THE DHARMA COMMON TO THE 5 VEHICLES Pg 49 – 64

1. THE DHARMA COMMON TO THE 5 VEHICLES Pg 49 – 64

2. 1) OTHER WORLDLY RELIGIONS TALK ABOUT GOING TO HEAVEN 2) IN THE DHARMA COMMON TO THE 5 VEHICLES, IT IS THE SAME 3) WHY THE NEED TO TAKE REFUGE IN TRIPLE GEM?

4. 3 Types of Resolution Lower, Middle & Higher Grades Lower Grade – vow to have a better future life want happiness in present and future ok to suffer and sacrifice a little regardless of practice, one can only receive rewards in types of rebirth reborn in this world reborn in heaven

5. Middle Grade – resolve to leave 3 realms Resolve + practice world transcending Dharma  Nirvana 2 types of rewards Sravaka leading to Arhat Prateyka-buddha Higher Grade – resolve to attain enlightenment Bodhi mind + practice Bodhisattva Deeds  benefit oneself and others  perfection of virtues = Buddhahood

6. RESOLUTION of 5 vehicle Resolve to have better future lives as a • Human or • Divine being • No 2) shared in common with X’tianity and Islam • Why the need to take refuge in the Triple Gem? • 1) & 2) Not ultimate goals for serious Buddhist practitioners

7. Verse 29 Pg 50 One who has the right faith and has taken • Refuge in the Three Treasures Should cultivate right views Then it will not be difficult to make superior progress

8. MEANING OF RIGHT VIEW Means correct understanding Firm opinions derived from reasoning Good and to be followed Different from knowledge 2 Types of Right View: Worldly – 5 Vehicles World Transcending – 3 & One Vehicle

9. Criteria of Right View • A correct understanding and outlook of life. • In summation: 1) based on a correct investigation into the meaning of life 2) a path to follow 3) strong belief and confidence 4) a top priority in one’s cultivation, like a ship’s rudder. • Buddha: “Right views are rare among laities.”

10. WHAT CONSTITUTES RIGHT LIVELIHOOD • Worldly vs Buddhist standpoint • Secular standpoint: obtained by ‘legal means’ • Buddha-Dharma standpoint: improper if : a) they violate the 5 precepts b) they obstruct the practice of the Buddha Dharma c) wasteful usage or exploitation • Discontinue inappropriate occupations – • weapons, poisons, animal meat, slavery, intoxicants

11. FOUR RIGHT VIEWS

12. 1) The existence of good & evil 2) The existence of karma 3) The existence of past & future 4) The existence of ordinary people & sages

13. 1st RIGHT VIEW • EXISTENCE • OF GOOD AND EVIL • (Firm Believe, Not Be Shaken)

14. 1st RIGHT VIEW: THE EXISTENCE OF GOOD & EVIL It is necessary for Buddhists to ask and differentiate the following ethical questions: • Whether one’s mind is pure or defiled. • Whether one’s deeds are beneficial or harmful to others. • Whether one’s actions are good or evil. • Good or evil depends internally on the intentions and externally on the effects. • Internal Intentions: mental, physical and verbal deeds • Deeds externally affecting others: good = beneficial; • evil = harmful. Cultivate firm, unshakable right views as the standard for thoughts, speeches and actions.

15. WHAT ARE GOOD AND EVIL? i) Good = pure factors = without greed, anger and ignorance; includes: a. the sense of shame that longs for what is good b. the sense of integrity that resists evil c. beliefs that lead to mental purity d. the vigour to practice what is good. ii) Evil = greed, anger, ignorance, shamelessness, lack of integrity, lack of faith and indolence.

16. 2nd RIGHT VIEW • KARMA

17. 2ND RIGHT VIEW: EXISTENCE OF KARMA • Neither God, fate/ predestination or chance • Accounts for beings’ differences • Every action has effect/ consequence • One reaps what he sows now/ future lives • Encourage the development of good conduct • Can change from small to large • Can guide or complete the stages of fruition • One’s own actions = causes of one’s situation.

