The Ten Grounds

Chapter Twenty-Six

 

 

What is mean by “Bodhisattva?” Bodhisattvas are the same as we people, except that their way of thinking and their behavior differs from ours. At all times and under all circumstances they wish to benefit living beings; at all times and under all circumstances they are teaching and transforming living beings. They are not selfish and self-seeking. They do not scheme for themselves. They are not concerned about themselves, saying “What about me? What’s in it for me? How am I going to stay alive day after day? In the future, how am I going to die? I certainly won’t ‘swallow poison and die!’” They’re not that way. The Bodhisattva lives without living and dies without dying. He simply takes being of service to all of humanity as his own responsibility and does whatever he can to help mankind. He never does anything which would harm humankind.

This is certainly not to say that the Bodhisattva has this or that spiritual penetration. Having spiritual penetrations is a natural kind of response. The Bodhisattva certainly would not employ his spiritual penetrations to back up tyrannical and ruthless behavior, doing whatever he pleased. He would not be that way. Why is it that we have no spiritual penetrations? It’s because if we did have them, we would use them as weapons, shouting, “I have spiritual penetrations! If you don’t obey me, I’ll make your head ache!” Those are not spiritual penetrations but ghostly penetrations. Why? Don’t you think you’re going to have to undergo retribution in the future? Whether or not they obey the Bodhisattva’s instructions, the Bodhisattva looks upon living beings with eyes of compassion and would never punish them or cause them any other kind of pain or suffering.

He is always kind and forgiving towards others. The Bodhisattva is kind and compassionate towards all living beings.

Kindness can bestow happiness.

To be forgiving means to be merciful. No matter what they do wrong, the Bodhisattva think this way, “The offense is not yours, because it is due to my not having taught you any better. Therefore, although it is you who have committed the offense, basically the offense is mind.” No matter what it is, the Bodhisattva always looks for the fault in himself, returns the light and reverses the illumination. Living beings are always illumining outside, always saying, “You’re wrong.” The Bodhisattva says he himself is wrong.

…And does not wish to encroach upon them. He does not want to encroach upon others to benefit himself. If an item belongs to someone else, should there be valuables or objects which belong to other people, he gives rise to the thought that it is someone else’s item. He thinks, “Oh, that thing is his. I can’t steal it. I can’t encroach upon his benefits,” and would never consider stealing it. No matter how expensive, valuable, or rare, even if they are Capitol City- priced rare and precious gems, the bodhisattva does not become greedy for them. He would never consider stealing them. If you have no greed, then you will not steal. Stealing is just greed. Because of insatiable greed, one thinks of stealing.

Down to a blade of grass or a leaf: if not given, he does not take it. Even if it’s a blade of grass or a twig, if no one gives it to you, you may not take, it, how much the less any other of the necessities of life. If this is true even of a single blade of grass or a twig, how much the more so is it true of other, more valuable items?

So, don’t imitate American children who in school specialize in being mice. Those of you who’ve been to school have probably experienced this and will understand without my telling you. In the school, there is a refrigerator. Whoever has things to eat places them in the refrigerator. As soon as one person puts something in, another person comes along and “liberates” it, acts the mouse and steals it to eat. It may be milk, bread, butter, or gasoline- no one would eat that- or ice cream. Isn’t that correct? If you put a gallon of gasoline in there, no one would steal it- maybe one would, after all, steal it to put it in one’s care. That is a possibility. So, lots of Americans, when they are students, become mice. Why is that? It’s because they don’t know about the precept against stealing. They don’t understand that:

A mustard seed not given to a person,
Is a mustard seed that may not be taken by that person.

There must be that kind of care and concern. When you’re a kid in school, your attitude is, “What’s yours is mind, and what’s mine is mine, too.” You don’t make distinctions of self and others; however, “What’s yours is mind.” That’s not in accord with precepts.

“Down to a blade of grass or a leaf…” Do you all hear that? A single blade of grass or a twig, or one leaf- if not given he does not take it. If no one has given it to me, I don’t want it. For example, if this glass of juice had not been offered to me, I wouldn’t drink it. Although it’s a small matter, if you can’t be clear about the small matters, then what can be said about the great matters? So, in cultivating the Way, we should pay attention to the areas which are subtle as motes of dust. When there are a great many fine motes of dust, they become a mountain. You should not say, “Oh, it’s just a dust-mote’s worth. It doesn’t’ matter. I can just sluff it over.” It’s precisely because you lack dust motes that you are unable to make a high and lofty mountain.

