Hundred Dharmas (Lesson 3)

The Shastra on the Door to Understanding the Hundred Dharmas

DHARMA TALK 3 – DHARMAS BELONGING TO THE MIND

(ELEVEN WHOLESOME DHARMAS)

BY MASTER JINGLIAN

 

To all honourable ones and laypeople who are present:

 

Today, we will talk about the third type of Dharmas belonging to the Mind – “Eleven Wholesome Dharmas”. These Eleven Wholesome Dharms are :

 

1. Faith (信)

2. Vigor (精进)

3. Remorse (惭)

4. Shame (愧)

5. Absence of greed (无贪)

6. Absence of anger (无瞋)

7. Absence of foolishness (无痴)

8. Light ease (轻安)

9. Non-laxness (不放逸)

10. Renunciation (行舍)

11. Non-harming (不害)

 

Why do we term them as Wholesome Dharmas? It is because these Dharmas are useful and helpful to us this life, next life and many more lives in the future. They are purely and fully wholesome and are not tainted by any unwholesomeness. That is why they are called the Eleven Wholesome Dharmas.

 

The first Wholesome Dharma is Faith (信). Faith means to believe. The belief that the True Nature of this Universe and that all dharmas have no Self. So regardless of whether it is Conditioned or Unconditioned Dharma, there is no Self. Do you believe? You have to ask yourself if you really believe that all dharmas have no Self. If you believe, what will you do? If you don’t believe, what will you do?

If one believes all Conditioned Dharmas are just arising-and-perishing, impermanent, non-Self and that they are the manifestation of the 8 Consciousness, one will not be confused and deluded and greedy over all the things in this Phenomena Realm (现象界) that relate to our body-and-mind. Do you still greed over and desire for things in this world? One must honestly observe one’s heart and mind. Are we living in this Phenomena Realm and have a clear understanding in our mind that everything is impermanent, arising-and-perishing, false and non-Self? If you are living your daily life with such clarity of understanding in the mind and nothing can rouse your greed, then you have real faith that all dharmas have no Self. If you are unable to uphold that understanding in the mind daily but still feel you have faith, then maybe your faith is not 100 percent. If you have faith, you will be able to do it. If one still greeds over things in this world, regardless the types of greed, one is still confused, deluded and ignorant. Because one still looks upon the things in this Phenomena Realm as tangible and existing and creates an ego Self to greed and attach to them. This mentality is opposite to the True Nature of this Universe and thus the faith is questionable.

 

One may make remarks like “Buddha says so! Every Dharma Master also says so and so I believe but I just cannot do it.” Do you believe such things do happen? “I believe ! But when I am faced with these worldly phenomena, I feel my way of handling is the most practical as I have been practising like that throughout all my reincarnations.” If one believes that all Conditioned Dharmas are tangible and existing, then all afflictions will follow. If one truly believes all dharmas are impermanent, arising-and-perishing without Self, one will not have any afflictions. If one still has afflictions, one’s faith is not 100 percent. This is because one still believes in one’s old means of attachment and greed and cannot put down, cannot see through the phenomena and also cannot sever the attachment.

 

So now this faith that we are talking about is not simple because once we have 100 percent faith, we will be liberated and see our True Mind. So if we are not liberated and see our True Mind, our faith is still not 100 percent pure but still tainted with greed, confusion and delusion. If one is able to have faith that all dharmas are arising-and–perishing, impermanent and non-Self, one will not be confused, deluded and greed over the phenomena in this world. Regardless what happens in one’s life, as long as it is a Conditioned Dharma, one will be able to see its nature of arising-and-perishing, impermanent and non-Self.

 

So it is not what I can decide to do because the cause and condition are making the decisions. Or it is the ripened karma that decides. If a good karma ripens, one will be better; if a bad karma ripens, one will be obstructed. One cannot be in total control of all conditions and one cannot tell when the karma will come. Is this true? So just trying to live our days with the conditions that ripen is not that easy if one has no total faith in the True Nature of all dharmas. One is always living life according to one’s chosen condition. If it is not one’s chosen condition, life will be difficult. This shows our faith is not perfectly pure. This explanation is about Conditioned Dharma.

