Miscellaneous Discussions on Buddhism (Part One)
Chapter Fifteen: Wholesome Roots and Meritorious Virtue (Part 2)
Thirteen: Giving is Also Repaying the Buddha’s Kindness
Everyone has heavy self-attachment. Only through studying the Buddha’s teachings and recognizing the true reality of the world can self-attachment gradually dissolve. In past lives, some studied the Dharma for a long time, others for a short time, resulting in sentient beings having different capacities. However, regardless of one’s capacity, anyone who enters the Buddha Dharma is someone who awakens before other sentient beings and should feel fortunate. Behind us are countless sentient beings who cannot even attain a human body, let alone have the opportunity to encounter the Buddha Dharma; their suffering is boundless and endless. By the time we attain Buddhahood, we will not even know in what form of existence they are reborn. Therefore, we who study the Buddha Dharma should generate compassion, not only for ourselves but also for sentient beings. If we can arouse the mind to save sentient beings, our own cultivation will progress very quickly.
Strive to cultivate meritorious virtue as much as possible. Only with abundant meritorious virtue can the path of practice progress and wisdom increase. Many people neglect cultivating blessings, resulting in studying the Dharma for a long time yet having shallow understanding of the Buddha Dharma, with no growth in wisdom at all. The fundamental problem is insufficient meritorious virtue. Those who actively cultivate blessings progress rapidly, and their wisdom increases swiftly. Whether cultivating blessings benefits oneself or not cultivating blessings benefits oneself—I urge you to reflect deeply on this.
The Buddha is the Honored One with Perfect Merit and Wisdom. Attaining Buddhahood emphasizes only merit and wisdom; the two complement each other and neither can be lacking. Merit and wisdom are twin brothers, inseparable. When each person cultivates to a certain level, if meritorious virtue is insufficient, they often become stuck at a certain point, stagnating, and some may even regress. This is based on my observation of some practitioners.
The study and practice of the Buddha Dharma follows a sequence. Giving while transcending form, giving without dwelling on form, giving without attachment to the karmic results of giving—these are fundamentally impossible for ordinary people. If one fears attachment to the karmic results of giving, fears giving with attachment to form, and thus refuses to give, then one will forever remain an ordinary being without blessings. Only after realizing the mind and attaining a certain level of fruition can one gradually practice formless giving. At the stage of an ordinary being, giving inevitably involves attachment to form. However, attachment to form is not a critical issue; after all, giving can still yield blessings. Having meritorious virtue enables one to attain the path—this is most important.
We who cultivate the Mahayana path cannot be like Arhats, who care only for themselves and disregard the suffering of sentient beings. Arhats are self-liberators. Although they can liberate themselves from suffering and have the ability to transcend the cycle of rebirth, they are reprimanded by the Buddha as “withered sprouts and rotten seeds,” fallen into the pit of inaction, not growing the roots of the Buddha Dharma. If everyone were like Arhats, who would save the sentient beings of this world? We all rely on Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for salvation. If Arhats do not propagate the Dharma and Bodhisattvas also do not propagate the Dharma, sentient beings will forever remain in the sea of birth-and-death suffering, with no hope of liberation.
The grace we receive, even a drop, is given by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Sentient beings revolving in the six realms all rely on Bodhisattvas for deliverance. If Bodhisattvas do not propagate the Dharma to save others, we would never have the day we encountered the Buddha Dharma. None of us wish for this. Therefore, we should put ourselves in others’ shoes, always keep in mind the suffering of other sentient beings, and always seek ways to help other sentient beings relieve their distress. Only then do we not betray the care Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have shown us, not waste the encounter with the Buddha Dharma that can save us, and thus repay the kindness of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Fourteen: After Releasing Lives, Can the Matter of Birth and Death Be Changed? After Slandering the Triple Gem, One Falls into Hell at Life’s End—Can Releasing Lives Avoid This Karmic Retribution? After Owing Someone Ten Thousand Yuan, Does Releasing Lives Cancel the Debt? After Releasing Lives, Can One Attain the Fruits of Enlightenment, Realize the Mind and Perceive the True Nature, and Be Reborn in the Pure Land? Are the Karmic Entanglements from Killing Sentient Beings in Past and Present Lives Resolved?
