Selected Lectures on the Sūtra of the Meeting of Father and Son

Sentient beings are of little learning and lack wisdom because they do not listen to the sūtras or hear the Dharma; their exposure is limited, they do not understand the true meaning of the Buddha's teachings, and they do not understand the truths of the world, and so they lack wisdom. If we wish to have wisdom, we must study the Buddha's teachings more, listen to the sūtras and hear the Dharma more, and delve deeply into the treasury of the sūtras; only then will wisdom arise, and only then can wisdom be as vast as the ocean. Believe and accept the Buddha's words more, listen to the sūtras and hear the Dharma more; understand one principle, break through one layer of ignorance, and diminish one kind of foolishness. When body, speech, and mind are pure, the mind will be happy and free of afflictions.

Ordinary beings of little learning and no wisdom give rise to delight and attachment toward pleasant contact. Pleasant contact refers to bodily sensations that greatly please and delight the conscious mind; this is called wondrous contact. For example, the body touching soft clothing, warm sunlight, a comfortable bed—and most importantly, the contact between men and women; the desire realm is a world established primarily upon this kind of contact. What the body faculty and body consciousness come into contact with is called the contact sense-object (sparśa-viṣaya). For instance, when warm and comfortable sunlight touches the body, when cold or hot wind touches the body, when soft or hard clothing touches the body, and the body consciousness has a sensation, that is called contact, and the dharma that is touched is called the contact sense-object. Also, being hungry or thirsty—the sensations of the stomach—are also contact; these are all contact sense-objects. For another example, after sitting for a long time, one feels fatigued; fatigue is also a contact sense-object. When meditating, the body feels tranquil and at ease, and the body feels extremely comfortable—all of these are contact sense-objects.

Ordinary sentient beings are most attached to pleasant contact sensations, primarily the contact between men and women. When a man and a woman touch each other, the mind gives rise to delight and craving, and thus the mind is defiled. This is craving and attachment centered on the conscious mind, also including the eye consciousness and body consciousness, but mainly centered on the feelings of the sixth consciousness (manovijñāna). Once the conscious mind gives rise to defiled attachment, it creates karma; after the mind gives rise to delight, the next step is certainly to create karma, and karmic actions will appear. People without cultivation will manifest foolish karmic actions of body, speech, and mind. Some cultivators, though their minds may sometimes have defiled attachment, do not create karmic actions of body or speech; the most accomplished cultivators do not even allow their minds to be defiled. As for the karmic actions that are created: bodily karma can create three kinds—killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; verbal karma has four kinds—false speech, frivolous speech, divisive speech, and harsh speech; mental karma has three kinds—greed, hatred, and delusion.