The world of Tzu Chi January 2020 (Vol.118)

TZU CHI 118 47 REMINDERS UNDER THE SALA TREES conflicts. The Buddha on the other hand applies his true self, the true essence of his nature, in dealing with everything. For the Buddha, his “self’ refers to his intrinsic nature, but for ordinary beings, “self’ just refers to their mind. For the Buddha, “self’ refers to his pure intrinsic nature—this pure intrinsic nature is “true”, non-arising and non-ceasing. The states of the minds of ordinary beings, however, keep arising and ceasing. Things that arise and cease are called “false”; they are illusory, and hence the self of unenlightened beings is called the “false self”. The Buddha’s virtues are eternal and non-ceasing. These are what we call the “true self”. The inherent nature of True Suchness is the “true self”. Now, I will elaborate on how this true self freely manifests in the world. Take a basin of water as an example. Water has no definite shape: if it is poured into a round jar, the shape it takes will be round. If it is poured into an irregularly- shaped jar, the water will adapt to the shape of the irregularly-shaped jar. Nonetheless, while the water changes its shape, it retains its intrinsic nature. In the same way, the great compassion of the Buddha-nature is unchanging; in the Six Realms, he sometimes manifests as a heavenly being to transform other heavenly beings, and other times he manifests in the human form to personally transform the human realm. Aside from that, the Buddha has also appeared in the form of animals, hungry ghosts, beings in hell, Arhats, and other types of beings, manifesting according to the needs of sentient beings in the Six Realms. Whatever form the Buddha appears in, he never distances himself from his original pure intrinsic nature. So, as for “manifestation”, this refers to how he appears in different forms and with different abilities depending on the needs of sentient beings. These are the Buddha’s manifestations in the world. The ancients talked about how “everything in the world is one”. This is similar to this true self of the Buddha. If we are able to feel happy with people in the world and worry with people in the world, and can eliminate the unenlightened mindset of competing and fighting with each other, then we will have the mindset of this “greater self’ and approach our original Buddha-nature. Yet, unenlightened beings are still constantly attached to their “limited self”. As Nagasena Bhiksu said to King Menander, “For people, peace and stability bring the greatest benefit, contentment gives the greatest wealth, faith brings the greatest blessings, and Nirvana is the greatest joy.”Apeaceful and stable heart is what brings the greatest benefit to our lives. There are many manmade disasters. The June 4th incident of 1989 in Tiananmen Square, China, is a disaster created by man; the constant wars in Iran, Iraq and many other countries are other examples. In order to satisfy their own greed, a small number of leaders do not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of their own people to conquer other countries. In fact, people’s actions and conduct derive from a single thought. If our hearts are contented, we can live in peace and harmony with each other. Then, the fruits of our selfless service and hard work can continue to grow and multiply. So, Nagasena Bhiksu said to the king, “Contentment gives the greatest wealth, faith brings the greatest blessings.” When we have contentment and proper faith, we can fully express the love in our hearts. If we can benefit each other with such love, our lives will not be lonely, and everywhere around us, we will encounter people with great virtue. Confucius once remarked, “Virtuous people