Light Enlightenment

Chapter Nine

 

Sutra:

His body does not come from anywhere,
nor does it come about through accumulation.
Because living beings have discriminations,
they see the various bodies of the Buddha.

Commentary:

When everyone has finished lecturing, I ask all of you if the person has lectured correctly or not. If they have lectured incorrectly then the passage can be lectured again. It all goes in accord with what the assembly wishes. Whatever the great assembly agrees to , I agree to. If the great assembly objects, then I too object. And if the great assembly says okay, then I say okay. Everything goes by the majority.

His body does not come from anywhere, The word “body” can be explained as the transformation body or the Dharma body or the retribution body. It’s not fixed. “His body” refers to the Buddha’s body. It “does not come from anywhere” and it has no form or appearance. You can’t use marks to contemplate the Buddha. The Vajra Sutra says:

If one sees me in forms, if one seeks me in sounds,
One practices a deviant way and cannot see the Thus Come One.

The Vajra Sutra also says:

The Thus Come One doesn’t come from anywhere nor does he go anywhere.
Therefore he is called the Thus Come One.

This is the same principle as in the line of verse which says, “his body does not come from anywhere.” Nor does it come about through accumulation. The Buddha’s body is not accomplished through the five skandhas. Before, it said that his body was not the five skandhas, the twelve places, or the eighteen realms. Therefore, it also is not an accumulation. It has no form or appearance. However, if the Buddha’s body has no shape or form, then how can living beings see the Buddha’s form and appearance?

How can they see his thirty-two marks and eighty subtle characteristics?

It’s because living being have discriminations, It’s because he accords with living beings’ discriminating minds that he manifests, the thirty-two marks and eighty subtle characteristics. In general, living beings’ minds discriminate good and bad. Since the Buddha wants to cause them to bring forth the Bodhi mind, he first wants to make them happy. What makes them happy? They like things that look good. Men look for beautiful women, and women look for handsome men. This proves that everyone likes things that look good and they don’t like things that are ugly. You say, “Dharma Master, you’re lecturing the Sutras--how can you talk about that!” Well if I don’t talk about it, then what am I going to talk about!

The way of the superior person starts with the husband and wife. In this world, there are just two people. One man and one woman, and it’s they who make the world. It wasn’t Adam and Eve. You should get this clear. And it wasn’t God who took clay and created man and woman and made the world. That’s just a child’s fairy tale. It wasn’t like that at all. Then ultimately how did it happen? Now there isn’t time to talk about it, but everything in the conditioned world is made from the husband and wife. From the couple there come children and then there are the fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, people and self. In the world there is just male and female--the yin and yang.

One yin and one yang make the Way.
Excessive yin or excessive yang results in an imbalance.

If you don’t accord with the principles of yin and yang then you’ll run into trouble. When you cultivate the Way, you return to the root and go back to the source. To do this, men have to go from li, which has a broken line in the middle, and change to ch’ien, which has three unbroken lines. This is the process for men who cultivate the Way. Women have to go from k’an, which has an unbroken line in the middle, and change to k’un, which has three broken lines. Ch’ien represents men and k’un represents women. When you return to the root and go back to the source, men return to pure youths and women return to virgin maidens. Women become like the Dragon Girl and men become like the Pure Youth Good Wealth or Wei T’ou. They are representatives of the principle in discussion. This is what it means to cultivate the Way.

Because living beings have minds that make discriminations between wholesome and unwholesome, good and bad, scoundrel and gentlemen, the Buddha manifests his thirty-two marks and eighty subtle characteristics according to their minds. They see the various bodies of the Buddha. They see that the Buddha has lots of different bodies. These differences result from making transformation bodies to accord with the minds of beings, and they are inexhaustible and boundless. According to the minds of living beings, the Buddha manifests various bodies. Similarly,

In the water of a thousand pools, a thousand moons appear.
Without a cloud for ten thousand miles, there are ten thousand miles of sky.

