DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

By Nhat Quan

---o0o---

Someone asked the Zen Master: What is the scariest thing in this world?

The Zen master replied: Desire!

Indeed, while practicing, you encounter basic diseases such as greed, anger, and ignorance, which are very difficult to treat. Practitioners must know how to overcome, to overcome, and to progress. So, when talking about the scariest thing in life, you have to talk about greed.

Greed is greed and pleasure. Desire there are many things, not one. So if you can't control it, you get attached, run after it, and suffer. Practitioners should only be greedy for meditation, reciting Buddha's name, and practice, and not be greedy for the rest of the world's five desires.

Many times I think back, why do you have to shave your hair? Once you know how to practice, you can practice anywhere, in any form, do you have to shave your hair, wear dyed clothes, be vegetarian, and keep so many precepts? All because of the power of greed, because of greed, you become ambitious or lustful. If you do not close yourself to the precepts and the virtuous life, it will be difficult to escape its temptations. So you know that cultivating is extremely difficult, but not easy. That's why you understand why there are rules in the temple, people living here have to shave their hair, wear dyed clothes, and receive precepts like that. That's because the desire cannot be controlled, the mind wanders around, thinking about this and that, it's too deep, and you have to rely on such strict forms to control and overcome it. In terms of form, you're already stunned, but in terms of content, it's even more difficult. Therefore, finding a way to cure lust is very difficult. That's why the sutra says:

- If your mind cannot stop being greedy for sensual pleasures, you cannot enter the path.

If you cannot enter the religion, let alone talk about cultivating or practicing the religion. Therefore, you must make every effort and determination to keep your original aspiration. Many people find it too difficult, keep slipping up and down, become discouraged, and don't want to practice anymore. Or if you still practice, turn to prayer. Pray to Buddha to help you. Every night you bow to Buddha and pray, cry earnestly, confess that your practice is slipping back and forth, it is extremely difficult, and ask the Buddha to help you practice.

Buddha only shows you the method to practice, but he cannot practice for you. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas themselves also had to go through countless lifetimes of hard practice, experiencing endless difficulties and bitterness to achieve enlightenment. So you have to confront yourself, you can't hide or run around, and you can't expect complete support from the outside, without your effort, without the determination to overcome your greed, anger, and ignorance.

Facing difficulties while practicing, if you are not alert and aware clearly, you can easily become a weak person. Weakness here does not mean weakness, weak legs, weak teeth, but weak spirit. Therefore, relying on others, or external conditions, is a big obstacle in your practice. As for the disease of lust, you must treat it directly, not rely on it, because no one can treat it for you. You must always remember Buddha's teachings:

- If your desire still exists, you cannot enter the religion.

Because if your mind is still agitated, if it is still agitated, going back and forth about this and that, then you cannot enter the path. The path here is purity, silence, and liberation. If you are busy getting involved in all kinds of things, you cannot enter the religion. That's why Buddha said that if you still have desire in your mind, you cannot enter the path. So sometimes you have to check to see if you are still greedy or not, and if so, how much or how little you are greedy. If it's too much, there must be a way to reduce it. In this part, each of you contemplates controls and examines your daily practice to find the right solution.

That's why the Venerable Ones say that whatever you have every day, you're good at, you can only use when you're in danger. Just like a general who goes into battle with swords and spears, normally has practiced skillfully with bows and swords, so when they go to the battlefield where they are dead and in danger, they use bows and swords continuously and skillfully. On the contrary, whoever holds a sword and throws it, holds a spear and throws it, or rides a horse and runs, that person is not a good general. It's the same when you practice, no matter how diligently you practice every day, and what you master, you will only be able to use it when you encounter danger.

If you want to use your special forte proficiently, you must prepare now and hold it firmly in your hand. If you are still confused, struggling around with plans for this and that, when it comes to danger, it will be extremely difficult. Many people, when they are still healthy, rely on their strength and hope for wealth and refuse to cultivate themselves and do good deeds. When they are about to leave this world, they ask the monks for guidance to follow Buddha, holding their hands and pulling them onto the bright path. How can you be so sure, knowing whether the statement at that time penetrated your mind? Or fear of death, pain, moaning, panic... There was a Buddhist who was sick and about to die. I reminded him to recite Buddha's name, and he got angry and shouted:

- What am I chanting? It hurts to death!

