The joys and sorrows, sufferings and pleasures of human life are merely functions of the mind; all contrivances likewise are functions of the mind. When the Buddha liberates sentient beings, he merely seeks to awaken them, so that mind may illumine mind and they may understand the reasons underlying human life.
Awakening is to perceive the illusory transformations of circumstances; realization is to realize that one’s own mind conditions delusion. Outwardly, one is not beguiled by circumstances; inwardly, one is not carried along by deluded thought. One understands that one naturally possesses an autonomous and independent essential nature: though one may temporarily act deludedly in confusion, with a single awakening one returns to the original source. So-called joy and sorrow, suffering and pleasure, and all things whatsoever, are dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; one is no longer deceived by them. This is the great spirit of autonomy and independence. The Buddha does not claim that Buddhahood is a capacity belonging to himself alone; it is a capacity inherently possessed by all persons, whether worthy or foolish, great or small. Herein lies the true spirit of Buddhadharma.
If human life is to resolve this great question, reliance upon the Buddha’s guiding power accounts for one or two parts, while one’s own effort accounts for eight or nine. If one wishes to rely wholly upon the Buddha, or insists upon relying only upon oneself without depending on Buddhadharma, both are forms of great superstition; such a person is not a Buddhist disciple.
When the Buddha speaks of cause and effect, it is not that cause and effect came into being only with the Buddha. When he speaks of equality, it is not that equality came into being only with the Buddha. When he says that sentient beings and Buddhas are originally nondual, nonduality is equality. Sentient beings themselves are originally equal; they deliberately make themselves unequal.
As regards outward appearances, there are naturally all kinds of differences—great and small, high and low, beautiful and ugly. Where there are differences, there is inequality. Yet all appearances arise and perish through conditions, illusorily arising and illusorily falling away; all alike are unreal. This is equality. Therefore equality is real, while inequality is illusory. But people invariably cling to appearances, and over time this becomes a habit; thus they have long forgotten the truth of equality.
Only those who are awakened are not bound by this. They can form their own insight and infer this truth from principle: they realize that the essential nature of all sentient beings is nondual with their own. Why must I necessarily be good and right, while others must necessarily be bad and wrong? Those who do not understand this truth of equality first establish the Personal-self view: I must prosper; you need not prosper.
If I have money, I am wealthy; if you have none, you are poor. They do not understand that this is merely a question of money—what essential relation does it have to the person? If I give my money to you, I become poor and you become wealthy; even if I do not give it to you, once I have spent it all, I too become poor. Money is originally an outward appearance, wholly unreliable. Yet the habit of anxious grasping and fearful loss has endured for so long that people seek to preserve it forever, forgetting the truths of cause and effect and equality. Hence contention proliferates, even to slaughter and plunder, and people suffer vainly all manner of pain. The true spirit of Buddhadharma is to shatter this deluded view.
Once a person has this deluded view, delusion follows upon delusion. The greater one’s power, the greater the force of one’s delusion; the more deluded people there are, the more groups of deluded people arise. Step by step, this develops to the utmost extreme of confusion, until people instead declare Buddhadharma to be superstition.
Everything in the world is an instruction shown to me. The myriad illusory changes in human affairs tell me of the many uncertainties of impermanence; they teach me not to cling obstinately. All evil karma in the world arises from self-attachment. The most anguished people under heaven are those who are stubbornly self-righteous: always insisting that they cannot be wrong, they remain deluded to the end and die without awakening.
To us, such a person truly suffers; he himself also suffers, suffering because he does not know his own suffering. Yet how can we ourselves be said truly to understand? As onlookers, we understand clearly; but when it is our own turn to be enticed by vanity, wealth, and profit, perhaps we too will be equally stubbornly self-righteous. Therefore the Buddha asks you to awaken thoroughly. Master Zhu spoke only of not being enticed by external things, without knowing what external things are: they are the delusions conditioned by one’s own mind. Unless one begins with the mind, one will never fully attain the true spirit of Buddhadharma.
Buddhism and Buddhadharma are originally without distinction; what is taught is precisely the Dharma. Yet at present, what can be seen is only the outward form of Buddhism, while the truth of Buddhadharma remains unknown. Among the four assemblies of Buddhist disciples, the highest close their doors and cultivate themselves, taking no concern for society’s sufferings; those in the middle delight in attracting attention and diligently perform meritorious deeds with form; the lowest commit licentious and evil acts, stopping at nothing.
Among those who study Buddhism, some are lifeless and dispirited, while others affect bizarre and grotesque manners. Society sees only its harm and not its benefit; how then can people be expected to embrace it in faith?
Now matters have gone a step further: even those who cultivate themselves can no longer keep their doors closed. They rush here and there, with still less leisure to introduce the true spirit of Buddhadharma to society. Thus the distance grows ever greater and people’s doubts ever deeper. This is the decline of Buddhism.