 

The same applies for Unconditioned Dharmas. If one is practising Buddha Dharma and starts to meditate, holding the desire to achieve Samadhi and the various levels of Samadhi and so on, one is creating an attachment. If one is practising a certain Dharma Gateway and attaches to that gateway and that desire for Self to attain Nirvana or Buddhahood, one is not practising Non-Self. In fact, all dharmas have no Self and this applies to Unconditioned Dharmas too.

 

So one must develop full faith in one’s cultivation that all Dharmas, both Conditioned and Unconditioned, have no Self. This should be the objective of our cultivation. One may say that one understands Conditioned Dharmas are arising-and-perishing and impermanent, but why Unconditioned Dharmas are the same too. However, one may ask, “So I am cultivating that Dharma Gateway and if that is also not truly existing, what am I cultivating? Aren’t I supposed to attain that unconditioned state?” However, if you have faith that Unconditioned Dharmas have no Self, then in your cultivation process, you will not be attached to the gateway and the attainment, as all cultivation is to return to our True Nature that is by nature pure in all beings. All beings are originally Buddhas and our True Nature is Nirvana. So if we believe our cultivation has something to cultivate, achieve and attain, we are attaching a Self to the Unconditioned Dharmas. All Dharma Gateways are just means to lead us back to Unconditioned Dharma with the sole objective to return to our Pure True Mind or Buddha Nature. So it is not something that can be created out of cultivation and be achieved and attained.

 

Originally not having it but now we have, this is called achieving it. Originally we have it so that is not called achieving it. Just like a treasure originally in your house, you cannot say it is achieved or gotten through cultivation as it is originally there. Just that we are too confused and deluded to notice its existence. True Mind is there every day and Bodhi Nature is always with us in our daily life. Because we fail to understand that all dharmas have no Self and continue to lead our lives confused and deluded everyday. Even so, our True Mind is not tainted and remains as Pure. So if one cultivates a Dharma Gateway and develops attachment to it, it is just another form of attaching Self to that gateway. If one has faith that all dharmas have no Self, one will not develop any attachment to Conditioned or Unconditioned Dharmas in one’s daily life and cultivation process respectively. So before we attain, we have to have faith to believe so that we are happy to start cultivating. If one does not believe that state can be reached or does not believe oneself can achieve that state, one will not make progress regardless of how long one cultivates. Why? Because of the lack of faith.

 

This is the first type of faith - Faith that the True Nature of this Universe and all dharmas have no Self. And also have faith that one can attain or return to the state where all dharmas have no Self.

 

The second type of faith is towards the Triple Gems. One believes that the Triple Gems have a Dharma Body (法身), Prajna-wisdom (般若), Liberation (解脱) and so forth, that possess True Pure merits. If one has this faith, one will be happy to learn Buddha Dharma and thus cultivate and accumulate such merits, hoping one will also be successful on the path to return to True Mind or Buddhahood with the attainment of True Pure Merits of a Buddha.

 

The following diagram shows how these three types of merits are attained.

One Mind, Three Visualisations  一心三观

 

Cultivate Visualisation of Emptiness of Self (修空观)

- Break through Confused / Deluded Views and Thoughts, attain sarvajñāta / All-Dharma Wisdom and accomplish Prajna-wisdom Merits.

(破见思惑，证一切智，成就般若德。)

 

Cultivate Visualisation of Provisional Truth (修假观)

- Break through Sand-Dust Confusion, attain Wisdom of the Path / mārgajñatā (道种智) and accomplish Liberation Merits

(破尘沙惑，证道种智，成就解脱德。)

 

Cultivate Visualisation of Middle Path (修中观)

- Break through Confusion caused by Ignorance, attain All-Encompassing Seed of Wisdom / sarvākārajñatā and accomplish Dharmakaya Merits.

(破无明惑，证一切种智，成就法身德。)

 

 

By cultivating Visualisation of Emptiness of Self (我空观), one can break the Confused / Deluded Views and Thoughts (见思二惑). Thus attaining the fruit of either an arhat or a pratyekabuddha of the Hinayana. By visualizing the Five Aggregates in our body-and-mind are arising-and-perishing and impermanent, one experiences and attains the Emptiness of Self and severs the attachment of Self to Confused / Deluded Views. Without Deluded Views, the Confused/ Deluded Thoughts of Greed, Anger, Ignorance, Arrogance and Suspicion are also severed. Thus, attaining sarvajñāta / All-Dharma Wisdom (一切智).

