Lecture No. 0350
Great Ocean of Lamrim
Lecture No. 0350
Lamrim Volume 1: P46-L10 ~ L18
Date: 06 Mar 2022
Topic: To recognize “origin of suffering” – “rake the firewood from under the pot” is the solution
Greetings to all! It is time for us to discuss the Lamrim together again. Last time, we have covered the topic that we must learn to recognize what suffering is, and only with such recognition will we be able to eliminate it, as Master mentioned, “that which is to be thoroughly eliminated.” Next, Master summed up the term “origin of suffering” with two Chinese idioms to exemplify the content of this cultivation/meditation practice. Now let’s listen on. Please stay focused! [00:37]
[5B 13:12 ~ 5B 14:14]
So, we usually describe one incident [with the following Chinese idioms]; it doesn’t help much if we “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot” instead, we must “rake the firewood from under the pot.” How so? When you open the lid of the pot, and the water is boiling hot, it doesn’t help much if you add some hot water to stop the boiling! Adding hot water can only make it broil more. So what should you do? Well, instead of adding more hot water to the pot, you should work on the stove by removing the fire underneath the pot. Without the fire, the water temperature will drop gradually; it will steadily cool down. Why? What is the cause of the boiling water? It is because of the fire underneath it! Once you remove the cause, the job is done. Now what is the reason for suffering? It is the origin of suffering, namely, the cause that incurs the suffering. There is a special term called the origin of suffering. Once the cause of suffering is completely removed, the hindrance is taken care of. So this is the second one of the Four Noble Truths, “that which is to be thoroughly eliminated.” [01:41]
This paragraph is actually quite short. Master mentioned, “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot” and “rake the firewood from under the pot.” And it’s easy to understand the literal meaning of these two idioms. Yet, what does this “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot” refer to? When we try to cool down the boiling water, what does the idiom “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot” indicate? This idiom points out a state that we do not recognize what suffering is, nor do we know the suffering cause, correct? For only after we have recognized what suffering is, we will search for its cause; namely, if we do not know what the problem is, naturally we will not look for solution. [02:25]
From this idiom, “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot”, I find that we can observe it accordingly. As Master mentioned earlier: we often fumble around the nonessentials, instead of tracing its root cause and contemplating on what caused the suffering. By observing this external phenomenon the water boiling hot in the pot seems to be serious. The boiling water seemingly stops if we add some water to it – here what is mentioned is adding hot water. However, the actual reason behind this phenomenon is the fire/heat, rather than the water. Therefore, when hearing this , we will realize what Master meant by applying these two idioms – What is the cause of suffering? It is the origin of suffering. Isn’t it very easy to remember? “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot” and “rake the firewood from under the pot.” [03:18]
