The Ten Grounds

Chapter Twenty-Six

 

 

Sutra:  

“The offense of deviant views also causes living beings to fall into the three evil paths. If they are born among people, they have two kinds of retribution: one, they will be born in a family holding deviant views; two, their minds will be flattering and crooked.  

Commentary:

Before, it talked about stealing and sexual misconduct and loose speech, lying harsh speech, double-tongued speech, and so forth. “The offense of deviant views…” What are deviant views? It means always having incorrect knowledge and views which are not in accord with Dharma. There is proper knowledge and proper views, and there is improper knowledge and improper views. If you don’t have proper knowledge and proper views, you will believe in improper knowledge and improper views, and in that case you will commit a great many offenses. The offense from that “also causes living beings to fall into the three evil paths, the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals.”

When we people commit the offense of greed, hatred, and stupidity, we can fall into the three evil destinies. We may be in those evil paths for a short time, or the time may be long-it’s not fixed. When we have paid off our offense karma in the hells and are born again among people, “if they are born among people, they have two kinds of retribution: on, they will be born in a family holding deviant views.” The family they are born into will be totally one of deviant knowledge and deviant views. And so, what they see and what they hear and what they are around will all be deviant knowledge and deviant views. “Two, their minds will be flattering and crooked.”

The second retribution that one has to undergo for deviant views is that one’s mind will enjoy flattering people. If you put this inelegantly, it’s called playing up to people, and it’s called being a sycophant. That means when you see people who have money, you smile and are extremely pleasant; but when you see poor people, you are haughty and won’t have anything to do with them. You won’t even speak to them-but, when you meet people who have money, you have all kinds of things to say. That’s flattery. When you see people who have money you flatter them, and when you meet poor people you despise them. This is the fault that most people have.

To be cooked means to be devious. One’s mind is not straight, and so everything one does is very devious and crooked. That’s the retribution that people with deviant views have to undergo. It is from holding deviant views that people kill and steal and commit sexual misconduct, that they are greedy, hateful, and stupid, that they tell lies, use double-tongued speech, harsh speech, and loose speech. If you don’t have deviant views, then you won’t be able to commit those faults. Deviant views lead one to kill, and once one kills, one falls into the three evil paths.

Sutra:  

Disciples of the Buddha, the ten unwholesome karmic paths can bring forth the multitude of great masses of suffering as limitless and boundless as these.  

Therefore, the Bodhisattva makes the following reflection: “I should leave the Ten Unwholesome Karmic Paths far behind. I should consider the Ten Wholesome Paths as a garden of Dharma, and delight in dwelling within them.  

“I, myself, should dwell within them, and I should encourage other people to dwell within them, too.”  

Commentary:  

After Vajra Treasury Bodhisattva had described the Ten Unwholesome Paths of Karma, he again called out: disciples of the Buddha, you should realize that the Ten Unwholesome Karmic Paths can bring forth the multitude of great masses of suffering as limitless and boundless as these. You all know that through the Ten Unwholesome Karmic Paths you commit offenses, and that when you commit offenses you fall into the three evil destinies of hell beings, animals, and hungry ghosts. Afterwards, when you have undergone you punishment for your offenses and come back to be a person, lots and lots of limitless and boundless sufferings will arise that group together.

Therefore, the Bodhisattva makes the following reflection: “I should leave the Ten Unwholesome Karmic Paths far behind.” He says, “I am cultivating the Bodhisattva Way, and I shouldn’t keep on violating by committing those offenses. I should not longer go along the Ten Unwholesome Karmic Paths.” “I should consider the Ten Wholesome Paths as a garden of Dharma. I should take the Ten Wholesome Karmic Paths-that is, not killing, not stealing, not committing sexual misconduct, not being greedy, not being hateful, not being stupid, not lying, not engaging in double-tongued speech, not uttering harsh speech, and not indulging in loose talk, those Ten Wholesome Paths as my moral. They should be a guideline for me, and I should delight in dwelling within them. For me, the Ten Wholesome Karmic Paths should be like a pleasure grove that I enjoy very much, and I should dwell in them in comfort and ease.