If you look in a thousand pools of water, the moon will appear in all of them. Although the moon appears in each pool, it’s not the case that the moon is really in the water, because the moon is still up in space. But it is reflected in the water. If the water of wisdom is pure in the minds of living beings, then the Buddha’s Dharma body will manifest within it. This is for sure. If your mind doesn’t have selfish desire or any false thinking then your wisdom will manifest. Why doesn’t your wisdom manifest? It’s because your ignorance is too heavy. Ignorance is darkness and wisdom is brightness. If you have wisdom then you will always manifest light. But if you have ignorance then you’ll always be black. Ignorance (literally “lack of light”) is affliction and affliction is stupidity. Therefore, stupidity is darkness. If you want to see the various bodies of the Buddha you must diligently cultivate precepts, samadhi, and wisdom, and put to rest greed, hatred, and stupidity. Then you’ve got a chance.

Sutra:

The mind discriminates the world
yet the mind has no existence.
The Thus Come One knows the Dharma,
and in this way views the Buddha’s body.

Commentary:

The mind discriminates the world, People’s minds make discriminations and this kind of mind is false. The true mind has no discriminations. The wonderfully bright true mind is empty. So, the text continues, yet the mind has no existence. The mind is not present, nor is it absent. The true mind reveals itself in everything to the ends of empty space and pervades the Dharma Realm.

The Thus Come One knows the Dharma, How did the Thus Come One become the Thus Come One? He did it by certifying to the principle of true emptiness, by knowing the Dharma of true emptiness, and by knowing the pure nature and bright substance of the permanently-dwelling true mind. And in this way views the Buddha’s body. Because of this he gets to see the Buddha’s Dharma body. The principles in these verses are very profound, but the time goes by so fast that I can only explain them in general.

We say that the Buddha is only yang, not yin. When women hear that, they get very upset. To say that the Buddha is like the sun and that he is yang is just an analogy. In cultivating the Way, you return to the root and go back to the source, which is the exact opposite of worldly dharmas. So, men who have been married have to cultivate until they are like they were before they were married. And it’s the same with women. In cultivation you return to the root and go back to the source. You have to go back to the way you originally were.

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Question: One line of verse says, “Yet the mind has no existence. The Thus Come One knows this dharma.” If there isn’t a mind then how could the Buddha know?

Answer: He knows that there is no mind. He knows that true emptiness is wonderful existence, and that wonderful existence is true emptiness. He knows the principle of true emptiness. He knows the true mind. Do you understand now? You still don’t?

Student who asked the question: I’ll have to keep cultivating precepts, samadhi, and wisdom to know.

Question: I would like to find out whether one can hold money without being defiled. What policies are there about using, spending, and saving money in order to use it purely?

Answer: Money is an unclean thing. But it can still help you to accomplish your pure Dharma body. If you’re able to use money properly then you can be said to be “doing no evil and offering up all good.” You should use money to do good things rather than evil things. Use it to benefit others, rather than just spending it all on yourself. Don’t be selfish. If you can use money properly then you can transcend the Triple Realm. But if you can’t use it properly then your karma will be hard to avoid. The verse I spoke before explained it quite well.

Sutra:

At that time, light passed through a hundred thousand worlds and everywhere illumined a million worlds to the east. It was also like this in the south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, as well as above and below.

Commentary:

At that time, after Manjushri Bodhisattva had finished the above verses, light which was emitted from the soles of Shakyamuni Buddha’s feet passed through a hundred thousand worlds and everywhere illumined a million worlds to the east. It was also like this in the south. There were also a million worlds to the south, a million worlds to the west, and a million worlds to the north. As it was in the east so it was throughout the other main directions. It was also like this in the four intermediate directions, which are the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest, as well as above and below. In addition, there were the worlds above and below. There were millions of worlds in the ten directions which received the light from the soles of the Buddha’s feet. The light illuminated all these worlds and caused all living beings to bring forth the Bodhi mind.

Sutra:

Within each of those worlds there were a billion Jambudvipas, reaching up to a billion Ultimate Form heavens. All of these were clearly revealed in this light.

Just as in this place one could see the Thus Come One seated on his lotus flower treasury lion’s throne, with Bodhisattvas as many as fine motes of dust in ten Buddhalands circumambulating him, so too, in each of those billions of Jambudvipas there were billions of Thus Come Ones seated in the same way.

Because of the spiritual power of the Buddha, in each of the ten directions there was a great Bodhisattva, who was accompanied by Bodhisattvas to the number of fine motes of dust in ten Buddhalands, who came to the Buddha’s place.

