How to Develop the Bodhi-Cittawritten by Buddhist Yogi C. M. Chen
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TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Chapter I What Does Bodhi-citta Mean |
Chapter II How to Develop the Bodhi-citta
of Will |
Chapter III How to Perform the Bodhi-citta
of Conduct |
Chapter IV How to Develop the
Bodhi-citta of Victorious Significance |
Chapter V How to Develop the
Bodhi-citta of Samadhi |
Chapter VI How to Develop the
Bodhi-citta of Kunda Which Contains the Red Bodhi and the White Bodhi in
a Psycho-Physical System of Holy Quality |
Bodhi-citta is a Sanskrit term which is borrowed from the one in the consequence position to be used as the one in the causal position (ed. note: a complete explanation of the positions of cause and consequence may be found in C. M. Chen's book Buddhist Meditation: Systematic and Practical.) Bodhi-citta, means "an enlightened mind" or "heart" or "the final awareness wisdom of a Buddha who is in the consequence position"; yet it can be borrowed by a Bodhisattva in all stages of his development in order to imitate and practice it in the causal position. Hence, it is a most important term; every practice of Buddhism starts with it and aims at it.
The public translation department of the T'ang Dynasty set up a rule covering five kinds of non-translatable terms, viz: 1) those with esoteric meanings 2) those with several meanings 3) those without equivalents in the translator's country 4) those which would be less impressive when translated 5) those which were old and established. This term Bodhi-citta belongs to numbers 4 and 5. Dr. Herbert V. Guenther in his translation of The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (p. 112) translated Bodhicitta as "enlightened attitude". I am not in agreement with this.
"Attitude" is a psychological term and can only partially cover the meaning of Bodhi-citta. The Chinese translation "Bodhi-Hsin" seems to be better as the word "Hsin" has an original meaning of "heart" in the physical sense which may also cover the esoteric meanings since the fourth kind of Bodhi-citta of Samadhi is visualized in the heart and the fifth Bodhi-citta of Kunda likewise lays most emphasis on Red Bodhi and White Bodhi, both of which are psycho-physical. "Hsin" also means "mind" psychically and means "essence" philosophically, which may cover the third category of Victorious Significance.
Among the five kinds of Bodhi-citta systematized by me are the following:
The term "enlightened attitude" only covers the first Bodhi-citta. The second kind has a clear meaning of action but not of attitude. The third one is philosophical. The fourth and fifth are more or less psycho-physical. All of these meaning are not included in the term "attitude". The Chinese word "Hsin" seems to be a better choice than "attitude" but the problem is that only Chinese scholars may recognize it. Hence, in my humble opinion it is better to do without translation.
ed. note: a complete explanation of the positions of cause and consequence may be found in C.M. Chen's book Buddhist Meditation: Systematic and Practical.
Regarding the correspondence of Bodhi-citta with the three yanas we may say: The Bodhi-citta of Will is practiced by all yanas; the Bodhi-citta of Conduct is practiced partially by Hinayana and thoroughly by Mahayana and Vajrayana. As the Hinayana lays most stress on doing Goodness and holding steadfastly to their vinaya, whenever profitable Bodhi-citta conduct includes any evil, the Hinayanists would not be able to do it. For instance, Buddha converted a beautiful lady by accepting her evil request and saved 500 merchants by killing a robber. "Every sweet has its sour, every evil its good" - even Emerson who was a layman said such things; nevertheless, the Hinayana would not consent to evil action for the sake of good results. The Bodhi-citta of Samadhi and that of Kunda are only practiced by Vajrayana. As for the most important Bodhi-citta of Victorious Significance, it should be practiced by all yanas, yet many practitioners neglect it. In this booklet I have to ask their attention so they may retain a deep impression of its importance.
To save a lengthy statement or dissertation a list of Bodhi-citta correspondences is offered below:
| BODHI-CITTA | DOCTRINE | YANA | POSITION | CONSEQUENCE |
| Of Will | exoteric | all three yanas | causal | nirmanakaya |
| Of Conduct | exoteric | Hinayana partly; Mahayana and Vajrayana entirely | course | sambhogakaya |
| Of Victorious Significance | exoteric | Hinayana partly; Mahayana and Vajrayana entirely | course | dharmakaya |
| Of Samadhi | esoteric | Vajrayana Yogic Tantra | consequence | sahajakaya |
| Of Kunda | esoteric | Vajrayana Anuttara Tantra | consequence | Mahasukha prajnakaya |
Much the more since I am the only person of this age who emphasizes the whole system of Buddhism, I should connect the two doctrines, exoteric and esoteric, into one system. I shall deal with them separately in detail in the following chapters.
Before presenting the description of each Bodhi-citta, some terms which may be easily confounded should be discriminated in order to let the reader and practitioner get a clear understanding of the significance of those terms for their contemplations and performances.