“I, myself, should dwell within them, and I should encourage other people to dwell within them, too.” At that time he encourages other people, his friends and relatives, all to dwell within those Ten Wholesome Paths and not commit the Ten Unwholesome kinds of karma, but instead always practice the Ten Wholesome Karmic Acts.

Sutra:  

Disciples of the Buddha, this Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, further, towards all living beings, brings forth the thought to benefit them, the thought of making them happy, the thought of kindness, the thought of compassion, the thought of sympathy, the thought of gathering them in, the thought of protecting them, the thought of them being oneself, the thought of being their teacher, the thought of being their great teacher.  

He makes the following reflection, saying, “Living beings are pitiful. They fall into deviant views, evil wisdom, evil desires, and the thick forest of the evil destinies. I should cause them to dwell in proper views, and cultivate the true and actual Way.”  

Commentary:

Vajra Treasury Bodhisattva was afraid that people were not paying attention, and so he called out again: All of you disciples of the Buddha, this Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, the Bodhisattva who has certified to the Ground of Leaving Filth, cultivates the Bodhisattva Way and amasses all kinds of good roots:

Does no evil,
And offers up all good conduct.

That is why he is called a great Bodhisattva among Bodhisattvas. He, further, towards all living beings, brings forth the thought to benefit them. He decides he wants to benefit all living beings. He has the thought of making them happy, of how to help living beings attain happiness; the thought of kindness, of how he can help living being attain eternal bliss; the thought of compassion, of how he can causes all living beings to escape from suffering and difficulties; the thought of sympathy for all living beings; the thought of gathering them in, gathering, accepting, and receiving all living beings; the thought of protecting them, protecting all living beings; the thought of them being oneself. He sees all living beings as being the same as himself. He has the thought of being their teacher, in order to teach and transform all living beings, and the thought of being their great teacher. No matter what kind of living being it is, he teaches and transforms that being.

He makes the following reflection, saying to himself, “Living beings are pitiful, very deserving of pity. They fall into deviant views-deviant knowledge and deviant views and evil wisdom. They have an evil kind of wisdom-evil desires, and evil thoughts of desire, and so they fall into the thick forest of the evil destinies. The three evil paths are like a dense forest from which it is difficult to escape. I should cause them to dwell in proper views, the Dharmas of proper knowledge and proper views, and cultivate the true and actual way, true and actual Dharma doors which have no falseness to them.”

There are two kinds of people in the world. One kind is the person who wants to trick himself and the other is the person who does not want to trick himself. They are the opposite of each other. What kind of person likes to trick himself? It’s the person who mistakes suffering for bliss, and who willingly does so. What kid of person does not want to trick himself? It’s the person who wants to separate from suffering and attain bliss, and is unwilling to deceive himself.

You say, “Oh, I understand. The people who don’t want to trick themselves are people who have left home.” Not bad, but can you leave home, or not? Those who do not want to trick themselves don’t even have to be talked about.

There is someone who is saying, “Dharma Master, the way you are speaking Dharma is completely illogical.” I haven’t finished what I was saying. When I’m finished, you’ll see the logic in it. Left-home people do not want to trick themselves, but, in fact, they do trick themselves. And, we are saying that at-home people do want to trick themselves, but actually they don’t feel they are tricking themselves.

How do left-home people trick themselves? They say to themselves, “Just cultivate well, and pretty soon you’ll become a Buddha. Don’t be nervous; all you have to do is persevere.”

At first it’s like tricking yourself. It’s kind of like baby-sitting a child. You say, “Oh, don’t cry, and I’ll give you a piece of candy. I don’t have any candy right now, but in a little while I’ll get you some.” To become a Buddha works that way, too. You trick yourself, but in the future will you become a Buddha, or not? You’ll find out when you become a Buddha, but for the time being it’s just the same as tricking yourself. The difference is in the methods employed, because this is tricking yourself into doing good things.