Their names were Manjushri and others. They came from countries called Golden Colored World and others and the Buddhas they served were called Unmoving Wisdom Thus Come One and others.

At that time, in the presence of all those Buddhas, the voices of the Manjushri Bodhisattvas in all those places, rang out in unison as they spoke verses:

Commentary:

In the east, in the Golden Colored World and within each of those worlds there were a billion Jambudvipas, a billion Apara-godaniyas, a billion Purva-videhas, a billion northern Uttarakurus, reaching up to a billion Ultimate Form heavens. Included in this are a billion Heavens of the Four Kings, a billion Trayastrimsha Heavens, a billion suyama Heavens, a billion Heavens of the Comfort Gained Through Transformation of Others’ Bliss, reaching up to a billion Ultimate Form Heavens. All of these were clearly revealed in this light. Every world, every Jambudvipa, every Heaven of the Four Kings, every Trayastrimsha Heaven, every Suyama Heaven, every Heaven of the Comfort Gained Through the Transformation of Others’ Bliss, reaching up to every Ultimate Form Heaven, all manifested within this light.

Just as in this place, in southern Jambudvipa and as well as in every eastern Purva-videha, in every western Apara-godaniya, and in every northern Uttarakuru, one could see the Thus Come One--Shakyamuni Buddha--seated on his Lotus Flower Treasury Lion’s Throne, with Bodhisattvas as many as fine motes of dust in ten Buddhalands circumambulating him. There were great Bodhisattvas to the number of fine motes of dust in ten Buddhalands who circumambulated Shakyamuni Buddha seated on his Lion’s Throne. So too, in each of those billions of Jambudvipas there were billions of Thus Come Ones seated in the same way.

Because of the spiritual power of the Buddha. All of this happened because of the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha. In each of the ten directions there was a great Bodhisattva. In each one of those worlds to the number of fine motes of dust in the ten directions, there was a great Bodhisattva who was the leader, who was accompanied by Bodhisattvas to the number of fine motes of dust in ten Buddhalands. Each great Bodhisattva had Bodhisattvas to the number of fine motes of dust in ten Buddhalands who made up his retinue, and who came to the Buddha’s place. Each of them went before Shakyamuni Buddha who was seated in his Way Place.

Their names were Manjushri Bodhisattva and others. Manjushri Bodhisattva was one of the leader of the Bodhisattvas. They came from countries called Golden Colored World and others and the Buddhas they served and paid reverence to and made offerings to were called Unmoving Wisdom Thus Come One and others.

At that time, in the presence of all those Buddhas. In each of the Buddha’s Way Places there was a division body of Manjushri Bodhisattva and the voices of the Manjushri Bodhisattvas in all those places, rang out in unison as they spoke verses: All at the same time they brought forth an identical sound and spoke the following verses.

Sutra:

The Thus Come One is the most sovereign
and he transcends the world and relies on nothing.
He has perfected all merit and virtue,
and crosses over and liberates all realms of existence.

He is without defilement and attachments
and is without thought and dependence.
His substance and nature cannot be measured
and all those who see him speak in praise.

His brilliance is pervasively clear and pure
and he has completely washed away the wearisome dust.
Unmoving, he leaves the two extremes.
This is the wisdom of the Thus Come One.

Commentary:

Does anyone know what is meant by “all realms of existence”? “All realms of existence” refers to the 25 realms of existence, which are:

fourteen of the desire realm: four bad paths:

1. asura
2. animal
3. hungry ghost
4. hell-beings

four great continents:

1. Southern Jambudvipa
2. Northern Uttarakuru
3. Eastern Purva-videha
4. Western Apara-godaniya

six desire heavens

1. the Heaven of the Four Kings
2. the Trayastrimsha Heaven
3. the Suyama Heaven
4. the Tushita Heaven
5. the Transformation of Bliss Heaven
6. the Comfort Gained From the Transformation of Other’s Bliss

seven of the form realm:

1. the Brahma Heaven
2. the Five Pure Dwelling Heavens (also known as the Heavens of No return)
3. the No Thought Heaven

4-7. The four dhyanas

1. 1st dhyana
2. 2nd dhyana
3. 3rd dhyana
4. 4th dhyana

four of the formless realm:

1. the Station of Boundless Emptiness
2. the Station of Boundless Consciousness
3. the Station of Nothing Whatsoever
4. the Station of Neither Thought Nor Non-thought

there is a verse which makes it very easy to remember the 25 realms of existence.

