavens, or enter deeply into the earth. They may think it's a good deal, but really it uses up a lot of the gasoline of their own nature, until the tank is empty of Prajna's light. From this discussion, you should realize the seriousness of having false thinking. You shouldn't casually have false thoughts, such as, "I wonder how my child is doing?" and "What about my sisters, how are they? And my brothers, father, and mother…?" Thinking about such things is not useful at all. It's a case of not being able to gather in your mind. If you are able to cultivate and collect your thoughts, you will not be lax in your thinking-you won't let your mind loose. If your mind has been let loose, you are not cultivating and gathering it in. Now I believe you understand.

There is much that can be said about cultivating and collecting one's thoughts-so much that it could never be explained entirely. We can only discuss a little. In cultivating and collecting your thoughts, you should do three things:

Scold away the five desires!
Chase out the five coverings!
Regulate carefully the five matters!

Everyone knows the five desires, although you may not recognize them by that name. The five desires are forms, sounds, odors, flavors, and objects of touch. They are also listed as wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. With the desire for form, you chase after form. With the desire for sound, you pursue sounds. With the desire for fragrance, your mind gets caught up in pursuit of fragrances. With the desire for flavor, you pursue flavors. With the desire for touch, you chase after objects of touch. In general, people are confused by these false things-so confused that their own natures will not emit light. All five desires are false; you should scold and berate them: "Hey! Don't run after those defiling forms!" When you scold them like that, then your mind will take heed and know it should not chase after form. This same principle applies in cases when disciples aren't obedient and don't listen to the Sutra lectures. "Don't fall asleep! Don't be lazy!" Then the disciples take heed and think, "Oh, I shouldn't be lazy. I guess I'd better be a little more diligent."

Scolding away the five desires works in the same way. When your mind wants to pursue defiling forms, you should scold it: "Come back here!" It will come back. Suppose it decides to listen to a piano or to the sound of an airplane passing overhead. "Hey! Don't listen to that sound! That sound is of no help in cultivation!" Your mind will take heed. If your mind wants to pursue flavors, tell it, "People who cultivate the Way should not become attached to flavors!" Don't think that although it's not all right to become attached to flavors, it probably doesn't matter if one becomes attached to touch. That's also not permissible. In this way you should scold away the five desires until your mind becomes very well-behaved.

Does anyone know what the five coverings are? If you know, you can tell me; I also want to study them. No one knows? It's very simple. When I tell you, you'll say, "Oh, those!" and you will understand. Before the term is explained, you wonder what the five are and what they're covering. They're covering your samadhi and your wisdom. Because they are covering them, your samadhi does not come forth and your wisdom does not come forth. They are obstructed by the coverings. If you don't want to be obstructed by these five coverings, you must chase them out. Get rid of them.

The Five Coverings

1. The covering of greedy desire. This refers not merely to greed, but to greedy desire. Desire is the worst thing there is. We can also say it's the best thing there is. Everything has two sides; you don't want to just look at one side. When is desire the worst thing? When you are greedy for wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep and greedy for forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and objects of touch. When is desire the best thing? When you are greedy for precepts, greedy for samadhi, and greedy for wisdom. To "always delight in sitting in Dhyana" is a kind of greed, after all. This kind of greed is necessary. If you are greedy to become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva or a good person or a filial disciple, that kind of greed is not bad. What makes me happiest is to have filial disciples. Why? Because they make offerings to their teacher. That's my greed. Your greed as disciples is to have the very best teacher, so you can study the Buddhadharma. Those kinds of greed are permissible. In lecturing the Buddhadharma one must explain it as perfectly fused and unobstructed. If someone says something is bad, I will show how it can also be good. If someone says something is good, I will show how it can also be bad. So, the first covering of greedy desire covers your samadhi and wisdom.

2. The covering of hatred. This refers to one's temper. Of temper it's said:

Firewood gathered in a thousand days
Can be completely burned up by a single match.

The "single match" points to our tempers. You may accumulate a thousand days' worth of merit and virtue, but if you lose your temper once, you burn up all that merit and virtue.

