Today we continue talking about the “Amitabha Sutra.”
First we recite a passage of the sutra:
This is saying that Shakyamuni Buddha praises all buddhas for their inconceivable merit and virtue, and all buddhas praise Shakyamuni Buddha for his inconceivable merit and virtue.
What needs explaining here is the “Evil World of the Five Turbidities.”
I will first explain the “kalpa turbidity”, all of us here today are within this kalpa turbidity. Which means that from birth to death, it is equivalent to a kalpa. Within this kalpa, it is considered a kalpa turbidity. When a person is born, it is considered one has fallen, fated to live in such a filthy world, cannot remain personally untouched or undefiled by it.
In short, this “kalpa turbidity” is falling to rock bottom. The first one is saying, we make a trip to the human world, nothing is complete perfection or happiness, there must be suffering. So, this world is the kalpa turbidity within the Evil World of the Five Turbidities. Being born into this world means we must endure this predestined misfortune.
The second that I want to explain is “view turbidity.”
It means that what the eyes see is not very pure and refreshing, but very dirty, this is view turbidity.
Let me give an example, just now we talked about the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which is the Dragon Boat Festival, a day to commemorate Qu Yuan. In the past his official position was second level minister. Because he saw that vile people were flourishing in the whole court, upright officials were demoted, he saw that the court was very corrupted, so he felt saddened in his heart.
This is view turbidity, what is seen is all filthy.
Having view turbidity means that people see a lot of things that are not good. There are also those who see a lot of good things, but actually the good things are also not all good.
The third is “affliction turbidity.”
Seeing many unpleasant phenomena leads to afflictions in the heart, giving rise to a troubled mind, this is “affliction turbidity.”
We mentioned Qu Yuan, who himself had this affliction turbidity. Seeing treacherous officials gaining power in court, his heart was very troubled.
He went to the riverbank to walk and wanted to end his own life.
Before Qu Yuan committed suicide, he met a fisherman. The fisherman, seeing that he had worries written across his whole face said to him, “If you see that the water in the river is very clean, use it to wash your face! If you see that the water is very dirty, use it to wash your feet!”
Qu Yuan perhaps did not fully grasp the philosophical meaning behind the fisherman’s words. He did not realize that the fisherman was offering him a warning and a deeper teaching. Because the court listened to treacherous officials and didn’t value him, his hopes were difficult to fulfill, and he felt life itself had become meaningless, so he jumped into the river and died.
What the fisherman said to him was actually very meaningful.
The saying, “If the water is clean, use it to wash your face; if the water is dirty, use it to wash your feet,” expresses the idea of maintaining an ordinary and balanced mind.
For example, suppose two people have fallen out with each other and no longer get along.
If you treat me well, then I will treat you well in return. This is like using clean water to wash one’s face.
The second situation is this: even if you ignore me, I will still treat you kindly. This is like using dirty water to wash one’s feet.
The third situation is: if you ignore me, then I will also ignore you. That becomes self-destruction.
That is what is meant by “dying upon seeing the light.” It is like “one king meeting another king”; when two kings confront each other, one must fall. Like the red marshal facing the black general in Chinese chess, once they meet directly, one side dies.
Actually we cannot learn from Qu Yuan, because he said “Alas! The court ignores me, and I have no way to be involved in court affairs anymore, I might as well die!”
That was how he was.
Actually a person who cultivates should be like this “If others ignore me, I will go acknowledge them. It is the same as chasing after a girlfriend, anyway as you ignore me, surely I can still acknowledge you!”
If Qu Yuan at that time understood this kind of philosophy talk, he can try his best to help the court to do things, no matter how the court treats him.
Today, we True Buddha School disciples, when we want to deliver sentient beings, we are also like this. Even if people completely ignore us, we must persistently pursue them every day. We must have this kind of spirit.
Of course, sometimes we also have worries in our hearts: “Oh dear! Why isn’t it moving after all this fuss?”
Ah! We must not give rise to an afflicted mind! But in this world, it is indeed filled with this kalpa turbidity, view turbidity, affliction turbidity, it is this kind of world.
The fourth, what is “sentient beings turbidity”?
The lives of sentient beings are like this:
Ok! That is the journey of our life.
But what do we do everyday?
It is:
Then again we return home, eat, sleep, it is just like that, and go to the toilet. By taking away our everyday life routine, it is zero.
What all sentient beings see is their lives of pursuing knowledge, eating, sleeping, and earning money—that’s their life, almost nothing new.
This means that sentient beings live like this; that’s what everyone sees!
There can’t be any deeper meaning; this is the sentient beings turbidity.
The last one, the fifth is called “lifespan turbidity.”
What is the dirtiest thing on earth?
“Humans” should be the dirtiest.
Sometimes when we see animals die, we will chant Buddhist prayers for them. We think animal meat is quite fragrant, it can be used to make soups, stir-fries, and is edible.
But think about it, after a person dies, the living person is terrified when they see a dead person. And people may eat almost every kind of meat, human flesh is something people generally cannot bear to eat. In fact, the smell of a dead person is more unpleasant than that of any animal.
Everyone must be wondering, has Guru smelled it before?
Ah! Grandmaster has smelled it before!
In the past I went to chant prayers for people, the person has died, chant prayers, do rituals, but the person had been long, long dead.
If the person had been dead very long, their coffin was very big, and it was sealed with lacquer. But it was very hot during summer, it can’t be lacquered up, the fluids seeped out from the cracks, the smell was truly… unforgettable!
Some people think that their own bodies smell very good, actually in the night their saliva drips to their pillow, take it up and smell it. Okay!
Do you think that everything inside your body is good?
Actually everything is so smelly it is impossible to block. Birth is very filthy, death is also very filthy. Your body is a filthy combination.
This is “lifespan turbidity.”
It is extremely rare and precious that Shakyamuni Buddha could teach this kind of Dharma in such a filthy world.
Om Mani Padme Hum