I. The Trouble with Life and Death
"Life and death are great and impermanent and swift." Life and death are the greatest obstacles to monks. Because of life, we must face the many temptations and difficulties of life in order to survive; because of death, not only does it interrupt the practice of Buddhism, but also, at the moment of parting from life and death, it often interferes with the thinking of the consciousness because of the depth of love and becomes a stumbling block to the path of the good.
In order to encourage people to cultivate themselves and to transcend the obstacles of life and death, the Buddhist classics have used many metaphors to describe life and death:
1. The Kusha treatise, Volume 1, says: "The mud of birth and death is the place where all living beings wallow, and it is difficult to get out of it, so it is like mud."
2. Life and death are like a long night: In the long dark night, we see the dream as real, and only when we wake up at dawn do we realize that the dream is unreal. Since the beginning of time, all beings in the cycle of birth and death do not know that all dharmas are empty, and thus create confusion and karma, as if they are in a long night, not knowing what to realize.
3. Life and death are like the sea: it means that all beings are reborn and rebound in the cycle of birth, death, death, death and rebirth, suddenly rising to the heavenly realm, and suddenly falling into the animal kingdom, as if they were in the boundless sea of life and death, carrying a load and floating in the sea of misery.
4. Life and death are like clouds: the demonic obstacles of life and death cover the nature, as if floating clouds cover the sun and moon. The next volume of the Immeasurable Life Sutra says, "The sun of wisdom shines in the world, eliminating the clouds of birth and death."
5. Sangha is like a wheel: it means that all beings are like a wheel in the flow of life and death due to confusion, karma, and suffering.
6. Life and death are like a park: it means that the world of life and death is like a park, which is a place for mortals to visit, and also a place for Bodhisattvas to visit.
The types of life and death
The cycle of life and death is a very helpless thing for all living beings. Some people, who are new to Buddhism, have been hanging on to the idea of "getting rid of life and death" all day long, and do not know how to make good connections, accumulate blessings and cultivate wisdom, and only seek to go to the next life, which not only prevents them from obtaining the actual benefits of Buddhism, but also makes others think that Buddhism is a negative religion. In fact, this is a misunderstanding caused by people's narrow concept of life and death, believing that all living beings have only physical life and death, and do not understand the importance of spiritual life and death. Buddhism divides life and death into two categories:
1. Segmented life and death: This refers to the life and death of beings in the three realms who are reborn in the six paths due to their troubles. Due to the different fruits and rewards incurred in each life, there are differences in appearance and length of life, which are called segmented bodies. After receiving this segmented body, there must be an end of life, so it is called "segmented birth and death".
2. Changeable births and deaths: These are the births and deaths of saints who have come to this world because of compassion and aspiration. The saints of the Three Vehicles have jumped out of the three realms and ended the segmented births and deaths. However, because of the results of cultivation, the confusion and worries are gradually decreasing, and the wisdom and the holy fruits are gradually increasing, the migration of this kind of confusion and enlightenment, and the sublimation of the sense of meaning are not the same in every period, and the change from the early period to the later period coincides with the one time of births and deaths, and is therefore called the "inconceivable change of life and deaths".
From the meaning of these two kinds of births and deaths, we can see that whether it is segmented births and deaths or transient births and deaths, the only way to get rid of physical births and deaths is to transcend the layers of spirituality, to enter the holy path step by step, and even to become a Buddha. It is not easy to "get rid of death," but it is not possible to do so unless you have accumulated a lot of blessings and wisdom through many lifetimes of hard work!
The main cause of life and death is worry.
The cycle of life and death is a major problem for monks, but the root cause of life and death is the infinite worry that we create.
Troubles, or klea in Sanskrit, are all the mental effects that can pollute and disturb the mind and body of sentient beings. It is also called "confusion" because it can cause sentient beings to be confused about what is going on and impede enlightenment.
The Theory of Genghis Khan says in Volume 8, "Successive births and deaths are caused by the suffering of confusion and karma. The name "confusion" refers to the trouble that arises from karma, the name "karma" refers to the karma that can lead to the subsequent existence, and the name "suffering" refers to the suffering that arises from karma. Confusion, karma, and suffering are all called habits." The reason why troubles cause the suffering of birth and death is that they can both attract karma and cause the fruits of future births and deaths, so these two effects are called "generating karma and moistening births". It is like a seed that falls from a plant and needs to be moisturized by water in order to grow a shoot. The seeds of karma planted by sentient beings who have caused evil causes by confusing things, and then moisturized by the water of worries, will generate the power to invoke bitter and evil fruits, forcing sentient beings to suffer physically and mentally. In this way, the trouble (confusion), karma (behavior), suffering (bitter fruit) exhibition of mutual cause, the cycle is endless, the formation of sentient beings since the infinite number of births and deaths of the wheel of reincarnation.