In holding precepts, you should have a spirit of holding them without holding them, and a practice of cultivating without cultivating. It may look as if you are not holding precepts, but actually you are truly holding precepts. It may look as if you are not cultivating, but actually you are truly cultivating. So, maybe those of you in Gold Mountain Temple and the International Institute for the Translation of Buddhist Texts say, “Oh, I can’t cultivate. All I do is strike up false thinking!” No matter how much false thinking you strike up, it’s far better than what worldly people do. In everything they do, worldly people are planting the seeds for stealing, and in the future they will reap the fruit of stealing. Although in what we are doing here there are still faults and habits which we are not able to change immediately, still we have all drawn near the Buddha’s Way Place, and every day are able to understand more than before.

“How much the less any other of the necessities of life.” If one would not casually take or steal, even a blade of grass, a leaf, or a mustard seed, how much the less would one steal any other things, any other of the necessities of life?

(In reply to a question concerning the use of the arisal of thought in cultivation.)

If you have thought, then that’s not it. If you have thoughts, then that’s like waves arising on the sea:

The ocean’s water has no waves.
When the wind arises, there are myriad limitations.

At the time of no thought, that is your inherent good. Once you have thought, you have already fallen into second place and have limitations. That’s why I said if you have thought then that’s not it. At the time when you have no thoughts- no thoughts of good or bad, good or evil- then that’s it. Human consciousness is just like waves. Whether you believe it or not, I’m telling you it’s this way. If you don’t believe, just act like I never said it, and keep on investigating. Use your own wisdom to recognize all principles.

Sutra:  

His nature does not engage in sexual misconduct. The Bodhisattva is content with his own wife and does not seek the wives of others. Towards the wives and concubines of others, the women protected by others, by relatives or those betrothed, and those protected by the law, he does not even give rise to a thought of greedy defilement, much the less follow it into action, and much the less give himself over to what is not the Way.  

Commentary:  

We have talked about the precepts against killing and stealing, and how the Bodhisattva in the most subtle aspects holds and protects the precepts, without violating them a hair’s breadth. He looks upon the precept against sexual misconduct as even more important. His nature does not engage in sexual misconduct. Within his self nature, although he has the karma of sexual desire, it still is not sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct is sexual conduct not sanctioned by Dharma, or law, behavior not in accord with the Way. How does sexual desire arise? It comes from greed. Greed for wealth is one kind of greed, and greed for sex is another. If you weren’t greedy, you wouldn’t have sexual desire.

Therefore, thoughts of sexual desire come from greed. As soon as you are greedy, you don’t distinguish between right and wrong, and you don’t know black form white. You don’t know what are black dharmas and what are white dharmas. This is what is known as ignorance in the Twelve Links of Conditioned Co-production. I’m always telling you that the love men and women have for one another is basic ignorance. For example, when a boy and girl are in love with each other, you can ask the boy, “How come you’re so much in love with that girl? How come you can’t see through it all and put it all down?” His answer will be, “I don’t know.” Why did he fall in love? He doesn’t know. Not knowing is ignorance. If you ask the girl, “How come you can’t give that boy up? Why are you so attached to him?” she’ll say that it’s because she loves him. “Ultimately, why do you love him?” When asked to search for the basis of it, she doesn’t know. She hasn’t any idea why. That’s just ignorance.

It’s due to ignorance that there is activity, sexual behavior; and so it say that ignorance conditions activity, specifically sexual activity. Why do people engage in it? They don’t know. It comes about from ignorance. They don’t know the reason for it. I’ll tell you: it’s just wanting to go along the road to death, because people:

Are born from sexual desire, and die from sexual desire.

They run out of that filthy cave, and then afterwards they still want to run back into that filthy cave, and so it says they are born from sexual desire and die from sexual desire is just defiled dharmas. They are born from defiled dharmas, and they still want to die from those defiled dharmas. So there is sexual activity, sexual intercourse, and after that there is consciousness. Discriminating consciousness is produced. After there is consciousness, there is name and form- name and form and outline.

Once there is name and form, the six entrances are produced. Once the shapes and characteristics of the six entrances--eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind- are produced, after that there is contact, the sensation of contact. Once there is contact, there comes to be reception, the reception of feelings. One feels very comfortable from these feelings and gives rise to love. Having love and desire, one then wants to seek, seek to have for oneself. Once there is having (being), there is rebirth, and with birth comes old age and death.

The Twelve Conditioned Links follow upon one another, and one turns in the six paths of rebirth, unable to break them. But, if you can destroy ignorance, the rest are all extinguished. Therefore, the most fundamental is ignorance.

