 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 |
|
| 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Contents previous next |
The Ten Grounds
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sutra:
Because this Bodhisattva, throughout limitless hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of kalpas leaves far behind the filth of stinginess, jealousy, and breaking precepts, he purifies giving and holding precepts to perfection. He is like true gold, which, when in metallic compounds can be smelted in accordance with a method until it is free of all impurities and becomes bright and pure.
The Bodhisattva who dwells upon this Ground of Leaving Filth also in that way, throughout limitless hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of kalpas leaves far behind the filth of stinginess, jealousy and breaking precepts, and purifies giving and holding precepts to perfection.
Disciples of the Buddha, among the Four Dharmas of Attraction, this Bodhisattva stresses kind words. Among the Ten Paramitas, he stresses holding precepts. It is not that he fails to practice the others, but he only does so according to his power and proportionately. Disciples of the Buddha, this is called a general discussion of the Bodhisattva Mahasattva’s Second Ground of Leaving Filth.
The Bodhisattva who dwells upon this Ground of Leaving Filth for the most part becomes a Wheel-Turning Sage King, a great host of the Dharma endowed with the seven jewels who has sovereign power. He is able to eradicate all living beings’ filth of stinginess, greed, and breaking precepts. Using wholesome expedients, he causes them to dwell secure within the Ten Wholesome Karmic Paths.
He is a great donor, and everywhere he gives without end. In giving, kind words, beneficial conduct, and identical actions-in all such deeds that are done-none is separate from mindfulness of the Buddha, none is separate from mindfulness of the Dharma, none is separate from mindfulness of the Sangha, up to and including not being separate from mindfulness of endowment with the wisdom of the knowledge of all modes.
He also makes the following reflection, “I should among all living beings be a leader, be supreme, be most supreme, be wonderful, be subtly wonderful, be superior, be unsurpassed, up to and including being one with the wisdom of all wisdom upon whom others can rely.” If this Bodhisattva wishes to renounce the home life, and within the Buddhadharma diligently cultivates with vigor, then he will be able to renounce his household, his wife and children, and the five desires.
Commentary:
Vajra Treasury Bodhisattva says: Because this Bodhisattva, who dwells upon the Second Ground of Leaving Filth, throughout limitless hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of kalpas leaves far behind the filth of stinginess, jealousy, and break precepts, never fails to hold the precepts but at all times holds them perfectly, like the moon when it is full without the least bit of defilement, he purifies giving and holding precepts to perfection.
His cultivation of giving is also brought to perfection in the same way as his cultivation of maintaining the precepts. He also becomes perfect in his cultivation of pure, stainless conduct. He is like true gold which, when in metallic compounds, when it is put in something intended to smelt gold, can be smelted in accordance with a method. The right procedure is used to smelt the gold, until it is free of all impurities. All of the dust, dirt, and other admixtures become smelted out, and it becomes bright and pure. The gold is far better than prior to being smelted.
The Bodhisattva who dwells upon this Ground of Leaving Filth also in that way, throughout limitless hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of kalpas, leaves far behind the filth of stinginess, jealousy, and breaking precepts. Just like gold which has been smelted, he stops having the defilement of being stingy, being jealous, and breaking precepts, and purifies giving and holding precepts to perfection.
Disciples of the Buddha, Vajra Treasury Bodhisattva says, among the Four Dharmas of attraction, this Bodhisattva stresses kind words. The Four Dharmas of Attraction are giving, kind words, beneficial conduct, and identity in actions. Of them all, he uses kind words most to teach and transform living beings.
Among the Ten Paramitas, the Ten Crossings to the Other Shore, he stresses holding precepts. He emphasizes holding precepts, and so when we people cultivate stressing holding precepts, at no time can we violate them. We can’t be sloppy about the precepts and fail to be responsible in our cultivation. It is not that he fails to practice the others.
It’s not the case that he doesn’t use the other three Dharmas of Attraction; nor does he merely hold the precepts and not practice the other nine Paramitas. But how is it then? He only does so according to his power and proportionately. He does what he is able to do, and practices the rest of the dharmas in proportion to his strength.