What do we mean by people at home not tricking themselves? Basically, they do trick themselves. They say, “Oh, worldly blessings, honor, and glory are all so fine! Gold, silver, and precious gems are really wonderful! Getting fame and profit-that’s all good stuff!” and they trick themselves, because those things are really not bad. You live it up eating steak, drinking wine, going to the cocktail bar. And when you drink yourself into a stupor, then you soar up to the heavens.

Sutra:  

He further makes the following reflection: “All living beings make distinctions between self and others and mutually destroy each other. Their fighting and enmity rage without cease. I should cause them to dwell in unsurpassed great kindness.”

He further makes the following reflection: “All living beings greedily grasp without satiation. They only seek wealth and profit. They sustain themselves through deviant livelihoods. I should cause them to dwell in the dharmas of proper livelihood, in purity of the karmas of body, speech, and mind!”

He further makes the following reflections: “All living beings constantly pursue the three poisons, and the various afflictions accordingly rage. They don not understand how to seek with determination the expedients essential for escape. I should cause them to extinguish the great blaze of afflictions and settle in the place of pure coolness of Nirvana.”  

He furthermore makes the following reflection: “All living beings are covered with the heavy darkness of stupidity and the thick membrane of false views, and so they enter the dense shade of the thick forest and lose the light of wisdom. They travel on dangerous roads in the wilderness and give rise to evil views. I should cause them to obtain the unobstructed, pure wisdom eye, so they know the real mark of all dharmas, and do not follow others’ teachings.”  

Commentary:  

He further makes the following reflection: The bodhisattva who is on the Second Ground, the Ground of Leaving Filth, accumulates all good roots and makes transference of them to all living beings to benefit them all. And so he makes the following contemplation. He says, “All living beings, without exception, have a view of self and a mark of self. They make distinctions between self and others and mutually destroy each other. Because they have a view of self and a mark of self and make distinctions between themselves and others, they destroy each other. They fight over profit. Their fighting and enmity, their battles with each other, rage without cease.”

When the Buddha appeared in the world, it was known as the time when the Proper Dharma was solid. After the Buddha entered Nirvana, it was known as the Dharma Image, or the Dharma Semblance Age, when the emphasis was on building temples and making Buddha images. Now we have been born in the Dharma Ending Age, when the emphasis is on fighting.

Take a look at the world. Countries fight with countries, families fight with families, people fight with people. They fight over power and profit and give rise to enmity, anger, and hatred, which rages without cease. Their anger and their hatred is like a fire. The more it blazes, the more widely it ranges, and the bigger it gets, the less it can be stopped. The blaze is so huge that it would not be easy to put it out even with a fire truck. “I should cause them to dwell in unsurpassed great kindness. I should teach these living beings who are fighting with each other how to practice the conduct of great kindness and compassion, how not to fight with living beings and not to hate them.”

He further makes the following reflection: “All living beings greedily grasp without satiation.” All living beings greedily seek and are insatiable. There is never a time when they are content. For example, take someone who is in business. In the beginning he says, “Wait ‘till I’ve made a hundred thousand dollars, then I’ll be satisfied and retire.” But, when he’s earned that much, he still waits. “Oh, wait ‘till I’ve made a million dollars. Then I won’t seek anything more.” But, when he has made that million dollars, he thinks he would like to have ten million. And when he has made ten million, he wants a hundred million. So, that’s what’s known as greedily grasping without satiation. There’s never any time when he feels content, when he says he has enough.

“They only seek wealth and profit, it’s just because they are seeking wealth and seeking benefit-they sustain themselves through deviant livelihoods.” They don’t pay any attention to whether it’s proper or not. They may make their living by gazing upward, or by gazing downward. Making a living by gazing upward is looking up and contemplating the way of heaven; for example, one gazes up at the stars and makes predictions on that basis, saying such-and-such a star is going to appear, and the world is going to have this and that happen. You do this to make people believe in you, and that’s what’s known as getting your livelihood by gazing up. Making a living gazing downwards is doing divination, casting fortunes.