One wholesome action cannot replace all wholesome actions, let alone pure conduct. Only pure conduct can purify the mind, thereby eliminating defilements, changing defiled karmic seeds, and truly transforming karmic results. Acting without seeking anything is pure conduct; being free from greed, hatred, and delusion is pure conduct; transcending ignorance is pure conduct. Of course, after performing wholesome actions like releasing lives, forming wholesome affinities with sentient beings, and increasing meritorious virtue, one can support the enhancement of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, purify the mind, and aid in attaining the fruits of enlightenment and realizing the mind. With increased meritorious virtue, unwholesome karma may temporarily not manifest; karmic creditors, out of respect for one’s virtue, may cease pressing for repayment and obstructing, making the study and practice of the Dharma smoother.
Fifteen: The Realization of the Buddha Dharma Requires Immense Wholesome Roots and Meritorious Virtue
The difficulty in realizing and cultivating the Buddha Dharma requires sentient beings to practice for three great immeasurable kalpas. If the Buddha Dharma were easy to understand, easy to practice, and easy to realize, sentient beings would not need to cultivate for three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas to perfectly accomplish the Buddha Path. If the Buddha Dharma were easy to understand, the Buddha would not emphasize that sentient beings must possess considerable wholesome roots, meritorious virtue, precepts, concentration, and wisdom. Some people read the Tripitaka and Twelve Divisions of the Buddhist Canon five times without even touching the periphery of the Buddha Dharma, let alone glimpsing the shadow of enlightenment. Sentient beings, deluded and inverted for immeasurable kalpas, immersed in the illusory worldly dharmas, truly find it difficult to comprehend the profound Buddha Dharma.
After the Buddha taught the Dharma for forty-nine years, at his parinirvana, countless sentient beings still had only a partial understanding of the Dharma, some not even that. Ānanda, seeing the sentient beings’ stupidity and difficulty to teach, and their misunderstanding of the Dharma, had no choice but to leave the Sahā world one hundred years after the Buddha’s parinirvana, even though he could have remained in the world for a very long time through the power of meditation and meritorious virtue to teach sentient beings in the Buddha’s stead. After the Buddha’s parinirvana, an old monk taught a young monk, mispronouncing the Dharma of the liberation path as “water old crane” (水老鹤, a homophonic error in Chinese). Ānanda asked him to correct it, but the old monk refused, instead saying Ānanda was old and confused, unable to remember the Buddha’s teachings clearly. Ānanda, saddened and distressed, then left the Sahā world.
I repeatedly emphasize that everyone should cultivate more blessings and nurture wholesome roots and meritorious virtue. Yet few are willing to cultivate blessings and nurture wholesome roots and meritorious virtue. Therefore, it is entirely normal not to understand the Buddha Dharma. The Buddha Dharma is not something that those without blessings, unwilling to cultivate blessings, can easily understand or realize. Realizing the Buddha Dharma requires great meritorious virtue; only with great meritorious virtue can one have great wisdom. Small roots and small wisdom are indeed incompatible with the profound Buddha Dharma. Achievements in worldly dharmas require meritorious virtue, let alone the great matter beyond the world concerning life and death, let alone liberating oneself from afflictions accumulated over immeasurable kalpas, let alone the inconceivably supreme matter of accomplishing the Buddha Path. How can those whose minds are filled only with themselves, seeking only self-benefit, correspond to the Tathāgatagarbha Dharma, which is devoid of self-nature?
