People who offer flowers often become more beautiful. People who offer fruit often will understand karma and uncover wisdom. People who offer oil often will develop bright eyes. Do you know why we must offer flowers? It’s because flowers represent the seed of karma – you reap what you sow. When you see the flowers bloom, it reminds you what kind of karmic seeds you should sow, and that you mustn’t commit bad deeds. If you sow good seeds, you will see the reward in the form of flowers. In fact, the flowers you offer to Bodhisattvas are not for them; they’re for you. When you offer fruit, it reminds you of sowing good seeds. Good seed sows good results.
Now I will explain “delusions of views and thought”. Delusions of views are misapprehensions acquired and developed as a result of wrong views. There are five such views: the view of a self (satkayadrsti); extreme views (antagrahadrsti); fallacious views (mithyadrsti); the attachment to wrong views; (drstiparamarsa) and clinging to faulty disciplinary codes or modes of conduct (silavrataparamarsa). Delusions of thought refer to the misapprehensions associated with mental activity, such as the five afflictions – greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance and doubt.
The view of “self” is to put “I” above everything else, such as: “I believe so and so”, or “I think so and so.” This is also what I encounter the most when answering callers’ questions during my phone-in radio program. When they call in, they talk about themselves non-stop: “I’m this”, “I’m that”, “I’m like this and that”, “This is what I think”, “This is what I saw”, and so on. These are examples of personality view. We must understand that the “self” that exists in this world is a false-self – not the true-self. If we cling to this “self”, we will become pathetic, and entrapped in the concept of “I”, and unable to be liberated from it. It is all because of the concept of “I” that people suffer. Do you know why it’s difficult for animals to be reborn as human? Do you know why they are constantly trapped in the animal realm throughout cycles of rebirth? It is because of the attachment to the notion of “self”.
That’s why we must discard the concept of “self”. Only without the “self” can we truly meld into a state beyond this reality and not become upset. Emotions such as “I’m angry”, “I feel sad”, “I’m unhappy”, “I hate” and the like can all be attributed to the concept of “I”. Therefore, if you can abandon it, you will no longer harbour these negative emotions. If a person can live their life constantly and consistently in happiness, it’s likened to living in heaven. But when a person lives their life constantly and consistently in hatred and sadness, that’s akin to living in hell. Being upset is even harmful to one’s body, and is known to shorten one’s lifespan. If a person is narrow-minded and unable to tolerate, you could say they are at risk of dying from being upset. I always ask each disciple to be tolerant of one another, and to care for one another. Let me tell you this: regardless of what others say, they must be correct. They are not at fault. You are the person who’s at fault, because it’s you who is still clinging to the concept of “I”.
Extreme views are about the state of being suspicious towards the people or things you see around you.
Fallacious views refer to taking what you see and what you think as correct, when in fact they are wrong. This is either called fallacious views or subjective views.
The attachment to wrong views is about what you see and what you have. What you see is not necessarily correct, and neither is what you have.
Clinging to faulty disciplinary codes or modes of conduct refer to holding onto something you believe to be the cause of a phenomenon. In fact, it is never the real cause. For example, it was clear that somebody didn’t do something, but you insist that this person did it. That is also a fallacious view. You are deluded by what you see and what you think, because you take whatever you see as real. But nothing in this world is real. If you believe that your body is real, then when you die, does it still exist? You might say parents are real, but when they pass away, do they still exist?
Delusions of thought are misapprehensions associated with mental activity, which is also a major obstruction for human beings.
Now I will talk about how delusions of views and thought are related to our everyday lives. If you’re suspicious of other people in your everyday life, then you have delusions of views and thought. These are also the delusions that we are most susceptible to. What you see and what you think are all sources of delusion.
Why do we so often say that is it easiest to cultivate ourselves in the Human Realm? It is because when a person enjoys their blessings, they will not be motivated to be diligent in their cultivation. Good and fortunate times tend to make people slack. Only when people suffer will they think about cultivation.
When a person does not cherish their life while they’re alive, how are they any different to a dead person? Life is most precious, but if you fail to make use of your life to achieve something, that’s a great pity – you’ve failed to cherish it. Never store negative things inside your mind. Storing bad, filthy things in your mind is to expect bad things in return. If you store benevolent things in your mind, you will gain benevolent things in return.
When cultivating the mind, you must understand the importance of advancing with the times. Time is the best role-model, so you must advance with it. The progression of time will not change for anything.
One’s level of cultivation is defined by the unselfish part that emanates from one’s heart. If a person is only interested in themself, and how they can become better as a result of their cultivation, then the effect of their cultivation – and the associated merit and virtue – will not match up to what is required by Mahayana Buddhism.
You must learn to make expressions such as “Excuse me”, “I’m sorry” and so on to show humility, politeness and courtesy. These expressions are a way to measure and evaluate your level of cultivation, as they reflect your intrinsic qualities. Using these expressions will make you neither lose face nor lower your qualities. In fact, you have heard them often since your childhood, but how many of you actually use them habitually? How many times have you said them? It’s because of your concept of “self” that you cling to the concept, thinking to yourself: “I can’t lose face”. People make mistakes, and that’s ok – what matters the most is to recognise them and be able to reform oneself.
Now I will teach you how to eliminate your karmic obstacles. Why is it that merit and virtue eliminate karmic obstacles? It’s because of the Eighth Consciousness (alayavijnana), also known as the “storehouse consciousness”, which is the place where all wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds are stored. For every sentient being, their every intention, thought, word or action creates a karmic seed. Before ripening, this seed is stored in the eighth consciousness. Where there are merits and virtues, they can enter this consciousness and eliminate all unwholesome karmic obstacles.
The eight types of consciousnesses are: the visual consciousness, the auditory consciousness, the olfactory consciousness, the gustatory consciousness, the tactile consciousness, the mental consciousness, the manas-consciousness (klistamanas) and the alaya-consciousness (alayavijnana).
发表于 2021-9-8 18:37:56