A spark from the fire of our nature
Burns up a forest of merit and virtue.

That's why hatred is so bad. But even though hatred is so terrible, I can tell you that it still has its good points. If you can hate things this way: "Why don't I cultivate?" "Why can't I control my temper?" "Why can't I kill the poisonous dragon within me?" then could you say hating that way is not good? That kind of hatred is not bad! That's part of the skill of subduing yourself and returning to propriety. That's called the skill of practicing self-control. If you can make hatred work that way, it's not bad.

3. The covering of sleep. Sleep can also be very bad or very good. If you sleep too much, it's very bad. It causes you to become like a pig; you lose your intelligence. Too much sleep will make you stupid. So you wonder, "Is it all right not to sleep, then?" No, it's not all right not to sleep. When you sleep, your fatigue goes away; you feel rested. In that way sleep is not bad. But you cannot sleep too much. If you are greedy for too much, anything becomes bad. If you use just the right amount, anything can be good.

For instance, if a person doesn't eat, then his stomach will have a battle with him. It will growl and ask, "Why haven't you fed me?" It will roar like thunder. If you don't eat enough, you'll have a thunder storm in your stomach from hunger. If you eat too much, you'll get a tornado in your stomach, and you'll have to go to the bathroom one-knows-not-how-many dozens of times. It will be like mountains crashing together, the earth ripping open, and the waters of the sea flowing forth nonstop. Basically eating is a good thing, but if you eat too much it becomes a bad thing. If you don't eat at all, that won't work either. That's how it is with sleeping, too. You should sleep, but not too much. If you don't sleep properly, it becomes a covering. If you sleep correctly, the covering will be removed. You will chase out the covering so that it is entirely gone.

4. The covering of restlessness. A person who is restless can't sit still and can't stand still and doesn't know what to do with himself.

5. The covering of doubt and delusions. "Delusions" refers to coarse delusions, subtle delusions, delusions as fine as dust and sand, and delusions of ignorance. If you give rise to doubt and delusions when cultivating the Way, it becomes a kind of covering. For instance, regarding the Dharma that the Dharma Master speaks, you think, "Everything the Dharma Master explains is expedient Dharma; it's unverifiable. Speaking the Dharma is like that-it won't stand the test." That's a kind of doubt. "He tells us to scold away the five desires, but I see that he hasn't scolded them away. He tells us to chase out the five coverings, but the Dharma Master himself is so greedy. He hasn't chased out his own, and yet he's telling me to chase out mine. Well, I won't do it." Those are doubts.

Scold away the five desires! Chase out the five coverings! Regulate carefully the five matters! The five matters are things you have to do every day.

The Five Matters

1. Regulating One's Intake of Food. Have you ever gone without eating for a day? You say, "I've gone without food for several days." That's when you were a starving refugee in Hong Kong, fleeing from the Japanese. During that time, many people in Hong Kong went without food for days and finally starved to death. Regulating your intake of food means not eating too much, and not eating too little. It doesn't mean that you decide to stop eating altogether and fast for a week, but then on the sixth day you find that you can't take it anymore, and so you eat-a lot. You eat so much that your stomach can't contain it, and the food has to move out. The "Relocation Bureau" is incredibly busy, day and night. That's from not knowing how to regulate your intake of food. It's not necessary to fast, but you also don't want to be unrestrained and eat too much.

2. Regulating One's Sleep. People's daily lives consist of such matters as eating and sleeping. But you have to know how to do them; otherwise there will be problems. Thus, with food and drink, you should neither get too hungry nor stuff yourself. If you go to either extreme, you cannot cultivate patience. Your stomach won't be able to stand it. Sleep enough, but not too much. If you don't get enough sleep, you won't be rested. If you sleep too much, you'll be too rested. Underdoing is just as bad as overdoing.

3. Regulating One's Body. Don't let your body do no work, but don't make your body do too much work. Do as much work as you have the energy to do. Your body should do some things for the sake of others in the world; it should make its contribution.

4. Regulating One's Breath. We should not breathe too slowly, nor should we breathe too fast. Breathing too slowly or too quickly is not in accord with the Way of nurturing life.

