A Parable

Chapter 3

 

Again there were ghosts; from this line to “They ran about shouting and crying out” refers to the second of the Five Quick Servants, that of extreme views. With heads like oxen; the ghosts had heads like oxen, with two horns on top. Their faces also looked like oxen. You may wonder “How can ghosts have faces like oxen?” Well, not only do some of them look like oxen, there are ghosts with all kinds of faces. There are ghosts who look like pigs, dogs and chickens. There are ghosts which look like every kind of animal there is, in fact.

There are tiger-head ghosts and lion-head ghosts. Now, these ghosts have horns on their heads, like oxen, and this represents extreme views. The horns grow on top of their heads in the same way extreme views rely upon the view of a body. Once there is a view of a body, then there can be extreme views. Extreme views and the view of a body give rise to two views of annihilation and eternalism. The two horns, then, represent the two views of annihilationism and eternalism. These two views are very harmful because they can sever one’s transcendental good roots. For this reason the text says, now eating human flesh. The eating of human flesh is like the severing of one’s transcendental good roots. And then devouring dogs. Perhaps they were eating dogs. This represents severing one’s mundane good roots.

Just what are transcendental good roots? They are created by diligently cultivating morality, Samadhi and wisdom and by destroying greed, hatred and stupidity. They are also cultivated by practicing of the Four Truths, the Twelve Causes and Conditions, the Six Perfections and the Ten Thousand Conducts. The merit and virtue gained from cultivating these make up the transcendental good roots. What are mundane good roots? Cultivating the five precepts and the ten good deeds. The extreme views of annihilationism and eternalism sever both transcendental and mundane good roots.

Their hair was disheveled. Basically, One’s hair should be kept neat, but these ghosts had hair going every which way. This represents those of non-Buddhist religions who sometimes put forth views of annihilationism and at other times put forth views of eternalism. Sometimes they say that everything is eternal. “The saints in heaven,” they claim, “are now and ever will be saints in heaven. The human beings will always be people and the animals will always be animals. It is all fixed. It does not ever change.

Gods are gods; ghosts are ghosts; people are always people. Grass and trees will always be grass and trees. There is no possibility for change. “But then sometimes they have reservations about this doctrine, and they switch to a view of annihilationism. “People would not be people forever. When they die they disappear entirely. Horses, cows, sheep, chickens, pigs--all will disappear. It is like cutting down a big tree-there’s nothing left of it. It is gone. “They have a lot of doubts about things, and so sometimes they hold to eternalism and other times they switch to annihilationism.

The two views are directly opposed to one another which put these people into quite a paradoxical situation, but they continue to run back and forth between the two extremes. They never stop in the middle, at the Middle Way. They just go from one extreme to the other. It is like someone trying to go from the West Coast to Chicago and ending up in New York instead. Or perhaps they want to go to the East Coast and think about it all the time but never take a single step in that direction. They never get there. Those attached to eternalism or annihilationism are like that. They go back and forth, and this is like having their hair all tousled, sticking out here and there.

They were harmful, cruel and dangerous. Their hair was a mess, and this means they did not clearly understand the principles the Buddha taught about impermanence and conditional arisal. When they assumed their views of eternalism, they did so to try to destroy the Buddha’s true principle of impermanence. The Buddha taught that everything in this world is suffering, empty and impermanent. Whey they assumed their views of annihilationism, they did so to try to destroy the Buddha’s true teaching of all things arising from conditions.

The Buddha taught that everything comes about through cause and effect. Their view of annihilationism tossed them into the pit of annihilationism, and their view of eternalism tossed them into the pit of eternalism. This is what is meant by the phrase “They were harmful, cruel and dangerous.” Once you have fallen into these pits, it is hard to get out again. In other words, it is hard to understand genuine principle, to become a Buddha. So it is extremely dangerous.

Oppressed by hunger and thirst, they ran about shouting and crying out. Hunger means they had no food. Thirst means--no tea! Is that misery or not? The more they ran the hungrier and thirstier they got. Hunger is a bit easier to bear than thirst. Thirst is terribly hard to bear.

In China during the wars of the Three Kingdoms, there was a famous general named Ts’ao-ts’ao who was remarkably clever. He and Chu Ke-liang were enemies. One time Ts’ao-ts’ao was marching his troops, over a hundred men, through the desert. For a hundred miles, there was no water at all. They had not had any water to drink for several days. All the men were, besides, being hungry, so thirsty they could not even walk. They just lay down, as if sick, to rest. Ts’ao-ts’ao asked them, “Why are you lying down?” They told him they were just too thirsty to go on. He said, “Oh, is that all? Do not worry about that.