Sixteen: Without meritorious virtue, it is very difficult to cultivate concentration. As soon as one sits down to meditate, some matter or person arises to disturb, forcing one to deal with it. Just as one is about to enter concentration, disturbances appear, again forcing one to attend to them. Reflect and examine: In what aspects does each person constantly deplete their meritorious virtue? If you can reflect and identify them, be mindful not to easily waste your meritorious virtue, so that the path of practice can progress swiftly. Does the highly developed material life of modern society mean that sentient beings today have great meritorious virtue, while sentient beings in the Buddha’s time had little? People today easily cash out their seeds of meritorious virtue for enjoyment—this is truly unwise. Wise people often preserve meritorious virtue for cultivating the path, not cashing it out to become worldly dharmas for enjoyment and display.
Many people like to take pride in the impermanent things of worldly dharmas, using them as capital for boasting—such as “I am so-and-so high official,” “I have such-and-such status and authority,” or “I am so-and-so, immensely wealthy,” “I have such-and-such talent,” “I have such-and-such exceptional ability,” and so on. These are all illusory dharmas of the world, unreliable, soon to perish, and even when existing, are empty. Sentient beings in the world find it difficult to realize emptiness, knowing only existence.
In the past, a Chan Patriarch wanted to find a disciple to inherit his lineage. He tested the disciple’s insight, observing whether he had awakened and had wisdom. As soon as the disciple spoke, the master knew he had not awakened, saying: “Your blessings are meager; you cannot bear my lineage.” The Patriarch meant that an important reason for insufficient wisdom is insufficient meritorious virtue. When our thinking is chaotic and unclear, we should also regularly search for our own reasons.
Seventeen: Making Offerings to the Triple Gem Yields the Greatest Meritorious Virtue. Regarding offerings to the Buddha, first, one should sincerely offer vegetarian food to the Buddha daily, not as a mere symbolic offering, but as if offering to the true Buddha. The meritorious virtue obtained from this is as great as making offerings to the Buddha’s Nirmanakaya. As long as it is vegetarian food, regardless of raw or cooked, including vegetables, grains, oil, it can be offered to the Buddha.
The second way to make offerings to the Buddha is to recite the Buddha’s name. The immeasurable merit of reciting the Buddha’s name comes not only from reciting the name of the Nirmanakaya Buddha but mainly from reciting the Dharmakaya Buddha, reciting the Buddha within one’s own nature. Everyone has the Buddha within their own nature. Reciting the external Buddha is always inferior to reciting the Buddha within one’s own nature. Seeking the external Buddha is inferior to seeking the Buddha within oneself; He can provide you with everything. Taking refuge in the external Buddha is inferior to taking refuge in the Buddha within one’s own nature; the Buddha within one’s own nature can lead you out of the cycle of rebirth to the shore of Nirvana.
As long as one daily investigates the essence of Suchness (Tathatā), studies its virtues, understands it, seeks it, contemplates it—all this is reciting the Buddha’s name. In the end, one can attain the Samādhi of Buddha-Recitation and realize the mind and perceive the true nature. No offering surpasses this; no method of reciting the Buddha’s name is as supreme as this. Reciting the Buddha’s name leads to Buddhahood; only reciting the Dharmakaya can lead to Buddhahood. Merely reciting the external Buddha cannot lead to Buddhahood. Making offerings to the Dharma means daily studying, reciting the Buddha’s sutras, contemplating the principles of the sutras, seeking the true meaning, and acting according to the World-Honored One’s teachings. Among all offerings, Dharma offerings are the supreme. Making offerings to the Sangha: Sangha means harmony. One’s bodily, verbal, and mental actions towards the Sangha jewel should be pure. Offer the four requisites (robes, food, bedding, medicine) according to the Dharma, heed the correct and proper teachings of monastics, do not contradict the proper teachings of ordained teachers, protect the harmony of the Sangha community, support the Sangha in propagating the true Dharma to benefit all beings under heaven.