Vajra Treasury Bodhisattva again said: all of you disciples of the Buddha, this is called a general discussion of the Bodhisattva Mahasattva’s Second Ground of Leaving Filth. This has been a very brief, simple, and summary discussion of how the Great Bodhisattva who cultivates Bodhisattva practices and amasses all kinds of good roots certifies to the position of the Second Ground, the Ground of Leaving Filth. The Bodhisattva who dwells upon this ground for the most part becomes a wheel-turning Sage King. He will regularly go among people and be a Wheel-Turning Sage King. Why does he want to do that? It’s because Wheel-Turning Sage Kings have great power. They have the seven kinds of jewels:
The elephant jewel.
The horse jewel.
The woman jewel.
The army jewel.
The minister jewel.
The chariot jewel.
The treasury jewel.Or he may become a great host of the Dharma endowed with the seven jewels, a great Dharma-speaking host who possesses these seven precious jewels:
Gold.
Silver.
Lapis lazuli.
Crystal.
Mother-of-pearl.
Red pearls.
Carnelian.And who has sovereign power, great free-and-easy spiritual power.
He is able to eradicate all living beings’ filth of stinginess, greed, and breaking precepts. Using wholesome expedients, the expedient Dharma doors of the Ten Wholesome Karmic Paths, he causes them to dwell secure within the Ten Wholesome Karmic Paths. He is a great donor. He acts as a sponsor of wide-scale giving, and everywhere he gives without end. He bestows things upon all living beings on an infinite scale. In giving, kind words, beneficial conduct, and identical actions, those Four Dharmas of Attraction-in all such deeds that are done, all of such actions as those-none is separate from mindfulness of the Buddha, none is separate from mindfulness of the Dharma, none is separate from mindfulness of the Sangha, up to and including not being separate from mindfulness of endowment with the wisdom of the knowledge of all modes.
He also makes the following reflection, “I should among all living beings be a leader, lead them; be supreme, be very special; be most supreme, be special among the special; be wonderful, be subtly wonderful, be superior, be unsurpassed, up to and including being one with the wisdom of all wisdom, the wisdom of all modes, upon whom others can rely.” If this Bodhisattva wishes to renounces the home life, leave home, and within the Buddhadharma diligently cultivates with vigor, then he will be able to renounce his household. Then he can give up his home, his wife and children, and the five desires: wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. He can give them all up.
Sutra:
After he leaves home, he diligently cultivates with vigor. In a single instant of thought he obtains a thousand samadhis. He comes to see a thousand Buddhas. He knows a thousand Buddhas’ spiritual powers. He can quake a thousand worlds; up to and including being bale to make appear a thousand bodies, and with each an every body being able to make appear a thousand Bodhisattvas acting as his retinue.
If he uses the most supreme vow-power of a Bodhisattva, then his manifestations of self-mastery surpass that number, so that in a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, up to and including a thousand, million nayutas of kalpas they could not be counted or known.
At that time, Vajra Treasury Bodhisattva, wishing to restate his meaning spoke verses saying:
Upright, compliant, along with capable,
Subdue, quiet, and completely good,
Quickly leaving birth and death, of vast, great intent
He uses those ten minds to enter the Second Ground.Commentary:
This Bodhisattva is able to renounce his possessions, his countries, cities, wives and children, his head, eyes, brains and marrow. He abandons the five desires-wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep; or, sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch and dharmas-and afterwards he leaves home. After he leaves home, he diligently cultivates with vigor. At all times he:
Diligently cultivates precepts, samadhi, and wisdom,
And puts to rest greed, hatred, and stupidity.In a single instant of thought, the interval of one thought, he opens enlightenment and certifies to the fruit. He obtains a thousand samadhis, a thousand kinds of proper concentrations and proper receptions. He comes to see a thousand Buddhas. In the space of a single instant, he can see a thousand honored Buddhas. He knows a thousand Buddhas’ spiritual powers. He is able to know the powers of spiritual penetrations of a thousand Buddhas. He can quake a thousand worlds.