18. Analogy: • Karmic force is like salary earned from good work done. • The salary earned exchanged for a better life.

19. TYPES OF KARMA • Habitual • Weighty • Guiding • Completion • Determinate & • Indeterminate (Random)

20. 1) HABITUAL KARMA • A trifling good or bad action, if continuously repeated becomes a very strong karmic force. • Dhammapada: “Do not take minor acts of evil karma lightly, thinking they are harmless; they are like drops of water that eventually fill a big vessel.” • Chinese saying: “Do not perform an evil act just because it happens to be trifling; do not abandon doing good just because it is trivial.” • We should neither neglect small actions nor rejoice in evil deeds.

21. 2) STRONG KARMA / GUIDING KARMA • That can lead us to be born in one of the 5 destinies or realms. • Weighty karma is called the guiding karma because it brings about the formation of the total resultant body of a sentient being in a certain realm. • Lead to the general aspects of the resultant body.

22. 3) COMPLETION KARMA • That completes many specific aspects of a resultant body. • Some have 6 healthy sense organs, some do not; differences in skin complexion/ appearances /talents. • Different species of animals. • Different levels of effort and cultivation in present lives give different karmic results that eventually lead to different types of completion karma.

23. 4) DETERMINATE & INDETERMINATE KARMA • Both differs in terms of timing and results. • Results are determinate but their timing can be indeterminate. • Timing is determinate but results indeterminate. • Both results and timing are determinate – heavy karma: the 5 heinous crimes, viz patricide, matricide, killing of Arhats, injuring the Buddha and causing the Sangha to split. • Both results and timing indeterminate points to a light karma. • That the results can change due to one’s action is proof that karma is indeterminate.

24. NOTHING IS PRE-DETERMINED (FATED) • All karma (good or bad) like all things impermanent, are subject to change/ improvement /dilution like a cup of saltish water • Age matters: corrective actions can be made early if you are younger • One should not despair when faced with bad karma - repent deeply and practice the Dharma.

25. POWER OF KARMA – THE 3 PERIODS • Karma of present results = this life. • Karma of rebirth results = the next life. • Karma of later results are those = after one, two or numerous lives. • One shouldn’t just look at the present life when examining karma and its results. There are the 3 periods viz past, present and future lives to look into. • One does good but gets suffering because the good has not ripen. Or one does evil but leads a luxurious life because the evil karma has not ripen.

26. Nature of Karma • When an immediate result is not obtained if one does good or bad deeds, it leads to • 2 misconceptions: a) that heaven is blind b) that descendants will inherit good fortune if the ancestors accumulate good deeds, and vice-versa. • Karma can lead to retribution and reward this life, next life or unknown future. • Karma can change from small to large. • Karma can guide or complete the stages of fruition • Karma is both determined and undetermined

27. RIGHT VIEW: The Existence of Past & Future • Transmigration has no fixed pattern or order of upward or downward movement through the 6 destinies. The karma one accumulates in this life time is infinite, as are the unresolved karmic forces stored from past lives. Past karma has not yet ripen, while future karma has still to mature – this shows the inexhaustible karma we are saddled with. So if one dies now, which karma will ripen first or second? No one can determine for sure. However all karma falls into these 3 categories. • 1st Category: Serious or Weighty Karma • 2nd Category: Habitual Karma • 3rd Category: Dying Moment Karma (Proximate Karma)

28. 3 MAIN TYPES OF KARMA “According to karma, good or bad results arise In the constant transmigrations through the 5 destinies. Results may be caused by 1) serious karma, 2) one's daily habits, or 3) the thoughts of one's dying moments. The power of karma leads to future rebirths Like the flames that continues to burn the wood.” ... Verse 33 – Pg 58 TWTB

29. 1ST CATEGORY: SERIOUS OR WEIGHTY KARMA: • This karmic force is extraordinarily powerful whether one is aware of it or not. When one is dying one may see hell or heaven and this karmic seeing indicates one will rise to heaven or descend to hell. • It is the biggest single extraordinary good or evil deed one has done, among other ordinary (minor) good or evil deeds. Good deeds like sacrificing one’s life for others (altruism). Evil deeds like the 5 heinous acts: patricide, matricide, killing of Arhats, injuring the Buddha and causing the Sangha to split.

