The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.112)

TZU CHI 112 49 REMINDERS UNDER THE SALA TREES would not wish them to do unto you.” If we ask anyone, “Would you like to be poor?” they would say, “I could not pray enough for blessings, why would I want to be poor?” In short, we are all afraid of poverty, illness, ageing, death, natural disasters and manmade calamities, and we want to avoid them. So, what we “do not wish for ourselves”, we must not do to others. How can we avoid this suffering? We must work to revive human nature and morality. Only through morality can we benefit society and avert disasters. Confucius advocated “benevolence” to restore the virtuous side of human nature. Mencius said: “After seeing an animal alive, a gentleman cannot bear to see it dead. After hearing its screams, he cannot bear to eat its flesh. For this reason, a gentleman stays far away from the kitchen.” When sentient beings are killed, they generate frightening screams. When saints and sages hear the screams of an animal, they cannot bear to eat its meat; they have that compassion for humans and animals, but there is still a degree of difference in compassion. Buddhism treats all equally and prohibits the killing of all creatures. Confucian ritual practices still include animal offerings, while Buddhism uses no such practices. All sentient beings are equal since all possess the wisdom-nature of the Tathagata. Therefore, Buddhism advocates unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion for all, not only for people, but for all living creatures. When the Buddha expounded the sutras, he often spoke of his own past karmic conditions and used them to teach his disciples. He too had lived in the animal realm, as a bird king, a deer king, an elephant king, and so on. In order to transform and teach all sentient beings in the Six Realms 1 , the Buddha had manifested in all the Six Realms, returning over and over in life after life. In doing so, he showed that all sentient beings are equal and that we should love and protect all sentient beings. When sentient beings are injured or ill, a Bodhisattva cannot bear to see it suffer. This is having universal compassion for all. For the sake of sentient beings, the Buddha engaged in spiritual practice and attained Buddhahood. One can become a Buddha only among sentient beings, so we should not become attached to the principle of emptiness. Some would say, “Everything is empty, so why go among sentient beings?” This is attachment to emptiness. In this way, we are attached to the abstract “principles” but neglect the concrete “matters”. According to the Diamond Sutra , when we keep analysing things, everything has a nature of “true emptiness”. But within true emptiness, there is wondrous existence. We must not ignore matters and appearances. Even the Buddha needed to beg for alms, eat, wash his alms bowl, etc. Then, he needed to find a quiet place where he could sit down, straighten his clothing, and once everything was ready, begin to expound the sutras. All these conditions are referred to as “matters”! So if one becomes attached to the principle of emptiness, that is an example of stubbornness. 1 The heaven, human, hell, animal, hungry ghost, and asura realms. Sentient beings transmigrate in these six realms in an uninterrupted cycle.