About ten or twenty miles up ahead I happen to know that there is an orchard of sour plums. When we get there we can eat them and quench our thirst.” As soon as he said the word “plums,” the soldiers’ mouths started watering. Since their mouths were watering, they were not thirsty anymore, and they started marching again. They marched about twenty miles and kept right on and walked right out of the desert. But there was no plum orchard at all. He made the whole thing up because he knew his “white lie” would enable his men to get out safely. He “cheated” them into forgetting about their thirst and into getting out of the desert. So if you are thirsty, think about sour plums!

When people are really hungry, they like to eat oil cakes. But to make oil cakes you have to have flour. If you have not any flour or oil, what are you going to do? Well, you might get a piece of paper and draw a sketch of an oil cake. Still, since you know it is just a drawing, it is not going to satisfy your hunger. In China we have a saying,

Thinking of sour plums can quench your thirst,
But drawing of an oil cake would not satisfy your hunger.

Hunger and thirst can be extremely fierce. The hunger and thirst referred to in the text here is the lack of the food of wisdom. Those who cultivate the Way must eat the food of wisdom. Without it, one goes hungry. Cultivators need to drink the water of Dhyana Samadhi. This means you need to meditate. When you sit in meditation, quite naturally you will be filled with sweet dew. Then you will no longer be thirsty. Cultivating the Way you need wisdom food and Dhyana Samadhi drink.

But here, there is neither one. Why not? Because they do not cultivate the Way. They do not come to listen to Sutra lectures. Lectures on the Sutras are wisdom food. Having listened to the lectures and understood the principles, you should return and take the time from your busy life to meditate and investigate Dhyana. That is drinking Dhyana Samadhi. If you do not listen to Sutra lectures, you will get no wisdom food; if you fail to sit in Dhyana Samadhi, you have no Dhyana to drink and you will be oppressed by hunger and thirst.

Starving and dying of thirst, they ran about shouting. They were screaming: ‘Arghhhhh! I am staaaaarrrving to death!” They ran about like lunatics. Their shouting and crying out represents broad proclamations of eternalism and/or annihilationism, sort of like that Bob Dylan song where he shouts:

“God said to Abraham, kill me a son.
Abe said, ‘Man, you must be puttin’ me on.’”

They shout, “It is all annihilated; there is nothing eternal! My principles are totally correct!” Or they scream at the top of their lungs, “You are wrong!! It is not annihilated! It is all eternal!” They cry out one or the other of their deviant doctrines, with their deviant understanding and their deviant views. These twisted, deviant doctrines are represented in the text by “shouting and crying out.”

Wheh they are done yelling, they run around. Where do they run to? Right into the six path wheel of birth and death. The phrase “they ran about” represents continuous birth and death in the six paths. They never stop turning in the wheel of birth and death. No matter how hard they run, they never get off the wheel.

There were yakshas, hungry ghosts, and all sorts of evil birds and beasts, frantic with hunger, facing the four directions, peeking out the windows, such were the troubles and terrors beyond measure there. This section represents the appearance of afflictions created by the Five Dull and Five Quick Servants for living beings in the realm of desire.

Living beings in the realm of desire have outflows. Because they have outflows, they cannot obtain the flavor of cultivation of the Way, the flavor of Dhyana. Because they have not attained to the state of non-outflows or to the fruit of the Way or to the flavor of Dhyana’s bliss, they are said to be “frantic with hunger.” They are terribly hungry. The hungry ghosts and evil birds and animals are starving and they “faced the four directions.” What is meant by “four directions?”

Those non-Buddhist religions cultivate deviant contemplations, but they cannot awaken to true principle. They very much long for the fruit of the Way, for the gains of Dhyana, and this longing is like a hunger in them which causes them to look outside, to look in the four directions. They do not realize that all one needs is proper understanding and proper views and the ability to be unmoved by the Five Dull and Five Quick Servants in order to attain the fruit of the Way and the flavor of Dhyana.

Because they cannot attain it, they face the four directions “peeking out the windows.” “Peeking” is a sneaky way of looking at things. It is not in accord with the rules. Even though these evil things try to peek out the windows, they cannot see anything clearly. Those of non-Buddhist religions have many attached thoughts which obstruct their understanding and prevent them from knowing genuine principle. There are panes of glass in the window, but one’s vision through a window cannot be unobstructed; there is always some degree of distortion.

The various difficulties and disasters were frightening to the extreme, to the point that you could not even measure it.

Sutra:

This old, decaying house
Belonged to a man
Who had gone but a short distance
When, before very long,
The rear rooms of the house
Suddenly caught fire.

Outline:

N2. The cause of the fire.