30. 2nd Category: Habitual Karma • If one has no serious evil or good karma, one may pass away uneventfully. Our transmigration will then depend on our habitual karma that we accumulate. This accumulation of habitual karma can be very powerful. • It is very important to practise regularly and cultivate habits of good karma if one cannot particularly do extraordinary good ones. One will be reborn into an upward realm because of one's good habitual karma and vice-versa.

31. STORY OF HABITUAL KARMA • A disciple asked the Buddha: “I am usually very mindful of the Dharma. But sometimes I am in busy streets, I forget to keep the right mindfulness of the Dharma, and if I am hit by a vehicle and die on the spot, will I fall into the evil destinies.” • The Buddha replied: “No, you won't. Your usual mindfulness of the Dharma cultivates a good habit with regard to the Buddha. Even if you die without right mindfulness at that moment, you still move upward because the karmic force is strong and this temporary lapse does not necessarily correspond to our mind. It is like a big tree that grows leaning toward one direction, and when it is cut, it falls toward that direction.”

32. Understanding of Karmic Results • The best thing is to practise according to the Buddha Dharma, attain pure wisdom, and with the transcendental power of the divine eye realise personally the subtlety of karma. • Alternatively, one can believe in the Buddha's teachings and have a confident understanding through deductive reasoning.

33. DEATH & REBIRTH - Analogy of Flames • Zhuangzi said: “The wood fire continues to burn without knowing when it will come to an end.” • Master Huiyuan (4th CE) has also used this analogy to illustrate the principle of birth and death cycle. “A piece of wood burns brightly until the wood is consumed and the flame dies out. But while the embers are still warm, immediately another piece is lit, and the flame becomes strong again. The first piece of wood is not the same as the second piece, and the later flame is not the previous flame; yet it cannot be said that the later flame did not come from the first. • Similarly, when the life activities of the previous life stop, another new life begins. The previous life is not the same as the life that comes later, yet this later life comes from the karmic force of the previous life. … Page 62 TWTB

34. WHAT HAPPENED IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH? • Between death and birth, there may be a gap in time and space. According to the profound Buddha Dharma, physical and mental activities are manifested in life forms. • When one dies, one’s body and mind die instantly, and all the gross visual or conspicuous external physical and mental activities stop; but past physical and mental activities are not in non-existence; they are waiting for causes and conditions to mature as the rebirth mechanism (function) still remains. The past karmic force will bring forth new physical and mental activities to begin a new life.

35. Between Death & Rebirth • Analogy of the consuming wood fire. When the wood is burning with bright flames, this is like the external activities of life. When it stops burning and the flames die out, this is like the life that ends in death. When the fire stops, the hot ashes seem to cool down, but if they come into contact with some flammable substances and a light wind is blowing, the dying ash can burn again with strong flames. • Likewise, when cause and conditions converge, past karmic forces can bring forth a new life.