At that time he is able to make the great earth tremble in six ways. He doesn’t just quake one world, but a thousand worlds, up to and including being able to make appear a thousand bodies. Although this Bodhisattva is one person with one body, nonetheless he can manifest a thousand bodies, “and with each and every body being able to make appear a thousand Bodhisattvas acting as his retinue. He makes a thousand Bodhisattvas manifest acting as the retinue for each one of his bodies.
If he uses the most supreme vow-power of a Bodhisattva, should he make use of the most supreme merit and virtue of a Bodhisattva, and the power of vows, then his manifestations of self-mastery surpass that number. In a very free and easy way his manifestations surpass the thousands mentioned above, so that in a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, up to and including a hundred, thousand, million nayutas of kalpas they could not be counted or known. One could never say how many there were.
At that time, Vajra Treasury Bodhisattva, wishing to restate his meaning, spoke verses saying: The proper and upright mind, and the compliant and yielding mind, along with the mind capable, able to endure, the tamed and subdued mind, the still and quiet mind, and the completely good mind, also quickly leaving birth and death, which is the unmixed and unscattered mind and the mind with no hankering or yearning, of vast, great intent-the vast mind and the great mind-he uses those ten minds to enter the second ground. With those ten kinds of minds, he can certify to the fruit positions of the Ground of Leaving Filth.
Sutra:
Dwelling in these, he accomplishes the
Merit and virtue of precepts.
He leaves far behind all taking life,
And does not vex or harm.He is also free from stealing,
And from deviant sex,
From lying, harsh, perverse, divisive
Kinds of meaningless talk.Commentary:
Dwelling in these means in the ten kinds of profound minds:
That is the same thing as dwelling on the Second Ground, the Ground of Leaving Filth. The important thing is that it is essential to have those ten kinds of minds to enter the Second Ground, and so you can interpret it either way.
- The Proper and Upright Mind.
- The Compliant and Yielding Mind.
- The Mind Able to Endure.
- The Tamed and Subdued Mind.
- The Still and Quiet Mind.
- The Completely Good Mind.
- The Unmixed and Unscattered Mind.
- The Mind With No Hankering or Yearning.
- The Vast Mind.
- The Great Mind.
He accomplishes the merit and virtue of precepts. You have to hold the precepts in order to enter the Ground of Leaving Filth. If you don’t hold the precepts, you won’t be able to enter the Second Ground of Leaving Filth, because you will not be able to leave your filth. You won’t be able to get out of the dirt because you don’t hold the precepts. Didn’t it say before that among the Four Dharmas of Attraction he stresses kind words, and that among the Ten Paramitas he stresses the Paramita of holding precepts? That’s why he accomplishes the merit and virtue of precepts within the ten minds.
He leaves far behind all taking life. How does he leave it far behind? It’s by not killing at all. Not killing is to leave it far behind. Because he doesn’t take life, he doesn’t undergo the two kinds of retribution, the first of which is having a short life: dying a few days after being born, or after a few months or years. Nor does he have the second kind of retribution of having many illnesses, always being sick, having one disease after another.
Any of you who are always getting sick should return the light, look within yourselves, and say, “It’s because in the past I took too many lives, so now I’m always sick.” If you don’t kill, you won’t get ill, because you protect life. If you cherish the lives of other living beings, you will have the rewards of a long life and freedom from illnesses. You won’t get sick. So no matter who you are, take a good look at yourself. He leaves killing far behind, and does not vex or harm. You shouldn’t kill, and you shouldn’t trouble or hut other living beings. Don’t deliberately make trouble for beings. Don’t make them become afflicted or unhappy.