A Chinese essay titled "Discriminations between Goodness, Love, Great Compassion and Bodhi-citta" was written by me many years ago, published in Hong Kong and was presented freely to various famous libraries of the world. I hope someone will translate this essay of mine into English someday. Here I can just translate a few points from that essay:
This definition consists of three parts: 1) "ultimately saving others". It is why Bodhi-citta has been confused with goodness, love, and compassion (but the adverb "ultimately" has been ignored). 2) "continuously practise". It is why every kind of practice is connected with Bodhi-citta. Hence, five kinds of Bodhi-citta influence the whole system of Buddhist practices, including the three yanas. It should not be confined only to compassion alone. 3) "until Buddhahood is achieved". It is why Bodhi-citta has the two great important parts: one is compassion, the other is wisdom. Both make the noble name of Buddha as the Noble-Two-Foot. Many have neglected the factor of wisdom, and overemphasized that of compassion. By practicing compassion without wisdom, Buddhahood will never be gained.
The next evening she had a small quarrel with her husband. The latter came to me and said, "I heard that when you were invited by Mr. Lee Pai Hwa of Quen-Min, with your forefinger pointing on Mr. Lee's body his demon departed and he felt his body become very light. Was it true?" I replied "yes!" Then he asked me to do the same to him and said, "If I get such a light sensation, I would like to leave my wife and follow you to be a hermit." I refused. It was because the demon of Lee was a demon only of the bad habit of opium! At that time I did not know that they had had a quarrel. And a most dangerous thing happened to his wife when C, C. Chang left her and came to me. She had taken a large quantity of poison adding some brandy and then made two Wills; one Will was intended to be given to the police. It said that her suicide was by her own will and in no way concerned her husband. The other Will provided for giving ten thousand rupees to her servant Mr. Wong Qua Chong.
It was extremely fortunate that her servant came to call her to dinner just after the Will was written for him. After finding out such a dangerous thing, he immediately called the doctor and all poisons were ejected through the doctor's treatment. She was saved!
Actually the contention of their quarrel as it stood was a pretty, lovely, beautiful private secrecy, as she told me frankly the next morning when I went to her house to perform the Homa. But as the ill-will invoked proved to be very dangerous, it almost resulted in divorce of one half and in death of the other. How powerful is the Will!! It is written in Confucius' Analects: "The commander of a force of a large state may be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken from him." No one can rob us of our free will. He who is firm in will molds the world to himself, With will one can do anything; ill-will does evil, good will does good, Bodhi-citta of will leads us to Buddha's full enlightenment.
Many Buddhas have set their good examples for us. The Chinese Pureland School which has induced or lured many souls to its teachings is a school of will based upon the 48 great vows of Buddha Amitayus. The Buddha of Healing has 12 great vows. Gautama and the future Buddha Maitreya both have 4 great vows. The great Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara has 32 vows; Manjusri and Samantabhadra both have 10 great vows. I introduce here neither the too long vows numbering 48 nor the too short vows numbering 4. The 12 great vows of the Healing Buddha are listed below:"O! Well for him whose will is strong,
He suffers but he will not suffer long!
He suffers but he cannot suffer wrong!"
Developing the Bodhi-citta of Will belongs to practical knowledge which comes after the two knowledges of hearing and thinking. One should learn all those ancient Bodhisattva's Bodhi-citta from sutras, Tantras, and biographies A Mahayana sutra named Flower of Great Compassion contains many good vows of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Such a doctrine full of tears never has been paid attention to by those Hinayana believers. It is a pity.
When I prepared to pilgrimage to India, I passed Mr. Garma C. C. Chang's home and stayed there for a few days. I asked all his family, servants, and maidservants to each write their good vows, and promised that I would repeat them before Gautama Buddha when I arrived at Bodhi Gaya. The contents of their vows, nine out of ten, were centralized upon themselves and a little extended to their parents and relatives. From Chang's place I flew to Yunan province and stayed with Professor Lo. Ying-Chung who was a very learned Buddhist. I also asked him to do the same. He then developed ten vows which are worthwhile to translate below:
"Oaths are but words,
and words but wind
Too feeble and implement to bind!"
Hope tells a flattering tale,
Delusive, vain and hollow.
Ah! Let not hope prevail
Lest disappointment follow!
When he serves his parents,
He must wish all beings,
To serve Buddha nicely
And offer all the best things!
When he is with wife and sons
He must wish all sentient beings
Be equal to kinsmen and foes,
And rid of lustful worldly things!
When he gets desirous things,
He must wish all sentient beings
To dig out the arrow of lust,
And abide in the most quiet realm.
When he joins in a music meeting,
He must wish all those sentient beings,
Enjoy themselves with only Dharma,
And know all good sound is nothing!
When he goes into the palace,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Be enabled to go to the Pureland,
And purify their unclean things!
When he puts on some ornaments,
He must wish all those sentient beings,
To take off all those false honours,
Reach at the true palace of kings!
When one goes up to the tower,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Climb up to the Dharma attic,
Have a right view to all things!
When he is giving alms,
He must wish all beings,
To void all those desires,
Give up all worldly things!
When he joins into a meeting,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get all Buddha's wisdom,
And renounce all evil things.
When he falls into affliction,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To do all things at his will,
Without any obstacles therein!
When he leaves his family,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get ordination soon,
And gain liberty within!
