Not greedy for benefits or offerings, only happily admire Buddha Bodhi
2024-03-17
Lecture by Master Mèng-cen
Not greedy for benefits or offerings, only happily admire Buddha Bodhi, seeking Buddha's wisdom wholeheartedly, concentrate and specialize and have no other thoughts
Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, Ten Bhūmis
Not greedy for benefits or offerings, only happily admire Buddha Bodhi
Mahayana teachings tell you that people and self are Śūnyatā, dharma and self are also Śūnyatā, and people and dharma are both Śūnyatā. Pariccheda-cyuti (fragmentary saṃsāra) must be Nirvana, and Acintya-pāriṇāmikī-cyuti (miraculous saṃsāra) must also be Nirvana.
Bodhisattva walks on the path of Bodhisattva, free from the two kinds of saṃsāra for eternity, and not entering Nirvana. Entering Nirvana means not entering Nirvana. What does it mean? Save all sentient beings forever. Always use your Prajñā wisdom to observe that the Dharma you have learned is telling you to do, and don't be attached. If you are attached to the Dharma, this is called Dharma attachment.
Teach the Dharma to benefit sentient beings is to practice the Tao yourself; teach the Dharma to help others is your responsibility because you are a Bodhisattva. Whatever you do, this is what you should do. You cannot give rise to greed or a desire for profit here.
What is benefit gain heart? Benefit gain heart means receiving offerings. "I will give you the Dharma if you make a donation. If you don't support me, I won't give you the Dharma!" But there are some Venerables from ancient times who will say that your heart is impertinent and cavalier if you don't make offerings to them. According to Tibetan teachings, Tibetan Lamas will say that if you don't make offerings, you will only gain wisdom but no blessings from listening to the Dharma. After making offerings and listening to the Dharma, you will be blessed with blessings and wisdom. To cultivate blessings, one must cultivate wisdom; to cultivate wisdom, one must cultivate blessings. To be Dvipadottama - the most honoured among men and devas with blessings and wisdom.
"Only happily admire Buddha Bodhi", Bodhi is the ultimate fruition (Phala) of Buddha.
Seeking Buddha's wisdom wholeheartedly, concentrate and specialize and have no other thoughts
Seeking wisdom wholeheartedly. There is only one thought and nothing else. What does it mean? Seek the wisdom of the Buddha, and during the practice of seeking the Buddha, "concentrate with no different thoughts" and never think about life and death again. When you practice renunciation, never think about the world again. This is called practice.
When practicing, eliminate your worldly concept of the five desires, and don't let a single thought give rise to the five desires. Simply put, it's your physical hobbies in reality. Don't be greedy and let go. When worldly dharma is put down, Buddhist dharma is brought up. If you can't let go of this, then you can't lift that. How can you let go of this? According to the Buddha's teachings, seeing through and not being greedy obsessed is called letting go. Seeking the Dharma wholeheartedly and doing what is told is called bringing it up, seeing through and letting it go.
