Today we talk about the Five Roots and Five Powers in “The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra.”
Actually the Five Roots and Five Powers are pretty similar to the “Bases of Transcendental Power.” We can read it [in Master Leguo’s commentary] ourselves, everyone will understand the Five Roots and Five Powers at a glance.
The Five Roots are, first the Root of Faith, with regard to all truths and principles, one has a firm belief and delights in them.
The second Root is the Root of Diligence. Because one has faith in all dharmas this is redoubled through diligence.
The third Root is the Root of Mindfulness, with regards to the right aids to the cultivation path, one remembers and does not forget them.
The fourth Root is the Root of Concentration, to focus on the right meditative concentration, remaining focused and undistracted.
The fifth is the Root of Wisdom, by self-reflecting, one clearly understands all. This concludes the explanation of the Five Roots.
The Five Powers are, firstly the Power of Faith. When the Root of Faith grows it can dispel doubts.
Secondly, the Power of Diligence. When the Root of Diligence grows it can overcome laziness.
Thirdly, the Power of Mindfulness, when the Root of Mindfulness grows, it can dispel confusion and forgetfulness.
Fourthly, the Power of Concentration, when the Root of Concentration grows, it can overcome distractions.
The fifth power is the Power of Wisdom. When the Root of Wisdom grows it can overcome foolishness.
Hence the Five Powers on top of the Five Roots is like a big tree growing deep roots. Those cultivating the Five Powers are like a tree with lush branches and leaves, certain to bear great fruit. This concludes the explanation of the Five Powers.
Today we will talk a bit about the “Seven Limbs of Bodhi.”
Actually the two words, Bodhi means “Enlightenment”, when translated it simply means “awakening”. The “Seven Limbs of Bodhi” is also called the “Seven Factors of Enlightenment”.
The first Branch of Enlightenment is the “Branch of Mindfulness”.
The Branch of Mindfulness mentioned here is telling us that cultivation is about cultivating our mind and thoughts. Many people say that cultivating is the most tedious thing, having to do a fixed homework everyday. When we were students, we were most afraid of homework. If one day the teacher announces, “There’s no homework today, when you go home you don’t need to do any homework”. Everyone would be overjoyed!
However now we practitioners have to do homework everyday, thinking about it, it is indeed very tiring.
Sometimes, during our fixed homework time, there’s a good TV program, so we think let’s forget about it.
There is a party, let’s forget about it tomorrow also.
The day after tomorrow someone is treating us to a meal, let’s forget about it also.
This “forget about it” is not about skipping the meal, it is about skipping the homework.
Then the day after day after tomorrow, one catches a rare cold and feels unwell. Guru said before that practicing dharma is useless when you’re not feeling well. Ah! So I rested.
Then on Saturday I was supposed to go to Leizang Temple to do group cultivation. Wa! The car couldn’t start, ah! Forget it, let’s not go.
Gradually, the mindset loosens, one goes further and further away from cultivation. In the end, one stops completely like a clock. If our thoughts are not mindful of the Buddha we drift further and further away.
In reality one has to go everyday to the shrine to practice prostration, the Four Preliminaries, also sit in meditation, also do visualizations, also form mudras. Others may think this is a waste of time, seeing someone gesturing with their hands and wondering what they are doing there?
The time one has in a lifetime is not very long. What is the point of wasting it at the Tantric altar?
Some people cultivate everyday, already have cultivated for one year, two years, three years, four years, five years, seven years, such a long time and have felt no response at all.
We know that when we eat sugar, we feel a little sweetness. When we eat soy sauce, we know a little bit of saltiness. But if we sit at our Tantric shrine for seven years and don’t even feel a Bodhisattva touching our leg, that’s “dull practice,” which leads one to lose their resolve to follow the Way. Wasting seven years of time and achieving nothing. This is truly very difficult.
But what if you’ve practiced for seven years and haven’t received even the slightest response?
Grandmaster has said, “As long as your thoughts become clearer and more focused with practice, you’re making progress.”
Ideally, you should feel a profound joy and happiness arising during meditation and entering samadhi. Grandmaster enters samadhi, even while reciting mantras with mala beads, I have already entered samadhi.
In samadhi, you will feel very relaxed and comfortable. We call this feeling “Dharma joy,” the joy of practicing the Dharma.
How should we explain this joy of practicing the Dharma?
It’s actually very difficult, but I often like to compare it to “cells dancing.”
There are two things in life that people often regard as the greatest happiness: eating and sleeping.
In the past, before I began cultivation, I thought that eating was the number one happiness in the world and sleeping was the second greatest happiness in the world.
My father was a little different from me, my father often said sleeping is more important than eating.
Regardless, everyone believes that eating and sleeping are both things that bring great happiness.
Grandmaster has discovered a secret: when we practice the Dharma, it is as if our cells are “feeding” on it, and the taste of Dharma is exceedingly delightful. Every cell, after receiving this nourishment, seems to be dancing in joy.
So when our practice feels dull or stagnant, we should become even more diligent. When we have attained the Dharma taste, and the cells are filled with spiritual vitality, that kind of light and joyful happiness allows one to continue practice. In this state, the Dharma flow of the universe pours into our bodies, making us feel as if our whole body is light and flying. If we have such an experience, we won’t say that we are afraid or lazy to practice the Dharma, because entering the Tantric altar room to practice the Dharma is about being relaxed and flying!