5. Regulating One's Mind. The regulation of our intake of food, our sleep, our bodies, and our breath is done by our minds. How should one's mind be regulated? It should not be sunk into a torpor, nor should it be too high-strung and excited. You should keep it calm and quiet.

These three-scolding away the five desires, chasing out the five coverings, and regulating the five matters-are methods for cultivating and collecting the mind.

Therefore, Shakyamuni Buddha further says to Manjushri Bodhisattva, "This is called the very first range of association for Bodhisattvas."

Sutra:

Further, Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas contemplate all dharmas as empty, as characterized by actuality, as not upside down, as not moving, as not retreating, as not turning, as being like empty space, as without a nature, as having the path of language cut off, as not coming into being, as not coming forth, as not arising, as without a name, as without an appearance, as in reality nonexistent, as measureless, as boundless, as unimpeded, and as unobstructed.

Commentary:

Further indicates that the meaning discussed above is being discussed again. He says that great Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas who cultivate the Bodhisattva Way contemplate all dharmas as empty. "Contemplate" refers to the wisdom that contemplates, and the "emptiness" of all dharmas is the state that is contemplated. This refers to how the great Bodhisattvas contemplate all states within the Ten Dharma Realms. The Ten Dharma Realms do not go beyond one single thought present in the mind. That single thought in the mind creates the Ten Dharma Realms. The Ten Dharma Realms include the Four Sagely Realms and the Six Common Realms:

The Four Sagely Realms include:

1. The Dharma Realm of the Buddhas. This is the highest realm. How does one become a Buddha? One must enlighten oneself, enlighten others, and perfect enlightenment and practice, and then one will become a Buddha. Enlightening oneself means that one gains enlightened understanding of all dharmas. When one understands all dharmas oneself, one finds them extremely wonderful and inconceivable, and so one wants to teach others to understand that subtle, inconceivable principle. That is what is meant by wanting to enlighten others. When both self-enlightenment and the enlightenment of others is perfected, one has thereby perfected both enlightenment and practice. When both enlightenment and practice are perfected, one is a Buddha. Buddhas are greatly enlightened ones; there's nothing they do not understand. They understand things that ordinary people do not understand; they have become enlightened in a way that ordinary people have not. That's why they are called the Greatly Enlightened World Honored Ones. All those in the world, and beyond the world, pay homage to the Buddhas. Yet the Dharma Realm of Buddhas does not go beyond one single thought that you and I are presently having.

2. The Dharma Realm of Bodhisattvas. It's really not easy to be a Bodhisattva. Bodhisattvas do things to benefit themselves and benefit others, and to enlighten themselves and enlighten others. But their enlightenment is not yet complete. Only Buddhas are completely enlightened. Bodhisattvas practice the Six Perfections and the Myriad Practices. They practice giving: renouncing their heads, eyes, brains, and marrow; their countries, cities, wives, and children-both internal wealth and external wealth. "External wealth" includes all valuable material things that are external to our bodies. "Internal wealth" refers to parts of our physical bodies, such as our heads, eyes, brains, and marrow. They all have to be renounced and given away.

There are three kinds of giving: the giving of wealth, the giving of Dharma, and the giving of fearlessness. Internal and external wealth can be given. Dharma can also be given. Having studied and understood the Buddhadharma, you can speak the Dharma for those people you meet. The giving of wealth can save people's lives. The giving of Dharma can save people's wisdom-lives. The giving of fearlessness is practiced when people are experiencing difficulty and fear. If you can comfort them and dispel their fears, then you are practicing the giving of fearlessness.

Bodhisattvas cultivate strictly upholding the precepts. They do no evil but rather offer up all good conduct. They practice patience, and they cultivate vigor. Throughout the six periods of the day and night, they are always vigorous. They also practice Dhyana samadhi and wisdom. Thus they cultivate the Six Perfections and the Myriad Practices; they benefit themselves and benefit others. That is the Dharma Realm of Bodhisattvas, and yet the Dharma Realm of Bodhisattvas also does not go beyond a single thought in the mind. If in your mind you want to practice the Bodhisattva Way and with your body you actually put the Bodhisattva Way into practice, then in the future you will be a Bodhisattva.

