Lecture No. 0252
Global Lamrim II
Lecture No. 0252
Lamrim Volume 1: Pg 36L5
Tape No: 4B 00:00 ~ 4B 02:56
Date: 2020-08-27 ~ 2020-08-30
Topic: Both Scriptural Knowledge and Experiential Knowledge are the Ones Best for Self-benefitting
While going over the outline of Chapter 1 in the previous teaching, Master said the first part is about Master Atisha’s excellent rebirth. The second part is about the good qualities that Master Atisha gained; according to Master, this part is about self-benefitting. Regarding this self-benefitting, let’s not view it from the aspect of completely self-benefitting; for some of this self-benefitting is also to benefit others. For instance, if you are aspired to acquire the skill of saving a drowning person, then firstly learning how to swim is a must. Will you say that learning how to swim is entirely for your own benefit? Of course, if you accidentally fall into the water, you will know how to help yourself out; meanwhile, when seeing other people falling into the water, you can also help them out. [00:31]
So the question is not about whether such self-benefitting is “completely self-benefitting.” Please recall how Master put it. Master said this self-benefitting could be divided further into two parts. Do you remember what they are? They are scriptural knowledge and experiential knowledge – or in the words of Master, realization and studying. What is in your mind when you folks heard or read this part? Studying the biography of Master Atisha is to help us develop our faith towards our Guru and the Three Jewels, then we are able to change all those imperfections and sufferings in our lives. It says in the text, “how upon that basis he gained good qualities,” which is from the aspect of self-benefitting, and Master further explained that this self-benefitting is attained by studying the scriptures and having a realization. Now, I’d like to ask you all a question: if we like to do something for ourselves, what would we do? Brew a cup of tea for self-rewarding, take a trip somewhere, spend the money we have tried very hard to earn, or do something that would as if please or satisfy ourselves… the list can go on and on, right? These are known as “enjoyment”- feeling delighted, right? These are the things we would do, thinking they are beneficial for us; is this right? This is generally how we would take care of ourselves. [01:48]
However, in this section, Master said what is the scriptural knowledge ? It is for sure doing something in our best interest, and the experiential knowledge is also quite beneficial to us; isn’t it what self-benefitting is supposed to be – acting in our best interest? This definition of self-benefitting is very different from what we have in mind. Although we have studied the Lamrim for many years, what will we do when it comes to taking care of ourselves? What would we do to achieve that purpose? Will we think the most wonderful self-benefitting is actually by acquiring both encompassing scriptural knowledge and attain encompassing experiential knowledge? The two terms Master used here seem to jump out of nowhere; I am wondering if you are surprised to hear this. Have we ever thought about applying scriptural knowledge as the best way for self-protection or achieving the experiential knowledge as the best reward throughout this life of ours? [Probably not!] However, over here, Master unexpectedly wrote “scriptural knowledge, experiential knowledge”! [02:43]