Commentary:

This old, decaying house. The house is in terrible condition. It is about ready to cave in altogether. This decaying house represents the three realms as without peace; everywhere you turn it is very dangerous. It is said to be old because it was not made just recently. The three realms had no beginning and so it is “old”. Belonged to a man. The three realms, the desire, form and formless realms, are where the Buddha, in his Response body, teaches and transforms living beings. The Buddha, from the time he brought forth the thought of enlightenment up until the time he became a Buddha, passed through three great asankheya aeons. He made vows, great vows. His vows were limitless and measureless. These great vows were to save all living beings, to take them from suffering to bliss to help them end birth and death.

For this reason, Buddhist disciples should follow the Buddha’s example in making vows to save all living beings. If you are going to save them, where do you start? You start with the people close to you. If your relatives do not understand the Buddhadharma, you should exhaust your effects to lead them to believe in the Buddha. Since you believe in the Buddha and you know that the Buddhadharma is a good thing, you should first cross over your father and mother and lead them to believe in the Buddhadharma. It is said,

When one’s parents have left defilement,
The child has then accomplished the Way.

If you can bring your parents to believe in genuine principle, then you are truly being filial. Then cross over your brothers and sisters so that they have a proper path to walk down. After you have saved your family, you should save your friends. Work from “near” to “far,” from your inner family circle out to your friends and then out to all living beings. In this way you should teach and transform living beings. Liberate them. In this way you are following the example of the Buddha’s great vows. After he became a Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha went up to the Heaven of the Thirty-three to speak the Dharma to his mother. He spoke The Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra on her behalf.

The three realms are where the Buddha appears in his Response body to teach and transform living beings and so the text says it “belonged to a man.” This man is the great elder, the Buddha. Now, if the elder had been at home in the three realms, he could have told the children not to fool around and play with fire. But he had to go out on business and the children were left there alone. They were actually pretty stupid. They had no genuine wisdom; they did not know what was safe and what was dangerous. They started playing with fire and sure enough, the house caught on fire.

Who had gone but a short distance when, before very long. The elder had just left. This line refers to Shakyamuni Buddha who, during the time of the Buddha called Great Penetration, was teaching all living beings how to subdue to the Five Turbidities. When the karmic influences of those living beings came to an end, Shakyamuni Buddha also entered Nirvana. After the Buddha entered Nirvana, living beings, having lost their “crutch,” fell over. The Five Turbidities arose once again: the turbidity of the aeon, the turbidity of views, the turbidity of affliction, the turbidity of living beings and the turbidity of life.

Although the Buddha had entered Nirvana in that world system, in another world system the causes and conditions for teaching living beings had ripened and he went there to teach them. But he could not stay in that world system forever. So the Buddha had “gone but a short distance.” He appeared again, not very far away.

You could also explain these lines saying that the Buddha had already attained to the patience of unproduced dharmas; that is to say:

He has done what he had to do;
He has established his pure conduct;
He will undergo no further becoming.

He will not again be born in the three realms. He has “gone out.” Although in becoming a Buddha he has transcended the three realms, still, after a short period of time, he comes back. So he has gone but a little ways. In the “Lifespan Chapter” of this Sutra it says that the Buddha has appeared to enter Nirvana many, many times. Many times he has appeared in the world and many times he has entered Nirvana. This means that he has gone out of the burning house of the three realms.

The rear rooms of the house. The house is the three realms. The “rooms” are the Five Skandhas--form, feeling, perception, impulse, and consciousness. He had not been gone for very long when the back part of the house suddenly caught fire. A fire broke out. How did it happen? The kids were playing with fire, and they were careless. What do you think will happen to the children? Will they burn to death? What about us here in the burning house of the three realms where there is no peace, no safety? What about us caught in the fire of the five skandhas?

Sutra:

All at once, all four sides
Were enveloped by raging flames,
The beams, ridgepoles, rafters, and pillars
Shook and split with the sound of explosion,
Snapped apart and fell,
As the walls and partitions collapsed and fell in.

Outline:

N3. The force with which the fire breaks out.

Commentary:

All at once, all four sides. The four sides represent the Four Applications of Mindfulness. The Four Applications of Mindfulness were given by the Buddha as a dwelling place for the Bhikshus after his departure into Nirvana. They are mindful with regard to the body, feelings, thoughts and dharmas.

First of all one must contemplate the body as impure. One should also contemplate feelings, thoughts and dharmas as impure as well. Since the body is impure, one’s feelings are likewise impure and so are thoughts and dharmas.

Secondly, one must contemplate feelings as suffering. All the feelings we experience are involved with suffering. One should also contemplate the body as involved with suffering, and thoughts and dharmas likewise.

Thirdly, one should contemplate thoughts as impermanent. Our thoughts shift and change constantly, like waves on the water. When one thought goes, another takes its place; when that thought goes, yet another takes its place. Likewise one should contemplate the body, feelings, and dharmas as impermanent.