Ignorance is just the lack of wisdom, the lack of light. If you had the light of wisdom, then you wouldn’t be turned by defiled dharmas. You would turn the defiled dharmas so they became pure dharmas. If you can right in the midst of defiled dharmas turn them around, then that is purity. If you don’t turn them, then that is defilement. This is just as easy as turning over your palm. You can turn your hand over as you please. Bodhi and afflictions follow the same principle.

Sexual misconduct includes all kinds of afflictions within it. Why is it we people have afflictions? It’s just because we are greedy and are selfish and out for self-benefit. So, if something has no benefit for “me” in it, “I” become afflicted, and if it is harmful to “me,” “I” get afflicted, too. This is all due to one’s view of self being too deep, from having deviant views, and especially from thoughts of desire. If you cut off desire, with no desire you won’t have any afflictions. It’s because you have desire that you have afflictions. That’s sexual misconduct.

“His nature does not engage in sexual misconduct.” He doesn’t even have those kinds of thoughts. There are not thoughts of sexual desire within his own nature. The Bodhisattva is content with his own wife. The Bodhisattva does not engage in sexual activity with his own wife. He is content, because he knows how to cultivate, and so he’s constantly able to get rid of desire and cast out love. Although he is within that kind of state, he isn’t turned by that defiled state. He is content, and does not seek the wives of others. He doesn’t even have sexual relations with his own wives and concubines, much the less with the wives and concubines of other people. So, towards the wives and concubines of others, other people’s wives and consorts, the women protected by others, the women protected by other people, who might be handmaidens or else mistresses or concubines, by relatives, or those betrothed, perhaps women relatives or women of the same family, or women for whom a matchmaker has already arranged a marriage- and those protected by the law- or women under the protection of the laws of the family- he does not even give rise to a thought of greedy defilement.

The Bodhisattva, towards all women relatives and all female friends, as well as all categories of women, does not have thoughts of greedy defilement. He doesn’t even have defiled thinking about them at all, much the less follow it into action- much the less go and practice sexual misconduct; he would even less do that that- and much the less give himself over to what is not the Way. Moreover, if it is behavior that is not in accord with virtue in the Way, the Bodhisattva would even less do something like that.

Sutra:  

His nature does not lie. The Bodhisattva always utters true speech, actual speech, and timely speech, to the point that even in a dream, he would not consent to utter covering, hiding speech. He would never think of wanting to do so, much the less deliberately commit violations.  

His nature does not engage in double tongued speech. The Bodhisattva, towards all living beings, has no thought of dividing them against each other. He has no thought of troubling or harming. He does not report the speech of one person, to break him off from a second person, to that second person, nor does he report the speech of the second person, to break him off from the first person, to the first person. If people have no already broken with each other, he does no increase the break. He does not enjoy dividing people against each other, nor is he happy when people are divided against each other. He does not utter speech that would divide people against each other, nor does he report speech that would divide people against each other-regardless of whether it is true or false.  

Commentary:  

How does the Bodhisattva manage not to engage in sexual misconduct? It’s because the Bodhisattva has true and actual Samadhi power. He can be such that:

The eyes see forms and shapes, but inside there is nothing.
The ears hear defiling matters, but the mind does not know.

He is:

Thus, thus unmoving, in a state of unmoving suchness;
Understanding and constantly clear.

Therefore, he is endowed with the power of Samadhi so that no kind of beautiful form could shake his Samadhi power.

His nature does not lie. As it is said:
When one thing is good, everything is good.
When one thing is true, everything is true.

Since he does no kill, steal, or engage in sexual misconduct, he also is not going to lie. Why do people tell lies? The only time one lies is to gain some advantage for oneself, to cheat people; or, if something is going to harm oneself or destroy one’s own advantages one lies. People clearly know it’s not right to tell lies, yet still go ahead and tell them. But, the Bodhisattva doesn’t have that kind of selfish attitude and is not out for self-benefit, not out for himself. The bodhisattva gives all good things to other people and takes all the bad things for himself, and so he basically has no need to lie. In his own nature he has no causes for lying or any conditions of lying, and he doesn’t have any karma of lying, either. He doesn’t create that kind of karma.

Therefore, it says: the Bodhisattva always utters true speech. When other people see the Bodhisattva not telling lies, they look on him as being a great fool. “How can he be so stupid, so straight?” they wonder. It’s not just the average person who considers the bodhisattva an idiot, but even people who cultivate the Way consider all the Bodhisattva says and does really stupid, that he’s not smart as most people, because he always talks straight and doesn’t lie. Other people feel he’s being an idiot, but this idiot is someone with great wisdom. Common people see the bodhisattva as very doltish and stupid, but from the Buddha’s point of view, the Bodhisattva is an extremely fine Buddhist disciple. That’s why the Buddha is always calling him, “Good man,” and considers him to have great wisdom.