When he goes to the Temple,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Be enabled to give lectures,
As a right Dharma king!
When he visits his Gurus,
He must wish all sentient beings
To serve his Gurus nicely,
Work for Gurus out and in!
When he seeks to be a Bhikshu,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get the Avinivartaniya (no regress),
Have no obstacles within!
When he gives up the layman's dress,
He must wish all sentient beings
To take pains for all good Karmas,
And be rid of all the evil things!
When he is cutting his hair,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get rid of all sorrows,
Reach the holy and final realm!
When he is putting on the robe,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Practice the course of Buddhism,
Defiled not by any kind of sin!
When ordained as a Bhikshu,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To take the Buddha's best example,
and save all beings from many sins!
When he takes refuge in the Buddha,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To flourish the seeds of Buddha,
Develop a supreme being!
When he takes refuge in Dharma,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To study the profound knowledge,
and gain the ocean-like wisdom!
When he takes refuge in the Sangha,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To be able to control the group,
No obstacle happens within!
When he studies the vinaya,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To learn all silas skillfully,
And be rid of doing evil things!
When he listens to the Guru,
He must wish all sentient beings
To have all kinds of good manners,
Do all good things with blessing!
Accepting the Gurus's teaching,
He must wish all sentient beings
Get the wisdom of non-born,
Reach the state of non-dwelling.
Receiving the complete vinaya,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To have all the convenience to
Get all the profound doctrine.
When he enters into a hall,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To reach the supreme Dharma home,
Dwell in the state of non-moving!
When he arranges the mattress,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Develop all good Dharmas,
Able to see the real truth within!
When he is sitting straight,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To sit on the Bodhi-seat,
Mind attached to no thinking!
When he crosses his two legs,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To have firm foundation,
Reach the stage of non-moving
When he practices Samadhi,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Have Samatha to control mind
And no worldly thought remaining.
When he practices Samapatti,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Can see the entire reality,
And have no kind of rebutting!
When he stops his Samadhi
He must wish all sentient beings
See the actions of Dharma,
All vanishes into nothing.
When he is standing
He must wish all beings,
Liberate their minds,
Stand without moving!
When he starts to walk,
He must wish all beings,
Leave the ocean of death,
Keep on good practising.
When he wears trousers
He must wish all beings,
Wear the clothes of merits,
Always have shame within!
When he tightens the girdle,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Keep all the good merits well,
Don't let them be relaxing!
When he puts on the coat,
He must wish all beings,
To be a winner of Law,
Do have the other-shore-wings!
When he wears samahati (Bhikshu robe),
He must wish all sentient beings
To get the first position of the world,
And attain the Dharma of non-moving!
When he holds the branch of willow,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Do get the wonderful Dharma,
Finally purify all sins.
When he chews the willow branch, (note: Indians used to chew
willow to clean the teeth)
He must wish all sentient beings,
Do have their mind purified
And cut off all the sorrow-twines!
When he goes to the privy,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Do renounce all the sorrows,
And be rid of every sin.
When he washes his two hands,
He must wish all beings,
To renounce the Saha world,
With very speedy wings!
When he bathes his body,
He must wish all beings,
To become most holy,
Without any defiled things.
When he washes his two palms,
He must wish all beings,
To have two pure hands,
To do all the pure things.
When he washes his face,
He must wish all beings,
To enter the pure gate,
Be defiled by no-thing.
When he holds a monk's staff,
He must wish all sentient beings.
To be able to give great alms.
Show the true path within!
When he holds the Bhikshu's bowl,
He must wish all sentient beings
To become the best Dharma vessel,
Receive heaven's and men's offering!
When he starts a trip,
He must wish all beings,
To go on the path of Buddhism,
Reach the state of non-practising.
When he is walking on the road,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Be able to practice Buddhist course,
And reach the Nirvana within!
When he passes over some land,
He must wish all beings
To walk on the Pureland,
No obstacles by any thing!
When he ascends a highway,
He must wish every-being
To pass beyond the three realms,
No fear or shame within!
When he descends a slippery way,
He must wish all beings
To have humility
And grow merit therein !
When he sees the declivity
He must wish all sentient beings
To renounce all evil paths
Get rid of all false views within!
When he sees the straight way,
He must wish all beings
To have straight and good mind,
No lie flatters therein!
When he sees much dust
He must wish all beings
To renounce all the dirt,
Keep pure Dharma within.
When he sees the dust on the way,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Have their minds kind and merciful
And practice the great compassion!
When he sees a dangerous way,
He must wish all sentient beings
To abide on the right path
And be rid of all kinds of sin.
When he joins an assembly,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Be able to give profound speech
And make all in harmony.
When he sees the great pillar,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To be rid of all kinds of struggles
and renounce angry fighting.
When he sees the forest,
He must wish all beings
To be respected by men
And by the God as the best!
When he sees the high hill,
He must wish all beings
To have excellent merit,
None higher than him still.
When he sees a tree with thorns,
He must wish all beings
To cut off all obstacles,
Poisons couldn't harm upon.
When he sees tree with many leaves,
He must wish all sentient beings
To achieve the best of Samadhi,
Save men from hot place to leave!