3. The Dharma Realm of Condition-Enlightened Ones. Condition-Enlightened Ones cultivate the Twelve Causes and Conditions and awaken to the Way.

The Arising of the Twelve Causes and Conditions

(a) Ignorance is the condition that brings about activity.

(b) Activity is the condition that brings about consciousness.

(c) Consciousness is the condition that brings about name and form.

(d) Name and form is the condition that brings about the six sense organs.

(e) The six sense organs are the condition that brings about contact.

(f) Contact is the condition that brings about feeling.

(g) Feeling is the condition that brings about love.

(h) Love is the condition that brings about grasping.

(i) Grasping is the condition that brings about becoming.

(j) Becoming is the condition that brings about birth.

(k) Birth is the condition that brings about old age and death.

Condition-Enlightened Ones can be divided into two kinds: Those who cultivate the Twelve Causes and Conditions and awaken to the Way when a Buddha is in the world are known as Condition-Enlightened Ones; those who cultivate the Twelve Causes and Conditions and awaken to the Way when there is no Buddha in the world are called Solitarily Enlightened Ones. Solitarily Enlightened Ones work only at doing well by themselves; they do not want to benefit the world. Why do they want to "do well by themselves"? Because they consider the whole world to be bad, as well as all the people in it. They themselves don't want to be bad; they want to cultivate. Since they want to cultivate, they get far away from the defiled world. They separate themselves from all those other people. They go deep into the mountains into isolated valleys, and over the months and years they never see a single person. They cultivate there in an aranya, a "pure and quiet place." As they cultivate, in the spring they see the white flowers blossom, and they consider it ineffably wonderful. In the autumn they watch the yellow leaves fall. They contemplate the trees: In the spring the leaves bud and grow, the flowers blossom, and then the fruit comes forth. In the autumn, the leaves fall from the trees. These cultivators find this entire process to be quite wonderful: within the state of impermanence, things naturally come into being and cease to be. Because the myriad things are all impermanent, those cultivators search for what is permanent. Thus, they analyze the Twelve Causes and Conditions.

First, they investigate ignorance. Ignorance is just another name for afflictions. If you don't understand something, you become afflicted. Once you get afflicted, you will want to do something. Once you do something and there is activity, then consciousness comes into being. That is, when you behave in a certain way, a shadow will be created. That shadow is consciousness. It can also be called a seed or an impression.

Ignorance refers to the mutual "unknown" that arises between men and women-that kind of emotion. Once that emotion based on enticement toward the "unknown" arises, then activity will occur; sexual intercourse will result. Once there is activity, consciousness comes into being; a seed is fertilized. Once the fertilized seed exists, name and form come into being; it is called a fetus. Once there is name and form, the six sense organs also come into being: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. With the forming of the six sense organs, contact occurs; there is an awareness of contact. With contact, feeling is experienced. Once there is feeling, love arises. With thoughts of love, one wants to grasp what one loves and have it become one's own. With that becoming, there will be birth into another life, followed by death.

Those are the Twelve Causes and Conditions. Condition-Enlightened Ones investigate this problem. They come to realize that when ignorance ceases, activity will cease. When activity ceases, consciousness will also disappear. Without consciousness, there will be no name and form. Without name and form, the six sense organs will naturally not exist. Without the six sense organs, no contact will be experienced, because there won't even be a physical body to know the contact. Without contact there will be no feeling, and without feeling, there will be no love. If love does not arise, then there will be no compulsion to grasp. Without grasping there will be no becoming, and without becoming there will be no birth. Without birth there will be no old age and death. They investigate these Twelve Causes and Conditions backwards and forwards, until they become enlightened. Thus, they are called Condition-Enlightened Ones. They can also become Bodhisattvas of initial resolve.

4. The Dharma Realm of Hearers. Hearers investigate the Four Truths and awaken to the Way. The Four Truths are suffering, accumulation, cessation, and the Way.

