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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0292

Lamrim Volume 1:  P38-L14 ~ L38

Date: 18 May 2022

Topic: Practice repeatedly until our 3 doors become the masterpiece of precepts 

A successful dancer, actually needs to train, trains until his or her movements become very smooth and effortless, like drifting clouds or flowing water, there is no need to think what the next move is or what to do next … He or she doesn’t need to undergo such recollection because his/her body has undergone very intensive and thorough training.  What is this training? For instance, there is the split leap in the choreography; you are not a bird, how can you fly? You may need to bounce your body up to the highest level you can, and you should not look ugly when you reach the highest level. Therefore, he or she has to train, train to the point when he or she can manoeuvre his or her body as he/she envisions it to be, to complete the action required. [00:37]

We should uphold the precepts to the purest extent as how we imagine it to be. Just keep practicing, keep practicing, practice until it becomes the body’s reflex action – to the point [the action] starts to be so natural and spontaneous like floating clouds and flowing water. Of course, in the process of training, one may experience sprained ankles, undergo many sufferings, pains, with unflinching perseverance, he or she eventually succeeds in giving the perfect performance. Like a spotlight when performing on the stage. For us who have taken the precepts, where is the spotlight? When you are perfectly mindful of and uphold the precepts you have taken. It is like you are holding the lamp to examine all these things taking place, and you will notice, “Wow! Our three karmic doors are an overall perfect masterpiece, an exquisite artwork. As we have undergone such training, it causes our heart to become very, very supple. Dance will let our body becomes flexible. Then the precepts will make our hearts become very soft and supple. Hence, every stretched hand, swing of the leg is a masterpiece, thoroughly and perfectly unified with the precepts; this is the masterpiece of upholding the ethical discipline! [01:42]

It is totally possible to accomplish such a masterpiece through repeated training. The kind of repeated training I am referring to [as stated in the Chinese proverb]: Three minutes on the stage takes ten years of practice off the stage. With the precepts you are upholding, if you are able to uphold those few [virtuous] thoughts, or restrain yourself [from breaking your vows], actually such achievements are the outcome of many years of hard work. At the critical moment, your mindfulness and vigilance will charge forward, and protect all the precepts that are weakened. Even guarding those future precepts very well. [02:09]

What I would like to express is, protecting the monastic vows and even every ethical discipline can be attained through training, it can be attained through arduous training. [Why?] Because it is a path, the mental path! You constantly train your mind, and guard it against anything non-virtuous; safeguarding my body and speech; safeguarding my body and speech. In the future, your body will become used to guarding your body and speech. And then when you come to a place where people do not guard their body and speech, you would feel very uneasy, you may even say: “How could it become like this?” it becomes something painful, something unpleasant. You may even feel: “This is not my world! This is not my life! How can my life be apart from ethical discipline? How can I live like this [without precepts]?” That is, your mind stream transforms into the precepts. Like you become that dance, that masterpiece! You are the masterpiece – your arm reaching out, your legs extended, leaping high, landing, etc., is a masterpiece! Every movement is an exquisite masterpiece. If people in the secular world can understand this, that would be shocking. If people could not understand – then you uphold the precepts purely. When we uphold the ethical discipline so purely, that will be inconceivably beneficial to our future lives, toward liberation, to attaining Buddhahood. The key to preserving the sublime teaching in the world is here! [03:23]

Thus, I believe those of us who have taken the precepts, we can train ourselves just like those dancers. Some of them would dance for seven or eight hours a day; no matter how many hours they travelled by car, how many hours by plane, with no place to practice, they say if they don’t practice for a single day, their skills will deteriorate. They can’t stop even for one day! They have to persist in pressing their legs repeatedly, keep practicing, so that their body can achieve the flexibility required to be able to execute the move. Professional dancers, in order to present a masterpiece, is able to put in such arduous hard work. How about us who want to preserve the teaching in this world, how can we be lax in terms of upholding the ethical discipline! It is really very inexplicable that some of us would give up the practice or even forget about it just because we have not succeeded in our practice yet! [04:06]

Here, I feel the thing that is very deserving of our looking forward to, because our mind is without intrinsic nature, so when we keep practicing in this direction, continually practice, it becomes a conditioned reflex. We would not always stay at the initial stage of learning to uphold the precepts, where we find it strenuous to uphold each and every precept. After practicing upholding the precepts for a while, it becomes like drifting clouds or flowing water. That is, it becomes very spontaneous and natural; we can even find coolness and freedom that we have never experienced before while upholding the precepts! We would even feel that only by upholding ethical discipline, we are protected and safe. Indeed, we will feel secured and sheltered by upholding the precepts in such an environment. [04:41]

So, ethical discipline is not a rope. If you really want to describe it as a rope, then when you are about to fall into the abyss, it is this rope that will catch you to prevent you from falling to the abyss; what a wonderful rope! However, when you are flying toward the space of happiness, it is definitely not a rope, it is like the wind that helps you soar. Ethical discipline is the base that is like the wings. Without the wings, flying is impossible. [05:04]

So, while we are learning that Master Atisha guarded any subtle precepts as carefully as the yaks treasure the hair of their tails; what kind of state is that? I feel that we are only hearing about it now, thereafter then we try to visualize it. The manifestation of the virtuous teachers, the manifestation of the lineage masters is to show us, to uphold the ethical discipline as meticulously as the yak would treasure its tail. To be a great role model and benchmark for us Buddhists to emulate. Please do not think that it is the proprietary practice that only the great masters or the great upholder of the precepts can do. Now that we have taken the vows, why not uphold them properly? Because precepts can profoundly benefit self and others, why can’t we keep training ourselves in upholding the precepts thousands of time? Practice upholding the precepts until we are completely integrated as part of the ethical discipline – reaching perfect unity; why not give it a try? [05:57]

