Misdeeds done by the mind brings calamitous retributions in the body

The significance of causes and conditions means the coming together of various causes and conditions.  Once the conditions are gone, their manifestation temporarily cease to exist.  Once the conditions are extinct, everything changes.  In the myriad processes of its coming and going, how do we advance our studies and learning in order to perceive and understand the fundamental emptiness of nature and the wisdom intrinsic to our self-nature?  Have we misused the causes and conditions?  Have we missed the causes and conditions conducive to the advancement of our cultivation?  Have we made mistakes within proper causes and conditions?  The answers to these questions lie within our minds.  Hence, the Buddhist teaching states, “Misdeeds done by the mind brings calamitous retributions in the body.”  Other people do not know our own mind.  Nevertheless, the heavens know, the ghosts know, and we ourselves know.  Our own mind also shows in the vows we make.

If, in our clear, bright and unblemished mind ground, we realize all phenomena that arise from causes and conditions are intrinsically empty in their nature, then unwholesome causes and conditions will become wholesome causes and conditions.  If we don’t understand this point, then the causes and conditions that will help us transcend this mundane world will become obstructive forces that hinders our way.  The Venerable Master had ceaselessly taught us, “Everything is made from the mind alone.”  This shows how important each single thought in our mind is!  With one deviant thought in our mind, we may fall into the realms of hell beings and hungry ghosts.  Likewise, ascending to the realms of humans or celestial beings, transcending the mundane world to reach sagehood, or even realizing Buddhahood, these are all not apart from one thought in the mind.  Therefore, we have to pay close attention to the arising of every thought in our mind. We have to be extremely careful and not let down our guard at all times.

Today, in Roll Nine of the repentance text, there was a line in the praise that reads, “The yoga division within the mind of Vairocana.”  Vairocana Buddha is the Dharmakaya. How did he attain Buddhahood?  What is the mind of Vairocana Buddha?  It is this yoga division; it is the bodhisattva precepts.  How did Vairocana Buddha advance from an ordinary person to a sage, and eventually certified to the fruition of Buddhahood?  It is by truly bringing forth the Bodhi resolve and walking the Bodhisattva path.  Hence, Buddhadharma dwells on kindness and compassion; kindness and compassion are the Buddha’s substance and nature.  Kindness and compassion denote the power from true vows, unfeigned repentance, and genuine deliverance of living beings.

Right now, we are still lacking that certain power, because our mind has not taken root yet.  We deem ourselves as cultivators. However, the repentance text stated that from the time of the ancient Buddha to the present, many who are still suffering in the Avici hell were left-home people.  Hence, it is said, “One grain of rice from benefactors is as heavy as Mount Sumeru. After eating it and failing to cultivate the Way, the retribution of furs and horns awaits.”

The Venerable Master had often said, “Many sangha members await by Hell’s gate.” For this reason, the Buddha had instructed the left-home people, “Among the Buddha’s seven-fold disciples, the bhikshus come first.  As the bhikshus conduct themselves in an exemplary manner, the bhikshunis should also conduct themselves thus.  So should sramaneras, sramanerikas, upasakas, and upasikas.”  The core of the Buddha’s vinaya centers on great compassion.   The Buddha could not bear seeing living beings suffer and the sagely teachings decline. Hence, out of great compassion, we are gifted with the vinaya, the golden words of the buddhas of the three periods of time.

We should take the vinaya as our teacher in everything.  We should not hold deviant views.  We should not be upside-down or recklessly foolish.  Now that we have secured the rescue buoy in the vast sea of suffering, we must hang on to it with all our might.  How can we say that this is attachment to the dharma?  We don’t even recognize our own attachment to the self, so how can we be sure about our attachment to the dharma?  We talk about our attachment, our sturdy and unwavering Bodhi resolve, and the perfection of the dharma.  In our practice and upholding of the Buddhadharma, how much sincerity have we put forth?  This is something we can absolutely self-examine and conclude.