Lecture No. 0348
Great Ocean of Lamrim
Lecture No. 0348
Lamrim Volume 1: P46 L10 ~ L18
Date: 04 Mar 2022
Topic: Recognize the Truth of Suffering (II)
[00:00]
So, we will continue to listen to the next paragraph.
[5B 10:51 ~ 5B 13:12]
Perhaps we are not very clear about the idea yet. I will give you a commonly known example! Suppose I want to do something and need help from others. It turns out that the person I rely on is a swindler, an adversary. If I am to count on him, trust him, is it possible that the project can be done well? The more I get involved with this helper, the worse it gets! This applies to all worldly things; isn’t it clear? So that’s what you must realize. Now you … as I just mentioned that I want to get the project done properly, I need to avoid any adversary that will be in the way. Yet, I end up putting it in the hands of this adversary; isn’t it absurd? This is very clear. So, frankly speaking, we do not recognize suffering and take what is suffering as happiness. Thus, the more we get involved in it, the more suffering we incur, just like that. So, let me put it in a simpler term, if we can recognize what is the cause of suffering and eliminate it, and the least attainment will be arhatship. If we thoroughly resolve [the issue of cyclic existence] and complete the path [to enlightenment], the attainment is the state of Buddhahood. [01:07]
In this short section, Master was still explaining [the concept]: if we do not recognize the fundamentals of suffering, we would mistaken all the issues/problems and handle the matter completely in the wrong direction, correct? Misinterpreting the whole situation, and the consequence is that the more effort we put into it, and then what? The more unfortunate we are and the more suffering we have to endure. That is because what we see or believe turns out to be a foe. What is this foe? It is [the belief in what we see with] our eyes, right? [Because we assume,] “What I perceive is correct, so I will go all out at all cost into it.” However, in reality, such recognition is inherently wrong by itself. Consequently, the more effort we put in [based on such wrong cognition], the more miserable we are. Throwing your life in for the mistaken perception, and pouring in your utmost effort would cost you everything, and totally waste your life fruitlessly. Therefore Master emphasized again the issue of recognizing the nature of suffering. [01:47]
Though, over here Master unexpectedly said: “if we can recognize what is the origin of suffering and eliminate it, and the least attainment will be arhatship.” [Arhatship] is unexpectedly brought forth here! Let me ask you all this: Were you all surprised suddenly when reading this part? That is because we were on the topic of what the origin of suffering is, then, Master elucidated subsequently: “if we can recognize it and then eliminate it, the least attainment will be arhatship”, all of a sudden brought up the state of the sage! And if we thoroughly resolve [the issue of cyclic existence] and complete the path [to enlightenment], the attainment is the state of Buddhahood, that is becoming a Buddha! All of a sudden, following [Master’s explanation of] suffering is arhatship and then the effect stage of Buddhahood. However, [without his explanation], how would we interpret it at first? At first, we would think if suffering is removed, I could at least live happily in this life, or even I could be happy today, is this right? It would never occur to us that if we can eliminate suffering, we will attain arhathood or even Buddhahood, am [I] right [to say that you all] do not even think like this? [02:39]