The Four Continents, and Four Evil Destinies,
The six Desire Heavens, and the Brahma Heaven,
The Four Dhyanas, and Four Stations of Emptiness,
The No-Thought Heaven and the Heavens of No return.

We living beings are included within “all realms of existence”. You can’t just speak at random when you’re explaining this and say that all the tables and chairs belong to “all realms of existence”. There is a saying:

One builds a car inside, but the door is too small to get it out.

speaking at random about the meaning of “all realms of existence” is like building a car inside the house without considering the size of the door.

The Thus Come One is the most sovereign. It says here that the Tathagata has the most self-mastery. No common person can be more self-masterful than the Thus Come One. There is no place where the Buddha doesn’t feel at home. Whatsoever he wants to do, he does. He’s really free. This kind of sovereignty means true freedom. He is free to roam in self-mastery. Sovereignty means that you truly take charge of yourself. It also means that you don’t have any afflictions, and that you don’t get shaken up or turned by external things.

You’re always right there, meaning that you don’t run outside. That’s true self-mastery. With no false thinking you will have self-mastery. As soon as you have false thinking you don’t have self-mastery. And without self-mastery you run outside, become attached to states, and become afflicted and worried. there are limitless and boundless things to say about this and no one could ever finish speaking about this principle.

And he transcends the world and relies on nothing. The Buddha transcends all worldly states. He is neither yin nor yang. He doesn’t rely on anything and he doesn’t depend on anything. He transcends all thoughts and all considerations. He has perfected all merit and virtue, The Buddha has perfected all merit and virtue and crosses over and liberates all realms of existence. “All realms of existence” means all that exists in the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. “All realms of existence” refers to the 25 existence mentioned before. The Triple Realm encompasses the 25 existence. Living beings revolve and turn within the 25 existence.

He is without defilement and attachments. The Buddha doesn’t have any defilements or attachments, and is without thought and dependence. He is without form ,feeling, thought, activity, and consciousness. They are empty and he doesn’t rely upon them. His substance and nature cannot be measured. The Buddha’s substance can’t be reckoned or calculated. And all those who see him speak in praise. All living beings who see the Buddha constantly praise him.

His brilliance is pervasively clear and pure. The Buddha’s light of wisdom pervades and illumines the Dharma Realm, and causes the Dharma Realm to be pure. And he has completely washed away the wearisome dust. “The wearisome dust” refers to the burden of emotion and the drag of things. emotion and love are both really filthy. You should cut off desire and cast out love. You should sever your thoughts of desire. If you don’t have thoughts of desire, then love will be cut off.

Cut off desire and cast out love.
Return to the root and go back to the source.

Getting rid of defilement is like washing something that is dirty. Bit by bit it is washed clean. the thing to fear most is that the accumulation of dust will settle. A single dust mote isn’t heavy, but when the dust accumulates in great amounts it’s heavy. And when it gets heavy you’ll be dragged into the hells, or become a hungry ghost, or an animal. That is what I meant when I mentioned the “drag of things” earlier. Why do we fall? It’s because the “wearisome dust” isn’t emptied. It’s because we haven’t washed it clean. so, what should be done? the very best is to put up a piece of glass to keep the dust out. What does the glass represent? It represents Prajna wisdom. If you have wisdom then all defiled objects get washed clean.

Unmoving, he leaves the two extremes. What are the two extremes? They are the extremes of emptiness and existence. If you are apart from emptiness and existence you will not fall into the two extremes. If you don’t fall into emptiness or existence then you are walking the Middle Way. The Middle Way doesn’t have the two extremes. Permanence and annihilation can also be explained as being the two extremes. those who believe in annihilationism say that when someone dies it’s just like turning off a light. there’s nothing left. That’s it. And those who believe in permanence say that people go on forever, from generation to generation. The text says, “unmoving, he leaves the two extremes.” The Buddha doesn’t move and he is apart from the two extremes of emptiness and existence. This is the wisdom of the thus Come One. this is the state of the Buddha’s wisdom.