Eighteen: The Meritorious Virtue of Making Offerings to the Triple Gem is Immeasurable and Boundless
In the monastic precepts, there is “eating in one sitting.” When the food is served, one should sit and eat until finished, then rise and leave. Getting up in the middle to serve more food, or walking around and returning to eat, is not allowed. One cannot go to serve food a second or third time; as soon as one stands up, it signifies that the meal is finished. In the Buddha’s time, monastics ate one meal a day at noon because begging for alms wasted much time; one meal a day saved much time for cultivation. If one begged for food two or three times a day, it would not only waste a lot of time but also invite ridicule from worldly people and non-Buddhists, who would say monastics spend all day begging and eating, being greedy for food without cultivating. Third, eating more causes the stomach and intestines to constantly churn and digest, making the mind unsettled and affecting cultivation. Eating more also depletes one’s own meritorious virtue, hindering progress on the path. Considering these factors, the Sangha established the precept of one meal a day at noon.
Monastics beg for food also to provide sentient beings with a field of merit to plant, giving them the opportunity to cultivate blessings and attain liberation. The more sentient beings give, the greater their meritorious virtue, the more opportunities for liberation, and the greater the likelihood of liberation. Monastics begging for food does not make sentient beings poor; on the contrary, sentient beings become increasingly wealthy. Nor does the fact that monastics beg for food once a day cause the decline of Buddhism. The decline of Buddhism has many factors, mainly the decreasing wholesome roots and meritorious virtue of sentient beings, leaving them without the fortune to encounter the Buddha Dharma and attain liberation, coupled with Māra’s (Papiyas) destruction of Buddhism. Buddhism will inevitably decline and eventually perish. Sentient beings making offerings to monastics—the Buddha’s rule does not allow refusal; it allows sentient beings to plant blessings and gain merit. Otherwise, sentient beings would have no blessings and forever wander in the six realms, poor and suffering. Being able to have a field of merit to plant, one should also thank the Buddha and the Sangha, thank the Triple Gem—otherwise, when would one attain liberation?
The Buddha said in the sutras that the merit of making offerings to the Buddha is immeasurable and boundless. Especially the first meal after the Buddha’s enlightenment and the last meal before his parinirvana—if one has the opportunity to make these offerings, this person can attain Buddhahood most swiftly, surpassing others. The first meal after the Buddha’s enlightenment was goat’s milk offered by a shepherdess. The last meal before the Buddha’s parinirvana was offered by the blacksmith Cunda. At that time, countless people implored the World-Honored One to offer him the last meal, but the Buddha did not permit it. Only when the blacksmith Cunda made the request did the Buddha nod in agreement. Then the Buddha prophesied Cunda’s future Buddhahood, as the Buddha had promised Cunda in a past life that he could offer the last meal before the Buddha’s parinirvana. This shows that having the opportunity to make offerings to the Buddha and the Triple Gem yields inconceivable merit.
Nineteen: Which Dharma is the Forerunner Among the Six Pāramitās?
Among the Six Pāramitās, prajñā (wisdom) is the guide, the foundation, and the center. Giving is the forerunner; meritorious virtue is the basis. In worldly and transcendental dharmas, nothing can be accomplished without meritorious virtue. Giving cultivates blessings. With blessings, one can uphold precepts well, cultivate concentration, cultivate patience, successfully engage in contemplative practice, and realize the mind and perceive the true nature. Meritorious virtue is the foundation; upholding precepts is the supporting condition; meditative concentration is the prerequisite. Contemplative practice is the correct practice; only contemplative practice can attain prajñā wisdom. Without meritorious virtue, if one wishes to uphold precepts, there will be those who cause you to break them. Upholding precepts will always be fraught with obstacles and cannot be perfected. With sufficient meritorious virtue, cultivation encounters no obstacles. Blessings (福) and virtue (德) are always connected. Not seeking for oneself is virtue; not seeking worldly pleasures is virtue; benefiting and bringing joy to sentient beings is virtue. With virtue comes blessings.
