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

2020 • 01 48 are never lonely: they are certain to have companions.” With great virtue, we will be able to bring together many people with virtue, kindness and love. Therefore, having contentment and proper faith is the path to a happy life. Furthermore, “Nirvana is the greatest joy.” Nirvana is the tranquil path of the Buddha, and the broad and straight Bodhisattva Path is the path leading to the attainment of Buddhahood. The king felt his words were reasonable. Still, he hoped to gain a more thorough understanding of these principles, so he continued to ask questions. “I heard that your name is Nagasena. Is it your head that is Nagasena? Or is it your eyes or your ears?” The Bhiksu replied, “None of them are Nagasena.” The king asked again, “So is Nagasena your hands, your feet or your body?” He shook his head. “None of them is Nagasena.” The king asked again, “So what is Nagasena then? Your internal organs, intestines, spleen, stomach, heart, gallbladder, or liver?” The bhiksu answered, “None of them is Nagasena.” The king said, “Since your head, eyes, hands, feet, heart, and even your body’s internal organs are not Nagasena, then why are you called Nagasena?” The bhiksu asked the king rhetorically, “Your Majesty, what is called a ‘country’? Is a piece of wood a ‘country’?” The king said, “A piece of wood does not count as a country.” Then, Nagasena asked, “Is a river or a piece of land a country?” The king answered. “A river or a piece of land can be hardly called a country, either.” Nagasena then said, “A country is composed of many forms and materials that have names. The same is true for the human body, which is a composite appearance of objects with false names. There is no such thing as a ‘true self’ or ‘true matter’ in the universe.” Nagasena then explained the principle of how everything is a temporary union of the four elements. According to the Buddha’s teachings, everything returns to emptiness. The four elements, earth, water, fire and air, combine to formmaterial objects. One by one, he showed how all things, which we originally view as “existing”, after careful analysis turn out to be “nothing”. Earth returns to earth, water to water, fire to fire, and air to air—in the end, even the four elements themselves do not have true substance. In summary, all things require many conditions to come together in order to exist. Without temporary unions of the four elements, we would not even have physical bodies. So, the illusory, impure, impermanent body is called the “false self”; this is the “limited self” that ordinary people cling to. The “true self” is our Buddha-nature. It is the permanent and pure intrinsic nature, never increasing nor decreasing. Ordinary people cannot be at ease because they cling to their limited self, their selfish sense of ego. If we can adopt the Buddha-mind in our every action and every thought at all times, and rid ourselves of selfish urges, then we will realize the liberated, peaceful and settled greater self. (To be continued in the next issue) * This article is extracted from the book “Reminders under the Sala Trees – A Commentary on the Sutra of the Buddha’s Bequeathed Teachings”. REMINDERS UNDER THE SALA TREES