 

Therefore, we know that “All Dharma Wisdom” is the fruit attained by arhats who have severed Confused / Deluded Views and Thoughts. What does this Wisdom encompass? With All-Dharma Wisdom, one will understand the arising of all Dharmas and that the True Nature of all Conditioned Dharmas are Empty. By observing the Five Aggregate of our body-and-mind, one can realise that all the arising-and-perishing are impermanent and thus the Self and the True Nature of all Conditioned Dharma are both Empty.

 

At this time, one has accomplished Prajna-wisdom, the wisdom of Emptiness. Thus severing Obstacles caused by Afflictions (烦恼障) and liberating from Three Realms and The Six Paths or Conditions of Sentient Existence (三界六道). However, for the Great Vehicle Bodhisattvas, they feel that this is not enough as there are still so many countless sentient beings like sand and dust, who are not liberated. So they come back from Emptiness and enter into Provisional Truth (假观). Though all dharmas are Empty, Bodhisattvas do not stay in “stubborn” Emptiness (顽空). With Great Compassion, they cultivate Illusory Samadhi(如幻三昧) or Contemplation of Provisional Truth (假观) and understand that all sentient beings, reincarnations and nirvana are all illusory so there is no need to fear the sheer number of sentient beings and the long time needed to liberate them. One will say sentient beings are so difficult to liberate. Although one’s family members are less than ten fingers, one can feel difficulties in liberating them. With the vow to liberate boundless sentient beings and regardless of whether you like, dislike, detestable or non-destestable, one has to liberate all of them, including those big karmic debtors, big enemies and so on. Is this not difficult?

 

So why Arhats don’t raise bodhicitta (菩提心)? Because when one has not severed the Sand-Dust Confusion / Delusion (尘沙惑), all sentient beings are still sheer in numbers like sand and dust. Arhat has attained Emptiness of Self (我空) but not Emptiness in Dharmas (法空) and so still attached to Dharmas. Attachment to Dharmas means one still regards all dharmas, external to Mind, as tangible and existing. This is due to Obstacle caused by Knowledge (所知障) and Attachment to Dharmas (法执) and thus attachment to Nirvana. Arhat has only attained Emptiness of Self and not Emptiness of Dharmas so he still has Sand-Dust Confusion / Delusion.

 

Boundless sentient beings are as numerous as sand and dust and the thought to liberate them will make one lose heart. Why? Because one did not cultivate Visualisation of Provisional Truth (假观). With this cultivation, Bodhisattva will not be afraid of the sheer number as it is illusory and empty. Illusory means that one understands that everything is just the phenomena of arising-and-perishing and without True Nature. Everyone sitting here is not real Self as all dharmas have no Self and thus the “I” have no real Self. Similarly, all boundless infinite sentient beings are also illusory as they follow the cause and condition to arise and perish without Self. So Bodhisattvas are not afraid of the sheer number of sentient beings.

 

With this cultivation, one can break Sand-Dust Confusion and accomplish Wisdom of the Path / mārgajñatā (道种智). It is a fundamental wisdom of a Bodhisattva. After attaining Emptiness of Self, a Great Vehicle Bodhisattva manifest infinite skilful means and ways to benefit sentient beings, using the Wisdom of Path. That is why a Bodhisattva ardently and diligently carries out great vows with Great Compassion, liberates countless sentient beings without retreat or fear and accomplishes the merits of liberation (解脱的功德).

 

If one continues to cultivate the True Middle Path (中道实相) of Madhyamaka (中观), one will not fall into Emptiness or Existence. Sentient beings fall into believing all dharmas are real in existence. On the other hand, Arhats who attained Nirvana, become attached to their attainment and Emptiness and thus end up resting a long time in their Nirvana. In the Visualisation of Middle Path, one falls neither into Existence nor Emptiness but stays simultaneously in Non-Empty and Non-Existence, instantly being Empty and also in Existence. Thus, one can break Confusion caused by Ignorance and attain All-Encompassing Seed of Wisdom / Sarvākārajñatā and also accomplish Dharmakaya merits.