When the great assembly is together, when everyone is bowing to the Buddha, you should also bow to the Buddha. And when everyone is reciting the Sutras you should do the same, and when everyone is reciting the Buddha’s name together you should be reciting too. When everyone bows, it should be altogether. Nobody should have a special style. For instance, when everyone else is bowing to the Buddhas, you are reciting Sutras. Or when everyone is bowing to the Buddhas, you are reciting the Buddha’s name. Or when everyone is bowing on the bowing cushions, you bow on the floor. some people have a special style in whatever thing they do, but this isn’t in accord with the rules of the great assembly. When the great assembly is together, everyone has to do everything the same, going by the same rules, so that everything is equal. When you are on your own, bowing on the cushion or on the floor is okay. You can do whatever you want to do. But when the great assembly is together you can’t have a special style to show that you are different from the rest. That’s not all right.

Also, I’ve noticed that people haven’t been picking up their sitting cloths properly. when you open your sitting cloth, whether you open it a quarter or open it fully, you must bow very respectfully three times and then put out your hand and pick up the sitting cloth. You can’t, even before you’ve finished the last bow, reach your hand out and pick up your sitting cloth. It can’t be done that way. If you pick up your sitting cloth before you’ve finished the last bow, then you’re being extremely disrespectful.

I hope that everyone will pay attention to what I’ve said. Whenever the great assembly is together, no matter whether you are a Bhikshu, Bhikshuni, shramanera, shramenerika, layman, or lay woman, you can’t put on a special style. Why can’t you be special? Your being special isn’t so important, but it causes lots of people to have a lot of false thinking. One person sees how you’re special and another person sees how you’re special and it causes people to have false thinking. It also causes people to forget about bowing, reciting the Buddha’s name, and cultivating. That’s why in the great assembly everything’s done the same way. When walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, you should all do things the same way. You can’t have a special style. Everyone should pay special attention to this.

Sutra:

If one sees the Thus Come One
with body and mind apart from discriminations,
then with regard to all Dharmas
one forever transcends all doubts and obstructions.

Commentary:

If one sees the Thus Come One. “if” means that it is a hypothetical situation. Such a person sees the Buddha, with body and mind apart from discriminations, At the time that he sees the Buddha, on the outside he doesn’t discriminate with the body, and on the inside he doesn’t discriminate with the mind. He is apart from all thought and calculation. Then with regard to all Dharmas. This person who has separated from all discriminations sees the Buddha’s body and nature as being like empty space. He has no discriminations and so he regards all dharmas and forever transcends all doubts and obstructions. With regard to all dharmas he has no doubts and so he can understand. “Doubt” means uncertainty and “obstructions” means blockage, not penetrating. He gets rid of all doubts and obstructions and with regard to all dharmas he penetrates without impediments.

Sutra:

Within all worlds, and
in all places, he turns the Dharma wheel,
yet it is without a nature and without a turning.
Thus the guiding master speaks expediently.

Commentary:

Within all worlds, “All worlds” refers to all the worlds in the ten directions and the three periods of time. And in all places, he turns the Dharma wheel, In every country, every Buddhaland, and in every world, the Buddha constantly turns the Great Dharma Wheel to teach and transform living beings. Yet it is without a nature and without a turning. The Dharma basically doesn’t have a self-nature, and the Dharma itself can’t turn the Dharma Wheel. Therefore, it’s without a turning. The Dharma’s basic substance hasn’t the ability to turn, because it doesn’t have a self-nature. It’s the same as empty space. And so it is said in the text that he turns the Dharma Wheel. Thus the guiding master speaks expediently. In this way the Buddha proclaims the dharma with expedient means.

Sutra:

To be without doubt or delusion with regard to Dharmas,
to eternally sever all irrelevant discussion,
and to not give rise to discriminating thoughts,
is called being mindful of Buddha’s bodhi.

