Morning Calls at Dharma Drum Mountain
By Chan Master Sheng Yen
1: Adjust and Adapt Your Body and Mind
2: The Mind Should Not Be Dictated by the Circumstances
3: Show Understanding and Solicitude for One Another
4: The Three Doctrines of Pure and Unhindered Acts
5: Practice in the Spirit of a Sponge
6: Prostrating to Buddha in Repentance to Gain Peace of Mind
1: Adjust and Adapt Your Body and Mind
(Talk given on March 23, 1989; pp. 44 – 46 in the Chinese text)
The purpose of becoming a monastic is to be a monastic. But if, as a monastic, your goal is to climb the ladder of fame and status, that will result in endless vexation because that aspiration is itself vexation. Furthermore, if you are overly anxious to attain moral discipline, samadhi, and wisdom, and blindly search for a good teacher and a better place to practice, that is also a root of vexation.
After becoming a monastic just do everything to the best of your ability. Then, if you think you have not accomplished much, at least you have not let yourself down, nor should you feel guilty. If you continue to blame yourself for not doing a good job, you will constantly live in deep sorrow. On the other hand, if you allow yourself to be unconcerned, not seeking ways to improve, then you will be too lax. Either case is not good and would hinder your practice.
The best way is for monastics to practice repentance and ask, “I could have done something but why didn’t I? Is it because I lack determination, ability, or physical strength?”
If there is a “knot” or unsettledness in your mind, it is time to look inward. If you keep looking toward others, every problem will be somebody else’s fault or due to external factors, not yourself. As such, it would make you sad, angry, agitated, complaining, and depressed. These are unhealthy emotions which make you irritable, causing your internal systems to malfunction; your body would easily get out of order.
If you often get annoyed with people, your mind will have thousands of knots that cannot be untied; you will feel heavy-headed and not sleep easily. Then, your mind will not get adequate rest, being fuzzy during the day and wide awake at night. You could easily end up with a nervous breakdown.
If you have cold limbs it is because of poor circulation and poor vital energy. You should quietly meditate, observing and counting your breath, and keep counting to let the burdened mind settle down.
Always remain even-tempered, presenting yourself in a calm and relaxed manner. Your steps will then be firm and stable, and the bottom of your feet warm. Your upper body would naturally be very relaxed. You would be like a self-righting doll, remaining upright without effort. Therefore, maintain a balanced mindset and an air of calmness; your body will then be naturally healthy.
2: The Mind Should Not Be Dictated by the Circumstances
(Talk given on July 15, 1992; pp. 47 – 50 in the Chinese text)
It is common for ordinary people that their mind whirls around with the changing environment. This brings vexations to oneself and others. Students of Dharma should not let their mind be so dictated by circumstances. Nevertheless, we are often trapped in this state—if not due to situations within, then from situations without. Not being clear about our feelings and ideas, we also lack methods or skills to deal with the situation. So we run around confused, not knowing where to put our mind.
Internal situations relate to our worries and wishful thinking, while external situations relate to dealing with others. Most people think vexations come from the outside, and therefore, they want to control, discriminate against, or oppose others. Even though some of these things do not vex or puzzle us, when the human factor is involved, our mind begins to wander and produce weird thoughts. Things then become very complicated, and we are vexed into endless problems.
In fact, unfounded and confused thoughts from within are the most difficult to deal with. Most people think that only feelings of love and hate present vexations; they seldom realize that wishful thinking and weird thoughts also create problems. For example, if there is food at the table and no one cares if you eat it or not, there is no problem. But if someone insists that you eat it, or does not allow you to eat it, or lets you eat just a little, you will have vexation. Few people are perceptive enough to realize that this kind of vexation originates from wishful, unfounded desires within. We always perceive the problem originating externally, so we begin to complain and blame others and cannot be at peace.
A mind ruled by the environment comprises the realm outside as well as the realm within. Within our mind are the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance; once they are activated, vexations swiftly follow suit. For those who cannot be at peace, the three poisons emerge at will from our eight consciousnesses,* mobilizing vexations within our mind like constant drumbeats. Once the drum starts beating our mind cannot be at peace, and when the mind is not at peace, our body will feel unfit; when the body is not fit, we become ill.
