Hundred Dharmas (lesson 8)

The Shastra on the Door to Understanding the Hundred Dharmas

DHARMA TALK 8 – DHARMAS BELONGING TO THE MIND

-Twenty Derivative Afflictions (随烦恼二十)

-Intermediate-grade Derivative Afflictions (Lack of Remorse and Shame)

BY MASTER JINGLIAN

 

To all honourable ones and laypeople who are present:

Next, we are going to introduce the two Intermediate-grade Derivative Afflictions, which are namely, lack of remorse and lack of shame.

These intermediate-grade derivative afflictions do not arise separately, but simultaneously. As long as there is an evil thought arising, it will contain both unremorsefulness and shamelessness. This is because if there is unremorsefulness and shamelessness, one will allow a wrong intention to arise. Therefore, as long as there is an evil thought arising, it will definitely have unremorsefulness and shamelessness.

What is lack of remorse? Lacking remorse means the lack of remorseful or lack of bashfulness and self-disgrace. When we describe someone as lacking the feeling of embarrassment, it means that he does not feel remorseful after committing wrong deeds. If you tell him, “This is not good! Doing this is not a deed which a man of honour will do!”, he does not even care. If you tell him, “Such conduct goes against one's character, morality, and self-cultivation”, he will also ignore you. This shows a lack of remorse.

Moreover, when he sees someone with moral cultivation, he neither emulates the latter nor feels the need to do so. As for good deeds, he thinks it is not worthy even to consider them and also not necessary to do them. This shows a lack of remorse. This means he will act against his conscience and yet feels fine with it. This lack of remorse is directed towards oneself.

The next intermediate-grade derivative affliction, Lack of Shame, is directed towards society, country, public opinion and external environment. Lacking shame also means lacking the feeling of bashfulness and self-disgrace but it is different from lacking remorse. The former, lacking remorse, is towards one’s own conscience, while the latter is towards the external society, country, family or friends. Thus, this lacking in feeling of embarrassment under Lack of Shame, is directed towards the outside world. When one commits wrong-doings, he can completely disregard the world’s public opinion or criticism. He also does not care about any blame or ridicule and totally disregards them. This shows the lack of shame.

So, whether it is lacking remorse or lacking shame, the result is the impossibility to correct himself because he thinks he has not made any mistake and therefore no need for correction. As a result, he will continue to commit even more evil deeds.

An unremorseful and shameless person will not blush or pant when committing an evil deed. He also does not feel he needs to change anything. So a person like him will only commit more and more evil deeds. Even if he is here to learn and practise Dharma, he is also unlikely to cut-off evil deeds and practise virtuous deeds. He will also not regret and repent and unlikely to end evil deeds to practise virtuous deeds. Certainly, he will not have any accomplishment. It is therefore mentioned in the sutra that only two wholesome dharma can save sentient beings. This means to know whether a being can be saved or not, we have to see if he still have remorse and shame. If he has remorse and shame, he can be saved. Otherwise, he cannot be saved. One who has no remorse and shame, does not care anymore so he will not change for the better - we say he can no longer be saved. One who has remorse and shame, will care about his conduct and will not act against his conscience. He also does not want to be criticised by others for being shameless. He actually cares and so he will reflect upon himself. When his self-reflection shows he has done wrong, he will correct his wrongdoings and will then become better and better. So he can sever evil deeds and practise wholesome deeds. Hence, we say he can still be saved.

Of course, now we will definitely not commit a crime and will certainly not commit serious offence again. Then do we still need to repent? Or do we still need to have a heart of remorse and shame? Is there such a need? All these are still needed! Although we will not commit serious offence, as long as we are not completely enlightened, we still have to rely on the heart of remorse and shame to encourage and spur us on. Only by practising this way can we improve quickly. Although we will not commit any serious body, speech and mind offence, we may still commit the lighter body, speech and mind offences carelessly and inadvertently and this is hard to avoid. So, if we want to progress quickly in our cultivation, we have to uphold even all the trivial precepts. As long as we still have any faults in body, speech and mind, we have to rely on a heart with remorse and shame to correct our mistakes. By doing so, we can be attain realisation to become Buddha.

The sutras tell us that all beings are inherently Buddhas, but why am I not a Buddha now, but still a mortal being? We should feel remorse and shameful over this. Why are we still a mortal being now? It is because our inherent True nature has not been developed and our Buddha nature not revealed. Why does our Buddha nature not able to reveal? Why our True nature cannot manifest before us? It is because of the obscurations! So what is obscuring our inherent True nature? They are afflictions, ignorance and karmic force or karma obstacles. Therefore, as long as there is still afflictions, ignorance and karmic obstacles, we have to feel remorseful and shameful for having these obscurations. Like this, we can clear these obscurations earlier and be enlightened to become Buddha earlier. So, before we are fully enlightened, we have to rely on a heart of remorse and shame to correct our mistakes.

 

In our earlier classes, we spoke about the two delusions: view and thought. As long as we are still mortal beings, our deluded view is complete with five wrong views. The moment we open our mouth to talk to others, all five wrong views are present. This is because our intention definitely has a Self-view (萨迦耶见satkāya-dṛṣṭi). Then, we must have chosen a side which is an extreme view (边见) that cause an argument to arise. Otherwise, there will be nothing to argue about. Both parties have fallen into extreme views without realising it and still think that their own theories are brilliant. Firstly, by holding onto one’s theory, there is a view of self – the View of an Entity (身见). Then, both hold different extreme views (边见). If they are both in the Middle Path and have realised the True Reality of Middle Path (中道实相), there is nothing to quarrel. Would they still quarrel? They will not. So there must be Deviant Views (邪见). The theory that one insisted, is actually his View of Rigid Attachment to Prohibitions (戒禁取见śīla- vrata-parāmarśa-dṛṣṭi). If it is a subjective view, it is his View of Attachment to Views (见取见). Thus, when one starts talking, it completely consists of five wrong views. But we do not understand and do not know because we have not cut-through beyond deluded views and do not understand the principle of Non-self. Hence, there is still Deluded Views. Furthermore, none of the Deluded Thoughts (思惑) namely Greed, Anger, Foolishness, Arrogance or Suspicion, is severed. Which one has been severed? All the Five Poisons still exist. So should we not feel remorseful and shameful? Of course, we should. We are not even qualified to be a stream-enterer (Srotāpanna or Sotapanna) – the First Fruition Stage (初果须陀洹).

 

Therefore, we should not look down on others, as in “Oh! That is just a stream-enterer or initial fruit Arhant!” If our Deluded Views still exists, we still lose to that stream-enterer. “We are the Mahayana Bodhisattvas!” but our Deluded Views and Thoughts are not severed and we should feel remorseful and shameful. The Fourth Fruition of Arhant would have at least severed the two delusions of views and thoughts. We have both Deluded Views and Thoughts and also the Sand-dust Delusion and Ignorance Delusion - none of them is severed. These obstacles are the reasons why we are unable to have fruition and attain Buddhahood despite possessing the all-encompassing Buddha nature. How can we quickly remove all these obstacles? We have to rely on a heart with remorse and shame to reflect, “Since I am learning Buddhism today, I should be like the Buddha, but why is there such a big gap between me and the Buddha? Why do I still have so much ignorance, afflictions, and karma? Why everything is still there?” Therefore, those with a stronger sense of remorse and shame, will be able to sever unwholesome deeds and do wholesome deeds more quickly. Because he does not allow himself to be tainted with so many imperfections. Therefore, all these have to rely on a sense of remorse and shame.