The Four Truths

a. The truth of suffering. There are three kinds of suffering, eight kinds of suffering, and limitless kinds of suffering. The three sufferings are:

1. suffering within suffering

2. the suffering of decay

3. the suffering of process

1. Suffering within suffering occurs when one is poverty-stricken and experiences additional difficulties. One may be so poor that one has no food to eat and no clothes to wear. One has a small house to live in, but then the house burns down. One builds another house, and that one is washed away in a flood. That is suffering within suffering.

2. The suffering of decay occurs when what was good goes bad. When one is wealthy and honored, one does not have the problem of being poor; but wealth and honor do not last forever. One's wealth may be lost in a fire or stolen by thieves. That's the suffering of decay.

3. The suffering of process occurs as we go from being young to being adults, to being old, and finally dying. That process flows on unceasingly with every passing thought. A child grows into an adult; the adult becomes an old person; the old person finally dies. That kind of change is a form of suffering.

There are also eight sufferings, the first four of which are:

1. the suffering of birth

2. the suffering of old age

3. the suffering of sickness

4. the suffering of death

It is very painful to be born. It is also painful to be old. Sickness brings even more suffering, and death more suffering still.

Long ago there were three old men who gathered together to drink wine. One was sixty, one was seventy, and one was eighty. During their party, the youngest one thought, "These two friends of mine are really old and will die before long." Then he said, "This year we gather for a banquet, but who knows who will not be here next year!" He was wondering who would be dead before the next year.

The seventy-year-old said, "You are giving us a lot of time. Tonight when I take off my shoes and socks, I don't know if I'll be around to put them on in the morning!"

The eighty-year-old said, "You two have lots of time! When I breathe out this breath, I don't know if I'll be around to breathe in the next one!"

Birth and death are impartial events. There is no politeness involved. It's just as the old-timer said, "When I breathe out this breath, I don't know if I'll be around to breathe in the next one." That's the suffering of death. The last four of the eight sufferings are:

5. the suffering of being apart from those you love

6. the suffering of being together with those you hate

7. the suffering of not getting what you want

8. the suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas

Those are the eight sufferings. There's a saying:

The old monk has a way to pacify his mind.
When the eight sufferings strike, he doesn't feel obstructed.

If he gets caught up in the eight sufferings, he is not afraid; it does not bother him. Therefore, if you have samadhi, suffering turns into bliss. If you don't have any samadhi, bliss can turn into suffering.

b. The truth of accumulation. "Accumulation" refers to afflictions. There are many kinds of afflictions: great afflictions, intermediate afflictions, and small afflictions.

c. The truth of cessation. This refers to Nirvana-the passage into stillness.

d. The truth of the Way. This refers to cultivating the Way.

Hearers regard the Four Truths in order to know suffering, to cut off accumulation, to aspire toward cessation, and to cultivate the Way. Right after Shakyamuni Buddha realized the Way, he spoke the Dharma of the Four Truths, turning the Dharma Wheel of the Four Truths three times to take across the five Bhikshus. When the five Bhikshus heard the Dharma of the Four Truths, they awakened to the Way.

The Hearers and Condition-Enlightened Ones are the Two Vehicles. Together with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they comprise the Four Sagely Dharma Realms.

The Six Common Dharma Realms

1. The Dharma Realm of Gods. This is the highest of the six common realms. People who don't understand the Buddhadharma believe that getting born in the Garden of Paradise in Heaven is the most supreme bliss. In fact, it is still within the six common Dharma Realms, and one who is born there has not transcended the cycle of rebirth.

The longest life span of the gods is eighty thousand great kalpas. That occurs in the heaven of Neither Thought Nor Nonthought. But once the gods' life spans end, they are destined to fall. If their good karma has matured, they will be born in the three wholesome paths of rebirth. If their evil karma has come to fruition, they will be reborn in the evil paths. Besides that heaven, there are many, many others.

2. The Dharma Realm of Asuras. Asura is a Sanskrit word, which is translated as "ugly." It also means "no wine." Although the male asuras are extremely ugly, the asura women are exceptionally beautiful. Asuras like to fight. They are strong in fighting and like to make war. There are asuras in the realm of the gods, in the human realm, in the animal realm, and in the realm of ghosts. Asuras go everywhere, and so sometimes they are counted among the three wholesome paths and sometimes among the four evil destinies. The four evil destinies are the asuras, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell-beings.

