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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0119

Tape ：3A 03:26 ~ 04:43

Date：2019/05/20 ~ 05/22

Outline: Foundation

Topic: Prologue – Veneration at the beginning of the commentary

English Lamrim Vol. 1, Pg 34

Vol. 1 of Master’s discourse handbook P68-L7 ~ P68-LL2

Master often imparted to us the concept of infinite life on various occasions. However, when we face illness or other challenges, it is very hard for us to think of life is an infinite concept. Most of us consider the current life to be much more important than anything else; since we do not view the current lifetime as a part of the infinite life journey, it is very hard for us to see this present day as merely a tiny dot in the infinite life. And because we could not keep this concept of infinite life in mind, we cannot uphold the law of cause and effect. [00′37″]

As mentioned in the Insight section of the Lamrim [Volume 3 Page 147], the reason why nihilists disagree with the law of cause and effect is that they are not able to perceive it. What were they unable to perceive? That all living beings have moved from their past lives to the present lives and from the present lives move on to future lives. Since they are unable to see all these, they claimed that there is no such thing as infinite life. After Lama Tsong-Kha-Pa stated the above in the Lamrim, he then quoted from Candrakirti’s Clear Words as validation. What is stated in the Clear Words? It says, “What exactly is the nihilists’ view? Nihilists take the existing phenomena as the intrinsic nature and is unable to perceive that beings are from past lives and will move onto future lives; they don’t recognize any of these.” [01′25″]

Of course, the section on Insight [Volume .3 p.148] mainly discusses whether the absence of intrinsic nature refutes the existence of every phenomenon? This is the discussion topic. Hence, there will be no law of cause and effect and there will be no past lives. Lama Tsong-Kha-Pa wanted to address this issue. Thus, for the “nihilists”, not sure how you would think about it upon hearing this, the reason they deny the law of cause and effect as well as past and future lifetimes is they have not witnessed it. And, the majority of us are not able to see it, right? A lot of things are unable to be seen by the human eyes. As for the parts that are not seen, many people hold the view that because it cannot be seen, it does not exist. If scientists did not prove there are oxygen, hydrogen and various elements in the air, we would actually feel that there is nothing out there. Does oxygen exist? Do the various elements in the air exist? Also, if we have not seen the rainbow with our own eyes, how would we know there is such a thing like a rainbow? Suppose there is a rainbow behind the mountain, but no one has ever seen it. Chances are no one would believe there is such a thing as a rainbow in the world. Suppose birds were able to talk and they tell us that there is a rainbow on the other side of the mountain. If we are not flying over in an airplane, we would not see it, and not witnessing it will make us believe that it does not exist. [02′41″]

From the story of the Sixth Patriarch, Master helped us realized that our comprehension about the self, the intrinsic nature of life, and the attitude of meditation practice are rather precipitated and instant. We would never see them from the perspective of previous and future lifetimes, let alone from many eons. Based on this perspective, this is how we view the story of the Sixth Patriarch. Likewise, our interpretation of all worldly phenomena is confined to a limited timeframe, like taking pictures – with a “click,” a picture is taken; we are fixed right there and consider that is how things are. However, in reality, everything is flowing from the past, to the present, and to the future; it is an ever-changing continuum of infinite life. [03′31″]

In this short paragraph, Master proposed a very profound insight, which completely challenges our tendency for holding the view of annihilation! We easily make a quick judgment, blaming any occurrence on the immediate cause or discussing any matter from what happened yesterday, or the day before yesterday.  It is very difficult for us to contemplate matters from the perspective of many lifetimes or eons. Well! The attitude of how this person treated me makes no sense at all if I look at it from the standpoint of the present lifetime; his attitude toward me is very unreasonable. However, we would not trace it back to our past lives, because we have already forgotten about it because we are unable to see it. Therefore, when we are unable to view what has happened from the perspective of “such cause leads to the corresponding effect”, we would complain about being treated unfairly. We would grumble: if others can do it that way, why can’t I do the same? Once we overlook the effort put in from the past lives and want to set things straight in such a limited timeframe, it is definitely difficult to keep the balance. When we could connect everything happening in the past and allow it to come to light, it is very likely that everyone will take it as fair, for everything has its proper cause and effect. Thus, once we could see things from the aspect of many eons and many lifetimes, we would accept the present happening as it. Why? Because everything has its reciprocal cause, it is impossible that something, beneficial or harmful, just happens for no reason. [04′47″]

The kindness of Master in giving us teaching is very profound; besides explaining the verse of “nowadays those making effort at yoga have studied few [of the classic texts]”, Master moved one step further to point out the nihilistic view or the strong latent propensity embedded within us. He relentlessly swept through such erroneous view in our mind. In addition, he urged us tirelessly that our learning of Buddha Dharma must begin from listening and guided us on how to learn from the story of the Sixth Patriarch. Master helped us realize the true meaning behind the concept of “life is infinite”. Master was very proficient and tried every means possible to benefit us. He considered what difficulty we would encounter while trying to understand the story of the Sixth Patriarch. If we don’t grasp the gist of this story, it would be like what Master said, “Despite the fact that we chant the Diamond Sutra with all our might, yet without studying the commentaries on the Diamond Sutra, we would never understand its meaning no matter how many times we recite it. [Why?] It is because our learning does not follow the order of listening-contemplation-meditation/practice. [05′53″]

