Mettavalokanaya_International_Buddhist_Magazine_May_2019

The
Scriptural
Evidence….
No matter how good scriptural
evidence is, if it does not suit
the capacity of the listeners,
the result may end up deviating
seriously from the fundamental
aspirations of Buddhism. For example,
in the “Prajna Chapter 2” of the Sūtra of
the Sixth Patriarch by Master Hui Neng,
there is a verse: “A true practitioner of
the Path Sees not the mistakes of others;
If I find fault with others, I am actually at
fault. When others are at fault, I should
not commit fault, When I am at fault, it
is a fault; By getting rid of the mind of
fault-finding, Defilements can be dashed
and ceased.”
Some Buddhists have the opinion
that this teaching means that a real
practitioner should not look at other’s
faults. As long as one eliminates the
argumentative and faultfinding mind
within oneself, one can end defilements.
In my opinion, the Sixth Patriarch
Master’s teaching is a good antidote
for one who likes to find others’ faults
but never see the faults of oneself.
However, if not used appropriately, it can
be a poison to the human world. In the
traditional Chinese societies (including
the Buddhist community), it is pervaded
with this self-protective atmosphere
of not differentiating right from wrong,
hypocritical indifference, and refusing to
see others’ faults.
My experience from the Buddha’s
teachings is that, all practices do
not deviate from the middle path of
dependent origination. The practice
of the middle path, in concrete terms,
is the Noble Eightfold Path. The
Noble Eightfold Path regards Right
Understanding as the guide. This is
subdivided into the mundane (worldly)
and the supra-mundane (trans-worldly)
right understandings Firstly, the
“Right
Understanding
always best”….
mundane right understanding includes
four points: The right understanding
of the existence of wholesomeness
and unwholesomeness; the right
understanding of the existence of karma
and retribution; the right understanding
of the existence of past lives and future
lives; and the right understanding of
the existence of the ordinary and the
noble. Seeing this account, if we cannot
differentiate wholesomeness and
unwholesomeness, how can we avoid
committing unwholesome karma and
reaping the suffering retribution? Since
we can differentiate
wholesomeness
and
unwholesomeness, then, how can we
not see others’ wholesomeness and
unwholesomeness? Second is the supramundane
right understanding. They
are: the Four Noble Truths and the law
of dependent origination. That is, the
right understanding of impermanence
and selflessness. With these two right
understandings as the guide, we can
further develop the mundane and
supramundane right thoughts. Firstly,
when making the mundane right
thought, one should contemplate as
such: A’s bad deed is in fact evil. To
feel unmoved towards evil does not
mean that we have good cultivation;
just that, perhaps, we are in fact
apathetic. This may be due to a lack of
right understanding in discriminating
wholesome and unwholesome deeds.
It may also arise from cowardice in our
personal characters, and being afraid of
confronting circumstances directly. No
matter what, these two types of attitudes
(lack of understanding in differentiating
or the sentiment of being too afraid
to confront issues), will not help us to
develop pure practice qualities. This is
because it is not in accordance with the
principle of the Four Right Eliminations
(Four Right Efforts) unable to make
ourselves end the evil that has already
arisen and prevent the evil that has not
yet arisen from arising.
Professor – Hsuan Chuang
University and Fu Jen
University, Head of the
Department of Religious
Studies President of Hong
Shi Buddhist Foundation in
Taiwan
Most Venerable Bhikkhuni
Chao Hwei Shih
Taiwan
Secondly, when performing the
supramundane right thought, one
should think as such: ‘A’s evil deed is real
evil. I detest it a lot. Although I do not
dare to say that I hate evil like an enemy,
at least, as a person who is diligent in
practicing the Four Right Endings and as
a practitioner, I should also detest evil
in the same way that I dislike sickness,
tumors, and thorns; and urgently wish
that the evil could be eliminated quickly.
However, we should also remember that
‘all actions are impermanent’. Do not
fall into the trap of viewing the action
as permanent or everlasting and always
labeling ‘A’ as ‘evil’. This is because
there is also a possibility that ‘A’ could
correct his or her mistakes and practice
wholesomeness. Thus, we should not
have prejudice and enmity towards ‘A’
after the incident and should not think
that since he or she had once been
evil, he or she will be evil for the whole
life. We should have to try to create
opportunities for ‘A’ to change himself
or herself for better and practice good
acts. The approach could be vigorous or
tough, but the intention must be kind
and compassionate. This is why although
the bodhisattvas may be very kind and
gentle to sentient beings, at certain
times, they may also display fierceness
and stern faces to subdue the evil mind
and habits of sentient beings.
In addition, we should also
remember that all phenomena are
selfless. Do not fall into the trap of selfcentered
views. This is because when
one falls into false self-view, when
confronting ‘A’, what one is concerned
with will no more be, ‘how can I help
‘A’ to abstain from evil and do good?
Or, how can I prevent ‘A’ from harming
others?’ One will be thinking, ‘would ‘A’s
evil affect me? How should I treat ‘A’ so
that I can avoid his evil deeds or even
gain benefits from him?’ We prefer to
clean the snow in front of our own house.
Why should we worry about the frost on
others’ roofs? With such attitudes, one
will naturally feel unmoved when seeing
others doing evil. However, if the matter
concerns us or affects our benefit, we
may try to please the person, become
an accomplice, act in collusion or use his
evil to do even more severe evil deeds.
In summary, these are thoughts that
develop from the self, in the hope that
we can avoid evil from A, or gain benefits
out of it.
Thus, the important point in
practicing the Buddha’s path is not merely
“to see not the faults of the world” but
to eliminate our view of permanence
and false self-view. From the stand point
of impermanence and non-inherent
self, for the sake of distinguishing right
and wrong and to have compassion for
sentient beings, being able to see the
mistakes of the world is still of great
significance. The Sixth Patriarch said,
“When others are at fault, I should
not commit fault, we should share the
feelings of others like our own and be
compassionate.” This exalted, pure, kind
and compassionate virtue is founded
on the ability of distinguishing right and
wrong. Otherwise, without knowing
what others are doing, whether it is right
or wrong, how can we ensure that we
are not at fault? And, how can we get rid
of our habit of faultfinding and eliminate
our defilements?
Thus, it would be good if we can
change one word in the Sixth Patriarch’s
verse of “a true practitioner of the Path
sees not the faults of the others” to “a true
practitioner of the Path does not censure
the faults of the others”. Do not censure
means not to be too particular on the
faults that others have done to us. We
should not have the mind to revenge. We
should be broadminded like the Chinese
saying that one may sail in the stomach
of the prime minister. This aspiration
can be developed with the Mahāyāna’s
sentiment where the bodhisattvas do
not abandon the suffering of sentient
beings. To prevent the other party from
reaping the retribution of suffering, and
to prevent the other party from harming
other sentient beings, we certainly
should think of ways to stop evil acts.
The above ideas are in fact not
suitable to be put across by using
scriptural evidence only. One needs to
use logical evidence to carefully examine
the sūtras (the Chinese also regard The
Sixth Patriarch’s Sūtra as a sūtra) so as
to avoid the incompatibility between
teaching and acceptance capacity, which
may lead to another case of wrong
interpretation of the sūtras.
16 l Mettavalokanaya l May l 2019 l www.mettavalokanaya.com www.mettavalokanaya.com l 2019 l May l Mettavalokanaya l 17