So, stupidity and wisdom just depend on who’s doing the looking. If the Buddha sees you as having wisdom, naturally you are someone intelligent. If common people feel you have wisdom, then you are just the same as they are. So, when common people see the Bodhisattva, they take him to be very doltish, a fool. Maitreya Bodhisattva, who only knows about others and not about himself, called himself an old fool, a really stupid person getting on in years. He admitted it of himself and didn’t call himself an old hand, or someone old and smart. He called himself an old fool-the more foolish the older he got.

There’s also what Confucius had to say:

I can talk to Hui all day,
And he does not object, like a fool.
But, I have observed that when he is by himself,
He really puts into practice what I have said,
He is no fool.

He said, “I can talk to Hui all day long, and he never has any objections. No matter what I say, he just says, ‘Yes, yes. No problem.’ From morning to night, he never opposes me, like a fool, a dolt, or a dummy. But, when he goes back to his room, he really understands what I have said to him. He completely grasps all the principles I have spoken for him, without exception. He is unusually receptive to the principles underlying what I say. Hui is no fool! It’s just that on the outside he looks like a fool. He doesn’t talk too much or look too much. That’s not his style. That’s why he looks like a stupid person.” Any of you who talk or look too much are not like Yen Hui. What was Yen Hui like all the time? His eyes always contemplated his nose, his nose contemplated his mouth, and his mouth questioned his heart and didn’t look at things or talk, so Confucius said he was like a fool.

The Bodhisattva always utters true speech. Actual speech, that is, he doesn’t lie, and timely speech, that is, when it’s time to speak, he speaks. But, he would never speak when it was not the right time to speak. If you go outside and answer questions that you shouldn’t answer, that is not timely speech. When you speak about what you shouldn’t, and when you don’t talk about what you should, that’s not timely, appropriate speech-to the point that even in a dream he would not consent to utter covering, hiding speech.

Even while asleep, in dreaming he would not say things to cover up his own mistakes. He never covers up his faults, even while asleep. He is every frank in admitting them, but even then does not talk too much. He would never think of wanting to do so. It would never even occur to him to lie, much the less deliberately commit violations. He would even less lie on purpose.

His nature does not engage in double-tongued speech. In his own nature, he does not act the two-headed snake. (In Chinese, the words for tongue and snake sound alike.) Have you ever seen a two-headed snake? If you see one, don’t act like one, or you’ll end up being one. If you don’t act like a two-headed snake, you will cross over the two-headed snake. The Bodhisattva, towards all living beings, has no thought of dividing them against each other. He doesn’t break people up. He has no thought of troubling or harming. He doesn’t like to hurt living beings or make trouble for them. He benefits living beings. He does not report the speech of one person, to break him off from a second person, to that second person.

Some of my disciples should pay close attention to this sentence in the Sutra. It would help them very much. He does not report the speech of one person. He doesn’t talk about what person A said to break him off from a second person, to make trouble between person A and person B. An example of this is: telling one person, “Do you know what so-and-so said about you? It was really rotten. That person is really out to get you. He is always talking about what’s wrong with you, saying this and that. I can’t remember it all there was so much of it. I’m just telling you a little bit.” The, if you ask him, “What else did he say?” the person tells you, “Oh, I just can’t tell you. If I told you everything, you would just get upset.” Then, hearing that, the person really blows up and says, “What did they say?!!!” This is just making someone get upset, to break him off from a second person.

Nor does he report the speech of the second person, to break him off from the first person, to the first person. He also doesn’t tell the first person what the second person said about him. He doesn’t tell B what A said about him, in order to alienate person A from person B, for example, saying to him, “I’ll tell you something you ought to know, but it’s really secret. So-and-so says you have got one doesn’t know how many boyfriends. They also say you do this and that-really rotten stuff! Nothing could be worse! And, when I heard it, I felt just horrible.” They start that kind of rumor, stirring up gossip to the first person.

If people have not already broken with each other, he doest not break them up. If people are not at odds with each other, don’t set them against each other. If people have already broken off with each other, he doest not increase the break. If you have already practiced setting people against each other, you’d better change, hadn’t you? You shouldn’t keep on increasing those kinds of offenses, should you? He doest no enjoy dividing people against each other. The Bodhisattva does not like to turn people against each other-breaking up friendships. Nor is he happy when people are divided against each other. He doesn’t think this is a lot of fun. He would never say, “I’ll get them so they can’t stand each other, that would be a better state of affairs.”