 

So now we understand why the breaking of one level of Ignorance leads to the attainment of one level of Dharmakāya / Dharma Body / True Body (法身). After breaking all the 41 levels of Ignorance, one will attain Perfect Dharmakāya / Dharma Body – a Buddha with All-Encompassing Seed of Wisdom. The Buddha has All-Dharma Wisdom, can therefore abide in Emptiness. And with the Wisdom of Path, He can manifest wondrous means. These two wisdoms combine to give All-Encompassing Seed of Wisdom. So when a Buddha manifests something to benefit sentient beings, He is not tainted at all. This is because while abiding in the emptiness of Prajna Wisdom, he uses the Prajna Wisdom to reflect and thus transform all 8 Consciousness into wisdom of accomplishing. The first 5 Consciousness is transformed into the Wisdom of Perfect Conduct (成所作智). The 6^th Consciousness is transformed into Wisdom of Profound Insight (妙观察智). The 7^th and 8^th Consciousness are transformed into Wisdom of Universal Equality (平等性智) and Great Perfect Mirror-like Wisdom (大圆镜智) respectively.

 

In the cultivation of One-Mind Three-Visualisations (Visualisation of Emptiness, Provisional Truth and Middle Path), one can attain merits of Dharmakāya, Prajna-wisdom and Liberation. If we believe and have faith in this content and also believe we can attain these Pure True Merits, we will be very happy to cultivate and be full of faith and motivation to quickly cultivate these 3 visualisations in one mind. If one can perfect these 3 visualisations in one mind or every thought, simultaneously and instantaneously, without separation, one will have these 3 Wisdoms to sever 3 Confusions and accomplish the 3 Merits. In TianTa Śamatha and Vipaśyanā (天台止观), there is a teaching on One-Mind Three-Visualisations. These three visualisations must be perfected in one mind and if you believe in this teachings, you will be motivated to quickly cultivate and attain the merits of a Buddha.

 

The third type of faith is towards all Wholesome Dharmas. Regardless, it is Worldly Dharmas or Transcendental World Dharma, one always believes that all Wholesome Dharmas will result into Wholesome Karmas. Wholesome Dharmas in this World will give rise to perfection and happiness in one’s existence in this world. Wholesome Dharmas relating to transcending the world will lead to attainment in the spiritual path. With this faith, one can hope to cultivate all Wholesome Dharmas for both the World and the Transcendental World. So the first step is still the faith that drives one into action to cultivate.

 

For example, a person made donations to many people. When he came back, he said, “I went to donate to this handicapped group and it seemed that they are a group operated by tricksters.” Then he quickly came to ask the guru if he should ever donate again. So this is about faith in believing the wholesomeness of donation. When one is always living life with a suspicious mind and thus always in dilemma, not knowing what is right and what is wrong. This shows one has not placed full faith in the cultivation. Faith that one needs to do wholesome deeds, gather merits, attain the 3 types of merits to Buddhahood and understand the True Nature of this Universe. So with this wise faith, one will clearly understand the teachings of Dharma and make right decisions, knowing what needs to be done and what should not be done, in accordance to the teachings of Buddha. It is as simple as that.

 

With a suspicious mind, a cultivator will end up switching Dharma Gateways and Gurus, without any success in any Dharma Gateway. If one has good faith and believes in the Dharma one is cultivating, one will return to one’s Pure True Nature quickly and not easily tainted by doubts and suspicions.

 

So with one percent of faith, one has one percent of Pureness; two percent of faith, two percent of Pureness and 100 percent of faith, 100% of Pureness. So your Pure True Nature will show up with 100% percent faith. So the main problem is that our faith is tainted with suspicion and after switching infinite Dharma Gateways, one is still unable to return to that Pure True Nature.

 

So now we understand the importance of faith. It affects our speed of progress and our cultivation to return to our True Mind. Once your intrinsic True Mind arises, you will be on the path to Buddhahood. Faith let us cultivate with a willing and happy heart to do all wholesome deeds and thus it is the main driving force on our path to return to our Buddha Nature. So now we should have a thorough understanding of Faith.