Would anyone say [to us]: “The reason I argue with you today is for the sake of attaining arhathood”? “I quarrel with you in order to achieve Buddhahood”? Only virtuous teachers would treat us like this [with such an intention], right! Often [we] argue [with others] over what?” Such petty gains as you are right and I am wrong; [or] who is reasonable and who is not, [or] you should apologize, you should have done what you were supposed to do. Some people even think [and would engage in fights over trivial things like]: “After having squeezed the toothpaste out of the tube, have you twisted the cap back on?” Then what follows is a fierce quarrel! Also, “Have you put the bowl away?” [Or] “Did you put the slippers back?” [They] fight over if [the slippers were] in the right place or not. [03:07]
Of course that does not mean: “Well! So I do not have to put the cap back on the toothpaste, or put the slippers back to the proper place, or I do not need to tidy up the room any more, right?” No. That is also not what [I] mean here. All these need to be taken care of, but what is the motivation behind all of these efforts after all? The reason that we remove suffering is for the sake of the happy effect of totally no more suffering – for the Hinayana, it is arhatship, and for us [the Mahayana practitioners], it is to achieve Buddhahood eventually. What I mean is: while we are having a heated argument with someone until flushed with anger, is [all that effort] for the sake of the stage of sage [e.g. the ultimate enlightenment]? [If not,] then what is the purpose [of all those fierce arguments], after all? Do [analyze what Master said here] and compare it with [the intention we have while engaging in any task]. So, over here Master unexpectedly mentioned that [if we] can recognize [the origin of suffering] and eliminate it, the least attainment will be arhatship. Will [what Master said here] serves as a massive awakening call, shaking us up as contrasted with what we seek after day in and day out? From morning till night which task I do is for the sake of attaining Buddhahood? Which one? When I [strongly] defend [my own ideas], either in a conversation or quarrelling with others, which one is argued on the basis for achieving Buddhahood? How would it be if it is argued over to achieve Buddhahood? [04:06]
Good! Now let’s listen to the next part. [04:09]
Now what is this section trying to tell us here? That is, the perfect [ambrosial state], so it says, “to be thoroughly,” meaning all that is to be comprehended. Only when we understand what suffering is will we recognize it and say, “Ah! Now I recognize you [the suffering]; next I will remove this suffering.” At that time we need to examine if suffering can be removed. If it comes intrinsically at birth, then there is nothing we can do about it. There is no need to exert unjustified hardship [to remove it]; it is unnecessary! Now, let’s see what the quote says as for whether we can remove suffering. It says, well, we can! For all the matters in this mundane world have their respective causes and effects; certain causes bring about the corresponding effects. If we can eliminate the cause, then the effect will not come to fruition. So, if we want to remove this suffering, what is its cause? It says in the quote that as long as we can remove the cause of suffering, suffering is automatically eliminated. Furthermore, since we want to remove suffering, we have to sever its cause. This is the second point [of the Four Noble Truths], “that which is to be thoroughly eliminated.” Similarly, it has to be thoroughly removed, completely sever the cause. Naturally the issue of suffering will be settled! And the case is closed! [05:31]