Isn’t it wonderful to go there every day to relax and fly?
Therefore there is a reason Grandmaster can cultivate everyday continuously, it is to go in everyday to relax, to cultivate, and to fly.
You know we humans living in this world, there are many things that make us suffer, everyone has their own worries, every family has their own problems. The mind is very restless everyday, when the worries come, our mind is like a small boat swaying non-stop and we will lose our tempers easily. When emotions are fluctuating it is easy to get angry, lose one’s temper, and one will also do wrong things. Often it is like a swaying boat.
When we enter the Tantric altar room to practice the Dharma, we can remove this troubled mind, steady the boat within our hearts, and calm the ocean of the mind. Our human thoughts often churn like a sea of suffering. By entering the esoteric practice, we can remove these afflicted thoughts, stabilize our minds, and calm our inner sea. Since practice can achieve meditative concentration, and from meditative concentration arises wisdom, we have to practice daily. It is best that we can generate Dharma joy as once we attain Dharma joy we will cultivate diligently without being lazy.
Let’s now talk about the second Branch of Enlightenment, which is the “Branch of Investigation of the Dharma”.
The Branch of Investigation of the Dharma is actually a type of wisdom. Towards every single thing we can discern if it is correct, evil, real or false, this is wisdom.
This world is actually a mixture of truth and falsehood. I said last time that if there is something real in the world, there would also be something false. Take cultivation as an example, everyone says that they are real.
Guru says, “The dharma that I talk about is the real dharma!”
However, that is not how others speak. They would say, “Our dharma is real, the dharma that Master Lu talks about is false.”
Some people also say, “What I am learning now is the highest, what is at Master Lu’s is evil.”
There are many people who come here to listen to the dharma, after listening they feel that what Grandmaster says is not bad, what is here is real.
But then they meet another practitioner who tells him, “Don’t you know! You can’t go to Master Lu, what is there is evil!”
At that moment, he would have a doubt in his mind, is it real or fake?
He is unable to choose because he does not have wisdom. Okay, in a while Nichiren sect asks him to take refuge, he goes, he recites the “Devotion to the Mystic Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra” from morning to night.
Then he comes into contact with the Pure Land school, they said one should not recite the “Devotion to the Mystic Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra”, one must recite the Buddha’s name! He goes to take refuge again, now he recites “Namo Amitabha Buddha.”
Later someone from the Xiantiandao religion tells him, “This path of ours, once you get the transmission, you can go to heaven.” Okay, he goes to receive the transmission, now he changes to chant “Wu Tai Fo Mi Le”, the five-word mantra.
Suddenly someone from the Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue comes to tell him, “All these you all have is very low, our Formless Patriarch is the highest.”
Wa! He goes to take refuge again in “Loyalty, Filial Piety, Integrity, Brightness, Virtue, Generosity, Love, Faith, Forbearance, Public-spiritedness”, and also recites the twelve-word mantra.
Suddenly he thinks, “Oh dear, it has been a long time since I went to Leizang Temple, I will go to take a look.” He starts to recite again “Om Bo Ru Lan Zhe Li.”
There is no way around it! He lacks the wisdom to observe and discern and can’t choose himself. If someone says East, he will face East. If someone says West, he will face West.
We practitioners should meditate until we attain the “Branch of Investigation of the Dharma.” This is to use wisdom to observe and discern. Therefore, we must use reason to distinguish every matter and not let hearsay sway our cultivation goals.
Actually, if we use reason to distinguish every matter, then use wisdom to observe and discern, choosing a right path as our life’s direction, that is then correct. A practitioner must have their own choices and opinions, using reason to discern, rather than blindly following others’ opinions, refusing to come just because someone says something false to you, this is not correct.
The third Branch of Enlightenment is the “Branch of Effort”. Cultivation requires diligence, without interruption.
The fourth Branch of Enlightenment is the “Branch of Happiness.” Just now I mentioned it, it is to attain dharma joy, dharma taste, one will not be confused and progress diligently.
The fifth Branch of Enlightenment is the “Branch of Tranquility”. So-called tranquility means the elimination of worries. Only someone who has eliminated worries can achieve tranquility of the body and mind. Because if the mind is burdened with worries, it will feel very heavy. If the mind is free of worries and troubles, and has no worries, it will feel very relaxed and happy.
The sixth Branch of Enlightenment is the “Branch of Concentration.”
What is called the “Branch of Concentration”?
When the mind is concentrated, it is unmoving. Since it does not move, there will not be love or hate.
The seventh Branch of Enlightenment is the “Branch of Equanimity.”
Do we know that in this world the most difficult thing is “letting go”?
Sometimes we find it very difficult to let go of past feelings, the so-called rekindling of old flames. There’s a Taiwanese song called “Old Love Lingers.” Not only is it hard to let go of love, but also money, and many other things, like past regrets and resentments, are also difficult to let go of. Therefore, the ability to let go is a Branch of Enlightenment.
One must be able to let go, before one can achieve success.
Why was Shakyamuni Buddha able to achieve enlightenment?
Because he was able to let go, let go of his throne, his wife, his son, his inheritance, all external conditions. He was able to completely see through everything, completely letting go of fame, profit, status, and even everything he possessed. Therefore, he achieved great enlightenment. This is the “Branch of Equanimity.”
This concludes our talk on the Seven Limbs of Bodhi.
Om Mani Padme Hum