 

The second Wholesome Dharma is vigor (精进). Vigor is the diligence to cultivate Wholesomeness and the diligence to sever all Unwholesomeness. So if one is very diligent in cultivating all wholesomeness and severing all unwholesomeness, all unwholesomeness will be severed quickly and all wholesomeness will be perfected for both World and Transcendental World. So if one wishes to perfect these wholesomeness, one must have vigor in cultivation.

 

The Chinese expression of vigor is made up of two words. The first word “精” means to be Pure without impurities of unwholesome dharmas and that is to be 100 percent pure. The second word “进” means to be improving incessantly on wholesome dharmas without the impurities of unwholesome dharmas because unwholesome dharmas will cause wholesome dharmas to be lost.

 

So if on one hand, one is doing wholesome deeds and on the other, one is doing unwholesome deeds, can one have improvement? The answer is “No”. This is because the incessant improvement on wholesome dharmas is not happening. If one is still engaged in unwholesome thoughts, speak unwholesome speech and do unwholesome deeds that are all related to one’s afflictions of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and suspicion, regardless of which Dharma Gateway one is practising day and night, one will not find progress because of the lack in vigor / “精进”. Wholesome Dharmas are like the construction of the foundation to Buddhahood while Unwholesome Dharmas are like demolition works. So as one is constructing from one side, one is also demolishing from the other side, how can one’s cultivation be progressing towards Pure True Nature.

 

So if today I do not have more improvement in wholesomeness than yesterday and tomorrow I do not have more improvement than today, I cannot say I have vigor in cultivation. So one must contemplate if one’s body, speech and mind have done any unwholesomeness. Any unwholesomeness can cause the loss of wholesome cultivation. So one must sever the unwholesome deeds in order to incessantly improve on the wholesome deeds. Without these impurities of unwholesomeness, there will be vigor in one’s cultivation.

 

How can one stop all unwholesome deeds quickly? One needs remorse (惭)

and shame (愧). Remorse that one has done something unwholesome and feel shameful that others will criticise; so one will quickly repent and thus stopping all unwholesome deeds. What is remorse? Remorse is having the inner sense of guilt while shame is the fear of criticism on one’s wrongdoings or unwholesomeness. One who has a remorseful heart, is highly mindful of reflecting one’s thoughts and speech. Every moment, I am reflecting on my body, speech and mind to pick up any unwholesomeness and then repent in remorse and shame. This is the quickest way to sever all unwholesomeness in our deeds.

 

Those who have done wrong and yet their faces do not flush, breaths do not change and still have lots of excuses to debate for themselves; these are the people who do not have a remorseful heart. For these people to change are very difficult as they habitually find ways to blame others and push the blame to others or they will find many reasons to justify their actions. For example, “Most are not paying tax so I will not…” or “All have broken the rule so I also break.” They give their reasons with conviction and don't feel they are wrong because others are also doing so. In fact, he is trying to find an excuse for himself so that he can continue with his unwholesome deeds that seemed alright. So he is unable to change as he keeps repeating his wrong, giving excuses for his actions. Some of these excuses include, “the law of the country has to change” or “the moral principle of the society has to change”. Anyway, the one who needs to change is never oneself but others. So a person without a remorseful heart, will not repent and can never sever unwholesome deeds.

 

So a person with a remorseful heart will be able to carry oneself with self-esteem and self-respect and has a strict code of conduct for oneself. When one does a wrong deed, one’s face will flush with shame and one will want to hide into a hole in the ground. This means one cannot forgive oneself for doing wrong and will remember not to repeat such a mistake; constantly and seriously reflecting upon one’s deeds to ensure not to err again.

 

One is not only strict on self but also have great respect for people who have virtues and morals, and look up to them as role models. However, some are not like this. When he heard someone is a representative of charitable deeds or is a great philanthropist, he feels that is nothing great and thinks just that he has not thought of doing so. For those who have a remorseful heart, they hope to do good and when they see those who cultivate well or are virtuous, they will have great respect for them and aspire to be like them one day. This is how these people become better each day and it all depends on a remorseful heart that can give rise to respect for others.

