Bodhisattvas Asks for Clarification

Chapter Ten

 

 

COMMENTARY:

This section of verses illustrates how, although the Buddhadharma is one and the same, some hear it, practice vigorously, and become liberated, while others continue to be lax and fail to be liberated. Various analogies are brought up to elucidate the problems with being lax.

Thus one analogy goes: Suppose there were only a tiny flame; / Wet sticks would cause it to quickly die out. If you try to use a small flame to light wood that has just been chopped in the mountains, which is still wet, the dampness in the wood will quickly overpower and put out the flame.

Within the Dharma taught by the Buddhas, / So, too, is it for one who is lax. If you are lax and fail to cultivate, it is as if you are trying to light wet wood with a small flame. The small flame represents your tiny bit of practice, the fact that you hardly ever make an effort to practice and are not vigorous at all. The wet wood symbolizes your heavy karmic obstructions and your abundant afflictions and ignorance. When you make such an insignificant effort to cultivate, how can you eradicate your karmic obstructions and ignite the fire of wisdom? How can you put out the flames of afflictions? How can you sever your afflictions, ignorance, and cravings, since you basically have no wish to sever them and have not made any effort to do so? It is not possible to start a fire if you try to light damp wood with such a tiny flame. If you have dry wood, meaning if you cultivate vigorously and your karmic obstructions are slight, then you will be able to light the fire as soon as you apply effort. Thus, afflictions are just like damp wood that cannot be ignited. And if you are lazy instead of vigorous in cultivating, it is just like trying to light damp wood using a small flame.

Or, suppose to make fire, one rubbed wood together, / But stopped to rest before it flamed. You do not rub long enough for fire to flame up. As soon as you feel a bit of warmth, you stop rubbing. The potential for fire with the stopping would die. As soon as you stop rubbing, the warmth you gained would be lost and you will not get any fire.

So, too, is it for one who is lax. If your cultivation of the Buddhadharma is off and on, if you practice for a while, then slack off, and then start up again, it is just like rubbing wood together to make fire, but stopping to rest before the fire actually ignites, and then resuming after awhile. You waste a lot of effort. When you are on the verge of getting fire, you stop right before the fire is going to ignite, saying, “I have been working very hard. Let me take a rest,” and you relax and wait for a minute, then the fire will not flame. This is analogous to practicing and practicing to the point that you would get enlightened if you kept at it for another second, but instead you quit practicing right then. That is why I say, “Everything is a test to see what you will do. If you fail to recognize the state, you will have to start anew.” If in rubbing wood to get fire, you pause to rest before the fire is produced, you will have to start all over again. And if the second time around, you stop before you get fire, you will have to start over yet again.

Or, what if one held a crystal under the sun? When the sun’s rays shine through a crystal onto a piece of cotton, the cotton catches on fire. This crystal can focus the sunlight and set something on fire. You could strike a piece of flint to create a spark, or you shine the sun’s rays through a crystal to set something on fire. But suppose you failed to use tinder to catch the reflection of the sun. Then no matter how long you let the sun shine through the crystal, there would be no fire because no material was placed where it would catch fire. Consequently no fire could be obtained. You might direct the sunlight through the crystal to the ground, but the ground will not catch on fire. You have to shine it on cotton or some other material that easily ignites if you want to produce fire.

So, too, is it for one who is lax. Studying the Buddhadharma is like using a crystal to produce fire. If you do not have tinder to catch the heat from the crystal, you will not obtain fire. That is analogous to not cultivating the Buddhadharma. The crystal represents Buddhism, and the tinder is your vigor. If you learn Buddhism but do not vigorously practice it, you will not achieve anything. You will be able neither to sever your afflictions nor to uncover your wisdom.

Or, suppose out in the bright, hot sunshine which illuminates all the land, a young child shut his eyes, / And then asked absurdly, “Why do I not see?” This child does not understand how to look at things, so he shuts his eyes and then asks why he cannot see the sun. How can he see the sun with his eyes closed? So, too, is it for one who is lax. When a person is lazy and does not cultivate Buddhism, it is just as if the sun in the sky is shining its light across the land, but a foolish child shuts his eyes and then wonders, “Why can’t I see the sun?” Buddhism is represented by the sun. Deluded beings are represented by the young child. If you only understand Buddhism but do not diligently practice it, then you are like the young child who closes his eyes and does not see the sun. The principle is the same.