[My] first question is [as the Master said,] “all that is to be comprehended”, what should be comprehended? It should be [to understand] the truth of suffering, right? And then [the Master] said: “Only when we understand what suffering is”. It does not refer to the present moment, right? [It suggests that we] need [time] to study [the scriptures], right? After [we have] understood the [truth of] suffering and recognized [what suffering is], Master again used the word “recognize”, “we have recognized it”. What Master said next demonstrated a kind of mental activity: “Ah! Now I recognize you [the suffering]”. “Now, I recognize you” is what we often say to others [as in]: “Finally I recognized you are actually a swindler now!” However, as for a certain state of mind, will we say to ourselves: “Ah! Now I finally recognized you”? It demonstrates a certain attitude we have in mind, correct? [Such state of mind will manifest itself at moments] like when we are about to throw a fit, or when the anger is building up, as well as the mind state of “the provision to fuel the anger” described in the perfection of patience, right? Those moments indicate that you are not happy/pleased. You frequently dislike [and pick on] others for not doing this or that, actually such unhappy attitude is the “food” that feeds anger, because being upset for long enough, your anger will grow [and you will get mad]. Accordingly, resolving anger has to start with [detecting and] resolving the displeased mentality, hence, [we] should be alarmed whenever [we are] unhappy. For example, what someone did gets in my hair, annoying me and making me feel disgruntled, with one unhappy event, then the second one ..., after stashing [all the annoyances and unhappiness] for long enough time [those pent-up frustrations] would ignite the anger. [06:39]
So, [are we] able to recognize whenever the unhappy attitude is arising? We may feel: “When the unhappy attitude arises, who would not know if they are happy or not?” [But] in my opinion, I have observed that many people just do not know they themselves are not in an unhappy mood. When you notice a person is pulling a long face, you can have the person take a look in the mirror! That is because by reflecting ourselves in the mirror, [people] would adjust themselves right away and immediately, their facial expression would not look that unpleasant. As such, “Now I recognize you” refers to the state of mind being able to recognize certain mental attitude. Just as I mentioned earlier [in the previous teaching], are you able to recognize [and catch yourselves] a few steps before falling into that [same] pit which you have fallen for over one thousand times? Are we able to recognize [and catch that]? That is the state of mind [Master is talking about here.] [07:11]
[If we] can recognize that, [we] would say: “Wow! It’s coming! Here it comes again!” Suppose if you sense that you are about to throw a fit, [I mean] immediately you know it is about to come, [you are about to vent all your rage] at that moment, [what you should do is respond to it] as what is stated in the Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds: “remain as calm as a log”. That is, do not let the anger get the upper hand; do not follow along the angry attitude. [Rather, you should] stop and take a deep breath, hold back! Stop having erroneous thoughts again, do not discriminate in an erroneous manner. [07:30]