 

Such a person will also be happy to pursue the True Nature of the Universe. Since young, one likes to pursue perfection and one’s objective in life is to understand True Nature that is pure, ultimate and perfect. Such a respectful heart comes from a person with remorse and feels that the objective of life is to reach a perfect character or perfect state of mind. For this person, once he gets to know Buddhism, he will immediately know he has found the right place: the state of Buddha is ultimate, pure and perfect and it is the True Nature of Universe. He has found his objective in life and he will cultivate very well. All because he has a remorseful heart that does not allow him to have a flaw in the character and thus able to sever all unwholesome deeds easily with a heart that holds great respect for all wholesomeness. So regardless of whether one is looking for Liberation, Fruition or Enlightenment, one will be able to attain quickly because of a heart with remorse and shame.

 

What is Shame (愧)? It is the sense of feeling shameful from being criticized, reprimanded or censured or pressurized publicly. For example, if we have done any wrong deeds, we will have a train of thoughts, “If this wrong deed is discovered, how will I be looked upon? Will they be disappointed? What will my good friend say? Will they leave me? Dislike me? Or when my parents or teachers know about it, will they reprimand me? If the wrong deed becomes news, will my reputation be tarnished? My wrong deeds will be a bad example to my family and society?” Our mind will have lots of consideration and this is the sense of shame in our conscience. This sense of shame is towards others, regardless they are family members, friends, country, society or public. Remorse is towards oneself and Shame is towards others.

 

For one who holds a sense of shame, in order not to be laughed at by others, talked about behind one’s back, disliked or censured, one will exercise utmost effort not to commit any wrong; as one does not like the feeling of having done wrong or being reprimanded for the wrong. So one is extremely careful to make sure one does not commit any wrong and if one commits such wrong, he will feel very shameful of oneself. So such a person can easily sever all unwholesome deeds with the help of a sense of shame.

 

When one is afraid to be a shame to oneself, family, friends, society, country and so on, one will not do unlawful deeds or immoral or unethical deeds for fear of being imprisoned and become a bad example for others. Towards unlawful people, one will despise and treat them like bad examples, with reflection upon self, reminding oneself not to be like them.

 

So Remorse is about one’s feeling of shame within the heart and Shame is about feeling shameful to be reprimanded and disliked by others. With a heart that holds Remorse and Shame, one will naturally want to sever unwholesomeness and cultivate a wholesome heart to perfect all Wholesome Dharmas, attaining Liberation, Enlightenment and Buddhahood. So the key to cease all unwholesomeness and cultivate Dharma path is Remorse and Shame.

 

Next, we talk about Absence of Greed (无贪). Absence of Greed is not to have greed towards any things within the Three Realms (三界); anything that relates to any person, affair or thing.

 

Everyday we busied ourselves with forms, sounds, smells, tastes and feelings (色声香味触), allowing our five faculties of eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body to enjoy the joys from the Five senses and Six Dusts (五欲六尘), hoping to have pleasure in what we see, hear, smell, taste, feel. Hope to have house, money, good family members, good reputation, good status, good health and longevity too. These belong to the pursuit of desires in the Realm of Desire (欲界) within the Three Realms.

 

Once we start to cultivate the Buddha Dharma, we are told not to greed as it will give rise to afflictions, karmas and thus transmigration. So to sever Greed, one has to cultivate Samadhi to subdue the Greed. When one is cultivating Samadhi, one starts to greed on the various levels of jhāna, Samadhi of Four Formless Heavens, Great Vehicle Samadhi or Samadhi, transforming worldly greed to greed for Samadhi.

 

If one adds an attachment to the Dharma Gateway and desires to cultivate that Great Perfection or that Great Mudra, one has roused greed towards the Dharma Gateway. Most cultivators are able to put down their greed for worldly things but have transferred that greed to the cultivation of Transcendental Dharmas (出世间法). The nature of that greed remains unchanged but just the object of greed has changed. So if every day we are still thinking of cultivating for Samadhi or Fruition or a Way, this is still greed. Is this not the objective of our cultivation? Spending so much time to cultivate because there is a Fruition to attain, isn’t it? For beginners in cultivation, the objective is to attain Fruition. Just like we have to donate or give, in order to gather merits. If one greeds on the merits of Giving, one has become attached and has failed to put down. In fact, the objective of Giving is to let us put down our greed.