讲次 0292 (2021-01-14 ~ 2021-01-17)

标题 | 数数训练，令三业成为戒律的杰作

《广论》段落 | P4-L5 ~ P4-LL3 其中戒学……是故成大持律上座。

入门段落 | 第1册 P116-L3 ~ P116-LL4 有说：正法毘奈耶的行持......重视戒律是很重要的。

(更新日期: 2022年5月18日)

00:00

一个成功的舞蹈家，实际上就是要训练，训练到他可以行云流水地做出他那些动作，不需要说下个动作是什么、下个动作......，他不需要这种忆念了，因为他的身体经过了非常彻底的训练。这个训练是什么呢？比如说舞蹈里边有要飞起来的动作，那你说又不是鸟你怎么飞呢？你可能就要把你的身体弹跳到最高，而且最高到上面还不能丑。所以他就要训练，训练到他的身体就像他想像的那样，把那个动作做出来。00:37

我们就要像我们想像的那样，把戒律持到清净，就是一直训练、一直训练，训练他的身体已经有条件反射，到那个地方就开始行云流水地做出来。当然要经过比如说可能扭脚呀，可能难以想像的疼痛，或者摔下来失败等等，经过很多的痛苦、疼痛、不屈不挠的奋斗，最后这一个舞能够完美地呈现。在舞台上表演的时候是一个聚光灯，那我们学戒的人，你说它聚光在哪里，就是你完美地忆持你这些戒律的时候——好像你拿着灯看这些事情的时候，你会发现：哇！我们的三业是很完美的一个杰作，就是堪称是精品。因为你已经经历过这样的训练，让我们的心非常非常地柔软。舞蹈会让你的身体变得柔软，那么戒律会让我们的心里变得调柔，所以一伸手、一投足就是一个杰作，彻底地和戒律完美统一，就是戒律的杰作！01:42

这个透过数数训练是完全可以完成的，我这个数数训练就是那种：台上三分钟，台下十年功。在那个持戒的当口上，你能够撑住那几个念头，或者你能够守护住自己，其实就是经年累月的努力导致的。你到关键时刻你的正念正知全部能够冲上去，把这个快要漏的地方全部防好，甚至远方便戒都守得非常好。02:09

我想表达的是：对于别解脱戒乃至所有律仪的守护是可以练成的，透过辛苦的操练是可以练成的。因为这就是一条路，就是心路！你一直训练它不要趣向于恶法，守住身口、守住身口，以后你的身体就习惯守住身口了。然后到了那个不守身口的地方，你就会觉得非常地不适应，甚至说：“这怎么可能变成这样？”就变成了一种痛苦的事情、不悦意的事情。甚至你觉得：“这不是我的世界！这不是我的人生！我的人生岂能和戒律分开呢？我岂能不这样活着呢？”就是自己的心续化成了戒律本身。就像你就化成了那支舞、那个杰作！本身就是杰作——你的手一伸出来、脚一伸出来，飞上去、落下来等等就是杰作！一举手投足就是一个精美的杰作，如果世人知道的话就是令人震撼；那如果世人不知道的话，那你自己持戒清净，我们自己能把戒律守持清净，对后世、对求解脱、对成佛，都是不可思议的，对正法的住世就在此！03:23

所以我会觉得我们受了戒律的人，可以像那些舞蹈家练舞那样，有的人一天跳七、八个小时，不管是坐车多少个小时、坐飞机几个小时、也没有地方，他说一天不练功夫就退了，一天都不能停的！要一直压腿、一直练，他那个身体才能够那个柔软度，才能把那个动作做出来。舞蹈家为了奉献出一支杰作的舞蹈，他能够做出这么辛苦的努力，那么我们为了令法住世，对于戒律的这种训练岂能懈怠呢！或者练一练没练成就放弃掉，甚至是忘了，这是很奇怪的事情！04:06

这里边我认为非常值得我们自己期待的就是，因为心是无自性的，当你朝着这样的方向去串习，一直串习的时候，它就会有一种条件反射。我们不会一直都像一开始学戒，每条持起来那么地辛苦，久了之后就如同行云流水了，就是非常自主的、自由的，甚至我们在戒律里得到了前所未有的清凉和自由！甚至你会觉得好像只有在这里边才是安全的，确实在这里边是安全的！04:41

所以戒律不是一条绳索，如果你非得要把它形容成一条绳索的话，那你快要掉到深渊的时候，这个绳索会把你绊住，别让你掉深渊，这是很美好的一个绳索！可是你要飞向快乐的虚空的时候，它绝对不是一个绳索，它像风一样助你飞翔，甚至就是根本，根本就像翅膀一样，没有翅膀是飞不了的。05:04

所以在学习到阿底峡尊者他对一条微细的律仪都如牦牛爱尾一般，这到底是一个什么境界？我觉得我们现在只是听到，然后去想像。那么善知识的这种示现、传承祖师的这种示现，就是要我们也能够做到如牦牛爱尾一般的这种持戒，能够成为我们佛弟子的榜样和效学的一个标准。大家不要觉得那是大师级的持律上座，既然我们受了戒律，我们为什么不好好持呢？因为对自己和他人有如此深的饶益，为什么不去千百次地训练它呢？训练到全部就是化成戒律本身，完美地合一，何乐而不为呢？05:57