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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0183

Tape: -

Date: 2019-12-30 ~ 2020-01-01

Topic: Master’s Diary: Refuge Motivation, Earnest Listening to the Teaching

English Lamrim Volume 1, page 34

Greetings to all! It is time for us to discuss Lamrim again. Today, I came across one entry in Master’s diary dated 7th May, 1998, and would like to share it with everyone, so we can study together. The entry is about a suggestion from a Venerable: [00:23]

The Venerable said, “Your reliance on the Three Jewels is not strong enough.” This statement reminded me of my greatest flaw. Speaking of the power of reliance, one must first have profound understanding of the Four Noble Truths, realizing worldly suffering, voidness, impermanence, the four elements, as well as the deceit and delusion of the five aggregates; he recognizes the causes of suffering and happiness respectively. Thereby, he would wholeheartedly take refuge in the Three Jewels, just like the prisoners on death row desperately seeking help. He would not be distracted by delusive feelings and worldly matters, nor would he get confused by inverted views. Only when he is neither confused nor distracted can he be earnestly focused on the path by purifying defilements so as to help others. Hence, in order to seek self-purification, he must rely on the Three Jewels and the Guru, who is the embodiment of the Three Jewels. Thus, he will earnestly aspire to take refuge wholeheartedly. Only by following such practice can he actually advance on the path! I shall strive hard for it! [01:39]

This short passage is about one Venerable discussing some issues with  Master. The Venerable said, “Your reliance on the Three Jewels is not strong enough.” Let’s think about it for a moment. If someone tells us that our power of reliance is not strong enough, will we immediately reflect on ourselves, or will we become defensive?  Master followed by stating, “This statement reminded me of my greatest flaw.” When hearing the reminder,  Master’s immediate response was to introspect himself, and his introspection was with great sincerity.  Master said, “Speaking of the power of reliance, one must first have profound understanding of the Four Noble Truths”,  the Four Noble Truths imparted by Buddha: suffering, the origin of suffering, cessation, and the path to cessation. Then, one is to recognize “worldly suffering, voidness, impermanence, the four elements, as well as the deceit and delusion of the five aggregates;” if we consider all worldly matters to be happy and permanent, then we don’t realize that all of these are without intrinsic existences, nor would we understand impermanence –  coarse [v.1 p.145] and subtle levels of impermanence. The coarse level of impermanence is death, and the subtle one is continuous forward-progression [v.1 p.325] of our consciousness, which flows ceaselessly moment by moment. The “four elements” are earth, water, fire and wind. The “five aggregates” are the five heaps that constitute our physical form. The deceit and delusion of the five aggregates lie in the fact that such physical forms will no longer be ours after a certain period of time. [03:24]

We should realize that everything in cyclic existence is nothing but suffering, voidness, and impermanence; all are by nature deceiving. Why is it by nature deceiving? Everything in samsara would manifest itself as happiness and permanence. Without scrutinizing it carefully, we would develop delusive, inverted views and wrong perceptions. So  Master said a practitioner would “recognize the causes of suffering and happiness respectively”,  one is able to spot what is the cause of suffering right away and what is the cause of happiness. And with this realization, one will be able to sever the suffering cause and plant the cause of happiness; thus the root cause of cyclic existence can be severed. [04:07]

So, how can one sever the root cause of cyclic existence? And how to remove the cause of suffering? [ Master said,] “Thereby, he would wholeheartedly take refuge in the Three Jewels.” Only Buddha can profoundly explicate the law of cause and effect, and the wisdom of emptiness, so one should take refuge in the Three Jewels. How strong should one’s reliance on the Three Jewels be? It is “just like the prisoners on death row desperately seeking help”. As stated in the Lamrim, one will not have any instant speck of attachment toward the three realms of existence, like the prisoners on death row desperately wanting to get out of the jail right away – one would not want to stay in this prison even for a split second. Thus, the revulsion we should have towards the existence in the three realms should be practiced as strong as such! Hence,  Master set high standards, as those mentioned in the scriptures, for himself. The reason Master kept a diary was for his own reflection, rather than showing it to others; therefore, it is “just like the prisoners on death row desperately seeking help. He would not be distracted by delusive feelings and worldly matters, nor would he get confused by inverted views.” [05:04]