If you have already done this kind of thing, you should change fast. If you change, then there won’t be any trouble. You don’t have to say, “Oh no, I’m really done for! I am going to fall into the hells; and, what will I ever do when I fall into the hell of pulling tongues!” All you have to do is change. Bodhisattvas won’t hold it against you:

People are not Sages,
Who has not made mistakes?

It’s said:

If you have made mistakes but can change, then the mistakes will disappear.
But if you cover up your mistakes, then you increase the offense.

If you try to cover up what you’ve done wrong, then you have added an offense to the offense you already had. So, at Gold Mountain Monastery, anybody who has done something wrong should repent of it fast and reform. Once you have repented and reformed, you return to purity.

He does no utter speech that would divide people against each other. So, don’t keep on saying things that set people against each other. Nor does he report speech that would divide people against each other-regardless f whether it is true or false. Whether it is true or not, don’t say it. He doesn’t spread that kind of gossip or rumor.

Sutra:  

His nature does not engage in harsh speech, that is, cruel, malicious speech, coarse, wild speech, speech that brings suffering to others, speech that provokes anger and hatred in others, blunt speech, furtive speech, vile and evil speech, cheap and vulgar speech, speech unpleasant to hear, speech that does not delight the listener, angry, hateful speech, speech that burns the heart like fire, speech bound up in resentment, heated irritating speech, disagreeable speech, displeasing speech, speech that can destroy oneself and others-all such types of speech as those he completely abandons.

He always utters kind, encouraging speech, soft and gentle speech, speech that delights the mind, speech pleasant to the listener, speech that makes the listener happy, speech that well enters into people’s hearts, elegant and refined speech, speech agreeable to most people, speech that gladdens most people, and speech that brings joy to body and mind.  

Commentary:  

His nature does not engage in harsh speech. The Bodhisattva doesn’t’ have any harsh speech in his own nature at all. That is, he does not utter cruel, malicious speech. He would never speak words as hurtful to people as poison, which make people die from rage as if they had been poisoned. He doesn’t use coarse, wild speech, being very rough and unreasonable. He doesn’t use speech that brings suffering to others, with one sentence making people feel very troubled and pained.

He does not use speech that provokes anger and hatred in others. He does not use blunt speech-this is telling people off to their face-or indirect, furtive speech-this is, gossiping behind their backs-vile and evil speech-that is, low and wicked talk, or cheap and vulgar speech-speech so despicable that what one says is utterly worthless. He doest not use speech unpleasant to hear, so that when one talks, no one wishes to listen, or speech that doest not delight the listener. Sometimes when one talks with people they don’t like it. Do you hear that?

Speech that people don’t like is a kind of harsh speech. He doest no use angry, hateful speech. When some people talk, they make people get angry and stir up their hatred. He doest not use speech that burns the heart like fire. There is another way of talking that is just as hard for people to endure as having fire burn their hearts. The Bodhisattva doest not use speech bound up in resentment. When one talks this way one leaves a permanent resentment burning in people. He does not use heated, irritating speech, so that as soon as one starts talking like this it makes people upset and afflicted; or disagreeable speech, talking a way that makes people really not want to listen. He doest not use displeasing speech.

Now the Sutra is telling you about all these various ways of talking, so now you can put all your effort into studying how to talk this way and go out to harm people, hurt them, and upset them with a single phrase. Before you heard the Sutra you never suspected there were so many ways to upset people with your words, but now you you’ve heard the Sutra you have mastered them all.

The Bodhisattva doest not use speech that can destroy oneself and others. This kind of talk, when uttered, is wounding to oneself, and it also wounds others. All such types of speech as those, the different ways of talking just listed which are all examples of harsh speech, ways of creating evil karma from uttering evil words, he completely abandons. The Bodhisattva gives up all those ways of talking that create evil karma.

He always utters kind, encouraging speech. He always talks in a way as kind and beneficial to living beings as moistening water. He uses soft and gentle speech. He always talks in a very gentle and harmonious manner and uses speech that delights the mind. He puts people’s minds at ease and makes them very happy. His speech is pleasant to the listener. Before it was speech that was unpleasant to hear, and not it’s speech that is pleasant to hear, the exact opposite. He uses speech that makes the listener happy. People became unhappy when they listened before, and now when they hear they are particularly happy, again the complete reverse.

He uses speech that well enters into people’s hearts. When one talks, people find it very sweet and delightful. His is elegant and refined speech. One talks in a very lofty manner, in a very refined and cultured way, so when people listen they want to talk like that too, and one becomes a model for speech. He uses speech agreeable to most people and speech that gladdens most people, that makes lots of people glad in body and mind. And he uses speech that brings joy to body and mind. In body one is so happy one jumps for joy, and one becomes very happy at heart as well.

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