 

As mentioned before, Bodhi Nature is inherent in us and is our home. So we should not try to grasp something outside and attached to an external gateway or treasure because trying to find from outside will never discover the Bodhi Nature that is already within us. All the Phenomenal Attributes in this world are as illusory as flowers in the space. If one can detach oneself from them, one will be able to return to the True Mind, True Nature or Enlightenment. So the more we attach to external attributes, the further away we are from our True Mind.

 

For new cultivators, they need to inculcate the Desire for Wholesome Dharmas (善法欲) so that it will become the driving force for vigor towards cultivation. At this beginning stage, they may not understand the fact that All Dharmas have no Self and have not connected to that state of realization so they need something to grasp to motivate them into cultivating with vigor. After cultivating diligently with vigor, one day True Nature suddenly dawns upon us and we realize it is inherent in us and need not seek True Mind externally. This is the time when one can truly attain the absence of greed.

 

Upon seeing True Nature, one has infinite wisdom, compassion and skilful means that are inherent in us and one can then find peace in one’s heart and put down that greed of grasping external things. A person who buys house and car, is seeking security and peace through ownership. However, they are not aware that these many possessions will not give them real peace and they still will not sleep well at night. So one should realize the treasure is not outside and these possessions can only satisfy one’s desire to fill up the sense of insecurity. For those who are Enlightened, they have true security and peace as they realize all are inherent in us. So when one is not enlightened, it is very difficult for one not to have greed. It is easy to advise others not to be greedy but to actually do so, one experiences a certain degree of difficulty. Only when one is enlightened and has attained Non-Self, he will then be able to sever greed totally. Other than this, there is no better way to sever greed totally. This is the explanation of Absence of Greed.

 

Absence of Anger (无瞋) means not to have a bad-temper, being easily frustrated and irritated towards all sufferings in the Three Realms. We feel angry because we feel the sufferings in our body-mind and thus giving rise to the impatience, dislike, detest, frustration and hatred from within. Buddha taught us about the Eight Kinds of Suffering: birth (生), aging (老), sickness (病), death (死), parting with what we love (爱别离苦), meeting with what we hate (怨憎会苦), not getting what we want (求不得苦), and all the ills of the five skandhas (五蕴熾盛苦). Those people, affairs and things that I dislike, I tend to meet them. Those that I like tend to move away from me. Those that I desire, always fail to happen. In short, those that cause sufferings to our body-mind will cause us to be angry.

 

Why are we unable to take the slightest sufferings? Because when we can endure sufferings, we will not be angry. Why can’t we take sufferings?

 

The first reason being that these sufferings are opposite to what we wish or expect. We wish the result is good but yet it is not. We wish the share prices go up but they did not. We wish to strike lottery but our numbers never appear perfectly right. If I strike lottery, I can carry out a lot of plans but adversities keep piling up. There is an old saying, “Out of ten happenings, eight or nine of them are not according to our wish or expectation.” Once something does not go according to one’s wish, one will be afflicted by emotions and commit unwholesome acts in anger. Then the karma from anger causes more sufferings and the vicious cycle goes on and on and the sufferings become worse and never end. So the first reason for being angry is when the outcome of happenings is against our wish or expectation.

 

The second reason is because we do not always reflect with the considerations of karmic causes and effects. A karmic cause will yield a karmic effect and we need to ask ourselves why we are suffering. To simply put it, isn’t that the ripening of our karmic deeds and we should not blame anyone? Why? If we are suffering the retribution, we cannot tolerate the sufferings and start to create new bad karmas. Not only that the old karmic debts are not repaid, the new ones are added to the heap. Thus there will never be a time when all debts are repaid and life becomes better.

 

The third reason is because we still have an attachment of Self. “I” am suffering and so I am angry. So unless one has attained Non-Self where there is no arising of afflictions, one can extinguish all the karmic deeds. So one has to learn to contemplate the teachings of Non-Self and understand there is no “Self” that is suffering. It is just the ripening of past bad karmic debts and after that these debts are repaid, everything will end. So one should be happy to repay these debts. With this thought, one will learn to tolerate and will not have the arising of anger.