He is also free from stealing. He doesn’t steal either. If you steal, there are two retributions as well. The first is being poor, and the other is having your wealth held in common with someone else. You are poor, have no money, because you always took away other people’s, and so now you yourself have none. That is your punishment, your retribution. The second retribution is having your wealth in common with others. Although the money is your own, other people tell you what to do with it. They control it; you don’t. It belongs to other people as well as you. Or it may be that you have money and then it is taken over for communal use.
…And from deviant sex. “Deviant sex” means illegal sexual relations between men and women, sexual relations not sanctioned by law. If someone is not your legal wife or husband, you may not have sexual relations with that person. If you do so, then you violate the precept against deviant sex. What happens then? You yourself will have a husband or wife who will not follow the rules, will not act the way a wife or husband should. That is, your wife or husband will seek out lots of other people and have sexual relations with them. Why will that happen? It’s because you yourself in the past violated the precept against sexual misconduct. That’s the first retribution for it. The second retribution is that your family or circle of friends will not be harmonious. You won’t get along with each other.
Form lying, harsh, perverse, divisive kinds of meaningless talk. This means false speech: telling lies, harsh speech, loose speech-speech that is not in accord with Dharma-and divisive speech. Meaningless talk is speech that is not in accord with principle. These are included in the ten evils. If you violate these ten kinds of evil karma, ten you will not have the ten kinds of wholesome karma, and you will fall into the three evil destinies. You may fall among the hungry ghosts, into the hells, or be an animal, and it is not known how long you will have to stay in those three evil destinies before you can escape from them.
Sutra:
He has no greed for wealth and things,
Always kind and sympathetic.
Of proper ways and upright mind,
He has no flattery or deceit.He’s free from cruelty, pride’s renounced.
He’s ultimately subdued.
He practices as he’s been taught.
And is never lax.“Hell-beings and animals
Undergo amassed suffering.
Hungry ghosts are on fire,
And give off a raging blaze.All of this occurs
Because of their offenses.
I should take them out
To dwell in actual Dharmas.”Among people as he pleases,
He undergoes birth.
Up to Heaven’s Summit.
The bliss of dhyana samadhi.“Paths of Lone-Enlightened,
Sound-Hearers and Buddha Vehicles,
Are all brought about
Because of the Ten Goods.”In that way he reflects,
And is never lax.
He himself holds pure precepts,
And teaches others to protect them.He further sees the flocks of beings
Receiving many sufferings,
And he even more increases his
Great compassionate mind to aid them.Commentary:
He has no greed for wealth and things, always kind and sympathetic. People who cultivate the Way should not be greedy for wealth and possessions and should always have a kind of sympathetic attitude towards living beings. Of proper ways and upright mind, they should cultivate the Eight Proper Paths:
One should always cultivate the Eight Proper Ways, and have an upright mind:
- Proper Views.
- Proper Thought.
- Proper Speech.
- Proper Action.
- Proper Livelihood.
- Proper Vigor.
- Proper Mindfulness.
- Proper Samadhi.
The straight mind is the Way Place.
You should use an upright mind to cultivate the Way. He has no flattery or deceit. He doesn’t play up to the rich or look down on the poor. That is something that should not be done. Nor is there anything phony or dishonest in what he does.
He’s free from cruelty, pride’s renounced, he’s ultimately subdued. He’s not evil, not cruel at heart, and he’s given up his conceit. His mind is very compassionate, very compliant and agreeable. He practices as he’s been taught, and is never lax. One should cultivate according to the teachings spoken by the Buddhas, and one must never be lax and fail to follow the rules. To be lax means not to follow the rules, and not to be lax means to follow the rules.
“Hell-beings and animals undergo amassed suffering.” The retribution undergone by beings in the hells and by brute beasts entails all kinds of sufferings. “Hungry ghosts are on fire, and give off a raging blaze.” The hungry ghosts are always being scorched by fire, by raging flames, and it’s very difficult to bear. “All of this occurs because of their offenses.” It’s because of having created offenses that one undergoes all of the evil retributions in the three evil destinies. “I should take them out to dwell in actual dharmas. I should help all of those living beings in the three evil destinies to escape from them and reside in true and genuine Dharmas.”