In order for the Buddha to recognize the importance of eliminating worries, he explained the harm of worries from different positions, and there are many synonyms for worries: .
1. anuaya: the potential for trouble to follow the beings, sleep in the deep consciousness, in a very subtle form of activity, unknowingly disturbing the sentient body and mind, so it is called "anuaya.
2. paryavasthna: It means that when troubles arise, they entangle the purity of the mind and prevent the cultivation of goodness, so it is also called "paryavasthna".
3. varaa: Because troubles cover the good mind, it is called "cover".
4. Badhana: Trouble binds the mind and body of beings, and causes suffering, so that beings cannot be free.
5. srava: Leakage, meaning leakage. Because of their worries, sentient beings often leak from their eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and then flow through the three realms of life and death, so it is called "leakage".
6. Take (updna): Because of the desire and greed and other worries are fierce, so that the six roots are constantly seeking to take the external world, so it is called "take".
7. grantha: Troubles bind all beings to the world of confusion, so that the body and mind are not free, so it is called "tie".
8. The full name is "positive enablement", which is the subject of presently arising troubles.
9. Mala: It refers to the fact that troubles can defile the mind of sentient beings, so it is called "dirt".
10. Yoke (yoga): It refers to the fact that troubles can hold sentient beings back from birth and death, so it is called "yoke".
11. samyojana: It is also called "knot". It means that all beings are bound by troubles. It refers to the fact that beings are bound by troubles in the realm of ecstasy and are unable to leave the suffering of birth and death, so it is called "yoke".
12. ogha: When the water rises, it floats people, animals, houses, etc. When troubles come, it is like a flood. When troubles come, it is like a flood that can drain away the goodness and virtue of sentient beings, so it is called a torrent or a stormy river.
13. Dust and dirt: Dust can attach itself to other things and stain them. Troubles can attach to the mind and defile the purity of the mind, so it is called 'dust and dirt'.
14. aka *** t-klesa (guest dust): This is also known as guest dust trouble. It is called "guest" because it is not inherent in the nature of the mind, but arises because it is lost in things; and it is called "dust" because it contaminates the pure nature of the mind, just as dust contaminates everything.
15. gahana: It refers to the troubles of sentient beings, which are intertwined and luxuriant, like a dense forest, so it is called "thick forest".
16. Dust and toil: Troubles can pollute the mind and make the body and mind laborious, so it is called "dust and toil".
Four: Types of worries
The Buddhist teachings often use the number of "84,000" to describe the many types of worries, which are too numerous to mention. With the progress of time, there are more and more worries. For example, with the automobile, there are worries such as traffic jam, breakdown, etc. With the invention of computer, there are new worries such as "poisoning" and "malfunctioning". Despite the increasing number of worries, in terms of the role of worries, the fundamental worries of living beings remain unchanged. Buddhism categorizes these fundamental worries into six types: greed, anger, dementia, slowness, doubt, and insight, which are called the "six fundamental worries", or the "original confusion", or the "fundamental confusion", and all the worries are derived from these six types of worries. Greed, anger, dementia, and doubt have been explained in previous chapters, so I won't repeat them here, and I will only describe them briefly in terms of "slowness" and "seeing".
Slowly, it means to compare oneself with others and to have contempt for them.
2. Ati-mna: To say that one is superior to someone who is equal to or superior to oneself.
3. mnti-mana (slowness): to think that one is superior to the other and to be arrogant.
4. atma-mana: the fundamental slowness of the seven slownesses, which is the internal attachment to the body of the five skandhas, believing that all people are inferior to oneself, and the external attachment to the self, believing that whatever I have is superior to what others have.
5. adhi-mna: The belief that one already possesses or has attained a virtue that is not yet possessed or a fruit that has not yet been attained.
6. na-mna: To think that one is only slightly inferior to someone who is extremely superior, or to recognize the superiority of another person but not to be humble enough to learn from them.
7. mithy-mna (evil arrogance): to think that one is virtuous and capable when one is not virtuous and capable.