 

So the two types of Intermediate-grade Derivative Affliction (中随烦恼) are the lack of remorse and the lack of shame. The last category is Major-grade Derivative Afflictions which comprises of 8 types of afflictions. Why are they known as Major-grade Derivative Afflictions? This is because they cover a wide extent and are very serious. As long as an evil intention arises, it will definitely have these eight types of afflictions. This means that when the mind moves and thought arises with bad intention, these eight Major-grade Derivative Afflictions will be present. Hence, it is very serious, right? Besides, it has a constant, incessant connection / affinity (恒常相应) to the defilements of 7^th Consciousness such as “I greed”, “I delude”, “My Ego”, “My views” – the four delusions, in every instant of our thought. So, isn’t it serious? Very serious indeed! Therefore, they are known as Major-grade Derivative Afflictions because they cover not only a wide extent but are also very serious delusions. Also they are innate in our life and we are born with them as they are not acquired in this present life. Each and every mortal sentient is born with these delusions. This is the reason why they are the most difficult to sever.

 

The first Major-grade Derivative Affliction is the lack of faith. From the perspective of buddhist practice, Lack of Faith means not believing the Truth of Reality as taught by the Buddha, not believing in the true merits of the Triple Gems and not believing one can realise these truths and accomplish these merits. If you do not believe, you will certainly not work hard to achieve them. This is the main reason why we are not working diligently enough in our practice. We basically do not believe or do not have genuine faith.

 

Everyone will definitely disagree, right? Your mind could be saying, “I do believe! I believe! I really have faith!” Really? Really? If you really believe, then what will be the result? If you really believe in the Truth Reality as explained in Buddha Dharma, then you should uphold and practise according to the teachings. Right? Whatever the Buddha says, we will do as taught. But did we do that? If we had done as taught, we should be Buddhas now! But we are not Buddhas now and it means we have not practised anything taught by Buddha. If not, why are we still mortal beings? So when you say you believe, why are you not upholding and practising according to the teachings? This seems contradictory! When you have faith, you should practise accordingly. Right? I believe in everything that Buddha taught, so I will uphold and practise according to His teachings and do everything he taught.

 

Buddha taught us that we should generate a mind of transcending the Three Realms. If we really believe in that, we should no longer be craving for worldly fame, gains, the five desires and six dust (sense objects) but instead give rise to the mind of transcending. Therefore, if the Buddha says we should generate the mind of transcending the Three Realms, then we should just do that because you have genuine faith. Therefore, you should no longer be craving for worldly things. But this is not what you are doing, right? This teaching was completely not practised. Perhaps just a bit and a little bit of the renunciation mind.

 

Buddha also taught us to generate the Bodhi-mind or Bodhicitta. If we have genuine faith, the we should no longer be selfish and spend the whole day just planning for ourselves, but instead we should really be generating the Bodhi-mind, right? But now our Bodhi-mind is incomplete, maybe just occasionally when we are in a good mood. When our career is not going smoothly or when we are facing obstacles, it is difficult to generate the Bodhi-mind. So we are still not able to do as taught by the Buddha. So, do you say you truly have faith when renunciation-mind is incomplete and the resolve for Bodhicitta or Bodhi-mind is not fully developed.

 

Furthermore, if you really believe in the merits of Triple Gems, what should you do when you encounter problems? Ask for blessings from the Triple Gems, right? We have mentioned this earlier on. We should make offerings to the Triple Gems and then in our prayers relate our problems to Triple Gems. Then relying on the wisdom of Buddha Dharma and strong belief in the causes and effects of karma to resolve all the problems. Will you still seek help from deities or seek divination? Will you go for fortune-telling? Will you check out on the Purple Star Astrology? Check whether this year is suitable for travelling overseas? Will you still want to change your Feng Shui? It is obvious that you do not have genuine faith! If you have genuine faith in the merits of the Triple Gems, what problems will there be?

 

Now, we begin to admit, “Yes! I do not have genuine faith.” Previously, I thought I have faith but after analysing, I do not seem to have practised according to Buddha’s teachings. The true merits of Buddha Dharma and the True Reality mentioned in the Dharma, are not upheld and practised accordingly.

 

In the beginning, we have introduced the meritorious virtues of the Triple Gems - the Dharma-body virtues, the Prajna virtues and the Liberation virtues - which can lead us to Buddhahood. But we do not believe much of it and that is why we went in search of other solutions. The reason is because we do not believe much and do not have faith in the merits of the Triple Gems. Therefore, the Triple Gems cannot be compared to that fortune-teller, Feng Shui master and that temple which can predict so well.

 

Why is it that we have been practising for so long but yet not accomplished? The biggest problem lies in our lack of genuine faith and trust. Therefore, the first affliction, which is innate in all of us, is the lack of faith. We have already mentioned in the beginning about how worldly people with more suspicion are like. We have already talked about this when discussing about greed, anger, foolishness, arrogance and suspicion and that is from the worldly perspective. Now we are not talking about that. We are now looking at Buddhist cultivators and whether they have genuine faith or still have this Major-grade Derivative Affliction - Lack of Faith. Now, everyone admits that he has this affliction. Right?

 

Then, why is the lack of faith such a serious matter? Because it pollutes our pure Buddha-nature and obstructs the manifestation of the pure Buddha-nature. Because it pollutes our mind. When you do not believe, you will not cut-off non-virtuous, unwholesome deeds and practise virtuous, wholesome deeds. If you do not believe in cause and effect, you will not follow the cause and its effect and act accordingly to that real pure cause. So if you do not plant genuine wholesome cause but instead pray for good outcome(effect). Obviously, that is not a correct view of cause and effect. Therefore, we should be working hard on this - whatever fruits (effect) that you want, you should plant the correct seed (cause). You don’t need to pray or beg as naturally you will get that fruit in the correct sense!

 

So, as long as we do not have faith, our mind will be polluted and all the wholesome dharmas will disappear. As long as you have suspicion and lack of faith, all wholesome dharmas are wiped out. The contents of wholesome dharmas is very wide and we only need to quote the examples in the Eleven Wholesome Dharmas mentioned earlier. The first of the Eleven wholesome Dharmas is ‘Faith’. Since you don’t believe, it will obstruct our belief in wholesome dharma, ‘Faith’. The faith in wholesome dharmas cannot arise. Because you don’t believe, right? Because you don’t believe, it will obstruct faith from arising and you don’t have the first wholesome dharma. Since you don’t believe, obviously you won’t be diligent. Earlier we have mentioned that if you don’t believe, then you will not work diligently at cutting-off evil and practising wholesome deeds. So how can you practise according to the teachings and cultivate vigorously? So the wholesome dharma of ‘Vigour’ is absent. Without vigour, there will be laziness and laxness. So there will not be ‘Non-laxness’ and this wholesome dharma is also absent. You will not vigorously cultivate the Three Wholesome Roots - Absence of greed, absence of anger and absence of foolishness. Naturally, there will not be ‘Renunciation’. So these four wholesome roots - absence of greed, absence of anger, absence of foolishness and renunciation - are not present. If you do not believe, you will continue to commit bad deeds. And when you continue to do bad deeds, you will not have remorse and shame but will have unremorsefulness and shamelessness. The fact that you still continue with the bad deeds, it means your sense of remorse and shame are not enough, implying these Wholesome Dharmas of ‘Remorse’ and ‘Shame’ are also absent. Since you continue to carry out bad deeds, you will definitely not have that ‘Non-harming’ and this Wholesome Dharma will also be gone. Because when you carry out bad deeds, you will definitely hurt sentient beings, carrying out deeds which frustrate and harm sentient beings. Hence, you will not have Non-harming and impossible to have ‘Light ease.’