Among people as he pleases, he undergoes birth. Wherever he wants to be born among people, he can be born, up to Heaven’s Summit, the bliss of dhyana samadhi. He can be born in the very highest heave, the Summit of Existence, having the happiness of the Four Dhyanas and the Four Stations of Emptiness. “Paths of Lone-Enlightened, Sound Hearers, and Buddha Vehicles to successful conclusion-“are all brought about because of the Ten Goods.” Those accomplishments are all because of having cultivated the ten good kinds of karma.
In that way he reflects, and is never lax. When he things that way, he is not remiss. He himself holds pure precepts, and teaches others to protect them. He himself receives and maintains pure precepts, and he also teaches other people to protect and hold the pure precepts. He further sees the flocks of beings receiving many sufferings. He also see living beings undergoing all kinds of bitterness, and he even more increases his great compassionate mind to aid them. This makes him even more kind and more greatly compassionate in his thought to teach and transform living beings.
Sutra:
“Those common, stupid, with deviant wisdom,
Who do not properly understand,
Constantly cling to their hatred,
And do much arguing and fighting.In their state of greedy seeking,
They know no satiation:
I should cause them to eradicate
All of the Three Poisons.“Fettered and covered by the great
Darkness of stupidity,
They enter paths of great danger,
And nets of deviant views.In the care of birth and death,
By hatred they’re detained:
I should cause them to disperse
The demonic thieves.”Commentary:
Compared to the way people think, the thinking of hungry ghosts is not proper or correct. The thinking of animals is also stupid, and the way the ordinary people think is stupid too. We imagine that we’re thinking very correctly, but from the vantage point of Sages, we are completely upside-down and unable to have proper knowledge and proper views. And so it say, “Those common, stupid, with deviant wisdom, who do not properly understand.”
Common, ordinary people are stupid, and due to their stupidity they have deviant knowledge and deviant views. Since they lack proper knowledge and proper views, their understanding is inaccurate. They “constantly cling to their hatred, and do much arguing and fighting.” They are always thinking thoughts of hatred and dislike. They hate this person, they can’t stand that person, and it never ends. It’s always as if they were suing someone in court, debating a lawsuit with people, arguing their case.
“In their state of greed seeking, they know no satiation.” Ordinary people are also greedy without satiation. They never know how to be content. The sole reason for fighting and enmity in the world is that people are unable to be content with what they have. If people could be content, they wouldn’t fight or argue with other people. As it is said:
If you know how to be content,
Then you will always be happy.
If you can be patient,
You will naturally be at peace.If you know how to be content, then you will always be content. And if you don’t know how to be content, then you’ll never be content. There is greed for states or greed for wealth and jewels-all kinds of things that have value-the states of wealth and possessions. They never have enough of them. There is no time when they are satisfied. “I should cause them to eradicate all of the three poisons.” The Bodhisattva on the Ground of Leaving Filth says, “I should make a vow to cause living beings who are like that to become free from greed, from hatred, and from stupidity. I should cause them to expel those three poisons.”
“Fettered and covered by the great darkness of stupidity…” Why is it people do improper and incorrect things? It is due to the great darkness of stupidity, to ignorance which fetters, entangles and blocks them. “They enter paths of great danger, and nets of deviant views.” They go along highly dangerous roads, and enter into the nets of deviant views. “In the cage of birth and death, by hatred they’re detained.” We keep being born and dying over and over again, and we never get our freedom. We can’t say that we were very clear about what was going on when we were born, nor that we understand very much when we die-that we know how we come and how we’re going to go, which is just to know how we were born and how we are going to die. We don’t know, nor do we look into this. Birth and death are like a cage and a jail that limit our freedom.
It is hatred and enmity which keep us from being free. “I should cause them to disperse the demonic thieves.” The Bodhisattva on the Ground of Leaving Filth says, “I should now on the Ground of Leaving Filth says, “I should now help those living beings to quell the demonic bandits, to overcome the six hateful thieves which are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind.”