sixth patriarch's sutra january 4, 2013 lecture

7/30/2019 Sixth Patriarch's Sutra January 4, 2013 lecture

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/sixth-patriarchs-sutra-january-4-2013-lecture 1/32

1

The Sixth Patriarch’s Sutra7:30pm Pacific time

January 4, 2013 lecture©

as outlined by a Buddhist monkat 1777 Murchison Drive, Burlingame, California 94010, open to public

(phone 650-6925912)

(Listen ‘live’ or recorded audio explanations at

www.wondrousdharma.org)

Q&A Stop hunting; liberate animals wisely

Chapter 6 Repentance and reform – the 3 refuges

[Subscribe to the free Dharma newsletter atwww.wondrousdharma.org]



2

Verse for opening a sutra

• Na Mwo Fundamental Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha (3x)

• Homage to the Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra (3x)

• The unsurpassed, deep, profound, subtle, wonderful Dharma,

• In a hundred thousand million eons, is difficult to encounter,

• Now that I’ve come to receive and hold it, within my sight andhearing,

• I vow to fathom the Thus Come One’s true and actual meaning.

Exhortation to uphold the Dharma: 15

These incalculable asamkhyeyas of Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, who havewelled forth from the earth and whom you have never seen before arethose whom I taught, transformed and guided in this Saha World after Iattained anuttarasamyaksambodhi. I tamed and subdued the minds of those Bodhisattvas causing them to bring forth the resolve for theWay.” (The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra)



Q&A

Question: What is the Buddhist perspective on hunting? What

should avid hunters do?

Answer:

• Hunting with guns, hounds or whatever form is a killing karma;

the action caused by themselves will bring about their own

suffering in the future; but it may be lessened when instead of

killing they liberate life wisely.

• To killers, Bodhisattva Earth Store speaks of short

lifespan

• to those who enjoy hunting, he speaks of the retribution

of a frightening insanity and disastrous doom3



Q&A• to those who scald, burn, behead, cut or otherwise harm

animals, he speaks of repayment in kind. (through the functioning

of cause and effect)

• To killers, Bodhisattva Earth Store speaks of short

lifespan

• A person may have short lifespan because of illness,

accidental deaths, war, and so on.

4



Q&A

• The nature of this conditioned existence is that these tragic

deaths were caused by themselves, not by heaven or other beings or by bad omen; that’s why we have to be careful to

avoid planting unwholesome cause.

• The Buddha spoke the reality of phenomena to allow us to

understand the nature of this world of existence and thereforeavoid the unwholesome cause and not be afflicted while

undergoing the effect from past actions.

5



Q&A

Let us picture why hunters will have mental disturbance in the future:

• When the hunter chases an animal, he causes fear and

anxiety in the animal.

• When the animal is killed, there is mental anguish, sorrow and

grief among the ‘parents, child, relatives and friends of theanimal’.

6



Q&A

• Had we known about past lives, we would probably identify the

cause of insanity, orphans, or broken family and other untimelydeaths such as automobile accidents came from hunting in

the past as the Bodhisattva Earth Store says

• “to those who enjoy hunting, he speaks of the

retribution of a frightening insanity and disastrous

doom”

7



Q&A

• to those who scald, burn, behead, cut or otherwise harm

animals, he speaks of repayment in kind.

• In France, the hunters incorrectly and inhumanely justify their

using of hounds to hunt because they are merely re creatingwolves attacking deer or boar; this is delusional on their part.

• The hunted animals will be shredded by hounds or have their

throat slit; doing so merely causes repayment in kind in future.

8



Q&A

• There are wholesome people who may not believe in theprinciple of karma but they have the conviction to uphold a

common human value:

• We do not want to cause harm to others what we don’t want

others to cause harm to ourselves.

9



Q&A

• But when we are able to change for the better, there is a

chance we may lessen the retribution. ..

• instead of killing, we liberate animals wisely and performmeritorious and kind deeds for the benefit of others.

• Liberating animals without upsetting the ecology; introducing

an invasive animal to its non natural habitat would be

irresponsible.,10



Q&A

• Here is a story of an official during the Qing Dynasty. Before he was

appointed as an official, he was seriously ill. The doctor gavehim the wrong prescription and he was on the verge of dying.

• On his sick bed, he repented for all the evil deeds done and

vowed to benefit people and the world. He showed concern for

worldly affairs.

,11



Q&A

• One night he had a dream of Bodhisattva Guanyin who told

him, “In a past life, you were an official. You were very just butoverly strict. You were not humane. Though you have rank and

wealth, it has been diminished.

• Besides you often killed animals and that is why you will not

live long.”

,12



Q&A

• “Fortunately you have resolved to benefit others. In every

thought you are thinking of how to benefit others. You don’tgrumble or complain.

• Accordingly, you can prolong your life by liberating animals.

Your blessings and wealth will be increased if you put in more

effort.”

,13



Q&A

• When he woke up, he realized there could be truth in his

dream. Henceforth his entire family became vegetarians and heoften liberates living beings responsibly.

• In winter, he was appointed as an Imperial official and by the

next winter, he recovered fully from his illness.

,14



Q&A

• “if they encounter a good knowing advisor who leads

them to take refuge with Bodhisattva Earth Store, those

living beings will obtain release from retribution in theThree Evil Paths.All of you Bodhisattvas should recall

this Sutra and proclaim and widely spread it.”