3. The Dharma Realm of People. Let's look into how many kinds of people there are. At the highest level, there are leaders of countries, government officials, ambassadors, and various other people in official positions. There are wealthy people who are world magnates-from the most wealthy, to the second most wealthy, to the third most wealthy, and on down. There are also people in the world with absolutely no money who live in utter poverty, on down to the very poorest person in the world, someone who does not even own a place large enough to put the point of an awl. There are extremely ugly people, whom no one would even want to look at, and there are also exceptionally beautiful people, whom everyone enjoys seeing. It's all very strange. There are very fat people; some even weigh a couple thousand pounds! They can't even get through the doors that ordinary people use, or fit through the doors of the city buses! If they want to go on a vacation, they have to rent their own special bus and have a special airplane made just for them. There are also people so thin that they look like matchsticks. How do all these different kinds of people-wealthy and honored, poor and lowly, fat, thin, tall, short, ugly, handsome-come about? In general, if you plant the causes for being wealthy, you will receive the reward of being wealthy. If you plant the causes for being honored, you will receive the reward of being honored. If you plant the causes for being poor, you will receive the retribution of being poor. If you plant the causes for having blessings, then you will receive the reward of having blessings. You plant a cause and you receive a retribution. Fat people no doubt thought that they would like to be fat, and so now they receive the retribution of being fatter than pigs. In the human realm there are all different kinds of people.

4. The Dharma Realm of Animals

5. The Dharma Realm of Hungry Ghosts

6. The Dharma Realm of Hell-beings

These are the three evil paths. There are so many species and classes of animals, for example, that you could never finish counting them all. It's the same with hungry ghosts. There are many, many different kinds of ghosts, not just one or two. The hells also have many categories of beings.

The Six Common Realms and the Four Sagely Realms make up the Ten Dharma Realms. These Ten Dharma Realms come from the single thought present within our minds right now. If you lose your temper every day, then "the fire of ignorance and a tiger-like spirit are rooted in offenses created in previous lives." When you lose your temper, you really are just as fierce as a tiger. If you keep on losing your temper and having so much fire, you will walk right into the path of asuras. If you are greedy, hateful, and stupid, you will fall into the three evil paths of the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals. If you want to cultivate the Four Truths of suffering, accumulation, cessation, and the Way, then you will go into the path of those of the Two Vehicles. If you want to cultivate to be a Bodhisattva and to become a Buddha, then you must bring forth the resolve for Bodhi and cultivate the Six Perfections and the Myriad Practices. Eventually you will become a Buddha. That is why it is said that everything is made from the mind alone.

If people would like to know
All Buddhas of the three periods of time,
They should contemplate the nature of the Dharma Realm:
Everything is made from the mind alone.

If you want to know about the Buddhas of the past, present, and future, you should look into the causes and conditions of the Ten Dharma Realms: Everything is made from the mind alone. It all comes from your own mind. That's why I like to explain the Chinese character for the word "mind":

The three dots are like a cluster of stars.
The hook is like a crescent moon.
Furred creatures come from this.
Buddhas come from this, too.

It's because of the mind that we end up in the animal realm; but if you decide to cultivate and become a Buddha, that's also because of the mind. Therefore, the Ten Dharma Realms are not apart from the single thought now present in your mind and mine. If your mind ponders the Buddhalands, in the future you will go to the Buddhalands. If your mind ruminates on the hells, in the future you will end up in the hells. Everything is made from the mind alone; there is not the least bit of room for a mistake.