When he sees the flower blossom,
He must wish all sentient beings
To get supernatural power
Which is like a flourishing plum.
When he sees tree with flowers,
He must wish all sentient beings
To have magnificent forms
Like the thirty-two manifestations.
When he sees the fruits,
He must wish all beings
To learn the best Laws
Leading to the Bodhi.
When he sees the great river,
He must wish all beings,
Swim in the Dharma sea
As Buddha's wise ocean.
When he sees the straight stream,
He must wish all the beings,
Quickly realize all Laws
In only one tasting.
When he sees the pool,
He must wish all beings,
Get verbal merits,
Be skillful in preaching!
When he sees the well,
He must wish all beings,
Utter good lectures,
Reveal truth as well!
When he sees the spring,
He must wish all beings
Increase all wisdoms
Without exhaustions.
When he sees the Bridge,
He must wish all beings
To save all the men,
From dangerous things.
When he sees water flowing,
He must wish all beings,
To get merit at will,
And wash away all evils.
When he sees the tendered garden,
He must wish all sentient beings
To cut off all lustful grasses,
Rid all the five desirable things!
When he sees the Ashoka forest,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To renounce the worldly pleasure
And get comes neither sorrow nor sin.
When he sees a green house,
He must wish all beings,
To practice Dharma,
Grow Bodhi therein!
When he sees a man with ornaments,
He must wish all sentient beings
To have thirty-two excellent forms
And get the full enlightenment.
When he sees a man without ornaments
He must wish all sentient beings
Renounce the worldly adornments
Practice Dhuta conduct as those saints .
When he sees the man of pleasure,
He must wish all sentient beings
To get best pleasure from Dharma,
He should practice without ceasing!
When he sees the man of non-pleasure
He must wish all kinds of sentient beings
Toward every worldly task
Have no attachment or sin.
When he sees the happy man
He must wish all sentient beings
Always get happiness
And be glad to give offerings.
When he sees the painful man,
He must wish all sentient beings
To have the basic wisdom,
Rid of his sorrow and sin!
When he sees the healthy man
He must wish all sentient beings
Turn into the true wisdom
Never have any kind of pain.
When he sees the rich man,
He must wish all beings
To know impermanence,
Be rid of struggle and sin.
When he sees the gentle man,
He must wish all beings
To have faith in Dharma,
And in all holy men.
When he sees the ugly man,
He must wish all sentient beings
Toward all evil things,
Have no more pleasure within!
When he sees the grateful man,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Toward all those weak persons,
Don't return to them bad things.
When he sees a shramana,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To enjoy themselves in quietude
And get the first position.
When he sees Brahman,
He must wish all beings,
To have pure conduct,
Get rid of all sins!
When he sees the Dhuta,
He must wish all beings,
To learn asceticism,
Reach the state of Buddha!
When he sees the practitioner,
He must wish all kinds of beings,
To hold all kinds of practice,
Don't be apart from the Dharma.
When he sees man wearing armour,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Wear clothes of all kinds of goodness!
And be guided by the Dharma king!
When he sees man without armour,
He must wish all sentient beings
Do renounce every evil.
Don't commit any kind of bad thing.
When he sees man who likes debate
He must wish all sentient beings
Subdue all kinds of outsiders
Rid their heretic discussion!
When he sees man of right life,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To get the pure livelihood,
Don't assume a good living!
When he sees the king,
He must wish all beings
To be king of Law,
Guide them free of sin.
When he sees the prince,
He must wish all beings,
Born in a good race,
As Buddha's offspring!
When he sees the elder,
He must wish all beings
To have a skillful learning,
Do no evil thing!
When he sees a great official
He must wish all sentient beings,
To keep the right mind often
And do all kinds of good things.
When he sees the city wall
He must wish all beings,
Keep their heal thy body
Have no disturbance as well.
When he sees the capital
He must wish all beings
To collect all merits
Let their mind be blessing.
When he lives in a forest
He must wish all beings
To be respected by all
Gods and all human beings.
When he goes to a village to beg,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Enter into Dharmadhatu
Their minds have no obstacle or sin.
When he stands by the gate,
He must wish all beings.
Come into the door,
Of Buddha-Doctrine.
When he enters into a family,
He must wish all kinds of sentient beings,
To get the Buddha's courage exactly,
Keep the three periods in equality!
When he sees the stingy man,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Never try to depart from
That belonging to the Doctrine!
When he sees the generous man,
He must wish all sentient beings
Ever renounce the three bad worlds,
In which there is nothing but pain!
When he sees his bowl empty,
He must wish all sentient beings,
Their mind is clean and so pure,
Within which there is no sin.
When he sees his bowl full,
He must wish all beings
To have accumulated all
Merits which will not fall !
When he is respected,
He must wish all beings,
Humbly to practise
All of the teaching!
When he is not respected,
He must wish all beings,
Do not do any evil,
Which may commit some sins.
When he sees a man of shame,
He must wish all beings
To get rid of disgrace
To keep the state of good fame.
When he gets sweet food,
He must wish all beings
Fulfill all good wishes,
Rid of lustful mode!