 

If one can meditate on the impermanence of life, one will be able to reduce a lot of desires and wants. For example, there is an annual sale where things are selling at cheap prices as compared to normal days and we cannot stop the urge to buy them. Under such circumstances, we need to ask ourselves whether we can bring these things along when we die. None of the favourite things or beloved person can be brought along when we leave this world. Only our past karmic deeds will follow us. So with this thinking, do we still want to buy even though they are so cheap?

 

One should live a contented life with little desire and frequently contemplate the teachings on karmic cause and effect. Together with the practice of “Wisdom of Non-Self” to sever the attachment to Self, one will be able to attain the absence of anger. This is the best way. Before we attain Non-Self, we have to constantly remind ourselves on the impermanence of life to reduce our desires. When we encounter happenings that bring sufferings, we have to think that these are the ripening of past karmic debts and so we will be happy to tolerate and not to create new debts. Just by using this method, one will be able to solve the problem of anger.

 

What is the Absence of Foolishness (无痴)? Absence of Foolishness means not to have ignorance when one understands thoroughly about reality (理) and phenomena (事). Reality refers to the state of True Nature / Reality Nature Realm and Phenomena refers to phenomenal attributes state / Phenomena Realm.

 

One is ignorant when one views all conditioned dharmas as real in existence and then arouse afflictions over them, creating karmas and attaching a Self to them continuously. All dharmas have no Self as the Self is illusory and all happenings are the results of causes and conditions. We are unable to understand this fact and so we become confused in this phenomenal world. One should often reflect that all conditioned dharmas are arising-and-perishing, impermanent and their True Nature is Empty.

 

If we often do that, we will soon understand that all are illusory and once we forsake these phenomena, we are able to return to our True Mind. Our True Mind is the Reality Nature Realm (本体界) where the Reality (理) and the unconditioned dharmas are. So why can’t we return to our True Mind? Because we are still confused with all the conditioned dharmas in this Phenomena Realm (现象界) and are constantly applying a Self, the presence of dharma, Self-attachment and attachment to dharmas in all daily chores. That’s why we can’t see our True Mind as it does not have an opportunity to be seen even though it is always there. So only when we do not take all these illusory conditioned dharmas as real and existing, these illusory states will lose their cling on us and then our True Mind will appear right before us. At that moment, we have truly attained absence of Foolishness.

 

Absence of Greed, Anger and Foolishness are the Three Wholesome Virtuous Roots (三善根) because they are fundamental for all wholesome dharmas. For example, a plant needs to have good roots so that leaves, flowers and fruits can grow. One must have the 3 Wholesome Roots so that all Wholesome Dharmas can flourish from it.

 

When we practise wholesome dharmas with all the 3 Wholesome Roots in the heart, we will be able to perfect both Worldly and Transcendental Wholesome Dharmas (一切的世间、出世间的善). So the 3 Wholesome Roots are the source of all wholesomeness – the source of all Wholesome Dharmas.

 

Why will the 3 Wholesome Roots help the arising of all Wholesome Dharmas? The presence of Foolishness causes one to cling tightly to the existence of a Self and thus the existence of all dharmas. So with the Absence of Foolishness, one can understand and practise Non-self and will not be attached to Self and dharmas; only then one can truly be absence of greed and anger.

 

When one has no Self, one will not have greed on anything in this Three Realms. So when one cultivates the Buddha Dharma, one will also not be greedy over merits, attainment and fruition. Once we have put this Self down, everything becomes easy. Without Self, one will have no greed and thus no anger from any resulting sufferings. So when one does wholesome deeds without a Self, one will not arouse afflictions and anger that burns away the merits of the wholesome deeds. Once anger arises, obstacles will follow and all wholesomeness vanishes. So the absence of greed, anger and foolishness can allow all wholesome deeds to be free from the attachment of Self and thus will not destroy the wholesomeness and finally allow all Wholesome Dharmas to be perfected.

 

This explains why Absence of Greed, Anger and Foolishness are the three Wholesome Virtuous Roots.

 

Tomorrow we will continue with the remaining four Wholesome Dharmas.

 

May these merits be dedicated to all and

May all walk the path to Enlightenment.