So, a bodhisattva who is cultivating the Bodhisattva Way doesn’t ask about good luck or bad luck, doesn’t do divination. To do divination is to make your living bay gazing down. Both of those are sustaining oneself through deviant livelihoods. “I should cause them to dwell in the dharmas of proper livelihood, in purity of the karmas of body, speech, and mind.” The Bodhisattva goes on to say, “I should save all those living beings who make their living through improper livelihoods, getting them to dwell in purity of body, speech, and mind-those three karmas-and not live in the dharmas of improper, deviant livelihoods anymore. They ought to dwell in proper livelihood and have proper knowledge and proper views in everything they do.”

“He further makes the following reflection-the Bodhisattva on the Ground of Leaving Filth makes another contemplation, which is this: “All living beings constantly pursue the three poisons, and the various afflictions accordingly rage.” The three poisons of greed, hatred, and stupidity, confuse people and make them upside-down. Why is it that from the limitless kalpas to the present we have not become Buddhas? It’s just because we have greed, hatred, and stupidity. Our greed is insatiable. We figure, “the more the better.” Because we have this greed, we don’t have any wisdom. Lacking wisdom, then we get angry, and people who get angry are just stupid. So greed, hatred, and stupidity are known as the three poisons. People who are greedy are very difficult to teach and transform. Because you have the three poisons inside you, all kinds of afflictions are produced inside, too. These afflictions are like a huge, blazing fire.

“They do not understand how to seek with determination the expedients essential for escape.” They are not able to seek ways to get out, unable to make up their minds to transcend the three realms, to leave suffering and attain bliss. They are unable to use various expedient Dharma doors to escape from the Three Realms. The Bodhisattva says, “I should cause them to extinguish the great blaze of afflictions.” We have eighty-four thousand kinds of afflictions, and the Bodhisattva wants us to escape from the bonfire of afflictions, “and settle in the place of pure coolness of Nirvana”-to settle down in the state of non-production and non-extinction, which is that of Nirvana; to certify to the four virtues of Nirvana:

Permanence. Bliss.
True Self
Purity

He further makes the following reflection: “All living beings are covered with the heavy darkness of stupidity and the thick membrane of false views.” They are covered up by the blackness of stupidity and false views which are like a thick growth. There are, as it were, cataracts on their eyes. “And so they enter the dense shade of the thick forest.” Entering into a thick forest with a dense shade means their afflictions are just too many, like a crowded wood, “and so they lose the light of wisdom, which they had to begin with. They travel on dangerous roads in the wilderness.”

They wander through wilds where there are wolves, tigers, panthers, bears, and lions-all kinds of wild beasts-which is extremely dangerous, “and give rise to evil views. They start having all kinds of evil outlooks. I should cause them to obtain the unobstructed--I should save those kinds of living beings so that they obtain an unobstructed state of perfect inner penetration-the pure wisdom-eye, so they know the real mark of all dharmas-so that they have the pure eye of wisdom and are able to illumine and understand the true and actual mark of all dharmas, the mark of true actuality and suchness-and do not follow others’ teachings”-so that they do not have to wait for people to teach them in order to understand. They themselves can, on their own, enlighten to that kind of state.

Question: (from audience)

“Dharma Master, you were saying there were eighty-four thousand illnesses and eighty-four thousand cures in Buddhism and that a teacher helps you find the right one. But, how does one know if one has found the right teacher?

Answer:

“Establish merit, establish virtue, and establish written works. If you establish enough merit, then you very naturally will meet a true and actual Good Knowing Advisor. But, if you do not have enough merit and virtue, even if you meet a Good Knowing Advisor, you will not recognize the person. And, so the first requirement for people who study Buddhism is not to do any evil; but to offer up all good conduct. If you have virtuous conduct, then you will spontaneously meet a Good Knowing Advisor. If you don’t have enough and you meet one, you won’t recognize that Advisor. To talk of eighty-four thousand Dharma doors being used to cure eighty-four thousand illnesses is a comprehensive way of speaking. To speak in general terms, it means you need to get ride of greed, hatred, and stupidity:

Put to rest greed, hatred, and studipidity. Diligently cultivate precepts samadhi, and wisdom.

That’s what you have to do.”

Question:

“Is there any relationship between déjà-vu experiences and schizophrenia and enlightenment in higher states of mysticism?”