 

Therefore, as long as there is still lack of faith, all the wholesome dharmas cannot be accomplished and only evil, unwholesome deeds will increase. None of the aforementioned Eleven Wholesome Dharmas can be accomplished. That is why we say lack of faith is very serious because it pollutes our mind, deter wholesome dhamas from being accomplished and increase only evil deeds. So what should we do? Cultivate more faith to counteract the lack of faith. Believe that our nature is originally pure and clean and all sentient beings originally have Buddha-nature innately. Since Buddha-nature is originally innate in us, of course we can become Buddhas. As long as we revert back to the original pure and clean nature, Buddha-nature will reveal and we naturally be able to become Buddhas. We have to have this kind of faith. Since all sentient beings have Buddha-nature, they can definitely become Buddhas as long as we follow and cultivate according to the Dharma taught by Buddha. Then definitely we can attain the ultimate goal of Buddhahood without a single doubt. It depends on whether you believe or not. If you can believe, you will be diligent. This is the first one.

 

The second Major-grade Derivative Affliction is ‘Slackness.’ What is slackness? Slackness means being lax and neglectful. The body is lazy and you cannot focus on whatever you do. The mental state is also loose and scattered. This is the form of slackness.

 

Slackness is also inborn in everyone. The more commonly-used term is laziness. Everyone has laziness and are very good at being lazy. Right? You don’t need to teach someone to be lazy; it is born with him. This is the same with children. If you don’t watch over him doing his homework, he will be lazy and quietly play with electronic games. He is staying inside the room the whole day playing on the computer but will then tell his mother that he is doing homework. The mother happily thinks, “Such a good child! Today, he stays in the whole day! He is working hard in front of the computer!” except that she does not know which website he is visiting and browsing. So, everyone naturally knows how to be lazy. If there is a chance to be lazy, you will be lazy. If you can rest, you will not work hard. If you can avoid work, you will avoid it. Being careless, muddled, just trying to get by only and not wanting to bear responsibility are lazy habits which everyone has since birth.

 

Why is this slackness or laziness categorized as unwholesome dharmas? Why is it an affliction? You may say that you are a bit lazy, scattered and slacking and that it cannot be so bad since you do not commit bad deeds. But this slacking habits will make us not wanting to quickly sever bad deeds that we should not be doing. Why? Because too lazy to cut-off - lazy to such extend. We actually know that should not be done but because of laziness, we don’t put in effort to quickly stop it. Therefore, in this lifetime, that bad habit will not change for a few decades. That means he is lazy to change. Someone will nag at him but he will just let him nag because he is still lazy to change! Towards those unwholesome deeds which he knows are not good, he still will not change. This is slackness because he is lazy to change.

 

With regards to those wholesome deeds that we should do - for example, we know we should cut-off the Ten Unwholesome Deeds and do wholesome deeds - he will similarly not do them vigorously. For the Ten Wholesome Deeds which he should do, he cannot muster the energy to put effort into carrying them out because of laziness. When someone says, “Let’s go to the holy sites together to make offerings.” “Ah! This is so far? Forget it!” Otherwise, lets go and practise hard in the seven-day Buddhist camp. He will say, “So tiring!” In any event, when we talk about doing good deeds, it will be fine if someone helps him to do the good deeds on his behalf. If it is too difficult, too tiring, too far and so forth...with conditions, he will be too lazy to do. This is known as Slackness.

 

He just does not have the mind to vigorously conduct good deeds. That mind intention cannot arise and that is slackness. We all know that virtuous, wholesome deeds accumulate merits, but why is it so slow to accumulate? Because we are lazy to do. This is Slackness.

 

Because it is like this, so although it seems that unwholesome deeds are not intentionally carried out, it is a kind of bad behaviour in reality. Because it will constantly increase our taint in the three realms, allowing the habit of laziness and laxness to continuously grow stronger. It will not disappear by itself because it is inborn and will continue in a habitual cycle, becoming lazier and more slacking, being not vigor forever. Hence, will you be able to accomplish if continue to slack? Therefore, no matter how you learn or cultivate, there will be no results because of laziness.

 

So we just have to check ourselves to know whether we have slackness. Here are the four main points we have discussed earlier. Firstly, once I discover my mistake, do I rectify immediately or am I lazy to change? Just like what we have discussed just now. Aware one has done wrong but lazy to change. Aware that is not good but carelessly let it get by. This is the first one.

 

Secondly, do I always protect my mind so that I will not commit wrongdoings? This has to do with ‘Laxness’ which will be discussed later. Because of laxness, the body-mind is lax outwards completely. Therefore, he does not safeguard the mind carefully and hence, not take precautions against committing offences of body, speech and mind, including even the most trivial offence. He does not have that protective mind. Why? Because of laziness, the protective mind of preventing all evil, unwholesome wrongdoings does not arise. This is the second point - Check if one has the protective mind that is always on guard to protect oneself from wrongdoing.

Thirdly, on practising those wholesome deeds that we should cultivate, for example, the Ten Wholesome Deeds or the Six Paramitas - generosity, morality, patience, vigor, concentration - do I diligently practise them? Have I started practising? If not, that is also slackness - lazy to cultivate.

 

Fourthly, towards those wholesome deeds which I have been cultivating, have I worked hard to continuously increase them? It is not just doing them once in a while but doing them over a prolonged period of time. Therefore, ask yourself whether you have been continuing with that wholesome deed that you do once in a while. Do you continue to grow those wholesome deeds and roots day by day?

 

If these four points are not done, then you have to admit that you have slackness. Therefore to put it simply, as long as you do not have the courage and proactivity to cut-off non-virtuous, unwholesome deeds and practise virtuous, wholesome deeds, it is slackness. This is looking from the perspective of learning and practising Buddhism. Learning and practising Buddhism begins with cutting-off non-virtuous deeds and practising virtuous deeds. Thereafter, avoid all non-virtuous, practise all virtues and then purify the mind, are the teachings of Buddha. The contents of all the Buddha’s teaching is summarised into these steps: starting from severing evil, practising virtues and then purifying the mind, not attaching to all virtues and wholesomeness.

 

Therefore, as long as one is not vigorously cutting-off bad deeds and practising virtuous and wholesome deeds, one is slackness regardless whether one has already been practising daily Dharma homework or not. Maybe some people always conduct morning and evening Dharma homework or maybe he or she is cultivating like chanting mantras every day or chanting Buddha’s name very vigorously and thought it is vigor. And also often go to the Dharma centres/temples, participating in chanting retreats, repentance rituals, Pujas/Dharma services, transmission ceremonies, listening to Dharma talks…attending everything. But the main point is: those above-mentioned four points of self-reflection that we talked about just now, do you do them? If you do not vigorously sever bad, unwholesome deeds and do good, wholesome deeds but appear to be involved in many cultivating activities/phenomena, that is just practising on the phenomenon state and actually your mind never cultivates because your mind never cut-off bad deeds and practise good deeds. Practising on the phenomenon state makes you look very busy with matters relating to cultivation. As long as your evil deeds are not severed and wholesome deeds are not cultivated, it is still slackness. Hence, we now know what slackness is. The main point is to vigorously sever bad/evil, unwholesome deeds and practise good, wholesome deeds.