• because taking refuge with the Bodhisattva or the Three

Jewels the mindset of wanting to turnover from

unwholesomeness to wholesomeness and the Sutra explicitlyteaches cause and effect.

,15



Chapter 6 Repentance and reform

Sutra:

• “When your own mind takes refuge with what is right, there

are no deviant views in any of your thoughts. Because

there are no deviant views, there is no self, other,arrogance, greed, love, or attachment. That is called the

honored that is apart from desire.

Comments

• The right frame of mind is to be apart from the deviant views

that cling to desire as a result of a false self.

• Because there is a self, there is then others as distinguished

from self. 16




• Because there is a self, there is arrogance, the sign of superior

self over others.

• Because there is a self, there is greed, love and attachmentsthat benefits the self.

17




Sutra:

• “When your own mind takes refuge with the pure, your

self-nature is not stained by attachment to any state of

defilement, desire or love. That is called the honoredamong the multitudes.”

Comments

• It is the mind that takes refuge with the pure.

• Purity is the absence of defilement and outflowing of desire and

love.

• Having limitless blessings, one is honored all.

18




Sutra:

• “If you cultivate this practice, you take refuge with

yourself.

Comments

• Why do we take refuge with ourselves?

• We take refuge with the Buddha within us; our original mindwhich is eternally pure but presently covered by confusion.

19




• Because our mind is presently covered with confusion, we take

refuge with the purity within ourselves when:

• Our minds ceasing evil ten evil deeds itself is ten good deeds.

• Our minds turn over from what is deviant to proper.

• Our minds turn over from jealousy into rejoicing in merit of

others.

20




Sutra:

• “Common people do not understand that, and so, from

morning to night, they take the triple-refuge precepts. They

say they take refuge with the Buddha, but where is theBuddha? If they cannot see the Buddha, how can they

return to him? Their talk is absurd.

Comments

• “Confusion about the original perfect understanding

results in delusion, but this delusion has no essential

nature; it is based on nothing.

• One may wish to return to what is real, but to wish for the

real is falsification.21




• The true nature of the suchness of reality is not a reality

that one can seek to return to.

• If one were to try to return to it, one would merely

experience something that does not have the attribute of

reality.(Shurangama Sutra)

22




Sutra:

• “Good Knowing Advisors, each of you examine

yourselves. Do not make wrong use of the mind. The

Avatamsaka Sutra clearly states that you should takerefuge with your own Buddha, not with some other

Buddha. If you do not take refuge with the Buddha in

yourself, there is no one you can rely on.

Comments

• Making wrong use of the mind is to go chasing outside yourself to find the ‘precious pearl that is within our clothing.’

23




Sutra:

• “Good Knowing Advisors, each of you examine

yourselves. Do not make wrong use of the mind. The

Avatamsaka Sutra clearly states that you should takerefuge with your own Buddha, not with some other

Buddha. If you do not take refuge with the Buddha in

yourself, there is no one you can rely on.

Comments

• The Buddha within each and every living being is our originalBuddha nature, our original mind.

24




• “When your mind takes refuge with enlightenment, deviant

confusion does not arise. Desire decreases, so that you

know contentment and are able to keep away from wealth

and from the opposite sex. That is called the honored, thedoubly complete. – [the Buddha within yourself]

• When your own mind takes refuge with what is right, there

are no deviant views in any of your thoughts. Because

there are no deviant views, there is no self, other,

arrogance, greed, love, or attachment. That is called the

honored that is apart from desire. – [the Dharma withinyourself]

26




Sutra:

• “Within yourself, regulate your mind and nature; outside

yourself, respect others. That is to take refuge with

yourself.”

Comments

• “If you really understand the Buddhadharma, you will respect

not just your relatives and friends, but everyone even people

who don’t know. Instead of slapping someone when you see

him and then throwing mud in his face, you must be the most

respectful toward those who act the worst toward you. This isthe fundamental responsibility of students of Buddhism.”

(Venerable Master Hsuan Hua)

28




Sutra:

• “Good Knowing Advisors, now that you have taken refuge

with the Triple Jewel, you should listen carefully while I

explain to you the three bodies of a single substance, theself-nature of the Buddha, so that you may see the three

bodies and become completely enlightened to your own

self-nature. “Repeat after me,

•Comments

• The 3 bodies of a Buddha is the Dharma body, the reward bodyand the transformation body.

29




Sutra:

• I take refuge with the clear, pure Dharma-body of the

Buddha within my own body.

Comments

• The Dharma body within us is the unmoving thusness.

• The myriad dharmas appear when the mind moves.

30



31

Dedication of merit

• May every living beings,

• Our minds as one and radiant with light

• Share the fruits of peace, with hearts of goodness

luminous and bright.• If people hear and see, how hands and hearts can find in

giving unity

• May their minds awake, to great compassion, wisdom

and to joy.• May kindness find reward; may all who sorrow leave their

grief and pain;

• May this boundless light break the darkness of their endless night.

• Because our hearts are one, this world of pain turns intoparadise;

• May all become compassionate and wise (2x)



Dedication of merit

• I vow that merit made from this deed will become,

• Adornments for the Pure Land of Bu-ddhas.• Repaying the four kinds of kindness above,

• And aiding those in three paths below.

• May all who see and hear of this deed• Bring forth the resolve to reborn

• In the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

32

sixth patriarch's sutra january 4, 2013 lecture

Documents