Although Buddhism has undergone many years of devastation, the latent force of the spirit of Buddhadharma has not merely remained undiminished; it has expanded day by day. Those who wish to investigate truth are increasingly numerous. This is a reaction to the anguish within human hearts, which has imperceptibly separated Buddhism from Buddhadharma.
Those possessing knowledge naturally do not prize the formal adornments of Buddhism, but respect the spiritual freedom of Buddhadharma. Meritorious deeds with form in Buddhadharma were originally expedient guidance for those first entering the gate.
At the root, the Buddha never clung to appearances, but sought to bring people to self-awakening. The most orthodox path benefits both oneself and others, transforming enemies into friends and allowing them to be naturally tamed. It enables each person to understand his own original face, to support great compassion with great wisdom, and to undertake the work of saving the world. First, greed must not be permitted. If one can refrain from grasping at appearances, the fashion of corruption will naturally cease.
Second, do not become angry. If one can regard others with equal compassion and understand the meaning of mutual aid, the habits of deceit, slaughter, and killing will naturally cease. Third, do not remain deluded. If one can elucidate truth, open great awakening and wisdom, and shatter superstition, then stubborn self-will and the conduct of inverted, deluded action will naturally diminish. In sum, people must be transformed of their own accord. Thus it is evident that there is no person without mind: mind itself is Buddha.
There is no mind without principle: principle itself is Dharma. The great function of Buddhadharma lies not in contending for the outward prestige of one’s own Buddhism or disputing the merits and defects of other religions, but in enabling every person to awaken personally to truth and to learn the Buddha’s egalitarian spirit of saving the world.
Salvation does not lie in the satisfaction of food, clothing, and shelter, but in everyone being able to enjoy food, clothing, and shelter equally. Food, clothing, and shelter sustain this body; this body sustains the great compassionate mind. One must undertake the work of benefiting sentient beings through great compassion—not become an arhat with scorched sprouts and spoiled seeds, but a bodhisattva in whom wisdom and compassion operate together. This accords precisely with the egalitarianism advocated in the present age. If there are those who are stubbornly self-righteous, they will naturally become abandoned by all; without being struck, they will fall of themselves, serving as a great example and profound lesson for all under heaven. This is the true spirit of Buddhadharma.
Buddhadharma values practical action and values naturalness. First restrain oneself and acquire samadhi-power; from samadhi-power, the power of discernment grows, and physical strength naturally increases. These are the three powers of human life. Use these three powers to meet every undertaking in society, and one will naturally act with ample ease. Amid the tempestuous circumstances of today, without the sustaining power of mind, one will inevitably be swept about by external conditions.
Take those who engage in corruption: by their original nature, they do not wish to be corrupt. Yet because of environmental temptations, because they see no hope ahead and immediate fear is before their eyes, and because they themselves lack inner mastery, they are driven onto the path of corruption. Greed is an inferior propensity innate in everyone; corruption is a momentary deluded action. Once one person sets the example, others imitate it, and it becomes an openly prevalent disease. If this inferior propensity is to be transformed, people must first be brought to self-awareness. Once livelihood is secure, this tendency will naturally cease. This is the true spirit of Buddhadharma.
One person’s greed can draw many others into greed. Taking greed as one’s foundation, the gulf of desire naturally cannot be filled, and many people will inevitably be driven to have no food to eat. In reaction, what one has greedily acquired is fundamentally unreliable. Had one known early on the dangers of greedy gain, one would not have gone so deeply down the path of self-destruction.
The two words peace and security mean that only when everyone is treated equally can I myself be secure. If even one person is treated unequally, there is a reaction, and this is one’s own danger. I have often said that when the world has attained true peace and security, locks and safes will no longer be needed. Whenever these two things are needed, it means that the mind harbors suspicion and fear, and the terror of reaction exists on every side.
That reaction is precisely inequality: both mind and material circumstances are unequal. Yet the chief cause of inequality is greed. The chief cause of greed is still fear. The chief cause of fear is lack of awakening. Because of this lack of awakening, one does not clearly perceive principle and is unwilling to give.
In expounding all dharmas, the Buddha gives foremost importance to generosity. Generosity means relinquishment: not only should money and possessions be given away, but even my deluded views should be given away. Broaden your vision and do not cling stubbornly to inferior views. If everyone has food to eat, that is my supreme insurance and greatest peace and happiness. Therefore generosity is the greatest spirit of Buddhadharma.
Buddhadharma merely seeks to turn worldly affairs around. Set aside for a while what I cling to, and see what it is like. Regard as lowly what I regard as important, and see what it is like. Do not love what I love; relinquish what I grasp; do not marvel at what I marvel at. Then suffering ceases of itself, and in dealing with affairs one becomes flexible and consummately adept in every direction.