 

Not being able to sever bad deeds and practise good deeds will result in the continuous growth of unwholesome ways or evil ways. Because you are not vigorously cutting-off bad deeds and that unwholesome ways will continue to grow. The growing of unwholesome ways will result in the regression and loss of the wholesome Dharma. Therefore, while constructing on one side, you are at the same time destroying the other side; that is why we are slow at accumulating merits. One of the important reasons is also slackness. Although we know that ‘fire burns down the forest of merits’ is a very important reason for the destruction of merits, slackness is also very important. Because of slackness, you do not counter the anger and aversion in your mind and do not initiate/raise the Bodhi mind/ Bodhicitta (发菩提心). Thus, resulting in the fire of anger burning down the forest of merits. Right? Therefore, slackness is the main culprit and is causing the problem of not being able to vigorously initiate/raise the Bodhi mind, allowing the mind of anger and aversion to become so strong and burning down the forest of merits. Hence, making it difficult to accumulate merits from wholesome, good deeds.

 

Therefore, we now understand, why Slackness is a type of unwholesome dharma. It is an affliction under Major-grade derivative affliction. Why? The reason is explained here. It a derivative affliction which corresponds to greed. We can say that it is derived from the fundamental affliction. So which fundamental affliction does Slackness correspond with? It corresponds with affliction of greed because one is greedy for the ease of laxness after slacking. He feels like his mind has no burden and that corresponds to greed. Being lazy and not diligent is under greed. Furthermore, not understanding that it will lead to the continuous increase in unwholesome dharma and regression of our wholesome dharma, is foolishness / ignorance. Hence, failure to understand this logic and the fault of slackness are the main reasons obstructing us from accomplishment / attainment. So being not able to understand belongs to part of foolishness. What to do? Diligently and vigorously cut-off all unwholesome deeds and practise all wholesome deeds. In this way, unwholesome dharma will be eradicated and wholesome dharma will flourish.

 

So from today onwards, whenever we commit any wrongdoings, quickly regret and repent so that unwholesome karma can be cleared earlier. This is the first homework: after committing wrongdoings, quickly regret and repent so that our negative karma can be cleared more quickly. The second homework is to be carefully safeguard our mind from creating negative karma through body, speech and mind. Arouse the protective mind not to slack and lax and quickly uphold this protective mind. Safeguarding with a protective mind will reduce the chances of offences because you are careful, diligent, mindful and have increased alertness. The third homework is to courageously practise all wholesome Dharma. The fourth homework is not just practise all wholesome Dharma courageously but also to incessantly increase these wholesome Dharma. If you can do this, you will be able to sever slackness very quickly.

 

This is the second one.

 

The third one is ‘Laxness’. What is laxness? Laxness means to indulge in being scattered and lax. This is to intentionally indulge oneself and let mind be scattered and lax without any restraint. This kind of attitude is known as Laxness. Not wanting to restrain one’s body and mind and intentionally indulging with laxness. This is called Laxness.

 

Listen well, those with this personality belongs to be laxness. Those who are casual and does whatever he is happy with, is perfect a model of laxness. He is usually dissolute and unrestrained, and has never restrained his body and mind. Always unrestrained, he always indulges in his own desires - he sees, listens, eats and buys whatever he likes. He never restrains his habits and let them explode and develop without a thought of restraining oneself. He thinks there is nothing wrong and feels comfortable, leisurely, free and easy, being of the view that he is living a life of “good taste” and enjoying it. Because he knows how to enjoy life so that is called ‘Having good taste’, living a life of good taste and carefreeness. Why? Because he does not restrain himself so naturally he is carefree but this is the appearance of laxness. People with this kind of personality is born with laxness. His laxness is more serious because he is living an unrestrained life full of laxness.

 

Therefore, if he has to learn and practise Buddhism one day, he will be in trouble, understand? Because he is so used to being scattered and now have to sit there to count his breath. He will be in trouble! When he practises Samatha and Vipassana meditation, his shoulders will start to stiffen, his waist becomes painful and his breathing will not be smooth as nervousness and stress appears. Usually, he is not nervous or stressed. He never felt stressed before because he could do whatever he wanted. Now, he cannot happily do whatever he wants but to sit there obediently, and he cannot do it. To him, practising Samatha Meditation is very torturing. This is because he is so used to being lax and now suddenly, he has to observe restraint of body and mind, causing him to become stiff and his mental state to become nervous. He feels extremely tired after practising for a while. It is as though days are like years and a long period of time has passed but it is only 5 minutes. He will find it strange that time passes slowly! Why does he feel so tired? Because the action he is carrying out now is against his favourite habit of laxity; going against his habit of being lax. So he will not feel well when doing this as he is so used to being comfortably free. Therefore, he feels difficult doing it.

 

Actually, this mentality of laxness is in all of us because it is innate. Everyone likes that feeling of laxness because it feels relaxing and comfortably free. That moment is the most comfortable. The body and mind is the most comfortable because you do not need to observe restraint. Then, what Dharma door to practise? Practising samatha needs to restrain body and mind and the mind immediately becomes tight and the body becomes stiff. Hence, it goes against our usual favourite feeling of relaxation and that habit of laxness. Now, you want him to suddenly restrain his body and mind, he will find it very difficult.

 

So does laxness result in any good outcome? Although it makes you feel comfortable and carefree, it gives rise to afflictions of greed, anger and foolishness/ignorance. By not restraining your body and mind, you will easily become lax and as a result, commit negative karma of body, speech and mind. Being lax easily creates afflictions because laxness is basically greed. Right? So it will allow our greed, anger and foolishness to manifest continuously. The outcome of a continuous manifestation of these afflictions is a continuous increase of unwholesome karma and at the same time, a continuous decrease of wholesome karma. Therefore, laxness is a supporting pillar on which unwholesomeness thrives. So all unwholesomeness arises from laxness. So the moment you have laxness, all the afflictions will manifest to create negative karma. Hence, all unwholesomeness arises from laxness. Because of laxness, we are not happily and vigorously practise all the wholesome deeds and at the same time, our mind is not safeguarding against unwholesome deeds. Therefore, laxness underpins all unwholesome dharma.

 

Just now, we talked about slackness and now about laxness. They seem to be similar, right? But they are in fact different. Let’s go one step further to explain the difference between slackness and laxness. The slackness we talked about earlier, is not making effort to vigorously practise wholesome dharma; that is not diligently severing unwholesome deeds and doing wholesome good. Especially the wholesome deeds, you will not put in effort to vigorously practise them. The laxness we talk about now is about not restraining our own habits of greed, anger and foolishness. So, it is different. Slackness is not vigorously cultivating the three fundamental wholesome roots of ‘Absence of greed’, ‘Absence of anger’ and ‘Absence of foolishness’. Everyday when our six sense-base (Sense subjects) are busily pursuing the six dusts (sense objects), every thought corresponds to greed, anger and foolishness. This is known as laxness.

 

Therefore, we can come to the conclusion on what laxness is. That is the combination of these four: slackness, greed, anger and foolishness/ignorance. So, what is laxness? Laxness is slackness, greed, anger and foolishness. Like this, you can understand the difference between slackness and laxness.