No one in this world is greedy like anyone else. But no matter what type of greed, greed for anything leads to suffering. Therefore, you must try your best to practice and build a solid foundation of blessings. You should not leave it day after day. If left day after day, the fire of desire leads to loss of kindness, inability to practice the Dharma, and falling into the constant suffering of birth and death. If you keep letting your desires run wild, it will be difficult to overcome the karma of greed, and you will definitely fall into the evil realms and suffer immensely. How can you, in this life, be full of good intentions and not forget to practice good dharma, so that in this life as well as in many lifetimes, you will not fall into evil paths?

Falling into evil paths is very difficult to cultivate. Now that you are born in a human body, it is very easy to practice. If you are allowed to fall into hell or among the animals, it will be extremely difficult to practice. For example, cows and buffaloes carry heavy loads, they also have intelligence but do not know how to develop it. People are forced to work hard and then have their flesh cut into pieces. With such pain, how can one practice? There are many buffaloes pulling plows and carts so heavy that their necks swell, but they still pull. If it couldn't walk, people stabbed it with a stick with a long nail stuck into its thigh, forcing it to move forward. Many animals work and stop breathing on the spot. Falling into that world is truly cruel. Even while being tortured by people like that, is it still possible to practice? Therefore, you need to encourage yourself and diligently practice to be at peace on the bright path, do not fall into such darkness, suffering cannot be described, let alone practice. Difficult! Too hard.

Sentient beings come into contact with delusion and forget their minds, thus creating countless karma. The body, mouth, and mind interact with each other, the mind is the dominant force inside, causing the mouth to speak and the body to do. Years pile up from one life to the next, creating countless karma. But thanks to good fate, you met the Buddha Dharma, so now you need to remind yourself to practice. Each of you should make a vow not to lose your kindness in this life, and to diligently practice Buddha Dharma so that in the next life you will not fall into suffering such as hell, hungry ghosts, or animals. If you fall into those paths, practicing will be very difficult. Suffering becomes even more painful. Ordinary people say:

- There is nothing more miserable than hell.

Because from the moment you fall into hell, hungry ghosts and sinners are always executed and burned. Body and mind are burned, clothes are burned, food is burned, space is burned, everything is burned. It is because of many lifetimes of burning greed, and not being able to create good merit, so the retribution is burned like that. Just imagine, when you cook rice, a fire stick touches your hand and burns your skin. You already feel the burning pain, not to mention your intestines, liver, and body are all burned! How painful is suffering? In such a situation, do you remember your great vow or cry to God or Buddha for help? So right now you have to practice, not letting a single cause cause you to fall into one of the bad realms.

You must develop a mind of great kindness, great compassion, great joy, great renunciation, cultivate merit, preserve good hearts, and save yourself and others from falling into the three evil paths. Hell is your anger and frustration. If you are too greedy and want something that others take away, you feel hot, angry, and seething. That means you are being burned by the fire of greed. This fire burns all your heart and flesh, burning your Bodhi mind as well. It burns all your merits and makes you forget your prayers.

People who cultivate their minds are at peace. With a true mind, you see anything without hindrance, without being passive. The scene outside does not attract you. Usually, when you see something beautiful, you like it; if you see something ugly, you don't like it. From liking you raise the greed want to possess. If you want to have property, when you have it, you have to worry about preserving it, so you suffer. If you can't possess it, you will get angry and suffer. Now the mind is peaceful, the view is empty and clear, there is no liking or disliking, so there is no attachment, right there it is peaceful. Just like that, you practice each part, breaking all the attachments stuck in the six senses, and then you can enter the true place. Eyes see form and know it is the true mind, ears hear sound and know it is the true mind, body, and touch know everything is the true mind. These three senses are easy to recognize and see, you should try diligently every day.

The true mind is empty and clear, covering all six senses. That true mind has no form, no birth or death, so if you don't practice, you will never recognize it. Because you have forgotten the Bodhi mind, you are agitated by desire. So the practice time is very long. Saying this is not to discourage you from practicing but to persevere in preserving your original intention. That's why the Sutra says:

- Desire is injustice. A mind that is greedy and lustful is the enemy. Sexual desire makes it impure and impure. Those who indulge in it will dull their senses and fall into darkness and suffering.