Bodhisattvas contemplate all dharmas as being characterized by actuality. Being characterized by actuality is the basis of all characteristics. The basis of all characteristics is no characteristics. If you try to find the basis of all characteristics within characteristics, you won't be able to find it. You must search for that basis of characteristics within what has no characteristics. Bodhisattvas contemplate all dharmas as being empty. They contemplate how all dharmas of the Ten Dharma Realms are empty-how those states are empty, and how they are characterized by actuality. Even though they are empty, within that emptiness there is existence. Within true emptiness, wonderful existence comes forth. True emptiness is not empty, because it can bring forth wonderful existence. Wonderful existence is nonexistent, because it itself is true emptiness, which is another name for being characterized by actuality. When you are characterized by actuality, then outwardly you will not be greedy, and inwardly you will not seek. You will do no seeking either inside or outside. Inside and outside will be empty. Inwardly you empty the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and outwardly you empty sights, sounds, scents, flavors, objects of touch, and dharmas that are objects of the mind. In between, you empty the eye consciousness, the ear consciousness, the nose consciousness, the tongue consciousness, the body consciousness, and the mind consciousness. You empty the six sense organs, the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses, so that the six consciousnesses, the twelve locations and the eighteen realms will all be empty.

Bodhisattvas contemplate all dharmas as characterized by emptiness. They are all empty, but does that mean they do not exist? No. They are characterized by actuality. Since they are like actuality, what is subtle, wonderful, and inconceivable is right here. What is "sitting in meditation every day"? It is being characterized by actuality. When one practices sitting in Dhyana meditation every day, what is one doing? One is characterized by actuality and is according with reality. You find it hard to understand what being characterized by actuality means, and so I am telling you that it means sitting in meditation every day. As soon as you investigate Dhyana, inwardly the six sense organs become empty, outwardly the six sense objects become empty, and in between the six sense consciousnesses become empty. When the eighteen realms become empty, you reach the Station of Nothing Whatsoever and the Heaven of the Station of Neither Thought nor Nonthought. That is not to say one's soul goes out and ascends to that heaven. If, right here, there is nothing whatsoever, that is the Heaven of Neither Thought nor Nonthought. You don't have to go up somewhere to that Heaven. It's right here. If you can be characterized by actuality, your state is that of the Heaven of Neither Thought nor Nonthought.

When you cultivate the Way, you must have a persevering mind, a sincere mind, and a firm mind. A firm mind is one as strong as vajra, or a diamond, which cannot be broken but which can cut through all things. Your resolve should be as solid as vajra. You should think, "I am going to study the Buddhadharma, no matter what kind of state comes along. I am not going to change my mind. I am absolutely going to be firm and have solid determination. Whatever the circumstances and whatever the demonic obstacles, I am determined to have that kind of solid resolve and to study the Buddhadharma with a true mind."

In life after life, if we haven't been horses, we've been cows; if we haven't been pigs, we've been dogs. We've even been mice and, even filthier, dung beetles in latrines. You don't have to talk about bugs in toilets. Take a look inside yourself at how, within your belly, along with the excrement, there are one-doesn't-know-how-many bugs. Pigeons, for example, look like pigeons, but there are numerous bugs on their bodies biting them. Sometimes the pigeons are aware of them, and sometimes they are not. We people are the same. In our bodies we have innumerable bacteria-bugs-which is just to say innumerable living beings. We say, "Living beings are boundless, I vow to save them all." Not to speak of there being boundlessly many living beings outside, right within our own bodies, how many living beings would you say there are? Can you count them? If you don't save those living beings, they will convert you. How will they do that? You will go along with them and, from being a big bug, you will become a small bug. The efficacious nature of tiny bugs is tiny, and so they are very stupid. They only know how to be parasites. They only know how to beg, and don't know how to give. You will be like them, eating people's flesh and drinking their blood, living in people's stomachs and stealing the food that they ingest. Such bugs feel they are getting a bargain, but actually it is brought about by their own stinginess. If you want to save them, you should increase the yang light of your own nature day by day until yang energy prevails. Yang light can be compared to sunlight, which can kill germs. Doctors now use ultraviolet rays to kill germs, and if you can use the yang light of your own nature, you can kill the germs on your own body.

"But isn't that breaking the precepts?" you may ask.

Such a question is just letting your intelligence run away with you. It's like one of my disciples who was planning to take the Bodhisattva precepts, but then asked me, "If I take the Bodhisattva precepts, won't I be breaking them when I drive my car and I squash lots of bugs?"