Or, to give another analogy, suppose there is one without hands or feet, who wished to use a blade of grass in the manner of an arrow, to pierce and break the great earth asunder. How can a person who has no hands and no feet even think of using an arrow made of grass, and how could he break the earth apart with it? This is basically impossible.

So, too, is one who is lax. A lazy person who does not practice is the same way. The person without hands and feet represents a person who does not cultivate. If you do not cultivate, it is as if you do not have any hands and feet. A person does not cultivate, and yet wishes to break through all ignorance with the arrow of wisdom. If you do not cultivate, how can you have the arrow of wisdom? This is analogous to if someone did not have any hands or feet, how could that person wield an arrow made of grass and use it to pierce through the earth? In other words, how can you break through ignorance, afflictions, love and desire? A person who is lazy and does not practice the Buddhadharma is just as helpless as a person without hands or feet, who wishes to pierce the earth with a stalk of grass.

SUTRA:

Or, suppose one used the tip of a hair,
To dip out water from the ocean,
Wishing to render it completely dry.
So, too, is it for one who is lax. 

Or, suppose the kalpic fire ignited,
And one hoped to put it out with a little water.
Within the Dharma taught by the Buddhas,
So, too, is it for one who is lax. 

COMMENTARY:

Both this and the previous sections of sutra text are quite short. We students of the Buddhadharma should study them well, to the point that we can recite them without looking at the book. We should constantly use these passages to remind and exhort ourselves not to be lazy. If you are lazy, the various analogies we have been explaining will apply to you. Thus, this section of the chapter, “The Bodhisattvas Ask for Clarification,” is extremely important. 

No one should overlook it! If you overlook it and do not learn the Buddhadharma, what will you be like? Here is another analogy:

Or, suppose one used the tip of a hair, / To dip out all the water from the ocean, / Wishing to render it completely dry. / So, too, is it for one who is lax. This is basically an impossible task. How can you remove all the water from the ocean using a strand of hair? It cannot be done. This is saying that if you only apply a tiny amount of effort in practicing Buddhism, how can you expect to attain great benefit?

Or, suppose the kalpic fire ignited. When the kalpic fire blazes, it pervades the entire earth, and even the very dirt catches fire as easily as if it were tinder or explosives. At that time, the dirt of itself turns into flames. A fire such as that is certainly not easy to extinguish. And one hoped to put it out with a little water. To put out a kalpic fire with only a little water is another impossibility. So, too, within the Dharma taught by the Buddhas, if you do not vigorously cultivate, you are like one using a tiny bit of water in an attempt to extinguish a kalpic fire. It cannot be done. So, too, is it for one who is lax. Anyone who neglects the Buddhadharma and does not cultivate is the same way.

Not to talk about a kalpic fire, there is an expression in the Book of Mencius: “using a cup of water to put out a campfire.” Even if the fire is only as big as a campfire, you would not be able to extinguish it with merely one cup of water. You need to use more water than that. During a kalpic fire, even if you used a tremendous amount of water, you still would not be able to extinguish it. How much the less could you hope to do so with just a cup of water. It follows that, in regard to the Buddhadharma, if you wish to accomplish some skill, you absolutely must be vigorous. If you are not vigorous, you are like one who tries to use a tiny bit of water to put out a kalpic fire. The analogy describes one who is lax.

SUTRA:

Or, as when someone gazes into space,
And physically does not move,
Yet says that he can soar through the air.
So, too, is it for one who is lax. 

COMMENTARY:

This is a further analogy. Or, being lax is as when someone gazes off into space, / And physically does not move. Although he is looking off into space, he does not actually go to any of those places he can see. He just sits there, without moving. He does not go anywhere at all. Yet he says that he can soar through the air. He says he can mount the clouds and ride the fog and reach outer space.