Those monastics who are responsible for cooking can keep contemplate on this concept: when the water is boiling, they would think : “Today, my approach to resolve affliction is to stop the water from boiling or to remove the fire from under the pot?” We can contemplate on it on a daily basis. These two approaches are completely the opposite; the former reflects that the practitioner does not understand suffering and its cause, none of those. The latter demonstrates that the practitioner does understand suffering thoroughly and recognize the suffering cause. This is what “that which is to be thoroughly eliminated” means. “That which is to be thoroughly eliminated” refers to the suffering cause. If you find it difficult to remember this “thoroughly eliminated”, try to connect “rake the firewood from under the pot” with this “thoroughly eliminated;” maybe it will be easier for you to bear it in mind. [04:00]
So let me ask you a question: in this short paragraph, what kind of problem Master wanted to point out? Is it the suffering cause? Is it easy to identify the suffering cause? If what you see is limited to the boiling water in the pot, you would not know the fire underneath it. Young children or toddlers would not know why the water is boiling that way. So, the suffering cause is not something that can be seen directly just by looking at it. Rather, what we have to do is to search for it. We need to recognize that “add some water to the boiling” is of no avail. [04:49]
Master said here: “So, we usually describe one incident [with the following Chinese idioms]; it doesn’t help much if we “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot” instead, we must ‘rake the firewood from under the pot.’” We can contemplate earnestly what Master said when we are in a meeting: is it the actual cause of suffering when we reason or fight with others? Is it that simple? Or do we need to search for the suffering cause and to recognize it? [05:19]
For ourselves, after reading this short section, some classmates would say: “Oh! So it is of no use to add some water to the boiling; removing the firewood from under the pot is effective, so this is the origin of suffering ” They assume they got it after hearing this . In fact, do we recognize it? For example, do we know what is the approach of “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot”, “adding more water to the boiling” ? We might think it is easy, by taking it as read! Let me give you more examples. Suppose I would say all my suffering is because of what you said is not appropriate, your facial expression is not right, and it is annoying to know that you have done a sloppy job. So, you are the source of my suffering. If you can make some improvement, I will be fine. In that sense, the actual issue lies in others, they incur our dislike and that caused me to be unhappy every day. In fact overall - let us not elaborate from the aspect of grasping - it is the issue of angry attitude. It is the matter that one has not tamed his or her anger yet. Hence, we should remove our anger within, then we would have the cool refreshing feeling. [06:13]