Furthermore, when our mind is not at peace, we will not be at peace with ourselves and easily get in trouble with others. We will be angry at people and feel that nothing is right. Having gotten sick, we need to be treated by a doctor, who asks us to rest. Originally, it is just a small illness and now another layer of illness has been added – until we have mind sickness. When there is mind sickness, body sickness becomes more serious, and in turn this adds to the mind sickness. This vicious cycle snowballs, becoming more and more serious, and soon we are seeing doctors more often. At this point, the mind has drifted farther and farther away from Buddhadharma.
Illness is the retribution from our actions. Our actions follow our mind. There is the saying, “Suffering fundamentally does not exist; it arises only from the mind, and when mind does not arise, suffering vanishes too. The empty state where mind does not arise and suffering departs is true liberation.” This is due to attaining kong (voidness, emptiness). Therefore, we should diligently practice observing kong, being aware of kong, and being at peace in kong. We should also be mindful of impermanence and of selflessness. Serious illness will become light, light illness will gradually become none. This is the method of taking in and conserving our mind. You must learn this. Do not let your mind be dictated by the circumstances any longer.
* Eight consciousnesses: 八識The eight parijñ?na, or kinds of cognition, perception, or consciousness. They are the five sense consciousnesses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touch. The sixth is the mental sense, or intellect; the seventh is the discriminating and constructive sense; and the eighth is the storehouse, or basis from which come all “seeds” of consciousness.
3: Show Understanding and Solicitude for One Another
(Talk given on October 16, 1989; pp. 51 – 53 in the Chinese text)
Some people lose themselves while caring for others. This is because they take over other people’s problems and let them become their own. This is not a wise way to go about it. In principle, we should care for people and help them solve problems, but after we have done our best and can be of no further help, we should know when and where to stop. This is to say, when you have done all you could to fight the fire you should not draw the fire upon yourself. Otherwise, you would get burned without doing any good for others.
There have been problems here in the Sangha where I did not involve myself. It was because you knew how to take care of the problems, and went ahead and solved them. If you always need Shifu to solve your problems, then you would not gain the experience and would never grow.
Although I do not often talk with you, I am always concerned with each of you, and often use the time after breakfast to speak with you. Even when I am talking to the supervising staff, it is to understand the affairs related to you.
You should know that the supervisors put out more effort than other staff. That is because instead of just leading they also serve, and they are compassionate in using their leadership abilities. Your growth in bodhi-mind is their blessing and bright achievement.
If you do not heed me and follow my guidance, I cannot help you. I would feel guilty that my mind is not compassion enough, my abilities low, and my persuasive power weak, that I am not giving you enough care and guidance. In those situations I can only reflect on it but I would not blame you.
I hope none of you will be suspicious or envious of your Shifu, the staff, and your fellow Sangha members. Otherwise, you would bring confusion and vexations upon yourselves. From there you would harbor resentment and anger, and your mind would not be balanced and at peace. Slowly, you may feel that you can no longer live in this Sangha.
Together on the bodhi path, please show understanding, encouragement, and care for one another.
4: The Three Doctrines of Pure and Unhindered Acts
(Talk given on September 22, 1989; pp. 54 – 56 in the Chinese text)
You have come here to study and practice Buddhism. According to Master Ouyi’s teaching, to study and practice Buddhism one should use as standards the Buddha’s three doctrines of pure and unhindered actions (karma): that of words, that of deeds, and that of thought. Although we ordinary human beings are not the same as the Buddha, we should at all still endeavor to practice this way.
The word-action doctrine means that what one says should not deviate from Buddhadharma. One should always use Buddhadharma in speaking to people; speak in order to benefit people, and to gain high praise for Buddhadharma, while gaining confidence in oneself. One should always interact with Buddhadharma to benefit oneself as well as others. Whether one studies the Mahayana or the Hinayana, or other ways of conveying karmic retribution among men or devas, one must stay away from greed, anger, ignorance, and arrogant types of illusory phenomena. If one cannot quickly leave behind these phenomena, at least one should keep distant from them. Otherwise, one is not doing any good for oneself and in addition will harm others. Buddhadharma wants us to leave desires behind and to benefit others as well. Therefore, one should encourage oneself so that, if it is not in accordance with the Buddha’s word, we do not speak it. This is so-called pure and clean word-action.
The deed-action is to use Buddha’s way as the standard for our own deeds. The Buddha’s way is consistent with the bodhisattva way, which is in accordance with the precepts of a bodhisattva. To learn Buddha’s way is to make our body’s actions, expressions, mannerisms, and every movement of our limbs consistent with Buddha’s pure and unhindered deeds. Though we may not always be able to do it, we should always try.