As far as the Buddha Dharma is concerned, Buddha’s teaching is to salvage sentient beings from doing non-virtuous deeds, from afflictions, and from sufferings; that is the compassionate attribute of Dharma. Yet, let’s take a look at what we normally do in the mundane world; whatever we do is also for the sake of alleviating our suffering – the effort to change from a little suffering, unpleasant situations to a more pleasant state. However, have we ever thought about connecting the scriptural knowledge to the issue of suffering and happiness directly, with the connection line as short as possible? Suppose someone says, “Please take a rest! Have we ever thought about taking a break from our learning of the sublime teaching? Only when we place this very mind - which causes us lots of turmoil and anxiety because of the grasping of the two kinds [of self and knowledge] - in the open space and analyze it with valid knowledge, we then can take a break. Do you understand what I am saying? [03:30]
We should apply scriptural knowledge and experiential knowledge to benefit ourselves - and self-benefiting includes knowing how to protect ourselves; how to make ourselves upbeat when we feel depressed or upset, so on and so forth. Relieving ourselves from various imperfect, incomplete, or regrettable conditions. Master says in a very casual way, like the white clouds floating smoothly across the heaped ranges of the mountains,, yet it is like a thunder resounding in my mind: Oh! So applying the scriptural knowledge and experiential knowledge is the best means of self-benefitting. [04:04]
So far at this section, can we pause here for a second and reflect on this: if we are to compare what we have in mind as the best way to benefit ourselves in this life time with Master’s guidance of self-benefitting, how far apart are they? Will we be awakened thoroughly by this statement even just for a moment: can scriptural knowledge and experiential knowledge bring the most profound, most everlasting, and ultimate benefit to our life? [04:35]
If says, well! At least for now, we agree to the above statement. Then, while studying the teachings, we will more or less have a doubt: “Is this the meditation practice? Can what I am doing now really help me remove suffering and attain happiness?” Whatever we are doing now, be it studying Buddha’s teaching, reciting, debating, or discussing Lamrim with others in the class, are we able to feel that: what we are doing now is in our best interest? I am applying the best means possible to benefit myself - perfecting self-benefit, on the most accurate path of self-benefiting? [05:10]
Or are we somewhat in doubt: is listening to the teaching every day considered as a meditation practice/cultivation? Isn’t my meditation practice/cultivation supposed to be like this: seriously sit on a cushion with legs folded and chant the mantras? Or rather, only sitting meditation is what meditation practice/cultivation should be? It seems that studying and contemplating the sublime teaching is not meditation practice/cultivation and cannot bring me any benefit. We more or less have such doubt in our minds, don’t we? If that were the case, why would those eminent masters exhort us that we should delve deeply, earnestly study the teachings? What exactly does studying the teachings have to do with removing suffering and attaining happiness? What kind of direction do these teachings point out for me? Do I really have to start my meditation practice/cultivation by learning the teachings? We can sincerely ask ourselves all these questions. [06:03]