讲次 0119

科判 道前基础

主题 〈皈敬颂〉造论宗旨

音档 3A 03:26 ~ 04:43

日期 2019/05/20 ~ 05/22

广论段落 P1-LL1 今勤瑜伽多寡闻……复乏理辩教义力

手抄页/行 第1册 P68-L7 ~ P68-LL2　( 2016 南普陀版：第1册 P68-L7 ~ P68-LL2 )

手抄段落 那么是的，有的时候......而这个要经过多生多劫。

师父常常在在大大小小的开示场合里，都会为我们讲无限生命的概念。但是临到病、临到什么挑战的时候，我们很难想到无限生命。大多数的概念就是这一期的生死看得比什么都重要，不会在无限生命的航程中看待这一期的生死，所以我们很难把我们这一天放到无限的生命中去度量。正因为不能放到无限的生命中，我们就会忽略因果这样一个概念。 [00′37″]

在《广论》的〈毗钵舍那〉有提到：断见者之所以不承许因果，是因为他没有看见。没有看见什么呢？就是现在的有情是从前世来到此世，以及从此世再前往后世。因为他没有看见这些，所以就说那些是不存在的。在《广论》里宗大师这样讲了之后，就引了月称论师所著的《明显句论》作为依据，里边怎么讲的呢？说：断见者到底是怎样的？他们就是缘着现世诸法行相的这个自性，没有看见从前世来到此世以及从此世前往他世，没有看见这些。 [01′25″]

当然在〈毗钵舍那〉这个部分，是在讨论无自性是不是就一切全无？是在讨论这个。然后就因果也没有了、前后世也没有了，他是为了讲这件事。那么这个[断见者]——我不知道大家听了之后会怎样想——不承许因果、不承许前后世的原因，是因为他没有看见。那么大多数的人是看不见的，对不对？很多很多都是看不见的。就看不见的部分来说，很多人就会认为看不见的是不存在的。如果科学家没有证明出空气里边有氧气、氢气、各种成分的话，其实我们会觉得这什么也没有。氧气会存在吗？还有各种成分会存在吗？还有像彩虹如果没被我的眼睛看到的话，我们怎么知道有彩虹呢？假如说在一座山的后面有一道彩虹，而人都没有看到那道彩虹，可能人们就不会认为世上是有彩虹的。假如有什么飞翔的鸟它会讲话，告诉我们说山那边有一道彩虹，我们没有乘飞机飞过的时候还是看不到，没有看见的时候就会觉得这个是不存在的。 [02′41″]

师父从六祖大师这个公案，让我们去认识到：我们对自我的认知、对生命本质的认知、对修行状态的认知，常常是局限在很短的时间内下判断，根本不会放在前世后世，更不要说多生多劫。那么从这个问题的透视，我们可以看到：我们看六祖大师的公案是这样看的，那我们看世上所有的事情，是不是都局限在非常短的时间内，像照照片一样，[咔！]照了一下之后，我们就定格在那个地方，就会认为事情是这样？但实际上它从过去到现在、到未来，它是一个每时每刻都在变化着的无限生命的续流。 [03′31″]

师父在这一小段讲的这几行字立义相当地高远，彻底地挑战我们心中的断见习气！就是那种动不动就觉得什么事就是眼前这个因引起的，只是就昨天、前天这个因讨论这个事情，我们很难从过去生的多生多劫去考虑。欸！这个人对我这种态度，现世是没有什么道理的，他这样对我是非常无理的；但是我们不会向过去生推，因为都忘记了、因为我们没有看见。所以，很多事情一旦不放在[如是因结如是果]的道理上看的时候，我们就会抱不平，就会觉得他那样，我为什么不可以那样？一旦忽略了过去生的努力之后，只局限于这么短的时间内，当然无法摆平；一旦把过去的事情全部想起来，都摆上了台面之后，可能大家就觉得公平了，因为凡事都有因果。所以一旦把我们的视野放到多生多劫的角度去看的时候，我们就会对眼前的事情看开了。为什么看开了呢？因为凡事必有因，不可能有完全无缘无故这样的利益或者伤害。 [04′47″]

师父对我们的说法恩非常地深，因为这本来是讲[今勤瑜伽多寡闻]这样的一个偈子，但是师父在这个偈子后面，大刀阔斧地扫荡了我们心中那种断见的影子，或者还有强烈习气的，毫不留情地扫荡了这个观点或者我们心中的这个邪见。而且是在劝我们学习佛法一定要从听闻开始，怎么样去看待六祖大师这件事，透过这样的一个角度，让我们去了解[生命是无限的]这样的一个真谛。所以会觉得师父是非常善巧的，而且他处处为我们考虑，会考虑到我们理解六祖大师的难点到底是什么？如果不了解的话，就像师父说的，都念《金刚经》，拼命念，没有去看一些解释《金刚经》的论的话，念了很多也还是不了解是什么意思，因为没有循着一个闻思修的次第去修学。 [05′53″]