Commentary:

To be without doubt or delusion with regard to Dharmas, “With regard to all Dharmas,” refers to Dharmas as being a method, an expedient device to teach and transform living beings. Expedient dharmas exist because of people. If there weren’t any people then there wouldn’t be any Dharma. The Dharma is what the Buddha spoke. If there weren’t Buddha then the Dharma wouldn’t be left in the world. The Sutras that the Buddha spoke are the Dharma. If we compare living beings’ faith in the Dharma with their doubts about the Dharma. we would find that those with faith are fewer. What is meant by that? Suppose that when you are introduced to someone else and told that the person is good in this way and that, you find that it is really easy to forget about those good things. Or perhaps you don’t forget them, but you may want to verify the fact that the person is really as good as he is claimed to be. That shows that you don’t have faith when it comes to good dharmas.

On the other hand, if someone says of another person, “That person is really rotten. He’s rotten in this way and in that way, and he’s rotten to such and such a point,” you will deeply believe it and won’t have any doubts about it. How do we know that you don’t have any doubts about it? Because you won’t investigate this. You’ll believe it right away. But if you’re told that someone is good then you’ll want to investigate it and find out if he’s that way before you’ll believe it. So, you should all return the light and reverse the illumination, and ask yourselves, if you were like that in the past. this proves that our minds of faith are small and our doubts are many. If people speak the Proper dharma, the Buddhadharma, some may not even believe that there is a Buddha. They ask, “How can there be a Buddha. God is the Greatest. How can there be a Buddha? The Buddha can’t be a big as god.” People have these kinds of doubts instead of being, as it says in the text, “without doubts or delusion with regard to all dharmas.” If you can have faith with regard to all dharmas, and cultivate precepts, samadhi, and wisdom, then you will not have doubts.

To eternally sever all irrelevant discussion, “Eternally sever” means to forever and always cut off” all irrelevant discussions.” I’ll talk a little about the word “all”. You could say that the word “all” means a lot; a whole lot of irrelevant discussions. It can also be explained as meaning one. How can you explain the word “all” as one? You can’t do it, but I’m still going to do it. Why are there many? It’s because of the one. There are so many ones that you can’t count them. If you put one, one, one together, then you get many. Also the word “one” is a grammatical particle--a simple adjective that means “a,an, or the” and indicates “one of something”...Eternally sever all irrelevant discussion”. You may say “all” irrelevant discussions or you could also say “one” irrelevant discussion. If there weren’t one irrelevant discussion how could there be a lot of them? Without one how could there be many? Now we’ll talk about many, and then you can believe in the many. Many comes from the collecting together of lots of ones. The one becomes the many. One isn’t one, but becomes the many. It’s not only two that becomes one, then, but three, four ,five , or six. Now, I’ll talk about six kinds of irrelevant discussions.

1. Upside-down irrelevant discussions: For example, basically something is black, but you say it’s white. You take black as white and are upside down about right and wrong. What is right you say is wrong, and what is wrong you say is right. That’s being upside down. You take good as evil and evil as good. “Upside down” means abnormal--insane. It’s being crazy. How do people get to be upside down? It’s because they go nuts. If you didn’t go nuts then you wouldn’t get upside down.

2. The evasive irrelevant discussions: It’s like when you do meritorious acts and someone say to you, “You’re really stupid. What’s the use in doing good? If you do good can you not eat and still not get hungry? If you don’t wear clothes will you not get cold? What use is there in doing good?” “Evasive” means distorting principle in an attempt to convince people not to do good. That’s cheating people. It’s saying things like “Monks use begging to get people to give to them. They talk about giving all the time, but they themselves don’t give.” These are evasive arguments not grounded in facts.

3. Argumentative irrelevant discussions: “Argumentative” means to dispute, to contend. There’s a verse which says:

In debate, thoughts of victory and defeat
Stand in contradiction to the Way;
Giving rise to the mind of four-marks,
How can samadhi be obtained?

“In debate, thoughts of victory and defeat.” This means having a mind that revels in competition. One is caught up in thoughts of winning or losing. You think, “I’ll debate with you and defeat you,” but you lose. “Stand in contradiction to the Way.” To be that way is to oppose the Way. It’s not in accord with the Dharma. “Giving rise to the mind of four-marks.” When you contend you produce the mind of four-marks.

Four-marks

1. the mark of people
2. the mark of self
3. the mark of living beings
4. the mark of a life span

“How can samadhi be obtained?” If you produce the four-marked mind, how can you possibly attain true samadhi? Without genuine samadhi you’ll never get genuine wisdom. And if you don’t have genuine wisdom then you’ll have doubts about the Dharma. You always want to win.