The Buddha taught the Six Pāramitās; the first is giving to cultivate blessings. Without this being sufficient, it is impossible to attain prajñā wisdom. If we already had prajñā wisdom first, we wouldn’t need to cultivate—why would we need to contemplate? One must understand the concept of the Six Pāramitās and the meaning of cultivation. Regularly observe which aspects one has accomplished and which are still insufficient, and find ways to perfect the conditions for the Six Pāramitās. Another aspect is that the Buddha’s compassion is cultivated later through practice; it is the compassion for sentient beings manifested by the Buddha’s mind consciousness, which is the Wisdom of Sublime Observation (妙观察智). This mind can appear with the arising of the Buddha’s mind consciousness and the Wisdom of Sublime Observation, and cease to appear with the temporary cessation of the Wisdom of Sublime Observation. It is subject to birth and cessation, not eternally existent. Since it is not an eternally abiding mind but an illusory manifestation born from the Buddha’s immaculate consciousness (无垢识), it is therefore illusory.
The Buddha’s two types of compassion are unmoving. The compassion of a Bodhisattva’s mind consciousness still moves. The occasional compassion of an ordinary being’s mind consciousness entirely follows circumstances; it is not present at all times, cannot abide constantly, is not ultimate, and lacks wisdom. The Buddha’s arising of compassion does not follow the flow of circumstances, does not regard circumstances as real, and makes no distinctions regarding objects. Truly, it is unconditional great compassion and great compassion of shared substance, without discrimination or differentiation between self and others, viewing all sentient beings equally.
Sentient beings often treat people unequally, taking the self as the center point and gradually extending outward. The farther out people are, the less compassion arises, or none at all. Some do not even generate a trace of compassion for those closest to them. Therefore, sentient beings are relatively self-centered, heavy with self-attachment, rarely consider others, or do not consider them at all, unable to put themselves in others’ positions. This is far from the Buddha’s unconditional great compassion.
Twenty-Five: Regarding the issue of attaining Buddhahood in this very body (即身成佛), whether it means in this very body or in this very life, it pertains only to the final-body Bodhisattvas, the Bodhisattvas at the stage of Wonderful Enlightenment (妙觉菩萨); ordinary beings have no share in it. Attaining Buddhahood in this very body is something only Bodhisattvas at the stage of Wonderful Enlightenment like Maitreya Bodhisattva can achieve, but even they must choose the appropriate time and conditions. Apart from this, there are no others who can attain Buddhahood in this very body.
The cultivation of sentient beings follows a sequence; it is impossible to skip high levels and leap from an ordinary being directly to Buddhahood, unless it is a display by one who is already a Buddha. But even then, it would not be displayed in a Buddha-land where a Buddha currently resides, as one Buddha-land cannot have two Buddhas. Ordinary sentient beings should first study the principles of liberation in the Āgamas, realize the fruits of liberation, then study the principles of Mahāyāna prajñā and Vijñānavāda (唯识), progressing step by step. Being able to realize the mind and perceive the true nature in one lifetime is already quite a good capacity. For ordinary sentient beings, even severing the view of self and attaining the first fruition (初果) is extremely difficult and confusing; they cannot grasp the key points. Therefore, they should not think about attaining Buddhahood in this very body. Ordinary sentient beings cannot even fully comprehend the Tathāgatagarbha Dharma; it is impossible to realize all the seed functions within the Tathāgatagarbha and attain omniscience (一切种智) in one lifetime. Ordinary sentient beings cannot even attain the preliminary concentration before the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis (未到地定), let alone cultivate the four dhyānas, eight samāpattis, and the samādhi of cessation (灭尽定), gain immeasurable spiritual powers and miraculous abilities, or have immeasurable and countless transformation bodies—this is fundamentally impossible.
Ordinary sentient beings find it difficult even to liberate themselves, let alone liberate immeasurable and boundless sentient beings to become disciples in their own Buddha-land; this is even more impossible. If one cannot liberate sentient beings, one cannot have countless disciples; without disciples, one cannot establish a Buddha-land alone. Even a king has ministers and armies to assist in building and maintaining the country. To become a Buddha requires even more great Bodhisattvas to assist in propagating the Dharma and saving sentient beings. Without having liberated sentient beings, there will be no great Bodhisattva disciples to serve as right-hand supporters to assist in propagating the Dharma. Therefore, sentient beings in the Sahā world should still cultivate step by step with down-to-earth diligence, not aim too high and neglect their own path of practice.