So, too, is it for one who is lax. The meaning in this is that there is no such principle. Space is an analogy for the teachings of the Buddha. And to sit still without moving is like getting to hear the teachings of the Buddha, but then failing to cultivate. Without cultivating, what level of sagehood could anyone hope to attain? You could never attain any level of fruition. You may say you can become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva, or realize the four fruitions of Arhatship, or that you can enter all the positions of sagehood, but you cannot actually reach those levels. And why? Because you do not truly and actually cultivate.“So, too, is it for one who is lax.” Regarding the Buddha’s teaching, if you do not practice vigorously, but are lazy, then it is as if you scanned empty space, but your body remained in one place, unmoving, and then you said, “I have been to every place throughout the cosmos.” That is an impossibility.

VII.      The Profoundness of the Proper Practice

SUTRA:

At that time, Manjushri Bodhisattva asked Dharma Leader Bodhisattva, “Disciple of the Buddha, as the Buddha has said, any sentient being who receives and upholds the Proper Dharma, can be rid of all affliction. Why, then, is it that some receive and uphold the Proper Dharma, but still fail to sever themselves from them? Instead, they succumb to greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, covering, indignation, animosity, jealousy, stinginess, deceit, and obsequiousness. Compelled by the intensity of such afflictions, they have no thought to separate from them. How is it that one can receive and uphold the Dharma and still within the activity of one’s mind, give rise to all those afflictions?” 

Then Dharma Leader Bodhisattva answered in verse. 

COMMENTARY:

Once Diligence Leader Bodhisattva finished speaking his verses, then at that time, Manjushri Bodhisattva, the Dharma Prince, the great Bodhisattva among Bodhisattvas, asked Dharma Leader Bodhisattva, “Disciple of the Buddha, as the Buddha has said previously, any sentient being who receives and upholds the Proper Dharma, who accepts it in his mind and upholds it in his person, who is receptive to the Buddhadharma and relies on it to cultivate, can be rid of all afflictions.” He will be able to free himself totally from all afflictions.

Why, then, is it that some receive and uphold the Proper Dharma, but still fail to sever themselves from them? Some people accept and uphold the Proper Dharma but still are unable to sever themselves from their afflictions. Why? Why are they unable to break through their ignorance? What is the principle in this? Instead, they succumb to greed, hatred, and delusion. All people have these three habits to a degree. But some, even after hearing, receiving, and upholding the Buddhadharma, still not only do not manage to sever themselves from greed, hatred, and delusion, but are even carried away with them.

Moreover, they are carried away with arrogance. In fact, they follow after all the Twenty Subsidiary Afflictions, including the affliction of covering. That is to say, whatever fault he has, he does not openly and frankly admit it. Afraid that others might find out, he tries to hide it. Furthermore, he succumbs to indignation and animosity. Because one feels something is unjust, one becomes filled with indignation. When that indignation reaches an extreme, one begins to seethe with resentment and animosity.

Such a person also succumbs to jealousy. Basically, those who cultivate the Proper Dharma should not become jealous; but he is overcome by it. Those who cultivate the Proper Dharma should practice giving in order to overcome stinginess. This person, however, gets carried away with his stinginess instead of trying to counteract it. Those who practice the Proper Dharma should also not tell lies. But such a person continues to casually tell lies and engage in deceit. Moreover those who cultivate the Proper Dharma should not be involved in obsequiousness. They should not fawn on the rich, but snub the poor. Compelled by the intensity of such afflictions, they have no thought to separate from them. He is influenced by the force of all the afflictions just mentioned. What is the cause of this?

How is it that one can receive and uphold the Dharma and still within the activity of one’s mind, give rise to all those afflictions? In order to receive and uphold the Proper Dharma, one must do so with one’s mind. How is it that in the activities of this very same mind, instead of cutting off one’s afflictions, one produces even more afflictions and ignorance than one had before? What is the meaning of this?

Then Dharma Leader Bodhisattva answered in verse. Then the great Bodhisattva, Dharma Leader, used verses to answer this difficult question posed by Manjushri Bodhisattva, regarding why it is our minds are overcome by afflictions, and yet we cannot be apart from this very mind when we receive and uphold the Proper Dharma. This is the very same mind that we use to receive and uphold this Dharma, the same mind that is used to cultivate with. Since we cannot be apart from this mind, it should not have any afflictions. How is it we are still not severed from them? This is a kind of rebuttal; a difficult question. Where do all those afflictions come from? Of course, they must come from the mind. And since we are not apart from this very same mind in accepting and upholding the Dharma, how can it be that afflictions are then not gotten rid of?

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