The thought-action is Buddha’s pure and unhindered thought. It is the perfect merging of wisdom and compassion. Although our aroused mind and thought may not be exactly like Buddha’s mind, at least, when thoughts come up, we should examine whether it is consistent with Buddha’s wisdom and compassion.
To benefit others is to have a pure and clean mind which does not expect future retribution, does not seek anything in return, and is based on the bodhisattva way consistent with bodhi-mind. However, if you think about what you have given without getting anything in return, about your many sacrifices without receiving praise or support, not achieving fame, you may then become disappointed, negative, and pessimistic. You would be discontent and indignant that your Shifu, the abbot, and the supervisors in the Sangha are not paying attention to you. You would think this way of learning and practice is not even for men or devas, not to mention the bodhisattvas; and that it is the evil way of hell and hungry ghosts.
The predecessor of Dharma Drum Mountain was the Three Studies Institute. We in fact used Buddha’s words as our language, Buddha’s deeds as our code of conduct, and Buddha’s thought as the criterion for aroused mind and thought. It is self-cultivation to do it this way.
If we talk sharply and viciously, behave frivolously and sloppily, think in discontentment and indignation, we are not in accordance with Buddha’s three doctrines of pure and unhindered acts. We should often reflect and repent to reform ourselves. If, wherever we are and at all times, we try to conform to these three doctrines, everything would be at peace and going our way.
5: Practice in the Spirit of a Sponge
(Talk given on August 24, 1989; pp. 57 – 59 in the Chinese text)
We who study and practice Buddhism should have these two attitudes: square inside and round outside. “Square inside” means we hold firm to the principles of Buddhadharma and personal dignity. We do not give up our personal stand and transpose our personal dignity. “Round outside” is to be gentle, soft, and tolerant. Gentle and soft does not mean drifting with the current but maintaining our position. It is like a sponge which yields when you squeeze it; when the pressure is removed, the sponge recovers its original shape.
The way to conduct oneself socially is not be unyielding and wanton, but gentle and soft while still having a position that is in keeping with rules and laws. Otherwise, one will hurt oneself as well as others. Also, if one reacts to others too quickly or too strongly, it will cause others to resist and counter.
In the six paramitas, there is a practice of cultivating renunciation of self and the world. For people studying and practice Buddhadharma, there is nothing that one cannot tolerate. This is also saying that we should practice in the spirit of sponge.
But there are people who misunderstand that tolerance in Buddhism is to always be forbearing and be taken advantage of. In addition, it is considered that if a bad guy is not punished, he is going to get worse and the good guy has nowhere to go; the bad guy would then run wild in the world. This kind of thinking is not correct and not true. We should instead, think that someone could have lost their mind for a moment, and not being able to control himself, unknowingly does something wrong. And, though basic human nature more or less contains elements of animal instinct, we should not describe it this way. Instead, we should say that the internal organs and physiology of human beings can occasionally be out of balance, and that no one’s body and mind are one hundred percent in balance all the time.
Because of education and training as well as environmental conditioning, many people understand self-restraint. But abnormal behavior is still possible occasionally. Therefore, we should use self-cultivation and persuasive ways to adjust and improve the situation. We should frequently attend to, and adjust our body and mind. Gradually, our physiological functions will gain the effects of our practice and self-cultivation.
As Buddhists we should treat others with compassion. We should use a tolerant mind to face unexpected situations, but we should also use wisdom in solving difficulty problems facing us.
6: Prostrating to Buddha in Repentance to Gain Peace of Mind
(Talk given on August 23, 1992; pp. 60 – 65 in the Chinese text)
It takes a monastic about ten years to attain stable peace of mind. The timing certainly depends on his or her virtuous roots. For persons of abundant good virtue, even prior to joining the Sangha, they would already be fairly stable with few hindrances in their practice. Such a person could become very solid after just a few years. Before receiving tonsure, those whose body and mind are not stable and at peace, who are easily afflicted emotionally, should cultivate a habit of prostrating to the Buddha. The novice who is already shaven but has not yet taken the precepts should also prostrate to Buddha often. Those who have already received the great precepts, should know to repent and prostrate often.
