Dharma Talks

Leaving the Home-life Is Truly a Heroic Act (Issue 299)

Dharma Talks

A Instructional talk given on November 18, 1983 by Venerable Master Hua

A great hero must have the spirit of firm,
unshakable perseverance to conquer every kind of suffering.

Leaving the home-life is the rarest event in the world. It is also something most people find hard to understand. Why does leaving the home-life entails endurance of suffering? One cannot enjoy the pleasures between men and women, dancing, or have wild revelries. It’s because if you want to become a prominent eminence, one who stands out from the crowd, you must bear the things that others cannot bear and take on the suffering that others cannot take. Only through this kind of discipline can you achieve a Vajra-indestructible body. As the saying goes,

Without enduring extreme cold
that chills to the bone,
How could the plum blossoms
exude such exquisite fragrance?

When you leave the home-life, you must be psychologically prepared. You leave the home-life in order to be eternally liberated from birth and death and be free from the suffering of transmigration forever. Therefore, you should not be afraid to face any kind of hardship. The more you suffer, the better. Don’t give in to suffering and lose your initial resolve and retreat. A great hero must have the spirit of firm, unshakable perseverance to conquer every kind of suffering. So, leaving the home-life is not something ordinary people are able to do. Even generals and prime ministers are unable to do it. That’s why leaving the home-life is said to be the work of sages; it is not at all what most people ridicule as “being parasites of society.” As it is said,

To endure suffering puts an end to suffering.
To enjoy blessings uses up blessings.

Look at the noble Sanghans and great worthies of old: it was through bitter cultivation that they reached the state of enlightenment. None of the patriarchs became enlightened through relaxation and enjoyment. You can read through the whole Tripitaka (Buddhist Canon) but you won’t find a single one.

We must have endurance before we can gain the benefit of being filled with Dharma bliss. We must suffer hardship before we can obtain the wisdom of enlightenment. Don’t work in opposition to the Buddha Way. Apply effort with a concentrated and focused mind. Gather in the mind, and don’t indulge in idle thoughts. Restrain the capricious monkey-mind, and don’t let it run loose.

In leaving home to cultivate the Way, we must first get rid of greed, eliminate anger, and extinguish delusion. When these three poisons are cleaned out, wisdom will naturally come forth. How can we sweep them clean? Use the three studies of precepts, samadhi, and wisdom as tools. Precepts can counteract greed; samadhi can counteract anger; and wisdom can counteract delusion. That’s why left-home people are called Shramanas. “Shramana” means “diligently putting to rest,” that is, they diligently cultivate precepts, samadhi, and wisdom, and put greed, anger and delusion to rest. When all people are free of greed, anger and delusion, the world will be at peace.

(The End of the Article)

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