Moreover, after having studied the teachings for many years, some would say, “Have I subdued a lot of my afflictions? It doesn’t seem that there is any actual application in my practice.” However, [from the first day we studied the Lamrim till now], how many erroneous concepts have we rectified? [Truth be told,] we haven’t kept track of them, like the transgression of deprecating the teachings, the fault of not knowing the need to rely on virtuous teachers, and the improper behaviour after relying on virtuous teachers… [Now,] through the learning of Lamrim, we know what to adopt and what to cast aside; we know how to be mindful of the good qualities of the Three Jewels; we come to realize that the requirement to cultivate the spirit of enlightenment in Mahayana training, and we even learn that to be liberated from cyclic existence we need to learn the wisdom of emptiness... all these perceptions can almost be seen anywhere in the Lamrim; it is like we have found a treasure trove. It is very natural for us to obtain these perceptions. Why? That is because the Lamrim has taught us so. However, if we did not spend such a long time studying the Lamrim, where could we find these encompassing views, and how would we ever be possible to internalize such perceptions to avoid deviating from the path? It may look as if we have not achieved much in terms of our meditation practice, but how many proper perceptions have we attained through listening? What is the proper perception? The proper perception is like our eyes, and what are the eyes for? With them, we can see our path clearly so that we are aware of bypassing the swamps, avoid falling into the bottomless abyss; we can advance on a luminous and levelled path. [07:12]
Thus, is it important to have a pair of eyes to see clearly first? Or is it more important to set off right away? If the tenets are as important as the eyes to us, why is that the tenets are not in our best interest? Why is it that studying tenets have not brought maximized benefit in our lives? Once this doubt is dispelled, we will not question that studying the teachings is not meditation practice/cultivation. The core issue lies in whether we study the teachings earnestly! I believe that while learning the Lamrim, we shouldn’t speculate if the path we are taking is wrong. We must start, little by little, from listening, contemplating, and meditating, followed by applying ethical discipline, meditative serenity, and wisdom insight; this is the successful route that so many eminent masters demonstrated to us - pay attention to my following words: [the path we are taking is] the shortcut! Some people consider studying tenets to be a waste of time. However, they don’t see that the time they squander away by not learning teachings is not just one eon, but who knows how many eons. Thus, [in this section] we recognize that the good qualities include scriptural knowledge and experiential knowledge, and experiential knowledge arises from scriptural knowledge. Without scriptural knowledge, one will not attain any experiential knowledge. [08:15]
I often notice how greatly Master emphasized the importance of learning the teachings in his diary. In Master’s newer version of Lamrim commentary, I also find this kind of reiteration, “While reading the stories of eminent masters in the past, I found them very intriguing. Yet, while reading along slowly, I come to realize there are many key points of meditation practice/cultivation found in the stories. If we can read them earnestly, they are actually the best guidance for our own meditation practice/cultivation; all are the key advice for our hard work!” Take a look at “how he took rebirth in an excellent lineage,” Master introduced us to the cause and effect of the Mahayana practitioner with the idea of time spanning from the infinitely distant past, to the present, and then into the future so that we can view our mental momentum from an immeasurable axis of time and how the cause and the effect are posited. So from the perspective of the individual gaining the good qualities - what can an individual gain? One can obtain plenty of good qualities right? For instance, the blissful merits, and the wisdom merits are just some of them. These good qualities are derived from two aspects, namely, the scriptural knowledge that Buddha taught, as well as the experiential knowledge that Buddha attained. To put it in our contemporary saying: … the measurement of our happiness index. Your happiness depends on how deep your study of the scriptural knowledge is and how high the level of your attainment of the experiential knowledge is. That is, how happy you are is directly correlated with these two aspects. [09:28]
While learning the life of Master Atisha on the outline of this chapter, Master skilfully planted such a precious seed in our minds. Would you all consider that Master is a great ingenious master? [09:41]
(更新日期: 2022年7月30日)
【全球广论 II 讲次: 0252】
讲次 | 0252 (2020-08-27 ~ 2020-08-30)
标题 | 教、证二法即是最佳自利
《广论》段落 | P2-LL1 ~ P2-LL1 其殊胜分三……得已于教所作事业。 今初
音档 | 4B 00:00 ~ 4B 02:56
手抄页/行 | 第1册 P113-L1 ~ P114-LL4 ( 2016 南普陀版：P113-L1 ~ P114-LL5 )
手抄段落 | 其殊胜分三……这也不是我们这里谈的。
00:00
在介绍科判的这一段，师父说家世是第一个。第二个是他自己所获得的功德，师父在这里边说自利。这个自利的部分，不用想成是完全的自利，有的是为了利他的自利，比如说你如果想救一个人的话，先学会游泳还是必要的。你说这游泳是自利吗？当然掉进水里之后你自己可以游出来，但是看到有其他人的时候，你也可以帮忙他们。00:31
那么问题不是说是不是“完全的自利”，接着想一想师父怎么讲的。说自利又分两个部分，记得是哪两个部分吗？教正法和证正法——师父说现证的以及教理方面的。诸位听到这一段，或者看到这一段的时候在想什么？学尊者的传记，就是为了启发我们对于上师三宝的信心，然后可以改变我们生命中的不圆满和痛苦。那么此处出现了“其身获得功德事理”的自利，自利的角度，师父说从教、证两个方面。我想问大家：如果我们想为自己做点什么事的话，我们会做什么呢？给自己泡一杯茶慰劳一下自己、让自己去旅行、去把挣来的钱花掉，还有做一些什么觉得好像对自己挺好、挺满足那样的事情，应该会列一堆吧！就叫“享受”——愉悦感——对吧？我们会做一些这样的事情，觉得这是对自己有利的，是不是这样？我们大概就这样照顾自己。01:48
但是在此处师父说：教正法是什么？是对自己最好的，证正法也是对自己最好的，自利不就是这样吗？最佳利益自己的方式。这个和我们平常的概念区分应该是很大的，尽管我们修行很多年了，但是提到照顾自己，我们会用什么样的方式来照顾自己呢？会想到最美的自利是教正法的圆满和证正法的圆满吗？这两个字突然在这一段中跳出来的时候，不知道你们会不会被吓到？我们几曾想过用教理完成对自我的最佳保护，用证正法完成对我活这一生的最佳奖赏？可是此处却赫然地写着“教正法、证正法”！02:43
那么从法的定义上来看——法性悲悯，具有从恶业中救护、从烦恼中救护、从痛苦中救护这样的功能。那么看一看我们在世间做种种、种种的事情，还不是让自己从苦一点的、不那么悦意的地方到更悦意的地方。可是我们能把自己的苦乐和教正法用一条最短的线连起来吗？说：“请你休息一下吧！”我们有想过在正法中休息吗？让我在我法二执中焦灼和翻滚的这个心放在一个正理观察的空地上，我们就可以休息。有听清我讲的吗？03:30
用教正法和证正法利益自己——利益自己包括保护自己，当自己忧虑的时候让自己不忧虑等等、等等，把我们的心从负有缺憾的种种现状中救护出来。而且师父轻描淡写地，像白云出岫一般流畅地讲出了这句话，可是在我心里引起了雷鸣般的作用：哦！原来教正法和证正法是最佳自利的一个方式。04:04
所以看到此处的时候，大家是否可以静下来想一想：我们这一生做的最想要利益自己的事情，离师父的这一句话隔多远呢？我们是否会在这一句话上让自己彻底地醒觉一下——教正法和证正法可以完成对我自己生命最深刻的、最悠远的、最究竟的利益吗？04:35
如果说：啊！那暂且成立这样是对的。那么在我们学习教理的时候，多少都觉得心里会有一个疑惑：“这是在修行吗？这是在离苦得乐吗？”当我们在听闻佛法的时候，当我们在背书的时候，当我们在辩论的时候，当我们在广论班里跟别人研讨《广论》的时候，我们是否会直接感受到：其实这就是对我生命的最佳利益，我就在用最佳的方式利益自己——圆满自利，走在最正确的利益自己的路上？05:10
还是我们都有些许的疑惑：我天天听法这是修行吗？是不是我得去真正地修行——盘腿坐在那儿念仪轨？或者说打坐才是修行？好像对教正法的闻思就不是修行，不是能够利益我的生命的。我们心中或多或少都有这样的一些念头存在着，是否是这样呢？如果是这样的话，那些祖师大德为什么一定要教诫我们深刻地、认真地学习教理？教理到底跟离苦得乐有什么关系？指示了我内心怎样的方向？我真的需要上来就学教理吗？这些问题大家可以好好地问一下自己。06:03
还有学了这么多年的教理之后，有的人就说：“我烦恼有断很多吗？好像没有实修。”但是在学《广论》的时候，到底纠正了多少可怕的错误呢？我们就没有去算了！比如说谤法罪，比如说不知道亲近善知识的罪，还有亲近善知识之后不如法的行为......，自己透过学《广论》能够取舍，能够忆念三宝功德，知道大乘的法必须修菩提心，乃至要出轮回必须修空性......，这些概念在《菩提道次第广论》之中几乎是随处可见的，好像走进了宝山一样。我们会觉得获得这样的见解是很自然的，因为这是《广论》教的。可是如果没有用这么长的时间学习《广论》的话，我们到哪儿去寻觅这样圆满的见解，用这个见解充盈我们的内心，从而避免走弯路呢？好像修行没有所成的样子，但是正知见听了多少？正知见是什么？正知见就是眼睛，眼睛是做什么？就是看路的，会去看哪里是沼泽不要走，哪里是深渊不可以跳，然后走一个光明坦途。07:12
那先长一双眼睛重不重要呢？还是马上开步走重要呢？如果如眼目般的教理是这么重要的话，那么为什么它不是对我们生命的最佳饶益呢？为什么不是对我们生命的最佳利益呢？所以就不用一边学教理、一边怀疑有没有在修行了，问题是有没有在认真学呀！我觉得学着、学着我们不要去怀疑自己这条路走得是错的，一定要从闻、思、修，然后戒、定、慧，一点点地开始。而这也是太多位的祖师为我们示现修行成功的一条——注意我下面那两个字——捷径！有些人认为学教理会浪费时间，但是不学教理浪费的时间可不是一劫，不知道是多少劫那样算的。所以看到这里的话，就了解到有教功德、有证功德，而证功德是由教功德来的，如果没有教，是不会有证的。08:15
我常常在师父的日记里看到师父是多么重视学教理，也看到师父在新版的《广论》里面讲到：以前看祖师的故事就觉得很有趣，可是慢慢看着看着就觉得有很多修行的扼要在里边。如果认真地去阅读的话，实在对自己的修行是一个最佳指导，全部都是用功诀窍！你看“圆满种中受生”，放入了大乘修行者的这个因和果，时间拉到无限悠远的从过去到现在、到未来，所以我们的相续会放在一个无限的时间轴上这样去看、去安立因果。那么从个人所获得的功德——功德是什么？很多吧！比如说福报，还有智慧资粮等等这些——却是从佛陀所宣讲的教正法，和佛陀亲证的证正法这两点出发的。用现在的话来说：衡量我们的幸福指数。你有多幸福就看你教正法学多深、证正法证多深。你有多快乐是从这两点直接出发的。09:28
学阿底峡尊者传的时候，刚刚这个科判，师父就把这么珍贵的种子放在我们的内心，大家会不会觉得师父是一个大善巧者呢？09:41