Seeing is the opinion of the mind that arises first from seeing with the eyes, and then after conjecture and decision. It is also divided into positive and negative views. Righteousness refers to those who are able to realize the cause and effect of the world and the pure and defiled dharmas, which is called righteousness. Uncorrected views are evil views that are ignorant of worldly causes and effects. Unconscionable views are the root cause of troubles, and are divided into five types, called the "five views":
1. The view of the body (sat-kya-di): This is also known as the sakya view, the view of having a body, the pseudo view of the body, and the view of a bad body, etc. This is the view of not knowing that the body is the five aggregates, and that the body is not the body. It refers to not knowing that the color body is a combination of the five aggregates and false, but insisting on the existence of my body, and giving rise to the knowledge of me, my all.
2. Anta-graha-di: This is also known as side-opinion. It refers to extreme views that are partial to one side. For example, the doctrines that the world is constant, broken, limiting, and limitless; that the color body and the mind are the same and different; or that there is something and nothing after the death of the Buddha, all belong to the side view.
3. Evil opinion (mithy-di): An opinion that denies the Four Noble Truths of cause and effect. Those who hold evil views do not fear evil and do not do good, and they are the most evil of the five views.
4. drsti-parmarsa: Holding on to false opinions as true.
5. sila-vrata-parmarsa: To cling to incorrect precepts in the belief that one can achieve liberation or the reward of ascension to heaven.
The five views, together with the first five of the six fundamental troubles (greed, anger, dementia, slowness, doubt, and evil opinion), are called the Ten Fundamental Troubles, and are also known as the Ten Enablers. The five views have the characteristic of pushing and seeking, and their effects are fierce, so they are also called the "five sharp enablers". Compared with the five sharp enablers, the pushing and seeking of greed, anger, dementia, slowness, and doubt are more blunt, so they are also called the "five blunt enablers".
The subordinate troubles that arise along with the fundamental troubles are called "branch and end troubles", or "accompanying confusions" and "accompanying troubles", and have the function of defiling.
As far as the stages of cultivation are concerned, Buddhist sects have different ways of dividing up the troubles, but the rationale is the same and can be generalized. The following four types of troubles are representative of the troubles described in the sutras of other schools, and are mostly synonyms or derivatives of these four types of troubles.
The Kushan and Dharma Sangha sects categorize the troubles into two types of confusion, namely, "seeing confusion" and "thinking confusion", which are called the two confusions.
1. Seeing Confusion: It refers to the trouble of the evil view of the mind root on the Dharma-dust due to the confusion of the Truth, which can be broken off at the time of attaining the Way, and is therefore called "Seeing Confusion". For example, the five benefits of the body, the side view, the evil view, the view of seeing and taking, the precepts and prohibitions of taking, and so on, belong to the confusion of seeing.
2. Thought Confusion: Because it arises from being obsessed with phenomena, it is the trouble that remains in the mind through the thought of the five root causes of the five dusts and the six desires, and so on. It is also called "cultivation confusion" because it is the trouble that is broken during cultivation.
For example, the five blunt causes of greed, anger, dementia, slowness, and doubt are thought-confusions.
"Seeing confusion" and "thinking confusion" can cause the segmented birth and death in the three realms, and they are the troubles that are broken by sound hearers, karmic consciousnesses, and bodhisattvas, so they are also called "generalized confusion". The Tiantai Sect calls "Seeing Confusion" and "Thinking Confusion" together as "Seeing and Thinking Confusion", and establishes "Dust and Sand Confusion" and "Ignorance Confusion" outside the realm, which are collectively called "Three Confusions".
3. Dust and Sand Confusion: It refers to the habits inside and outside the realm that hinder the Bodhisattva from teaching and transforming sentient beings, and is a metaphor for this confusing obstacle that is as numerous as dust and sand, hence the name Dust and Sand Confusion. After the Bodhisattva has broken the mind-boggling confusion, he is prone to the empty view, unable to further realize the limitless differences of sentient beings, so he is also called "empty confusion".
4. Ignorant confusion: It refers to the trouble of being lost in the First Noble Truth of the Middle Way, and is the root of the trouble. It is the root of the problem. The sound-hearers and the karmic consciousnesses do not know its name, and only the Mahayana bodhisattvas who have practiced both meditation and wisdom, and who have done all the actions, are able to break this problem.
V. Conclusion
Life and death are fearful, and the trouble is even deeper! Trouble is the demonic obstacle that confuses one's own nature; trouble is the root cause of the flow of birth and death. If we want to free ourselves from the bondage of birth and death, we must follow the instructions of the Buddha's teachings and practice diligently.