Here, it is said that sex is unjust. When you practice, you don't want to commit injustice, everyone wants to let go of everything. You hope so, but in reality, you cannot let go and instead follow the tendency to collect things for yourself. Therefore, it is said that lust is unjust. Just this one point is enough for you to practice for the rest of your life. Taking off all the bonds and chains that bind is the wish of the practitioner. You need to apply your will and have a strong determination to do it. Let me tell you the story. Story:

Among the three travelers, were two merchants and one monk. Suddenly the monk had a stomach ache and had a bowel movement. A moment later, the monk ran out of the forest in panic and met his two friends who had gone before him. Seeing the monk's panic, the two merchants immediately asked:

- What makes you so panicked?

The monk said:

- It's terrible, I saw a pile of gold in the forest!

 The two merchants heard this and immediately said:

- Oh, Mr. Monk is a big idiot! Seeing gold, is such a good deed, but the Teacher considers it terrible, it is truly incomprehensible!

So they asked the monk again:

- Where did you see the gold? Show us!

The monk said:

- Are you not afraid of such evil things? It will devour people!

 The two of them brushed it off and said boldly:

- We are not afraid, please show us the place quickly!

 The monk said:

- It's underneath the tree at the edge of the western forest. Having finished speaking, the monk continued his journey.

The two merchants immediately went to the place where the monk had pointed, and indeed discovered a lot of gold. This person immediately said to the other person:

- That monk is truly stupid, the gold and silver that everyone desires is right in his eyes, yet he says it has become a man-eating monster.

The other person also nodded in agreement. So they discussed how to transfer this gold home. One of them said:

- It's not very safe to bring it back during the day, or we can transport it at night, so it will be more secure. I'll stay here and keep watch. You please go home and bring some food back. We'll eat and wait until it's dark before bringing this gold home.

The other person immediately did as his friend said. This who stayed thought:

- It would be great if all this gold belonged to me! So, when he comes back, let's use a wooden stick to beat him to death, then all this gold will be mine.

Thinking like that, when the other friend brought rice to the forest, he immediately used a wooden stick from behind to hit that friend's head so hard that he died on the spot. Seeing that his friend was dead, he immediately said:

- My friend, it is this amount of gold that forces me to do so.

Then he grabbed the food his friend brought and ate it greedily. Not long after, this person felt very uncomfortable, as if his stomach was being burned by fire. Only then did he know that he had been poisoned. Before he died, he said:

- People die for money, birds die for food. It was all a disaster caused by greed, it was a desire that turned two people who were best friends into sworn enemies.

Through this story, we can see that for all the greed and injustices that have bound you for many generations, practitioners must break free and open them all up to be liberated. The word solution is to open up, the word liberty is to peel everything off, to escape. You follow the path of liberation, that is, the path of loosening, not tying. From now until the day you become Buddha, your great vow is liberation. So there is no reason to be unjustly associated with any worldly dharma, only then will you end the root of desire. If you commit injustice, you will always be followed by enemies who destroy and take away all your treasures.

Like saying the six senses are the six enemies, why? Because you are disturbed, dictated by it, and lose all freedom and autonomy, through which::

- When you see beauty, you run after it, that's the enemy.

- When you hear a good sound, you run after it, it's the enemy.

- When your nose smells a fragrant scent, you run after it, it's the enemy.

- If your tongue tastes your favorite taste, you are greedy and that is the enemy.

- When your body touches soft things, you become greedy, that is the enemy.

- A mind that is confused and runs after false thoughts is an enemy.

From the six senses, if you run out, sticking outside is the enemy. On the contrary, from the six senses, you see clearly and if you don't run after it, it is not an enemy. If you can use the six senses freely, it becomes six supernatural powers.

When the Bhikkhus attain Arahantship, their six senses become six supernatural powers. Venerable Maudgalyayana, when he attained Sainthood, had six supernatural powers of the highest order at that time. You also have six senses. If you want to practice the path of liberation, don't let them become the six enemies and harm you. If you want to be at peace, if you want to create merit, you must protect the six senses according to the path taught by the Buddha, which means turning inside your mind, not following the external world.

In the Shurangama Sutra, Buddha used the example of a house with six different-shaped doors. Round doors, square doors, oval doors... everything. In the house, there is a block of bright jade that shines through the doors. Whatever shape the door has, the light will radiate according to that shape. Likewise, you have a knowing nature that manifests through the six senses. In the eyes is the seeing nature, in the ears is the hearing nature, in the nose is the smelling nature... When you know that there is a seeing nature, a hearing nature, etc., you know that you have a root inside, a pearl of wisdom covering everything inside. So to practice means to return to receive that pearl and use it.