Fourthly, one should contemplate dharmas as without a self. One should also contemplate the body, feelings and thoughts as without self. They body, feelings, thoughts and dharmas should each be regarded in these four ways, making sixteen applications.

One begins cultivating the Four Applications of Mindfulness by cultivating the contemplation of impurity. The contemplation of impurity breaks one’s attachment to self. Why are you attached to your body and always trying to help it out? It is because you think it is a good thing. You want to help out that “good thing.” You feel, “My body is so loveable. I really cannot bear to let it get cold or overheated. I do not want it to be hungry or thirst either. In general, I am always looking out for it.” This is because you do not realize that it is actually impure. If you knew how unclean the body really is, when you put on those fine clothes, eat that fine food, you would know it was unclean.

No matter how pretty the clothes you put on, it is still just like dressing up a toilet. I mean, you can put the most elegant clothing and accessories on the toilet, but no matter how fine you dress it up, it is still dirty. Our bodies are just the same. No matter how nice your clothes, it is just like dressing up a toilet. No matter how fine the food you eat, you are still doing nothing more than making a little more excrement. It is no great use. So you should contemplate the body as impure in order to get rid of your attachment to self. Do not see your body as so precious.

If you follow your body’s insatiable greed and create offenses, then the body is a bad thing, an impure thing. If, on the other hand, you cultivate the Way, then the body is pure and it can help you to become a Buddha. It is the same body; it just depends on how you use it.

How is the body impure? It is a combination of the mother’s ovum and the father’s sperm. Therefore, it is basically impure. We should not look upon it as so very important. If, for example, you do not bathe for a week, the body starts to smell and collects all kinds of unclean matter. From nine orifices the body constantly excretes impure substances. There are tears and matter always coming from the eyes. Earwax is always coming out of one’s ears. That makes four orifices. The mouth has saliva and phlegm which is also unclean. That makes seven orifices. Then you add the eliminatory orifices and that makes nine.

You may think of your body as being very precious, but actually when you get right down to it, it is filled with all manner of unclean substances. Our bodies are nothing more than garbage cans. If you insist on slaving away like mad for the body, what good is it? You work so hard to give it a nice place to live in, a lot of fine clothes, and the best food. You are so good to it, but it shows you no courtesy at all. When the time comes, it is still going to get old. No matter how well you treat it, when it gets old, it gets old. That is all there is to it. No matter how you pamper it, when it gets sick, it just gets sick. When the time comes for it to die, it goes right ahead and dies. It would be hard to discuss fully the impurity of the body as it flows with impurities from nine orifices. The body is impure. Having contemplated the impurity of the body, you should contemplate as impure the feelings, thoughts and dharmas as well.

What does it mean to contemplate feelings as sufferings? Feelings means what one experiences. One usually tries to have good feelings and experiences, and yet all our feelings are involved with some form of suffering. There are three, eight and limitless sufferings. One should also contemplate the body, thoughts, and dharmas as suffering.

One should contemplate thoughts as impermanent. Our thoughts keep changing, thought after thought. One should also contemplate the body feelings and dharma as impermanent.

One should contemplate dharmas as without a self. Contemplate likewise, the body, feelings and thoughts as without a self.

“All at once” is also an analogy. It starts for the sudden arisal of the Four Inverted Views, the Five turbidities and the Eight Sufferings. Those of non-Buddhist religions and inverted living beings reverse the Four Virtues of Nirvana, applying them to conditioned existence. They say:

1. What is not permanent is permanent.
2. What is not happiness is happiness.
3. What is not self is self.
4. What is not pure is pure.

Their views are in direct opposition to that of cultivation, so they are called the Four Inverted Views. Then the Five Turbidities arise. Add the Eight Sufferings: birth, old age, sickness, death, being separated from what you love, being together with what you hate, not getting what you want and the raging blaze of the Five Skandhas. All this suffering arises and so the text says “all at once.”

Were enveloped by raging flames, the beams, ridgepoles, rafters, and pillars. The ridgepole is the main support of the building. The beams support the roof. The rafters and pillars all support the house too. They represent the four limbs, our bones and various other parts of our bodies.

Shook and split with the sound of explosion. What is meant by “the sound of explosion?” When life is cut off, that is like an explosion. “ Split” refers to the force of the wind cutting through the body like a knife. When life is over, energy is cut off and the bones separate from the flesh. This is represented by the line snapped apart and fell.

As the walls and partitions collapsed and fell in. The walls and partitions referred to here are just the body. The body is a combination of the four elements. At death, the four elements separate and each one—earth, air, fire and water—returns to where it came from. When the four elements scatter that is like the walls and partitions falling apart and caving in. When the four elements in the body scatter, the body disintegrates.

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