The diary continues, “Only when he is neither confused nor distracted can he be earnestly focused on the path”. That is, one is totally convinced there is no way around; he realizes that this world is indeed filled with suffering. So, how to remove such suffering causes? One must apply the teaching into practice,  then one can “purify defilements so as to help others.” One has to purify one’s afflictions first  then help others to purify theirs. Therefore,  to purify one’s afflictions, “he must rely on the Three Jewels.”  Master mentioned  again the reliance on the Three Jewels; otherwise what can one do to purify  one’s mind stream? Since the Guru is the perfect embodiment of the Three Jewels, the manifestation of the Three Jewels, so one should take refuge in the Three Jewels wholeheartedly, as Master wrote in the diary, “he will earnestly aspire to take refuge wholeheartedly.” That is, if we supplicate earnestly for virtuous teachers’ guidance, the genuine faith in relying on the guru is sincere naturally. “Only by following such practice,” if we are able to apply the aforementioned reasoning in practice, then we can truly – Here, Master wrote one would “advance on the path!”, instead of advancing “toward the path”. - advancing on the path to enlightenment. And then, the entry ended with the words “I shall strive hard for it!” The phrase “I shall strive hard for it!” appears quite often in his diary, which serves as his own reminder to exert every effort! [06:23]

At the end of this passage [in the diary],  Master skipped one line and began the next paragraph saying, “The top priority now is to repent wrongdoings and accumulate merits! Earnestly pray to the Guru, the chosen deity, and the Three Jewels! Study the immaculate sublime scriptures.” Hence, “the top priority”,  the most critical mission is to repent wrongdoings and accumulate merits – repent one’s transgressions and accumulate meritorious provisions. This is in accord with all the practice of the great masters and their instructions to others.  Master said, “Earnestly pray to the Guru, the chosen deity, and the Three Jewels! Study the immaculate sublime scriptures.” That is to exert every effort to study the scriptures, to learn the pure lineage scriptures. [07:03]

Master was always setting high standards of requirements for himself - he took such a path in the front, hoping that we would follow suit. So, let’s examine our aspiration toward virtuous teachers. The aspiration should be based on renunciation and Bodhichitta to salvage others from sufferings. That is, with such a pure aspiration we seek virtuous teachers, for we want to eliminate suffering and attain happiness. However, without attaining the proper approaches to eliminate suffering and attain happiness, it will be of no avail despite having such an aspiration. Only Buddha could explicate the teaching flawlessly. For this reason, we would take refuge in the Three Jewels wholeheartedly. Since the Guru is the perfect embodiment of the Three Jewels, our yearning for reliance on the Guru would naturally be earnest and sincere! [07:48]

With the influence of this motivation, be mindful of purifying transgressions and accumulating merit, as well as studying the scriptures; all these are with one’s aspiration in the learning of  scriptures. So whenever we discuss Lamrim, I hope everyone would remind yourselves that there are immense sufferings in cyclic existence if you examine it closely. Contemplate on [the analogy] “the three realms of cyclic existence are like a burning mansion”; if we truly realize the meaning, we would try every possible means to get out of this burning mansion. And the best way to get out of it is to listen to the sublime teachings,  realize how to get out of the burning mansion. Therefore, we should not listen with a perfunctory attitude whenever we listen to the teachings. Why? Because this is a grave life and death matter related to how we can ultimately eliminate suffering and attain happiness! Hence, we should have an earnest aspiration to study all immaculate scriptures. [08:45]

讲次 0183

标题 师父日记：提策皈依，殷重闻法

音档 -

日期 2019-12-30 ~ 2020-01-01

广论段落 P2-L2 诸有偏执暗未覆……诸具善者专励听

手抄页/行 -

手抄段落 -

大家好！又到了我们研讨《广论》的时间了。今天有看到师父1988年5月7号的一段日记，想给大家念一下，我们一起学习一下。说 ： [00:23]

5月7日有一位法师提示，彼云：“你依止力不够。”一语提醒了自己的大毛病。所言依止力，必先深明四谛，知世间之苦、空、无常，四大、五蕴之虚诳颠倒，识罪福业因，由是一心仰皈三宝，直如死囚求救，庶几不为妄情俗尘所牵，不为“如似而非”之妄见所惑。能不为惑、不被牵，方能肯心向道，由自净以化他也。而欲求自净，必依三宝、上师──三宝之化身，则一心皈投之情自切，由此修习，庶几真实上道矣！勉之！ [01:39]