 

Therefore, the result of laxness is the continuous increase of unwholesome karma and continuous destruction of the three fundamental wholesome roots - Absence of greed, absence of anger and absence of foolishness. When wholesome roots are destroyed, we will not be able to renounce and let go even though we may wish to. For example, you want to perform generosity but unable to do so. Why? Because laxness cause greed to arise and so you have no way to be generous. You cannot be compassionate ever when you want to because of anger. The moment you lax, anger arises and you will not be able to restrain body-mind. When anger arises, temper flares uncontrollably. You cannot be compassionate even though you want to because of anger. You want to develop wisdom but cannot because of foolishness. With greed, anger and foolishness all present, we say that laxness is the basis of all the unwholesome dharma. The reasons are stated here.

 

What can we do now? If we want our cultivation to improve, we cannot continue to let our body and mind be lax like last time. What should we do? Every day, take in and restrain your body and mind, guard and protect your sensory faculty doors closely. As stipulated in the Restraining Sensory Faculties of Lamrim Chenmo (The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment), it expressed the need to carefully examine, guard and protect your six sensory faculty doors - eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. When our six senses are always in contact with six defiling sense objects of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind everyday, we take in and restrain in our body and mind inward and maintain a direct or indiscriminate perception. Seeing is seeing, listening is listening, and do not raise any differentiating/discrimination and attachment. Only then, the greed, anger and foolishness will not arise and affinity or connection with greed, anger and foolishness will not be built. As long as your sixth consciousness maintains a direct or indiscriminate perception - seeing is just seeing, there is no liking or disliking, there is no self who is seeing; listening is just listening, there is no liking or disliking this sound, whether this music is nice or not - then there will not be any greed, anger and foolishness. Because when the six sense faculties face the six defiling objects, as long as you start to differentiate/discriminate, the Sixth Consciousness differentiates simultaneously and the Seventh Consciousness will form attachment, saying, “I am looking at this flower.” And if I like, then greed arises; if I do not like this pattern, then anger arises; if there is neither like nor dislike, then foolishness arises. Hence, once your Sixth Consciousness starts to differentiate/discriminate, greed, anger and foolishness will arise and this is the result of laxness. If you are not lax and restrain your body and mind - seeing is seeing, listening is listening, when the six sense faculties face the six defiling objects, maintain a direct or indiscriminate perception - then greed, anger and foolishness will not arise. Practising slowly like this and eventually non-laxness will be achieved. In other words, closely guards and protects your sensory faculites and do not form impression and follow likings.

 

The fourth is ‘Torpor’. The fourth Major-grade Derivative Affliction is Torpor. What is torpor? Torpor is when the mind slips into a kind of heavy, sinking , and dullness state. When the head feels dizzy and the body heavy, this is a sign of torpor.

 

Everyone experiences torpor and that is when our minds are not clear. Even though it is daytime and we are not sleeping during the day, the head feels dull and heavy and the mind is not clear; that is torpor. At this time, if you try reading The Shastra on the Door to Understanding the Hundred Dharmas, you will doze off before finishing the first chapter and cannot easily contemplate the text. Why? Torpor causes us not being able to focus on reading and delve into the context of the shastra. Then you close the book (the shastra) and decide to meditate and cultivate visualisation or insight meditation (vipassana); but unable to contemplate. Sorry! How about try counting breath, one, two, three... but soon lose count and the number is missing! No matter what practice you try to do, the result is the same. When chanting the Buddha’s name, the name also disappears. That is torpor and it is a severe obstruction towards our cultivation.

 

There is no way to counteract the affliction because it is a Major-grade Derivative Affliction. There is no way of cutting-off evil, practise good and be vigor; there is no way of cultivating any practice. Why? Because the whole mind slips into heavy, sinking dizziness and has no way to decide. Torpor is calling the shots and your mind has no way to decide. Therefore, torpor causes us not being able to cultivate anything as there is no way to muster up any efforts. You cannot cultivate properly and the brain becomes slower and slower, and memory becomes worse. So regardless how can you meditate in this torpor state, your body is unable to attain light-ease. Because torpor itself is a kind of heavy and unsubtle state that causes our body and mind to become heavy and unsubtle. What about the mind? Mind cannot practise contemplation as you are not able to contemplate on anything even if you want to. Because the state of torpor is too heavy for the mind to arise and hold any contemplation.

 

As a result, torpor prevents our body from attaining light-ease and the mind from practising contemplation to attain wisdom, prajna. As torpor corresponds with foolishness (one of the fundamental afflictions of greed, anger and foolishness), it obstructs us from cultivating contemplation. We have said before that contemplation can lead to attaining wisdom. Since we cannot cultivate contemplation, we definitely cannot attain wisdom. Therefore, torpor corresponds with foolishness.

 

So, if we want to cultivate properly, we should put in effort to maintain clarity of mind at all times. That is, your Sixth Mind Consciousness is always in a clear and bright state. One who is skilled, can even maintain clear and bright mind consciousness when one is asleep. This is why he can eventually abstain from sleep.

 

If we can maintain clarity of mind, then it is easier to realise our True Nature, Why? Because our True Mind is intuitive, bright and unambiguous and when our mind is in a state of clarity, it will be easier for us to correspond with our Original True/Inherent Nature of the True Mind (真心本性). This makes for easier realisation. However, it has to depend on the strength of meditation absorption which is the cultivation of concentration(samatha) and insight meditation(vipassana). Therefore, if the head is clear and bright/sharp when reading a sutra, one will be able to understand everything and will also able to enter into / envisage the state as explained in the sutra. One will be able to decide comfortably on which cultivation method to use. If one wants to cultivate concentration, one will attain concentration. If one wants to practise Contemplation/Insight Meditation, one will be able to cultivate contemplation/Insight Meditation. Whatever one wishes to visualise, the object of visualisation will arise. If one wants to chant Buddha’s name or mantra, all these can be accomplished. One will also attain light-ease of the body and develop wisdom.

 

How long will it take to achieve this skill? With reference to meditation skill – which absorption level must we reach in order to overcome the state of torpor? First Jhana, the first level of meditative absorption (pathamajhana), is good enough. It is not very high. As long as you have attained the skill at First Jhana, you will be able to overcome torpor. To such a person, his mind is definitely very clear and bright not only in the day but also at night when he sleeps. Sleep is known as heavy torpor, but to him, heavy torpor does not exist. Even though he is sleeping, his brain is in a clear and bright state. So at this stage, he can cut-off sleep. That is why we say that when one attains First Jhana or Pathamajhana, one can cut-off opposite sex, food and sleep - the habits of the Desire Realm. Therefore, when the meditation skill is good, the desire for the opposite sex, food and sleep will naturally and slowly reduced, until they are totally severed.

 

The fifth is ‘Restlessness.’ What is restlessness? It is a state when our mind is floating and moving aimlessly, unable to peacefully abide the object of meditation. For example, we have said about missing the counting of our breaths in meditation, false thinking when chanting Buddha’s name or having false thoughts wandering everywhere when we sit down. These are the signs of restlessness. This is also the reason why we are not able to still the mind.

 

The torpor that we mentioned earlier is an obstruction towards visualisation or insight meditation(vipassana). The ‘Restlessness’ that we are talking about now, is an obstruction to stilling the mind in samatha meditation. Why? Because with many deluded thoughts wandering in various directions, it is impossible for our mind to quieten down and abide restfully amidst the continuous floating and aimless moving of the mind. This is what we mean by “the mind engaging in deluded thoughts”. The incessant false thinking is what we call ‘Restlessness’.