When he gets bad food,
He must wish all beings
To get good Samadhi,
Taste the nectars therein!
When he gets soft food,
He must wish all beings
To have great mercy,
Mind is meek therein!
When he gets coarse food,
He must wish all beings,
Be rid of worldly lust,
Mind is pure therein!
When he is taking a meal,
He must wish all beings,
To get the food of Ch'an,
With happiness to fill!
When he is tasting a sweet,
He must wish all beings,
To get supreme nectar,
As Dharma food to eat!
When he finishes the meal,
He must wish all beings,
To fulfill all Karmas,
Nothing is remaining still!
When he is to speak,
He must wish all beings
To get good ability,
Spread widely the teaching.
When he is going out,
He must wish all beings
To know the true wisdom
And leave the three realms, no doubt!
When he swims in water
He must wish all beings
To have no dirt
And all parts are clean.
When it is very hot
He must wish all beings
To renounce all sorrows
All pains are finishing!
When it becomes cool
He must wish all beings
To get the assurance
Purify the soul.
When he recites the sutra
He must wish all sentient beings,
To remember the Dharmas,
Never forget the teaching!
When he sees the Buddha
He must wish all beings
To be like the All-Good,
So handsome and well-being.
When he sees the pagoda
He must wish all sentient beings
To be respected as the temple
Receives alms as all Buddhas do.
When he looks at the pagoda
He must wish all sentient beings
To be respected by all gentlemen
And heavenly beings like a Buddha .
When he worships the pagoda
He must wish all zentient beings
To achieve the best realization
That his hair tuft could not be seen!
When he goes around the pagoda
He must wish all kinds of sentient beings
To achieve all the Buddha's wisdoms
And do all things without mistaking.
When he goes around the pagoda three times
He must wish all kinds of sentient beings
Follow Buddha's path with diligence
Have no laziness nor mistaking!
When he praises Buddha's virtues,
He must wish all sentient beings
To collect merits of sages.
And be praised by all men!
When he praises Buddha's countenance,
He must wish all sentient beings
To attain Buddha's body,
Realize the non-form experience!
When he is washing his feet,
He must wish all sentient beings,
To have supreme power,
Walk without limit.
When he sleeps regularly,
He must wish all beings
To get the comfort,
Mind's quiet is keeping!
When he awakwes,
He must wish all sentient beings
To achieve all wisdoms,
Look in all directions!
When one follows these stanzas of Pure Conduct one's every action may be in correspondence with the Bodhi-citta. There are no limitations in these stanzas. One may develop the Bodhi-citta of Will in every action, in every profession, on every occasion, at all times, as John Wesley said in his Rules of Conduct:
Do all the good you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the time you can,
As long as ever you can!
Coleridge said: "The more oath taking, the more lying generally among the people." It is because they have no principles to guide their conduct to be commensurate with the oath concerned. Cicero said, "An oath sworn with the clear understanding in one's mind that it should be performed must be kept." What is the clear understanding? It is certainly found in the principles of Buddhism; so the following offered principles should be carefully carried on:
There are 4 articles of those won by evils, 5 mulapattis of the king or a leader, 5 mulapattis of the officials or officers, 8 mulapattis of entering into the Mahayana, 46 pattis of Bodhisattvas, 14 ethics leading to acquiring the good Dharma, and 11 ethics leading to work for the benefit of others. Readers are advised to read my booklet No. 12 Mahayana Silas. All the above vinayas are included therein.
A vinaya of the four principles of Bodhi-citta may be a totality for all kinds of conduct; one should always keep them in mind;
There are eight fields of welfare within which one should act with
Charity:
1) Buddha, 2) Sages, 3) Bhikshus and Bhikshunis, 4) Acraryas, 5) monks
or nuns, 6) father or mother, 7) any sick person or patient.
In another source, the eight fields are described as follows:
1) To build good wells and roads, 2) To build bridges, 3) To repair
dangerous roads, 4) To honor one's parents, 5) To make offerings to Bhikshus
and Bhikshunis, 6) To help the patients, 7) To save those who are ill or
poor, 8) To offer food to the public without any condition.
One should try to be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, and enemy to none. Walk groundly, talk profoundly, serve roundly, give aboundly -- thus sleep soundly. Make yourself accessible to all; do not make life hard for any. Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, teach more; hate less, love more; and all good conducts are yours.
He whose power is sufficient to give his life in order to save others should do it. Many Bodhisattvas have set many good examples. I have introduced them in my other works (see page 24 of Booklet No. 36). I do not repeat them again here.
The Tantric methods of giving alms have some special rituals:
When one sees that somebody is going to do some good and beneficent action, one should think, "What goodness he is doing; I'm very glad to see it." He who thinks in this way will share the same merit as the doer.
For instance, when one sees that a monastery is making public tea for all the Lamas, if one puts even a blade of tea leaf inside the boiler, he might share the merit which comes from making offerings to the Lamas.
When one exhales one should think that the breath radiates forth to every evil being and takes their sin, disease, demons, distress, low-self, and high-self, and returns these to one's own body. When one retains the breath inside, he should think that those bad things taken from those sinful beings become a great force to destroy one's own egoism, pride, and the root of Avidya ("ignorance") until only the Bodhicitta remains.