Twenty-Six: Cultivation is not merely living in the present moment, focusing only on the present; the most important thing is to consider the future, so that in the future one no longer suffers the pain of rebirth, is no longer lost and ignorant, and is free from ignorance. If one only lives in the present, without the future in mind, one cannot see the path ahead clearly and is prone to taking wrong paths. Moreover, this present moment is thought after thought arising and ceasing. By the time one says “the present moment,” it has already become the past. Where is the present moment? Countless past present moments have already vanished; this present moment is perishing; future present moments have not yet come. Which present moment do you want? The past mind consciousness has already ceased; the present mind consciousness is ceasing thought after thought; the future mind consciousness has not yet come. Which mind do you want to attain? The three minds (past, present, future) cannot be attained. What cannot be attained is the mind consciousness—the impermanent, illusory mind. How can something subject to birth and cessation be attained? How can it be grasped?
But there is one mind, not acquired later, inherently present from the beginning. Even if you do not want it, it does not abandon you. If you go to heaven, it follows you to heaven; if you fall into hell, it follows you there; wherever you go, it accompanies you. Even when you suffer and undergo evil retribution, it does not reject you. From beginningless kalpas, it has never left you. How wonderful this mind is! Cultivation is to realize this mind, understand this mind, explore its mysteries, and thereby develop great wisdom. With great wisdom, one can become a Buddha or a Patriarch.
Twenty-Seven: The so-called world is merely a kind of sensation. Different mental states produce different sensations; different people have different sensations. So what are these sensations? They are nothing—mere illusions. Then what to do? Change the sensations that are not in accordance with reality and principle into sensations that are in accordance with reality and principle, and one returns to the true reality, returns to awareness, returns to the One Truth, returns to Nirvana, returns to stillness.
Twenty-Eight: For those who genuinely practice, there is no need to specifically discuss the mental faculty of intention (意根, manas); they will realize it through practice. For those who do not genuinely practice, it is essential to explain to them the difference between intellectual understanding (解悟) and experiential realization (证悟), urging everyone not to be satisfied with intellectual understanding but to strive for experiential realization. This is special treatment for the restless sentient beings of the Dharma-Ending Age, whose minds are extremely agitated, unwilling to exert diligent effort, unwilling to uphold precepts, unwilling to cultivate concentration. Even if they wish to uphold precepts and cultivate concentration, due to environmental factors, they cannot accomplish it. Therefore, they cannot engage in contemplative practice and cannot attain experiential realization. They can only read books daily, understand intellectually, and after reaching a certain level of intellectual understanding, tell others they have attained realization. Hence, it is necessary to explain some special Dharma teachings in this special period. Special teachings should be given to special sentient beings; only this corresponds to their capacities and solves their actual and fundamental problems.
Twenty-Nine: Anyone can potentially misinterpret the sutras or the Buddha’s intent, but as long as one does not assert one’s views with certainty, there is no major fault, and it may not necessarily mislead others. In the process of studying the Buddha Dharma, mistakes are inevitable for anyone; the key is the attitude one holds towards one’s own views and to what extent one can be confident in their correctness—this must be carefully gauged. Only the Buddha is without error; even when Maitreya Bodhisattva teaches the Dharma, the Buddha does not affirm it one hundred percent.
Awakened Bodhisattvas can also make mistakes when teaching the Dharma; when not awakened, the errors will be even more numerous. General mistakes are not a big issue; the crucial point is that the most critical aspects should not contain errors, because the key points concern the great matter of whether sentient beings who follow the teachings can attain realization—this is the turning point in sentient beings’ lives. At this turning point, there must be no error. As long as the goal and direction are correct, the rest are minor issues that can be corrected and adjusted. Our study of the Buddha Dharma is to strive diligently for realization. After realization, whatever Dharma one studies, one attains it as one studies it, often achieving twice the result with half the effort.