He didn't think of how his losing his temper is a lot more violent than killing those living creatures. He forgot all about that and thought about the other instead. I said to him, "That is an inadvertent error on your part. You don't set out to kill them. Your error is due to the environment and the circumstances; you don't intend to kill them. You can recite the Buddha's name while you drive your car, and transfer merit to the beings you kill. That's because you don't want to kill them. If you clearly knew it was wrong, but you deliberately did it anyway and took delight in killing them, then that would be an offense."

It's like the case of someone I once knew who had been a soldier but who later studied Buddhism, took refuge with the Triple Jewel, and then left the home life. He saw others leaving home and doing well, so he left home, too. Before and after leaving the home life, he recited the Buddha's name. Also, he had been a vegetarian while he was still a layperson; he didn't take the life of living creatures. After he left home, he became a grand-disciple of Venerable Master Hsu Yun, and his name was Hong Hui. He took the precepts at Nan Hua Monastery. He could speak very well. Later, when the Communists took over, he could no longer stay in Jiangxi Province, and so he went to Hong Kong.

At that time the situation in Hong Kong was very complicated. There was no place for Buddhist monks to stay. It wasn't like right now when every monk has his own high-rise. Not to speak of a high-rise, they didn't even have small huts to live in. Hong Hui lived in a one-story wooden shack on East Pu Tou, and he had no money. Probably he had used a lot of money for a long time, and so he felt it was very difficult to be without it.

In Hong Kong there was a place called Dao Feng Mountain. It specialized in helping Buddhist monks and nuns return to lay-life. If they did not want to remain in Buddhism, they could go there, and they would be given a monthly allowance of perhaps thirty, fifty, or two hundred dollars. You could stay there and be a monk if you wanted to, or not be a monk if that was what you preferred. You could be a vegetarian if you wanted, but if you didn't want to be one, they provided you with meat to eat. It was fine to remain a monk, but if you wanted to go back to lay-life, they would find a wife for you. It was the same for Bhikshunis. If you wanted to remain a nun, you could. If you wanted to be a layperson, you could. If you wanted to get married, they would find you a husband-perhaps one of the monks.

Things were extremely expedient there. They claimed that what they were doing was suited to the times. They taught people to believe in Lord God and not to believe in monks or the Buddha. Yet they advertised themselves as a place that recited Buddhist Sutras and did morning and evening recitation. Actually, it was a case of "hanging out a sheep's head but selling dog meat." They were trying to destroy Buddhism.

Hong Hui had no money, and so he went to work as a cook at Dao Feng Mountain, and earned three hundred dollars a month. But the food was not vegetarian, and every day he had to kill chickens, ducks, and fish. "It doesn't matter," he would rationalize. As he wielded his knife and cut off the chicken's head, he recited, "Namo Amitabha Buddha. Be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Namo Amitabha Buddha. Be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss." He killed many chickens in that way every day. He just closed his eyes and said that by reciting the Buddha's name for the chickens, he could help them to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. He would recite the Buddha's name once and then kill a chicken. This continued until he had killed about three hundred and sixty chickens. Then what do you suppose happened? His retribution came. He went insane and couldn't stay at Dao Feng Mountain anymore. He went back to East Pu Tou, where he had lived without money, and carried on crazily all day long. "Have you seen those chickens I killed? Did they reach the Land of Ultimate Bliss?" he would ask people. "Are those ducks in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, or are they ducks again? Are they going to come and kill me?" He talked crazy talk like that from morning to night.

He wanted to see me, because he knew that if he could see me, his sickness would be cured. But he never could get to see me, no matter how he tried. He thought that it would help to see me, because he had seen many other people who had sicknesses similar to his get well after they saw me. He had brought many such people to see me, and they had all recovered. Now it was his turn. In his more lucid moments he would say, "I want to go visit Dharma Master An Tse. Who will help me?" But just as soon as he was ready to start out to see me, he would go insane again and scream, "No! You can't do that! If you go to see him, what are we going to do? You have taken so many lives and, even though you knew better, you deliberately created those offenses. You