When one exhales the breath again, one thinks that one's own wisdom, merit, Samadhi, and realization become a bright light which comes into every sentient being, making them fully enlightened. And last but not least, the being who receives this light will change his mind, habit, thought and attitude to be in accord with Buddhism.
The above four methods of good Bodhi-citta conduct may be practiced by even poor man who has no money.For saving sentient beings and practicing the Bodhi-citta conduct with patience one should pass all the eight hardships:
One should know that self-nature without spiritual exercise is like a seed shut up in a pod, and Bodhi-citta conduct without performance is nothing at all. One must get rid of:
One must perform all the Bodhi-citta conducts with the following five kinds of diligence:
Shakespeare is so wise a poet but he is never proud of his wisdom, but only of his diligence, as he wrote in his work "King Lear": "That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in; and the best of me is diligence". Hence, the person who practices Bodhi-citta of Conduct with only the previous Prajnaparamitas, but without diligence, will not be able to carry out all his good conducts to their full extent.
When one practices the Bodhi-citta of Conduct with concentration, one's mind has become harmonized; one sees every action and its related persons and circumstances according to their true nature; one may be steeped in great compassion for sentient beings. If one has no concentration, his tranquility is not realized; super sensible cognition does not rise; then one is unable to work for sentient beings reasonably and fruitfully, and one's movements, words, and thoughts are not restrained. Without concentration conflicting emotions are rampant; one is addicted to worldly talk, open to the attacks of Maras, and steeped in carelessness.
It is also written in the vinaya of the Bodhisattva that "a Bodhisattva should not neglect to practice concentration at least three times a day."
Each Bodhi-citta conduct should be qualified by this sunyata wisdom. To make this qualification strong and confirmed, one has to practice it according to the following course:
One must distinguish those merits for getting good rebirth in heaven and those for the PureLand. It all depends upon the manner of the doer. If he has some volition of egoism or he does not know how to turn the merit into sunyata, he will fall into heaven. If he has measured his conduct well with the measurement of sunyata, he will get the full enlightenment This important discrimination should be well-recognized. Otherwise even if he has taken refuge in the Three Gems, has practiced many kinds of meditations, has repeated incantations many times, has lived in a hermitage for many years, and has seen many visions or lights, he is still an outsider or a Buddhist who is only able to get rebirth in heaven, just as believers of other religions. As the sunyata is a very important condition, the third kind of Bodhicitta which is called "Victorious Significance", is especially practiced.
The ultimate benefit and final goal of every good Bodhi-citta conduct are both related to sunyata. If sunyata has not been practiced, all good conducts will lead the practitioner to fall into heaven, which is one state of the transmigration. Therefore, readers are advised to pay much more attention to this chapter:
Emancipation has been wrongly used by those ambitious politicians. Actually, "Emancipation from the bondage of the soil is no freedom for the tree", as Rabindranath Tagore asserted. Most good people, after they become free from evil conduct, are fettered by good conduct from which grows the bondage of pride, selfishness, volition, and ambition. The so-called Bodhi-citta is a mind of both wisdom and compassion -- not only the latter one. For he who has not become free from the ignorance of egoism, all the good Bodhi-citta conduct becomes mundane and far apart from the emancipation of sunyata. One, therefore, has to practice the following meditations to make the Bodhicitta of Victorious Significance stronger:
- No form -- One should know in one's practice that every Dharma, either good or evil, has no form. It is changeable and transmutable. When one does a good action, one should not hold it as good, as something one should be proud of. It is just like the hair of a lady; at some times it is fashionable one way, but then it is no longer in vogue. That is why, "To make a vow for life is to make oneself a slave", as Voltaire said. It does not mean that one should not vow, but that one should know the vow should be identified with sunyata.
- No will -- Every will is itself of sunyata; as one's consciousness is of sunyata, so is one's will. One should develop the will within the sunyata, but not with egoism. Although the mirror is sunyata in nature, the shadow thereof is also sunyata in condition. We should have beautiful shadows in the mirror instead of ugly ones, peaceful ones instead of wrathful ones.
- No birth -- Everything, either of mentality or materiality, is of sunyata. When it arises it is like a bubble of water; when it vanishes it returns into the water.
Because every sentient being does not know this truth, he is always in sorrow and tangled by wills, either good or evil, and by forms,either beautiful or ugly. So he is transmigrating and turning around without ceasing in the circle of death and rebirth. One has to meditate on the sunyata of non-birth, and for those who do not meditate on the sunyata, one should develop the Bodhi-citta of Will and Conduct to lure them to learn the truth of non-birth.
When one does some good conduct, one should think that conduct is just like a flower in the air, which is like the real flower but not always there; sometimes maybe it disappears. All the surroundings and the people and things concerned with the conducts are in the nature of sunyata. There is no real thing which should be held to steadfastly.