36. 3rd RIGHT VIEW • THE EXISTENCE OF PAST AND FUTURE

37. RIGHT VIEW: The Existence of Past & Future • Accumulation of different types of karmas will lead to different results (i.e rewards or retributions) in present and future lives. • The rewards for those with good karma will be reborn in the human or heavenly destiny or realm. And retributions for evil karma will land themselves in the 3 evil destinies viz animal, hungry ghost and hell realms. • From beginless time, sentient beings following good or evil karmic forces have been recycling through these 5 destinies or realms of existence. With the addition of Asuras, the 5 destinies become 6 (heaven, human, asuras, animal, hungry ghost and hell beings). The asuras are not many in numbers; in ancient times, they may be categorised with ghosts or animals. (Pg 58)

38. Past & Future Lives • The previous and future lives are neither the same nor different, neither extinct nor permanent, and the continuation from previous lives to future lives is profound, too subtle to be seen physically. • Nonetheless, sages believes that karma leads us to recycle in the 6 destinies. And those who had attained the transcendent power of the divine eye can completely understand this. • For the laity without pure wisdom, what lies before and after death is too obscure; they know nothing about it.

39. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORDINARY PEOPLE & SAGES Although birth and death continue among sentient beings, the sages can find emancipation. The difference between ignorance and wisdom: One leading to bondage, the other to emancipation, Should be believed deeply and without doubts. … Verse 34 – Pg 62 TWTB

40. CRITERION OF A SAGE (Pg 63) • A sage is one who has faultless pure wisdom & realises the nature of the Dharma – the true reality of all dharmas. Having attained pure wisdom, the sages have severed the afflictions- the roots of birth and death.

41. THE BENEFITS OF BEING A SAGE If one does not believe in the blissful state of an emancipated sage, one’s life is really miserable. But if one believes so, one can progress upward and break through the darkness and develop boundless brightness.

42. VIRTUES OF A SAGE (Pg 63) • 3 insights: divine eyes, insight into previous existences and ending of faults. • 6 supernatural powers: magical transformation, divine eyes, divine ears, mind reading of others, knowledge about previous existences, and the power to end faults.

43. TEN POWERS OF A SAGE (Pg 63) • The 10 Powers – Knows: what is right and wrong in every condition, knows the varied consequences of karma, knows all stages of meditation & liberation, …the different capacities and faculties of all beings; …what sentient beings understand, …the actual condition of every individual, …the causes and effects of sentient beings in all worlds, …. results of karma in previous lives, …the death & birth of all beings, and ..to be faultless.

44. THE FOUR FEARLESSNESS OF A SAGE (Pg 63) • Four Kinds of Fearlessness - Fearless: in proclaiming his omniscience, in proclaiming his freedom from faults, in the way he ends his faults, and in exposing the barriers to the way.

45. Virtues Of A Sage (Pg 63) • 18 Distinctive Characteristics: faultlessness of body/speech and thoughts, impartiality, perfect steadiness of mind, perfect self-sacrifice, un-diminishing aspiration to save others, unflagging zeal, unfailing mindfulness, unfailing wisdom, unfailing liberation, unfailing knowledge, understanding of transcendence, unobstructed knowledge of the past, … of the future, … of the present, deeds/speech/thoughts in accordance with wisdom. Page 351 TWTB

46. CONSEQUENCES OF NOT BELIEVING IN A SAGE • If one does not believe in the sages and their virtues, it plants a seed to be influenced by deviant teachings that obstruct one’s practice, besides disparaging the teachings.

47. MENTALITY OF AN IGNORANT PERSON • Some ordinary people with their worldly knowledge assumed that because they themselves are not sages without pure wisdom nor supernatural power, all other humans are just like them. These are ignorant people. • Analogy: Since clay vase when properly fired can become a hardy porcelain vase, the ability to achieve sage-hood by human endeavour is likewise definitely possible. (Pg 63 – TWTB))

48. THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE • If one practices according to the Dharma and is refined by the fire of wisdom (prajna) one will be different from a worldly person. • One needs a profound understanding about worldly people and sages to bring forth firm right views.

49. CHAPTER 3 FOUR RIGHT VIEWS 1) The existence of good & evil 2) The existence of karma 3) The existence of past & future 4) The existence of ordinary people & sages

50. EXISTENCE OF THE FIVE DESTINIES OR REALMS “Circulating within the Five Destinies The body and mind sustain much suffering.” … Verse 35 – Pg 64 TWTB