Answer:

“If you take drugs and go insane, then that’s an illness. It’s not becoming enlightened.”

Question:

“Psychologists are experimenting and finding that crazy people sometimes have spiritual penetrations and know things through the use of their wisdom, not through the senses.”

Answer:

“You can’t call that insanity. It’s just that they were stiff and cold, and now they are starting to thaw. In most cases where they recognize situations, they have had some connection with those kinds of states in the past which enables them to recognize them now. For example, if you have a friend you recognized yesterday, if you meet that friend today, you will probably remember that person’s first and last name. It’s the same principle.”

Question:

“I would like to ask the Abbot to comment on the little self, the greater self, and the involvement of the ego.”

Answer:

“The involvement of the ego, the view of a self, is also the mark of a self. If you have a view of a self, you have a mark of a self. If you have a mark of the self, you will have the mark of others. With the mark of others, you will have the mark of living beings. With the mark of living beings, there is the mark of having life-spans. Those are known as the four marks. The view of a self is because there is first a self.

However, that self is something absolutely not true. Most people say they have a self. Well, search throughout the your body. The hair is called hair, the head is called head, the ears are called ears, the eyebrows are called eyebrows. The eyes are called eyes. The nose is called the nose, the lips are called lips. The trousers, even, are called trousers. The arms of the body are called arms. The hands are called hands. The fingers are called fingers, and the finger nails are called finger nails.

Each part has its own name. If you count from the top of the head to the soles of the feet, each part has a name of its own. But, what part would you say is called self? Take a look, see if you can find it. You won’t be able to; and, since there is not self, how can you have a view of self? It’s because of the attachment of living beings. We are attached and say, ‘This is mine; that belongs to me…’ But, this body, basically, is not your own. It’s simply that you mistake a thief for your son. You mistake the false for the true and say, ‘This is mine.’

And, because you have a self, you are selfish. You say, ‘This house is mine; this land is mine; this gold is mine; this silver is mine-all of that is mine.’ All of this ‘mine’ is from a single attached thought. You always think that they belong to you. If you don’t hang on to them, you will lose them; if you do hang on to them, sooner or later you yourself are going to die. And, when you do die, you will have to put them all down. They will all be gone. Then where did your self run off to?

“It’s because we people have a self that we think of what will benefit ourselves, and we don’t pay attention to other people. That’s why the world is getting worse every day, and why people’s minds are worse every day. It’s just from having that attachment, that attachment which arms people to the point of death.

All of you think it over. Since there is not even a self, how can there be a view of self or a mark of self? The great self is an attachment. You could say that the small self is having no attachment, except a little bit. If you get rid of that attachment to self, then you mark of self will be emptied. At that time, all of empty space and the Dharma realm unites with one’s own self-nature. That’s what’s called:

Without self and without others,
one contemplates at ease.
With no emptiness and no form,
one see the Thus Come One.

I don’t know if what I said was right or not. If you felt what you heard was not right, then forget it. If you felt it was right…

If it’s the Way, then walk it.
If it’s not the Way, then go back.

I, myself, don’t understand very much, either. So don’t take what I say as:

Golden proclamations and jade records.”

Question:

“Could you please relate this to the ego and healing and to the energies from the universe.”

Answer:

“In healing, you should not have the thought of a self. Don’t have the idea, ‘I am healing people.’ You should think, ‘In wanting to heal people, I should see other people as being of the same substance as myself. People are just me, and I am just people. If people are sick, then I am sick. When I cure people, I am curing myself.’ That way you will have less of an attachment. When Bodhisattvas benefit all living beings, they do not think of themselves as benefitting living beings. When the Bodhisattva has rescued all living beings, he himself does not think that he has saved a single living being. This is what is known as:

Acting as if not acting.
Sweeping away all dharmas.
Leaving behind all marks.

When you heal people, if you say, ‘I healed that person,’ or ‘I used some kind of energy to cure him,’ you’re just having a false thought. That, too, is false thinking. If you don’t have false thoughts:

Basically, there is not one thing,
So, where can dust alight?

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