4. The irrelevant discussions of discriminating about others’ good and bad points: If you discriminate about others’ goods and bad, or rights and wrongs, it’s like washing their clothes. You see others’ filth but not your own. It’s like a crow who lands on the back of a pig and sees that the pig is black but he doesn’t see that he is black himself.

5. The irrelevant discussions of discriminating occupations to sustain one’s life: When some people finish school they think, “I shouldn’t have studied literature.” (or “math”, or “language”, or “philosophy”) If I had studied medicine then I’d be able to support myself better.” If you wait until you’re through studying before deciding that some other field would be better, then it’s too late. You say, “Oh, if I had only studied science, then I’d be able to make a lot of money and now my life wouldn’t be so difficult.” That’s what is known as the irrelevant discussions of discriminating occupations to sustain one’s life. You’ve already finished your studies, but now you regret it and want to study something else. “Occupation” refers to all sorts of fields of endeavor. You regret that you’ve studied the wrong thing. You think, “If I’d studied medicine then I could make a lot of money. And if I’d studied science then I could make a rocket or satellites and earn lots of money.

6. the irrelevant discussions of greed for worldly wealth and food: Some people are greedy for worldly money and good food. Wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep are all included in this kind of attachment.

And to not give rise to discriminating thoughts, If you do not engage in irrelevant discussions then you won’t have discriminating thoughts. This is called being mindful of Buddha’s bodhi. If you can be without discrimination--that one thought --then you can nurture the Buddha’s thought of Bodhi. That happens in just one enlightened thought. If you are able not to discriminate, then you can become enlightened and open wisdom. Why don’t you have any wisdom? It’s because the discriminations in your mind are too heavy. If someone gives you even a little bit of praise you go nuts with happiness. And if someone scolds you then you cry. These are all discriminations made in the mind. Why do you need to recognize things as good or bad? You should see praise and scolding as being the same. You should be

Thus, thus unmoving;
Eternally still and bright.

This kind of enlightened thought is the Buddha’s Bodhi. If you have enlightened thoughts you won’t be moved when people praise you or when they scold you. None of it matters to you. But you can’t just be like a piece of wood or clay, something that doesn’t have any feeling. When your thoughts are enlightened, you know when you are praised or scolded but you don’t move in your mind. The unmoving mind knows the good and bad, but it doesn’t discriminate. If you can be this way then you will have the Bodhi thought.

Sutra:

To understand and know differentiating Dharmas,
not to be attached to words or speech,
and to be without one or many
is called according with the Buddha’s teaching.

Commentary:

To understand and know differentiating Dharmas, not to be attached to words or speech, we people don’t understand or know the differentiating dharmas. From the time people are born, their minds are confused, dull-witted, and unaware. We say that we know, but we don’t. we say that we are aware, but we’re not aware. We say that we recognize things, but we really don’t. If we can meet a Good Knowing Advisor, a Bright-Eyed One, we can very quickly understand our minds and see our natures. We’d be able to understand the non-discrimination of differentiating dharmas and not be attached to words or speech. This Dharma is inexpressible and because it’s inexpressible there can be no discrimination.

You understand the non-discrimination of differentiating dharmas. You understand the non-discrimination of distinct dharmas. Non-discrimination is the mark of still extinction. The mark of still extinction can’t be spoken of in words or speech. To the ends of the bounds of the future, the dharmas characterized by still extinction can’t be spoken of. Therefore, it says in the text, “not to be attached to words or speech.”

The mouth wants to speak, but the words can not be formulated.
The mind wants to climb on conditions, but the thoughts are gone.

The mouth want to talk but there aren’t any words; the mind tries to climb on conditions but it has no way. At that time,

The path of words and language is cut off,
And the place of the mind’s activities is extinguished.

That means that there aren’t any thoughts going on in the mind.

And to be without one or many. At that time there isn’t one and there aren’t many. “Without one” means one and yet not one. “Without many” means there are many and yet not many. The one and many are not established. There is no one or many. This is called according with the Buddha’s teaching. This is how one should accord with all the Buddha’s subtle, wonderful, inconceivable teachings.

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