 

Why do we have restlessness? When you are sitting, what are you thinking of? Most of the time, we are reminiscing about the past. Do the recollections involve painful memories? Of course not. Those recollections are happy memories, right? Therefore, most of the time, when you are sitting there and reminiscing about the past, you are recollecting those happy, unforgettable events. So our mind is always in nostalgia, getting deeply intoxicated in those happenings. So restlessness is about an incessant state of nostalgia and recollection and it belongs to a part of greed, corresponding with the fundamental affliction of greed.

 

Because of greed, we keep reminiscing past events that make us happy. We continuously crave to be in that state of happiness and therefore those scenes keep on appearing non-stop, becoming usual incessant recollection. Why do past memories keep appearing non-stop even when one is meditating? Because the related seeds of these memories are stored within the Eighth Consciousness, awaiting to appear when you meditate.

 

There is another kind of restlessness that we must pay careful attention to especially for those who love to meditate. During meditation, the person sees some scenes appearing like mountains, endless mountains, boundless ocean, all kinds of light, sunlight, starlight, moonlight and different colours of brightness. He thinks he has psychic powers. Then, we know it is more akin to Psychotic. Right? Such experiences are common among meditators and many like to meditate because of these experiences, thinking that they have attained psychic powers. In actual fact, this kind of situation is restlessness which is what we are currently discussing. Understand? Genuine concentration does not have any scenes. If there are scenes or images, it is because his mind is in restlessness.

 

Where do all these scenes come to be? The seeds of Eighth Consciousness, Alaya-vijnana, has sprouted. Understand? Because you meditate and sit until there is no thought. But is that a state of Concentration? That is mild torpor, understand? When you meditate until it is as if there is no thought, it is in fact mild torpor and you mistook it as Concentration or meditative state. Because at this moment when you do not have any thoughts, the seeds from the Eighth Consciousness will sprout easily. As a result, things that you usually think of or what psychic states that you usually have interest, will all reveal at this moment to you. So, you think you are seeing Buddha, lotus flowers and the Pureland. That is because you usually think of Buddha and chant Buddha’s name and when you are in mild torpor, restlessness occurs. That is not the real Pureland manifestation, understand? The seeds of the Eighth Consciousness have sprouted and these seeds are those you usually plant; what you usually like, what you want to see, all of these are planted in. When you are in the state of mild torpor and without thoughts, they will all appear. So you will see this and that and many countless phenomena. So must take caution. Firstly, do not mistake mild torpor as Concentration. Secondly, do not think that you have attained psychic powers or else you will really become crazy.

 

You must pay special attention to this because many who like to meditate will fall into this state of mild torpor and thereafter not able to progress further to develop wisdom. Understand? Earlier, we mentioned that torpor corresponds to foolishness/ignorance and therefore no matter how long he meditates, he cannot develop wisdom. No matter how long he meditates, even until the Year of Donkey - in a Chinese saying - which does not exist, he will neither be enlightened nor develop wisdom. We call the thirteenth year in the Chinese calendar as the Year of Donkey. The calendar cycle starts with the first being mouse, second bull, third tiger, fourth rabbit and so forth…and the thirteenth is known as donkey. Even if he meditates until the Year of Donkey, he will neither be enlightened nor develop wisdom. Why? Because he is greedily attached to his state and when he meditates, he will enter into mild torpor and is tirelessly thrilled by the scenes appearing. He does not know that his mind is actually playing tricks on him and that he is playing with his own mind consciousness. Not aware that his Eighth Consciousness manifests the states and he is grasping onto them. Therefore, it is impossible for him to develop wisdom and also not able to attain genuine psychic powers because he is not in the genuine first, second, third and fourth level of jhana or meditative states but in “mild torpor stillness”. This is very serious and therefore specifically mentioned here to clarify all the happenings during restlessness. As the scenes are related what he attaches and craves for, we say that restlessness corresponds to greed.

 

Let us continue with the next one, the sixth Major-grade Derivative Affliction, which is ‘Distraction.’ Distraction means losing one’s mindfulness. Why do we lose mindfulness? Because the mind is scattered. When the mind is scattered, it will lose its mindfulness, causing our mind not being able to rest in a state of mindfulness; it cannot rest in mindfulness, afflictions will immediately arise.

 

Why do afflictions arise? They arise because you are not abiding in mindfulness and once mindfulness is lost, afflictions will have the chance to arise. So, if your mind can rest continuously in mindfulness and always stay in the mindful state, afflictions will not have the chance to arise. Now that you are distracted, afflictions arise immediately as we easily generate various karma from the actions of body, speech and mind.

 

What is right mindfulness? It depends on which method/gateway you are practising and that particular method is your right mindfulness. Therefore, any method is also the right mindfulness as it is what your mind has to rest and abide to. Once you leave that abiding state, it is known as being distracted. So, when you are chanting Buddha’s name, Buddha’s name is your right mindfulness. When you are counting breaths, that number counting of breaths is your right mindfulness. Did we not talk about the listening to, contemplating and practising the Buddha Dharma? Normally, when you are thinking about Buddha Dharma, the contents of Buddha Dharma is the right mindfulness. The scope of right mindfulness is broad. Whichever method you are practising diligently, that content of the Dharma gateway becomes your cultivation of right mindfulness. So, when you are distracted or lose mindfulness, affliction arises and then karma is created.

 

Therefore, no matter which Dharma gateway we cultivate, we are actually cultivating right mindfulness and this is very important - the strength of right mindfulness is very important. As long as we continue to practise, our mind will be able to abide in that gateway. After practising for a long period of time, you will naturally have the strength of right mindfulness. Usually, in the beginning, your mind is scattered, in torpor and restless. So you have to quickly restrain your body and mind to abide in that gateway you are practising, coming back to rest again in the state of mindfulness. But then, it will again stray into deluded thoughts and again you have to pull it back. A short while later, it will sink into torpor and again you have to pull it back. You have to practise like that continuously and then the strength of right mindfulness will grow increasingly stronger. When the strength of right mindfulness gets stronger, it is easy to reach concentration. With concentration, it is easy to attain wisdom. Therefore, right mindfulness is the first step towards gaining wisdom. If your right mindfulness is not strong, it means you are frequently in the state of distraction. Would you be able to attain the power of concentration? It is not possible because if your mind is scattered, in torpor or restless, there is no concentration and no attainment of wisdom. So, the main factor in attaining wisdom is right mindfulness. That right mindfulness must be extremely strong. With the power of right mindfulness, you will quickly attain concentration and in genuine concentration, wisdom will manifest. So, no matter which method or gateway you are practising, you are actually using it to cultivate the power of right mindfulness.

 

People with the power of right mindfulness, are able to make decisions at ease and be in control. That great practitioner or those we knew as Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas, whom you see sitting there, are actually using their power of mindfulness to benefit beings. But we are not aware of it. We also read in the sutras about the Buddha giving Dharma teachings and he is seen by his disciples to be meditating. Actually, he is already using his power of mindfulness to enlighten and benefit beings. Therefore, one who has accomplished the power of right mindfulness, can use psychic powers to benefit many beings. But generally, normal people are not aware of it.