How skillfully Master put it in such a manner! These two idioms are very conspicuous and easy to remember, then Master connected them with the “origin of suffering.” Besides, we can apply them by constantly introspecting the daily tasks we engage in: is my approach to “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot”, or remove the fire from under the pot? Removing the fire from under the pot is “the origin of suffering”. Then, what exactly is the cause of afflictions? That is how the external phenomena appear to us; and they always trigger certain afflictive condition in our mind. However, we often take this external condition as the issue itself. What we fail to recognize is that this external condition is only the starter, or a tiny spark. What lies hidden in our mind stream is something highly flammable, and a lot of explosive , this is the actual source of the trouble! Hence, we have to begin working on our inner afflictions of anger, grasping, and even the arrogance, then we can truly resolve the cause of suffering. This is what we should eliminate. Are you listening? [07:18]
While reading this section of the commentary, I am wondering how are you taking it? Some of you may feel that the literal meaning of these two idioms is easy to understand, but when facing arising conditions, will the guidance from this section appear in your mind? While we are facing any arising conditions, the teaching here is for us to examine inwardly: “Am I working on the suffering cause or do I continue to create more suffering on top of it? Am I resolving this suffering cause or am I generating more suffering?” This is what we should ask ourselves honestly every time when we are in the midst of emotional turmoil, correct? As mentioned in the earlier teaching [#348]: “We need to recognize suffering cause.” [07:54]
Why is that we spend such great effort discussing this matter repeatedly, very earnestly, and in great detail? It is because we are humans. Humans and deities – if we want to attain the ambrosial state, to reach the effect stage of Buddhahood – be able to recognize what suffering is, and the cause of suffering, then we can eliminate it. However, we have cultivated this human form, or the leisure and opportunity human form, this time is very precious and transient. If we apply this period of precious but transient time to “try to stop water from boiling by scooping it up but pouring it back to the pot”, then for sure we would not have time to “rake the firewood from under the pot.” If we misapply the approach, what we get is more suffering; worst still, we squandered the time allocated to “rake the firewood from under the pot”. What a great loss! For this matter, as what Master said [in teaching #348], “We need to recognize it.” That is, we have to recognize whatever forms and manifestations appear in our mind. [08:57]
Thus, while studying this paragraph, we should not just take it as mere comprehending the concept will do; or taking it as irrelevant to our behavior. From the topics of the human forms and the Four Noble Truths Master mentioned earlier, he continued to point out [our present state of mind]: usually we would not aspire for the ambrosial state, nor would we seek the state of Buddhahood. As it can be seen that the major concern we have is to enjoy this present life, or even mainly focus on the pursuit of the enjoyment one day at a time. Our focus is chiefly limited within this given day only. Some people may just want this today; they do not even want to be bothered to think about tomorrow! [09:27]