You return to your six senses, that is practice. That's all you can do. You can practice anywhere, in front of the Buddha's table, in the car, while working at the office, you can take advantage of your time off, and it's even easier to meditate at home alone. Sometimes when you are receiving guests, talking, or working, you can also practice. Practice by whatever sense you release and you will immediately pull it back, returning to your true mind. You know that you have an all-pervading light and do not need external wisdom. Then you will realize and live with your true heart without difficulty. Whoever can live like this first manifests merit without distinction. This merit is very great. Because of non-discrimination, there is no false attachment to dharmas. Because if you differentiate, you will rush into the good and the bad, get attached, and create karma in it.

Even though you are a sentient being now, you know how to practice according to Buddha, this is a good fate. So how can your efforts to receive and live with your awareness, your original face, be the most successful? Now, based on the Buddha's teachings, realizing that the dharmas are not real, you should leave and not follow them. Direct practice is just like that. With the wise eyes of the saints, seeing a table made from wood, drawn by a person, assembled by a craftsman, etc., having enough conditions to come together to form like that, is called a table. It is a dependently born dharma. Buddha said it is not real, Buddha's disciples also know it is not real, you also know it is not real, but you do not dare to let go, so you are a sentient being. Now knowing it's not real, you don't discriminate, don't get attached, don't hold on, that's liberation. Practicing is just that, nothing is beyond your ability, it's just that you refuse to practice.

Thanks to the Buddha, he pointed out that this body is not real. Otherwise, sentient beings will be greedy for this solid body and will not be bored. Just this body, all day you prepare, get entangled, worry... wasting all your time, money, and effort, but in the end, you can't keep it! Once you get sick, you will feel suffering. But is there anyone who is not sick or in pain when taking on this body? Like when you were young, you walked upright and straight, but now when you're old, your back is bent and your legs are weak, your gait is wobbly and ugly. No one wants that, so it's miserable. Therefore, the Buddha taught not to be attached to the body, but to take advantage of it and practice quickly, because the body is impermanent and can easily break. One day the Buddha was preaching and saw the Venerable Aniruddha falling asleep. He asked:

- Do you have debt in real life?

- World-Honored One, I have no debt.

- Who forced you to practice?

- World-Honored One, no one is forcing me. I saw that the Buddha's practice and enlightenment were very peaceful, so I followed the Buddha to practice.

- You don't have debt, you don't feel pressured, you just came here to practice to become a Buddha but you keep falling asleep like that, when will you become enlightened?

Being scolded by Buddha at that time, he vowed not to sleep again. Venerable Aniruddha did not sleep until his eyes were swollen and very painful, so his eyes were blind. However, with diligent meditation, the Venerable attained Arahantship, a supreme reward, and nothing more. Since then, he could not use his physical eyes, but in return, he had the best heavenly eyes among the Buddha's ten great disciples. His two eyes now are two intellectual eyes, not two physical eyes born from his parents.

That image gives you an affirmation of the resolute spirit of the practitioner. We are not yet like Venerable Aniruddha, but we are also proud to be Buddha's children and relatives of Venerable Aniruddha. Therefore, when you are still healthy, you must take advantage of this body to practice and not pamper it too much. Don't indulge it, don't follow its desires, only then can you master yourself, cutting off all distinctions about the body. That is the practice, the broad path for you to reach peace. Venerable Aniruddha is an example for us followers. Even though he is far away through many centuries, his example still shines brightly in the Buddha's congregation, both past and present. Following that shining example, you should strive to practice until you achieve enlightenment.

That means you always remember your great vow. That is cultivating Buddhahood, not becoming anything else. Even if you fall into hell, you vow to become a Buddha. Even if you go to heaven, you vow to become a Buddha. All dharmas are not real, this body is not real, this mind's delusions are not real. Realizing and living like this, you will be peaceful and not be enticed by desire. You must remember that your existing all-pervasive wisdom is your true mind. Seeing the true mind, hearing the true mind, smelling the true mind, tasting the true mind, touching the true mind, mind knowing the true mind. That true mind exists without form, without birth and death, and pervades without thought. It is your boss. When you can live with this boss, you will become a Buddha.

In short, there are many scariest things in life, but lust is one of the scariest and most dangerous things. One of the elements of desire is jealousy. Without jealousy, desire does not exist.

---o0o---