这一小段是写有一位法师应该是跟师父直接讨论问题，说：“你依止力不够。”可以考虑一下，如果有人说我们依止力不够，我们是会直接反省自己呢？还是会去辩解？师父接着是说：“一语提醒了自己的大毛病。”在听到提醒的时候，师父会立刻反省自己，而且是非常认真地反省。说：“所言依止力，必先深明四谛”，佛所说的苦、集、灭、道四谛，然后“知世间之苦、空、无常，四大、五蕴之虚诳颠倒”。这一切，如果我们会认为世间是乐的、是久住的，没有了解它的本性是无自性的；没有了解到无常──粗无常和细无常，粗无常就是死亡，细无常就是念念的流转，念念都不会停息、刹那刹那都不会停息；“四大”──地、水、火、风，“五蕴”就是我们这个五蕴之身，它的虚诳颠倒，就是它一段时间就不归我们了。 [03:24]

知道这一切是苦、空、无常，是有它的欺诳性。它的欺诳性是什么？就是会显现为乐的、久住的，如果不去观察的话，我们会产生一个概念上的颠倒、认识上的颠倒。所以师父说：“识罪福业因”，就是能够在当下的观察中观察出什么是罪、什么是福的因由。因为了解了这些之后，能够去把苦因断了、乐因修了，把轮回的根本截断。 [04:07]

那么如何去切断轮回的根本？还有如何去断除苦因？ “由是一心仰皈三宝”，唯有佛陀深刻地讲解了业果见和空性见，所以仰皈三宝。到什么程度呢？ “直如死囚求救”，记得在《广论》上说，对三界一刹那的贪恋都不会生起来，就像一个死囚想要马上出狱一样，就是一刹那间都不想在这个牢狱里边，我们对三界的厌离心应该是修成这样子！所以师父对自己的生命提出了如经典上那样的要求，因为他的日记是不给别人看，就是写给自己看，所以“直如死囚求救，庶几不为妄情俗尘所牵，不为『如似而非』之妄见所惑”。 [05:04]

接下来说：“能不为惑、不被牵，方能肯心向道”，就是死盡偷心了，觉得这个世间真的是苦的。那么怎么样去把这个苦因断掉？就是一定要修行。然后才能“自净以化他也”，自己要净化自己的烦恼，然后再帮忙他人净化。那么想要求自净自己的烦恼，“必依三宝”，又说了这样一句，说一定要依靠三宝，不然拿什么来净化我们的心续呢？那么上师就是三宝的总聚体，是三宝的化身，所以一定要一心皈投。这样的话，“情自切”，就是我们去求善知识教、皈依上师的这个信心自然是恳切。 “由此修习”，如果能够因为前面上述的原因这样修习的话，才能够真实地──师父在这里边没写“向道”而写“上道”──走上修道的这条路。然后后面两个字是“勉之！”师父的日记里常常出现“勉之”，就是自己要努力呀！ [06:23]

写完这一段之后，师父隔了一行又写了一段，说：“眼下第一要务：忏罪积资！殷重祈求上师本尊三宝！研阅无垢经论正法。”所以“第一要务”，就是最紧要的事情要忏罪集资──忏悔罪障、集聚资粮。这和所有的祖师大德修行的方式和教导他人的方式是一样的。说：“殷重祈求上师本尊三宝！研阅无垢经论正法。”就是要努力地学教典、学有清净传承的教典。 [07:03]

师父他自己是这样要求自己的──自己走这样的路，也在前面走着，希望我们走这样的路。所以看一看希求善知识的那个心，是以出离心，还有想要化他的这个菩提心为牵引，以这样皎洁的目标去希求善知识。因为想要离苦得乐，如果没有离苦得乐的法，我们纵然有离苦得乐之心也是枉然。那么离苦得乐的法，只有佛陀会清净地宣说，所以会一心皈投三宝；而上师是三宝的总聚体，所以皈依上师的心自然就会来得恳切！ [07:48]

在这样动机的牵引下，还要注意净罪集资，然后同时学习经论，都是在这样的一个发心的摄持下学习经论。所以我们每次研讨《广论》的时候，希望大家能够提醒自己，要知道这个轮回世界仔细去观察的话，是有诸多的苦痛。确切地再去思考“三界如火宅”，我们应该想要从这火宅里赶快地出来。那么赶快出来的方法，就必须去听闻正法，要了解怎么样能从火宅里出来。所以每一次听法的时候，就不能以浮浮泛泛之心来听，因为这攸关离苦得乐生死大事！所以要发一个殷重的心，研阅无垢的经论。