I hope we can put the guidance in this short section into practice; for instance, we can reflect on what we have learned today, we can think about it when we get up the next morning. While we prostrate to the Buddhas, praying for the blessings from the Three Jewels, or making aspiration after the prostration, we will contemplate: how would I apply remedy against afflictions? I should avoid the approach of creating more suffering; rather I should apply what Master said, “raking the firewood from under the pot.” What is the approach of “raking the firewood from under the pot”? It is to transform our mental mindset! Is this right? The approach of transforming our mind is “raking the firewood from under the pot”. We should live up to the direction guided by Master. [10:00]
【广海明月 讲次: 0350】
讲次 | 0350 (2021-08-05 ~ 2021-08-08)
标题 | 认识集谛──釜底抽薪才是办法
《广论》段落 | P8-L11 ~ P8-L13 今初……所应修行，
音档 | 5B 13:12 ~ 5B 14:14
手抄页/行 | 第1册 P153-L6 ~ P153-LL4 ( 2016 南普陀版：P153-L8 ~ P153-LL3 )
手抄段落 | 所以我们平常说一个一件事情……所应断除。
(更新日期: 2022年3月6日)
00:00
大家好！又到了我们一起研讨《广论》的时间了。上一次我们讨论到一定要认得、认得这个痛苦，认得了之后进一步才能去掉苦；后来师父讲了一个“所应遍断”，在所应遍断后面，接着师父用两个成语摄持了一下“集谛”这个名词，或是说它所显现的修行内涵。那么我们现在听一下，要专心！00:37
所以我们平常说一个一件事情，我们“扬汤止沸”是没有用，“釜底抽薪”才是办法。这个怎么讲呢？就是说你打开锅子来，那个锅子里面水滚得很，你拿一点开水教它浇进去，没有用！越浇那个水滚得越厉害。你怎么办呢？你不要从那个上面加开水，跑到灶里边，把那个锅子下面的火拿掉了，拿掉了以后，它水慢慢地、慢慢地就冷下来了。为什么呀？因为它滚水的因是什么？下面的火耶！你把这个因拿掉了，除掉了就行。现在苦的因是什么？就是集谛，造这个苦的原因，有一个专门名词叫作集谛，那么拿这个东西统统净除掉了以后就行了，所以第二个，所应断除。01:41
这一小段其实很短，师父说“扬汤止沸”和“釜底抽薪”，这两个成语很容易理解，可是在此处“扬汤止沸”是指什么呢？我们要想让那个滚水冷却的话，扬汤止沸是指什么呢？是不是属于一种不认得苦、也不认得苦因的状态，对不对？因为认得苦了之后，我们才会去寻找原因，如果你发现不了问题，就不会去寻找解决的方案。02:25
所以在“扬汤止沸”就这四个字上，我会觉得我们可以观察一下。前面师父也讲过：我们常常在枝枝末末上努力，不会在苦的根本上去思考为什么是苦的。看起来这锅水是滚得很严重，这就是一个表面的现象。看起来从上面浇水下去──这里边说浇开水──好像它会停止的样子，但它真正的原因是藏在后面的，是火的原因，不是水的原因。所以在听到这一段的时候，看到这两个成语后面涉及到这个苦的原因、苦的因是什么？就是集谛，会不会非常好记呀？扬汤止沸、釜底抽薪。03:18
大寮的同学可以一直地复习这个问题，比如说当你看到那个水滚了的时候，你会想想：这一天我解决烦恼的方式是扬汤止沸呢？还是要釜底抽薪呢？每天都可以考虑考虑。它是完全对立的两种做法，第一种做法是完全不懂得苦和苦因，两者都不认识；后者是完全认识了苦，也认得了那个是苦的因，所以才说“所应遍断”。“所应遍断”就是指苦因。“遍断”如果大家记忆不清楚的话，“釜底抽薪”跟这个“遍断”连起来是比较好记的。04:00
那么问大家一个问题：在这一小段，师父要指出的是一个什么问题呢？是苦因吗？苦因好不好找呢？如果人的眼界就停留在那一锅沸水上面，你不会知道下面有火的，比如说一个几岁的小孩、或者刚会走路的小孩，他是不明白为什么那个水会烧成那样子。所以苦因不是说苦因摆在那儿就直接能够看到，我们要去什么呀——寻找。要认识到“扬汤止沸”是没有用的。04:49
师父讲的这几句话说：“所以我们平常说一个一件事情，我们‘扬汤止沸’是没有用，‘釜底抽薪’才是办法。”这句话开会都是可以好好地考虑：到底这个苦因是像我们跟人家理论、跟人家吵架的时候好像马上我就看到苦因了，是这么简单的事呢？还是要去寻找苦因，需要去认得苦因？05:19
对于我们自己来说，这一小段有的同学看过去说：“喔，扬汤止沸是没有用的，釜底抽薪是有用的，原来这就是集谛。”这一段听完了大概就觉得了解了。实际上我们认不认得？比如说“扬汤止沸”的那个手法是什么？就是从表面现象看问题呀！比如说你说话不对、你脸色不对、你做事没做好，所以才让我看不惯，我的苦因是在你身上，你只要改了，我就好了。那么真正的问题就是我们看别人不顺眼、天天不开心。其实总摄起来——先不从贪的东西讲——这是一个嗔心的问题，是一个自我的嗔心没有降伏的问题，所以应该是从里边把这个嗔火撤掉，这样的话自己就清凉。06:13
师父讲得太善巧了！这两个成语是非常醒目的、非常容易记的，然后把“集谛”跟它们连在一起。而且透过平常的例子，我们可以反复、反复地去想：我的方法到底是扬汤止沸还是釜底抽薪？釜底抽薪──所谓的“集谛”。那么苦恼的因到底是什么？因为表面现象就是这样，都是有勾引出我们内心的烦恼的一个缘，但是通常我们会认为这个缘就是所有的问题本身。可是这个缘只是一个引子而已，只是一个小小的火花而已，而更大的那个可燃物，还有很多炸药都藏在自己的心续里边，这个才是祸源！所以要从自己内心的嗔心、贪心乃至傲慢、很多的烦恼入手，才是能够真正解决苦因的办法，这里才是应该断的。有在听吗？07:18
在看到这一小段的时候，我不知道大家听的状态是怎样？有的人觉得字面的意思是很好理解的，但是在对境的时候会不会现起来这一段法义？这一段法义在对境的时候、它现行的时候，就是你要检查：我到底是在苦因上下手，还是继续在苦上加苦？我是在解决这个苦的因，还是我在让苦变得更苦？这件事是每一次我们心里痛苦的时候都要再三地问自己的，对不对？因为前面说：“要认得它。”07:54
那么为什么这件事我们要这样反复地、非常非常认真地、非常精细地讨论呢？因为我们是人。人天──如果希望获得甘露胜位、希望获得佛位的话──才能够知道苦和苦因，才能够断除。但是我们修得了这样的一个能够修行的人身，或者说暇满人身的时候，这个时光是珍贵又短暂，如果我们用这个时光来“扬汤止沸”的话，那么我们将没有时间“釜底抽薪”。一旦方法用错了之后苦上加苦，还把能够“釜底抽薪”的时间全部花掉了，这个是损失非常惨重的！这件事一定要──师父前边在第一段说：“要认得它。”就是认得自心上的各种风景，百样的姿态都在内心的状态里。08:57
所以学习这一段的时候，不要只是作一个知见上的了解，完全在行为上好像不会直指我们。从前面师父讲的这个人身、讲了这个四谛，然后说：平常我们是不会希求不死甘露，也不会希求佛位。可以看到我们的生命是在现世安乐，甚至在这一天的安乐之中，局限在一天那儿，有的人只想这一天，连明天都不太愿意想！09:27
我是希望我们能用这样一小段，比如说今天听了，明天早晨起来的时候，就可以想一想。我在拜佛的时候、在祈求三宝加持、在礼佛然后发心的时候，我们会想到：我今天对付烦恼的方式，应该避免这种苦上加苦的方式，像师父讲的要“釜底抽薪”，“釜底抽薪”的方式是什么？就是改变自心啊！对不对？改变自心的方式就是“釜底抽薪”，要去实践师父指引我们的方向。10:00