 

Many people have asked: I am practising Bodhicitta everyday, exchanging self for others. I take in all the evil karma committed by all beings and then transfer all my wholesome karma to them. He is worried if he visualises like this - all the beings’ unwholesome karma in the form of black air enters his mind - will he be able to bear them? The unwholesome karma of all beings is so heavy! When they transform into black air and enter my mind, would my whole body become black? Because the karma is too heavy. Do not worry! Why? Because your mindfulness is not strong enough. The thought you have generated here will have dissipated before you even reach the door. So, you do not need to worry that the evil karma of all beings will ripen on you. They will not be able to go over to you as your mindfulness is not strong. Understand? So, do not worry!

 

There are some people who ask: How effective are those rituals to liberate the departed ones? That also depends on the power of mindfulness. It depends on the monk’s liberation power which depends on the power of his mindfulness. If his right mindfulness is strong, then his liberation power is also strong. Practitioners who are accomplished in right mindfulness will not need to follow the rituals procedures; he does not need to follow the book. He only needs to rely on his mindfulness to liberate beings. Understand? So the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas use their power of mindfulness to benefit beings. From here, we can now understand the importance of mindfulness.

 

In Vajrayana/Tibetan Buddhism, why does the teacher have to observe the disciple for many years? It is just for twelve years, not very long. The teacher will observe the disciple for twelve years. What is the main thing being observed? He is watching his mind because to succeed in the practice of Vajrayana Buddhism, Bodhicitta is fundamental. Whichever method/gateway you choose to cultivate, if you do not have Bodhicitta as your foundation, you will not succeed however great the method is, be it the Great Perfection(大圆满) or Mahamudra(大手印) or whichever Deity’s gateway(本尊法) that you practise. If you do not have Bodhicitta as your foundation, there will not be any success in any tantric practice you engage in.

 

If you are a disciple with strong aversion, should or would the teacher give you transmission? Will he transmit that very powerful, wrathful Vajra Deity, Dorje Drolo (emanation of Guru Padmasambhava), to you? The destructive power of this mantra is very strong. So if this disciple has very strong aversion, do you think he should receive this transmission? No, it must never be transmitted to him. Why? Because if his mindfulness is strong, it becomes dangerous. If he receives that powerful transmission and then with strong mindfulness and heavy aversion, is that not dangerous? Because anyone who has previously offended or harmed him would have a terrible ending should he decide to get back at that person. Once his anger arises and together with his strong mindfulness, will that person not die terribly? So, that is why the teacher will observe the disciple for twelve years. What does he observe? To observe if he has the complete eligibility of a disciple and genuine Bodhicitta. If he still have those characteristics of resentment, hatred, rage, jealousy and inflicting harm (which we mentioned yesterday), then the teacher cannot transmit the teachings to him. If he still has all those thoughts and afflictions corresponding to anger, then this teachings cannot be transmitted to him for fear that he might turn dangerous when he loses his temper one day. This explains the real power of mindfulness and that it can be used for many purposes.

 

Mindfulness is like waves. A thought is a kind of Mindfulness wave, a motion wave. For a person with strong mindfulness, his waves can pervade the whole Dharma realm. So, what can the Buddha’s and Bodhisattvas’ mindfulness do? We have said that the Ten Dharma Realms are connected and a thought can pervade all the Ten Realms. Earlier on, we talked about Five Universally Interactive(五遍行) Dharmas, right? We have also said that the power of our mind consciousness can transcend space and time, right? Thus, we can see that our mind has the inherent power to transcend the entire illusionary realm, without a place it cannot reach. However, as we are not accomplished in mindfulness, our mind power is too weak to transcend the whole dharma realm. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can do that because They have accomplished right mindfulness. Therefore, no matter which method/gateway we are cultivating now, the training is to develop right mindfulness. As long as your right mindfulness slowly accomplishes, then you can talk about attaining Concentration, developing wisdom and supernatural powers. There is another important point and it is also very important. The fastest way to attain supernatural powers is through right mindfulness. Therefore, no matter which method we are practising, we must train properly in our right mindfulness and then we will be able to succeed in accomplishing all the Dharma practices.

 

The seventh Major-grade Derivative Affliction is ‘Improper Knowledge.’ Improper knowledge means having incorrect cognition. When you encounter problems, your understanding is wrong. This is perhaps due to the person’s wrong views or wrong thoughts. In any case, it is the concept, thought and /or understanding that are wrong and this is called improper knowledge. Wrong cognition is called improper knowledge.

 

Why is there erroneous cognition? It is because of foolishness/ignorance and that is why improper knowledge corresponds to foolishness. It produces wrong knowledge and wrong views and hence, corresponds to pervert wisdom. It is because of foolishness that one has wrong understanding. From the Buddhism point of view, this is not understanding the True Reality of Middle Path and not understanding the True Reality of all Phenomena. We have mentioned many times that all phenomena arise and perish, are impermanent and non-self/without a ‘self’. But because we do not understand the truth, we think that a ‘self’ and dharma truly exist and are permanent. This is erroneous cognition and it gives rise to self-attachment and dharma-attachment.

 

Erroneous cognition (认知) gives rise to various kinds of wrong understanding (邪知). So, when he encounters problems, he will apply wrong understanding and wrong differentiation/discrimination, which we call pervert wisdom. Due to wrong cognition, his judgement is wrong because of wrong differentiation or wrong understanding. We talk about wrong knowledge and wrong view and that wrong knowledge refers to this improper knowledge. When he encounters problems, he uses the pervert wisdom and wrong differentiation. Therefore, improper knowledge will obstruct proper knowledge from arising and we will not have proper knowledge. As a result, improper knowledge causes us to commit many violations of body, speech and mind. Because of erroneous cognition, we commit body, speech and mind karma easily due to the inability to make the right judgement when facing all the phenomena. The result is distortions of what is right or wrong, and confusion between virtues and evils.

 

Just like the meditation we discussed earlier, some indulge in seeing lights, liking phenomena, feeling where the energy flow or triggering the body energy. Those who like body response, see lights or feel energy flow, thought that they are cultivating the Bodhi path since they are told to practise samatha and vipassana meditation. However, the moment they start to meditate, they turn their attention to their body, with the belief that this is cultivating the Bodhi path. But the Bodhi path is not found on lights or energy. So, if he spends all his time engaged in bodily responses, he will not be able to attain enlightenment.

 

Bodhi path is the Path to Enlightenment. What is Enlightenment? To attain awareness and realisation that all dharmas has no ‘self’ and the principle of inherent emptiness. We are only relying on this meditation posture to train the body’s stability. Because to sit in a stable position, we must use the Seven-point Meditative Posture(七支坐法). When our body is stable, we can focus easily and still our mind easily, achieving samatha which makes it easier to develop the Wisdom of Inherent Emptiness. This is the real objective of meditation. Unfortunately, those with improper knowledge, turn their meditation sessions into energy training sessions, light-sighting sessions, or sessions to train legs or create sensation. So, we say that these people have improper knowledge towards meditation. If he trains like this, he will not be able to attain realisation or liberation, but will be tied by the form skandhas (aggregates) and feeling and not get liberated. Therefore, we have to first listen to Sutras and Dharma teachings to establish right knowledge and understanding before talking about cultivation. Only then we will not cultivate wrongly and go down the wrong path. We must first have the proper knowledge and then the phenomena caused by improper knowledge will not arise.

 

With the power of proper knowledge, when you are facing worldly phenomena, you will be able to make the correct observation and then know immediately what to do and not to do, what to say or not to say and every thought knowing which is right or wrong. This topic on ‘Doing with Proper Knowledge’ is explained in Lamrim Chenmo (广论). In this way, the body, speech and mind will naturally become purified and true wisdom will also arise.