Therefore, we will notice that kind of sufferings/afflictions [we feel] are [in fact] a state of mind triggered by certain external causes and conditions. Such unnecessary process arises and goes through our mind, but everyday [we] have to repeatedly undergo and experience this kind of mental agony time and again; we just cannot get over them and unable to overcome, [but] always repeatedly experience it. Hence, this is exactly what we should recognize, such continuum of suffering in our mind should be identified by ourselves. After such recognition, what should be done next? This suffering has to be eliminated. [07:57]
Take heed! In this extended section, Master pointed out: “Only when we understand what suffering is will we recognize it and say, “Ah! Now I recognize you [the suffering]”, then we would want to remove it. Accordingly, the recognition of the truth of suffering is extremely, essentially necessary! [08:16]
【广海明月 讲次: 0348】
讲次 | 0348 (2021-07-29 ~ 2021-08-01)
标题 | 认清苦的真正内涵（二）
《广论》段落 | P8-L11 ~ P8-L13 今初……所应修行，
音档 | 5B 10:51 ~ 5B 13:12
手抄页/行 | 第1册 P152-L4 ~ P153-L5 ( 2016 南普陀版：P152-L5 ~ P153-L7 )
手抄段落 | 那么这个道理也许……自然问题解决！
(更新日期: 2022年3月4日)
00:00
那我们接着再听下一段。
那么这个道理也许大家不大清楚，不妨我们随便举个例子吧！譬如说现在我在这个上面要想做一件事情，那么要想托一些人，结果托的那个人本身偏偏是一个大骗子、大冤家，你如果说托他，你当他亲信的话，你有没有希望做得好事情呀？你越做是越倒楣呀！天下的事情都这样，这不是很明白吗？所以你必定要晓得，那你现在……说刚才我要做好这件事情，要把我的冤家拿掉，结果你却相信你的冤家去做，那你不是颠倒了嘛！这很明白。所以我们真正说起来，这个苦我们不知道，现在我们都是以苦为乐，这所以说越弄越苦，这样。所以说这个，你简单一点的，最起码这个苦的根本在哪里，你认得了除掉了以后，那就是罗汉；如果说要把它圆满地、彻底地解决的话，这个就是佛。01:07
这一小段师父是不是还是在讲不认识苦的根本的话会把问题全部都搞错，对不对？搞错了之后会有一个状况，就是你越卖力气，怎么样？越倒楣、越痛苦，因为我们看的、我们相信的是一个冤家。冤家是什么？就是自己的眼睛吧！对不对？“我此刻的认知是对的，所以我就为我的认知去拼命。”实际上这认知本身就错了，那越拼就会越惨。认知错了，你为它效命就全完了，人生就毁了，所以师父会再次强调认清这个苦的本质的问题。01:47
但师父突然在这里讲了一句：“最起码这个苦的根本在哪里，你认得了除掉了以后，那就是罗汉。”一下跳到这里了！我问大家一句：你们看到之后会突然吓到一下吗？因为我们本来是讲苦的根本在哪里的，然后师父接着说：“认得了除掉了以后，那就是阿罗汉”，一下跳到圣者了！如果把它圆满地、彻底地解决的话，就是佛陀，就成佛了！突然在苦的后面跟着阿罗汉，还跟着佛果。可是原来我们会怎么想？原来我们会觉得把这个痛苦拿掉，我至少此生可以快快乐乐的，甚至这一天可以快快乐乐的，对不对？我们没有想过把苦拿掉去证得阿罗汉甚至成佛，是不是没有这样想？02:39
有没有人说：“我今天跟你吵架是为了证得阿罗汉？我跟你吵架是为了成佛？”只有善知识会这样对我们吧！平常都是争什么呀？你对我错、蝇头小利；谁有道理、谁没道理，你有没有道歉、你有没有该做的做了。甚至有人会认为：“你挤牙膏之后，把牙膏盖拧上了吗？”因为这个问题大吵！还有“你把碗拿走了吗？”“你把拖鞋放在位置了吗？”为这个位置大吵。03:07
当然不是说：“啊！那是不是牙膏盖也不用拧，拖鞋也不用摆，屋子都不用收拾？”也不能这样说，这些是要做的，但是这些事情做的后边的动机到底是什么？我们除掉苦，是为了要证得完全没有痛苦的那个乐的果──小乘就是阿罗汉，而我们最后是要成佛的。我的意思是说：我们跟一个人争到面红耳赤的时候，是为了圣果吗？那到底是为了什么呢？对比一下。所以师父在这儿突然说认得了、除掉了以后就阿罗汉，会不会对平常我们在一天中的所求有一个很大的震荡？从早到晚我做的哪一件事是为了成佛做的？哪一件事？我跟别人的谈话、我跟别人的争论，哪一件事是为了成佛去争论的呢？为成佛去争论是怎么争论的？04:06
好！我们现在听下一段。04:09
所以现在这个地方要告诉我们的什么？是彻底圆满的，所以说“所应遍”，就是普遍地都应该了解。了解了这个苦以后，那么那个时候你认得了，说：啊！那我现在认得你了，进一步我要去掉这个苦。那个时候，就要看看这个苦是不是能去得掉。它假如天生来就是如此的话，那你拿它一点办法都没有，你也不必去了，做这个冤枉苦头，不必！现在看看能不能去掉？说，欸，可以的！因为世间的一切的事情都是有它的来龙去脉，这样的因感得这样的果，假定你把那个因能够拿掉了以后，这个果自然不现。说既然现在你要去掉这个苦的话，那么苦的因是什么？说这个。所以你只要把这个苦的因能够断除掉了，这个苦自然解决。所以，进一步说，既然你要断除苦的话，那么把那个苦因断。所以第二个，“所应断除”，同样地要遍断，普遍地把那个因拿掉了，自然问题解决！自然问题解决！05:31
第一个问题：“普遍地都应该了解”，了解什么？应该是苦谛，对不对？然后说：“那么那个时候”，不是此时吧？要学习，对吧？了解苦之后认得了，师父又用了“认”，“认得了”。接着师父还有个心理活动说：“啊！那我现在认得你了。”“我现在认得你了”，我们常常对人说：“我终于知道你原来是个骗子！”但是我们会对我们内心的某一种状态说：“啊！我终于现在认得你”吗？这是指我们内心的某一种状态，对不对？比如说要发脾气的时候，比如说嗔心起来，还有“嗔心前面的粮食”，学到忍辱的部分有吧？就是你不高兴。你常常嫌弃别人这个、嫌弃别人那个，其实这种不开心的心就是嗔心的粮食，你不开心久了之后就会发嗔心。所以解决嗔心要从解决不开心开始，那么不开心的时候就要警觉了，比如说一个人做的事情让我不开心，一个不开心、二个……，累积久了之后就发嗔心。06:39
那不开心出现的时候会认得吗？大家可能会觉得：“不开心出现的时候，谁不知道自己不开心呢？”我看很多人是不知道自己不开心的。你看他脸沉成那个样子，你让他照镜子看一看！因为人一照镜子，马上脸就没有那么难看了，就马上调整一下。所以“我现在认得你了”是指自己对自心的某种状态的认得。就像我刚才讲的，给你掉进去一千次的那个坑之前那几步你认得吗？我们认得吗？那个心理的状态。07:11
认得了的话就会说：“哇！来了、来了！”比如说你觉得你的火气要来了，你马上知道它要来了，这个时候就是《入行论》里边说：“如树应安住”，就不要随逐，不要随着嗔心去走，要停下来、深呼吸，停下来！不要再去非理作意，不要去邪分别。07:30
所以我们会发现那一种苦是一种心理的状态，由于外部的一个因缘勾起了之后，我心里产生的一个不必要经历的过程，却每天都要重复地经历，过也过不去、过也过不去，总重复地经历那个东西。所以这种东西是我们要认知的，这个苦的续流，在心里这种东西我们要认知，认识了之后进一步才要去什么？去掉这个苦。07:57
注意！这一大段师父讲了：“那么那个时候你认得了”，然后说：“啊！那我现在认得你了”，才会进一步想要去掉它。所以苦谛的了解是非常非常必要的！08:16