When one establishes a Tantric Mandala for the sake of sentient beings, one should think that all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Gods in the Mandala, and the sentient beings in the six realms are like the second, or the shadow of, the moon reflecting in every river and ocean. They are not the real moon; the real moon has no egoism, no selfishness, nor entity, no existence, and nothing which should be held.
When one has converted somebody who recently has joined the Order of Buddhists, or when one has become disappointed by the lack of results to convert that one whom one has tried many times to persuade, one must think that the beautiful shadow in the mirror is like the former, and that the ugly one is like the latter. Both are only shadows; there is nothing to be delighted in nor to be hated. Yet one would like the ugly one to be a beautiful one in his doing; the ugly one may by and by become aware of his own nature of sunyata.
When one works in the plastic society and passes through all the showy cities, poor villages, and magnificent landscapes, one must think that one's self is in a long dream, the same as those short ones each night. The one who is angry with me or kind to me are both unreal, yet one has to try to make the angry one happy and the kind and lovely ones, right and merciful; in so doing, one will gradually recognize the truth.
When a good conduct is done, for instance, when a bridge is made completely for the passenger, one has to think of it: Every merit is not durable; it may be changeable For the time being it seems very new; after some time it may be broken and destroyed; yet for sentient beings at this moment, whatever I can do to help, I should do. There is nothing which is able to remain forever. Everything is like the dew on the grass; when the sun rises it will very soon be gone. One should not hold to things steadfastly.
When one honors his guru with many precious gems, or adorns some new monastery or pagoda, it seems very beautiful and delightful. One must then think of this simile. The lightning happens in the sky and suddenly disappears. One must not hold it tight in one's mind. Even though beauty is created to make Gurus happy and to make magnificent the monastery for luring sentient beings to believe in Buddhism, in the end all must recognize that every Dharma is itself void in nature -- temporarily appearing as does the lightning under certain conditions.
Besides the above six similes, there are eight negations and eighteen kinds of voidness which have been taught by Buddha in the Mahayana. Please refer to my book Buddhist Meditation: Systematic and Practical.
The sunyata truth does not mean that everything is void, but it is as we have seen from the above six similes. Everything has its appearance as a shadow inside of which there is no self. It is non-egoism. The common fool is always a slave of his self. If the ego is void, he is really emancipated. Hence, the only inner foe to cause one sorrow, to increase one's pride, to run up one's prejudice, to heighten one's anger, and to enhance one's lust is oneself, and not another. When I was visited by many visitors I was asked, "Am I disturbing you?" I always answered, "No! If I do not disturb myself even Mao is not sufficient to disturb me."When one's ego is so strong, others such as his friends, his relatives, his nation. his society, his party, and his related sentient beings -- all will be victims of his selfishness; that is why Mao is the enemy of his members Liu and Pan and Ho and even other communist countries. That is why one should change his own ego with other's when one's ego is destroyed. Egoism will become altruism and all the Bodhi-citta conducts might be carried out rightly and profitably,
Furthermore, one must be aware of these following dangers: When one does the good Bodhi-citta conduct with vinaya, it may cause others to be more harmful; with patience to be more cruel; with charity to be more lustful; with diligence to be more idle; with concentration to be more heedless; with wisdom to be selfish. It seems that non-egoism is only helping one's self, and altruism is harmful to others. Hence, one must know that after the others have been lured into the Order of Buddhism, one has to teach them the same selflessness of sunyata; then they will be really and ultimately saved.
Hence, a Buddhist should hold the following idea:
- No man is more cheated than the selfish man.
- Human history is the sad result of each one looking out for himself.
- Selfish people are incapable of loving others; they are not capable of loving themselves either.
- He who lives for himself is dead to others.
- Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers and never emancipates.
- The more a man denies himself, so much the more will he receive from the Buddhas and Gods.
- In order that you may please, you ought to be forgetful of self.
- So by never preferring oneself to others you very readily find praise without envy and friends to your taste.
- Self-love is a golden calf.
- Self-love is the most forbidden sin in the Canon.
- The least pain in our little finger gives us more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of million of our fellow-beings.
- Whoever lives not somewhat for others, lives little for himself.
- The disease of men is this: What they require from others is great; what they lay upon themselves is light.
- He who keeps his food to himself, has his sin to himself also.
- By oneself alone is evil done; it is self-born and self-caused. Evil grinds the unwise as a diamond, a hard gem.
- The fools of little wit move about with the very self as their own foe doing evil deeds the fruit of which is bitter.
- All those virtuous terms such 35 good, righteous, noble, kind, delightful, faithful, pure, saint-like, and wise are used to praise others but are not used for becoming proud of oneself. All those vicious terms such as evil, wicked, wrong, mean, cruel, lazy, unworthy, shameless, corrupt, sinful, devilish, and stupid are used to check oneself, but are not used to blame others.
- It is due to selfishness that I have fallen into the endless transmigration for so long; now I should develop the Bodhi-citta to help others become as a seed to grow up in the Buddhist field until full enlightenment results.
One must always destroy one's ego with the above thoughts, with one's heart and soul, through fire and water, thick and thin.