 

The last one is ‘Scatteredness.’ What is scatteredness? Scatteredness means being restless and distracted because the mind keeps racing outward in different directions, thus creating agitated movements and disturbances. Scatteredness is likened to that of our mind spreading outwards like ripples forming after throwing a stone into the river. This is analogous to that of our mind running loose and in all directions. This is known as Scatteredness.

 

Why is the mind scattered? Because our mind outflows to grasp at external phenomena. Therefore, the mind is loose and running in all directions and cannot focus on a meditative object. When the mind cannot attain right concentration, it cannot attain true wisdom and so pervert wisdom or wrong differentiation is manifested instead. Why do we call them ‘pervert’ or ‘wrong’? It is because they does not lead us to enlightenment or liberation and thus called pervert wisdom. Only true wisdom can lead us to enlightenment and liberation and that is the Wisdom of Inherent Emptiness.

 

Generally, a person whose mind is more scattered, his personality is more unstable. He will run away from even the most trivial problem. How? He will change his environment and a typical example would be changing his job. Some people keep changing jobs, right? Three months on a job would seem a very long time to some; some probably can last for only 3 weeks on the same job. When you ask them why they change jobs, they will start to complain that the boss is bad, the colleagues are difficult to get along or the work is too difficult, too tiring, long hours, etc. In any case, to these people no job seems suitable. Actually, the problem does not lie with the boss, colleagues or working hours. These are not the problems. In fact, the problem lies within himself - his mind is scattered and cannot focus, like rings of ripples spreading outward. Because of this scatteredness, his mind is not able to focus, his will-power is easily scattered and he is easily affected by outside disturbances. A small sign of disturbance like a breeze blowing at the grass, he will not be able to handle and is severely disturbed. Being easily disturbed, he loses patience towards those in his surroundings, be it people, issues or objects. Hence, those with severe scatteredness of mind, have poor patience and are not able to tolerate even a tiny issue as they have low tolerance level for stress.

 

In addition, generally speaking, the more ideas and thoughts a person has, the more scattered his mind. He appears smart because his many ideas and quick-thinking. But ask him to meditate, he will be in trouble. If you want him to cultivate Samatha and Vipassana, he will face a big obstacle in getting still and focussed to start with, due to his severe scatteredness.

 

Therefore, he has difficulty meditating because his mind is always scattered, outflowing to grasp external phenomena. He cannot stand even a little sound or when the light is too bright. But when it is too dark, he will fall asleep and that is also very problematic. His being easily affected by external disturbances is a result of his severely scattered mind. Because his mind is scattered, his brain is able to think quickly, always moving and unable to calm down. This poses a hindrance in Concentration or Samatha practice. How could he possibly still his mind and focus when the mind is always moving(thinking). Very difficult. Therefore, we say that scatteredness is a big obstruction towards Samatha practice. What about cultivating Vipassana? As he has many ideas, he tends to be very discriminating, which is an obstruction in the practice of Vipassana. So whether one is cultivating Samatha or Vipassana, a scattered mind is a big obstruction towards both practices.

 

In addition, if he likes to argue and possesses very strong subjective consciousness, then he ends up with pervert wisdom because he does not have the right knowledge and right view. Because he is not able to still his mind to establish the power of concentration, it is impossible for him to practise Vipassana to develop the power of true wisdom, the Wisdom of Inherent Emptiness. What is the meaning of the strong subjective consciousness? It means he has strong differentiation/discrimination and attachment. Not only will he not be able to succeed in Samatha and Vipassana meditation, he will have pervert wisdom and wrong discrimination.

 

So, in general, when we look at worldly people, especially those with very strong 6th mind consciousness, who come to learn and acquire knowledge, they cannot attain realization or liberation no matter how knowledgeable they are. Why? Because all his learnings and knowledge are acquired using his 6th mind consciousness to differentiate so we can only say that he has worldly knowledge and argumentative intelligence but not the true wisdom. In Buddhism, the true wisdom is the Wisdom of Non-self and Inherent Emptiness. The wisdom of Inherent Emptiness is far detached from all the hypothesis and illusory discrimination/differentiation. So the articles or knowledge that he produced, are derived from using the various aspects of his differentiating mind. In the Wisdom of Inherent Emptiness, it is far detached from all the hypothesis and illusory differentiation/discrimination and is without dissipation and free of disturbances (i.e. scatteredness, laxness, distraction and confusion). Such is our Bodhi Nature – one that is inherently pure and unmoving. Now, his works are produced from a scattered, confused and differentiating mind and not from Bodhi Nature that is inherently pure and unmoving. Since his mind is now scattered and distracted, his works is not of true wisdom.

 

Therefore, only effects generated from the clear and pure Inherent Nature are the results of contemplation using wisdom (Wisdom of Contemplation) and can truly appreciate that all Dharmas are the result of causes and conditions, are empty of inherent existence and do not give rise or involve any differentiation and attachment. Conversely, the differentiation arising from a scattered and confused mind, stems from self-attachment to differentiation so we say it is improper/pervert wisdom and not the true wisdom. This is where the difference is.

 

We have finished introducing the eight Major-grade Derivative Afflictions. All these eight Major-grade Derivative Afflictions are innate and inborn and hence, difficult to sever. When can all these be cut-off/severed? When you realise the Path, then you will be able to cut them off. That is when you attain the state of Non-self and realise Emptiness, you will see the Path and able to sever them. Because they are constantly interacting with self-view, self-love, self-delusion and self-ego of the 7th consciousness and it takes only a bad intention or evil mind to arise to bring about all these eight afflictions. Therefore, we must constantly practise to counteract them. How to counteract? We have to cultivate more faith to counteract doubt;

cultivate vigour to counteract slackness;

cultivate non-laxness to counteract laxness;

cultivate contemplation/vipassana to counteract torpor;

cultivate stillness/samatha to counteract restlessness;

cultivate frequently right mindfulness to counteract distraction;

cultivate frequently proper knowledge to counteract improper knowledge;

frequently uphold precepts and cultivate concentration to counteract scatteredness.

Only then, you will be able to realise Emptiness and be enlightened one day. Upon realisation, one will then start practising towards attaining fruition.

 

In this class, we have covered the Six Fundamental Afflictions，ten Minor-grade Derivative Afflictions, two Intermediate-grade Derivative Afflictions，eight Major-grade Derivate Afflictions. The main objective of introducing these content is to hope that the types of afflictions could be understood. For example, how do these afflictions obstruct us from attainments, how do they obstruct our wholesome roots from arising, how they pollute our minds or why our body and mind are always in sufferings and so on. These make up the contents of all the fundamental afflictions and the derivative afflictions. If we can understand, we will be able to recognise these afflictions and practise accurately since we know what habits are not severed and then apply effort at the right place. As we have discussed about the methods to counteract each and every affliction, you just need to check out on the more severe affliction and apply that practice to counteract it. If you are able to practise skilfully like that, you will be able to accomplish wholesome roots quickly, Samatha and Vipassana, precepts, concentration/samadhi and wisdom. It will not be a problem to attain fruition eventually. Therefore, we must first recognise the contents and nature of afflictions and then work to counteract them.

 

We will end our this course here.

 

May these merits be dedicated to all and

May all sentient beings and I walk the path to attain Buddhahood.