Many monastics think that once they have shaved off their hair and changed their clothes, vexations would be gone. There is no such thing. Your hair is on your head and your clothes are outside of your body. If the problems in your mind have not been resolved, even if your head is cut off, there would be no use. Therefore, one must feel shame from within the mind, repent, show gratitude, and prostrate often.
Always Keep a Shameful, Repentant and Grateful Mind
When one cultivates a remorseful, repentant, and grateful mind they would naturally know modesty and would not easily be vexed, because vexations arise within the mind. Vexations that do arise will melt away like snow flakes in sunlight or fire.
A Westerner once told me, “I have an illness. I want to use my will power to resist, to counter, and to fight it with my life.” I said, “If you don’t fight it with your life, you will probably live longer. When you start to fight it with your life, you will be living very harshly.” It should be the same way with Buddhists. When vexation appears, we do not fight against it. Instead, we use shame, repentance, and grateful mind to dissolve the vexation. When vexation arises, we often feel that the outside world brought it to us, and we become very tense. For example, we often cannot stand what someone carelessly or unintentionally said, or a movement, an expression, or a trivial thing that some one did. We would be vexed and think that it is others who gave us the vexation. Actually, the truth is that most of this is due to views and feelings in our own subjective mind.
Vexation is the wild and improper thoughts produced from our mind. This “mind” is not the mind described in conventional psychology; it is the cognitive mind of the eight consciousnesses* – the eight senses resulting from what we perceive from outside. If we do not have these senses in our cognitive mind, we would be immune to the environment. If we don’t have this immunity, we would be afflicted—like catching germs—and vexation would immediately appear. Prostrating to the Buddha to express our remorse, repentance, and gratitude is the preventive medicine that can make our mind immune. This is the way Buddhists should dissolve vexations.
If everyone had a mind of remorse, repentance, and gratitude then our daily lives would be very peaceful, stable, and solid. However, being remorseful and repentant does not mean slapping your own face, beating your chest, or kowtowing vigorously. These are not useful because vexations are not in your face, chest, or head—they are in your mind. Therefore, we should sincerely prostrate to Buddha with a mind of remorse and repentance. When we prostrate we should be grateful to the Three Jewels, be glad that we have heard the Dharma and are studying Buddhism. Our mind would then be peaceful and calm, safe and stable, and everything would fit and be proper. There would not be even a tiny bit of surging and wavering emotions inside.
Two-Inch Deep Footprints
In the past, the Venerable Old Monk Xuyun prostrated every three steps from Mount Putuo till he reached Mount Wutai, in order to pay the debt of gratitude to his mother. In addition, I have seen at Xiaolin Temple and Mount Jiuhua a pair of footprints on a piece of brick in front of a Buddha statue. The footprints were about two inches deep. It was said that every day, there would be a monastic standing in the footprints, prostrating. After a long time, the footprints grew to be two inches deep. I don’t know if fifty years from now, there would also be this type of footprints in our Chan hall.
Now, most of our resident members seem to be relatively at ease with life here. If you feel you are already at peace, please don’t feel that you will be fine from here on. That your mind is not wavering right now is perhaps because your mind is hatching a “little rooster” (which has a habit of seeking favorite treatments.) and only your mind hasn’t become aware of it.
Before a storm there is always a lull; after the storm mountain torrents can explode in front of you. Strong-willed people are just like this—their vexations are not easily regulated and calmed down. They may think they are at peace but once they are in touch with people, they act like hedgehogs going around stinging people. Therefore, even if you may not have vexations now, it does not mean you will forever be at peace. On the contrary, you should remind yourself to often prostrate, repent, and compensate for your past bad acts. Otherwise, when vexations appear and karmic obstructions confront you, it may then be too late to prostrate to Buddha in repentance.
I left home and became a monastic when I was young. I got the inspiration from prostrating to Buddha, and it induced my wisdom. But prostrating to Buddha is not for the purpose of inducing inspiration. It is to compensate for our past bad karma and to inject a preventive medicine.
Therefore, even when we do not have vexation we should prostrate to Buddha. When we have vexation, all the more should we prostrate to Buddha. Buddha instructed us to have less desire, to be content, and to know shamefulness and repentance. Repentance brings peace and happiness. This is very important to understand.
*The eight parijñ?na or kinds of cognition, perception, or consciousness. They are the five sense consciousnesses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touch, the two mental senses of apprehension and discrimination, and the storehouse.