The previous three kinds of Bodhi-citta lay most stress on the mentality. They have not been connected with the physical body, so the wisdom nerves have not been opened and utilized for developing the Bodhi-citta. This Bodhi-citta of Samadhi provides the technique and the function to complete the practice. The above three kinds of Bodhi-citta only succeed after three great Kalpas, but they may shorten their required period into only one life time or at the most, sixteen life times. So the earnest and quick-tempered Bodhisattva has to learn the esoteric doctrines: Samadhi Bodhi-citta first, and Kunda Bodhi-citta last.
For Samadhi Bodhi-citta I have written Booklet No.42 in which the theory of philosophy and the system and all their connections are dealt with in detail. Here I have to introduce the practical method in order to solve the problem "How?"
These methods were imparted by the great sage Nagarjuna who was an incarnation of an ancient Buddha before Gautama Buddha. He received the method from Vajrasattva in the Iron Pagoda in South India which was the third yoga called "Yogic Tantra" in the Vajrayana.
He wrote a very well-known essay titled "Developing the Bodhi-citta" in which he emphasized that anyone who practices this Bodhi-citta will succeed with his fresh body in, at most, sixteen lives. This doctrine has been practiced very earnestly in Japan where it has even been declared that one may get full enlightenment in this life time with this doctrine. They have also purposely mistaken the sixteen life times to mean the sixteen Bodhisattvas in the mandala. This is an error. In Tibet, this kind of Bodhi-Citta has not been paid reasonable attention. It is surely neglectful; I have written an essay giving some frank criticism to both Japanese and Tibetan Buddhists.
The esoteric doctrine is based upon the philosophy of causation of six elements in which the first five belong to the materiality, the last one to the mentality, i.e. in the former group are earth, water, fire, wind, and space, and in the latter category is right view. These six elements are not separately independent but perpetually harmonized with any kind of yoga and its function.
The Bodhi is not only in psychical enlightenment but also in physical light. It is known as the "will" in psychology and as the "heart" in physiology. Its conduct is a function of physiology, but its victorious significance is a function of both psychology and philosophy. The Samadhi Bodhi-citta is more psychical than physical while the Kunda Bodhi-citta is more physical than psychical. Eventually the wise practitioner must skillfully employ the identification of mentality and materiality when he is practicing Yidam even in the position of cause in Vajrayana.
This kind of Bodhi-citta of Samadhi is called "The Five Forms to Develop the Buddha-body" while the essay written by the above mentioned Guru Nagarjuna is called "The Essay of Developing the Bodhi-citta". His essay deals with the same thing as the Five Forms. From these different names one should recognize that the body and the Bodhi-citta, or the enlightened heart or mind, are the same thing. This recognition fixes the philosophy of the identification of mentality and materiality. The following five steps are translated from the Yogic Tantra ritual of Japan. The same tradition is available in the Tibetan Tripitaka, but the Tibetans do not practice the tradition as earnestly as the Japanese.
To realize the original mind, one should:
OM (Dharmakaya) CITTA (mind and heart) BOR RO DHI PHY DAR (realize) KAR RO ME (as I do).
He should visualize himself and all phenomenon as unified in oneness of the truth, which may be called "the original mind", but eventually is neither only mind nor only body, neither present, nor future, neither haveness nor voidness. There is nothing new to be gained, nor is anything lacking. The practitioner should keep this kind of meditation as long as he can.
The practitioner should visualize this Bodhi-citta as symbolized by a full moon, perfect and round and bright, eight inches in diameter, situated in his heart, and consisting of great compassion and deep wisdom.
He should repeat the following incantation one time:
OM (Dharmakaya) BODHI-CITTA (enlightened mind or heart) BHU DAN BAR RA (develop) WA ME (as now I do).
One should repeat the following incantation one time with the visualization:
One should repeat the following incantation one time:
OM (Dharmakaya) SAMADHA (all) PADHALEN (goodness) HOM (I am).
One should visualize one's self as being the same as Vairocana when one is given initiation; and the same as Samantabhadra when one is carrying on one's Bodhi-citta of Conduct. Both are seated on the Lotus throne and wear the crown with five Buddhas as the highest blessing or ornament. All the Bodhi-citta of Will will completely succeed through such a Buddha or Bodhisattva. Hence, all conduct will be performed by such a holy being.
From the above five steps, one might recognize that the Tantric philosophical background continually penetrates all samadhis of identification of mentality and materiality In the first step the original mind is not only mind in the psychic sense but also holy matter in the philosophical truth sense. In the second step the Bodhicitta symbolized by the moon is somewhat material though its light is mental. When visualized in the heart it seemed material, but it included the great compassion of the heart which is mental. In the third step, the vajra has two parts: the upper is a symbol of wisdom which is mental, while the lower is d symbol of elements which are material. In the fourth step the body is material, but the samadhi with the body is mental. In the last step the signs or forms are material but their source and denotations are all mental. These are the special functions from the true philosophy of Tantra which are not possible in the exoteric school.
Nevertheless, though materiality has been visualized and accompanied by mentality, the actual function has not been practiced with the breath, nerves, and drops in the wisdom system of the Tantric body. Hence, the fifth Bodhi-citta of Kunda is needed.