Day 4 The Wealth of Wanting Little | The Sword of Wisdom

The penniless Buddhist monks say they are destitute;
Though they have nothing, they are not poor in Tao.
Poverty shows in the ragged robes they always wear.
The priceless treasures of the Tao are stored in their minds.

During Sakyamuni Buddha’s time, monks looked poor outwardly, but spiritually and mentally, they were quite rich. Only monks and nuns can really be poor, because it is not possible for householders to live without money. Householders have to provide food and shelter for themselves and their families. Monks and nuns, however, do not need money, houses, or land. They are liberated from material possessions. Whether or not they have such things makes no difference to them. Though they are materially impoverished, they are spiritually rich. And because they are liberated from material desire, all land and all the money in the world is theirs. They may wear rags on their backs, but they have come to know their own priceless gem ─ the mani pearl ─ which goes by many names:Tathagatagarbha, Buddha-nature, True Suchness, self-nature.

Looking at the Ch’an Center, knowing that I have charge of temples in Taiwan, and that I fly back and forth between Taiwan and New York twice each year, you may think I have a lot of money. In fact, I have no money, and I own few possessions. Money comes to the Ch’an Center and the temples from all directions, but it is not mine. The center provides for all my needs. Whenever money is needed, however, I can get it. I spend a lot of money every year, but none of it comes from me or goes to me. On the other hand, if I were not a monk, but a family man with a wife and children, or even a bachelor, I would have to earn money, because I would have daily living expenses.

Your spiritual life is not determined by your material circumstances. A nun maybe impoverished, wrapped in rags, and dependent on others’ offerings, but if she is aware of the priceless gem within, she is truly wealthy. A person with nothing who craves material wealth, however, is truly impoverished. Similarly, a wealthy person who wants more and more and is never satisfied is not rich at all. If a person is satisfied with what he has, even if it is very little, then he is wealthy.

A true practitioner concerns himself with his practice. He does not worry about his home, family, or livelihood. He does not guard over or cherish anything, including his life and body. It does not mean he abandons his family, quits his job and abuses his body. He is aware of and fulfills his responsibilities, but he is not attached to them. Such an attitude ensures that he will be successful in his practice. Still, there is no guarantee he will attain enlightenment.

Master Ta-hui was abbot of several temples, and in each temple were hundreds, sometimes thousands, of monks and nuns. Of these thousands of disciples, who devoted their entire lives to practice, perhaps one hundred reached enlightenment. This does not mean that the rest wasted their time. At least they practiced. Practicing is better than not practicing, just as being enlightened is better than not being enlightened.
The song says that monks are poor in body but rich in Tao. Tao does not only mean enlightenment. Here, it means the Path, and refers to practice. Master Hsu-yun, the recent Ch’an Patriarch, who died in 1959, practiced with unshakeable determination for years, long after most people would have given up. He finally achieved enlightenment when he was fifty-six. By ordinary standards, this is rather late in life, but Hsu-yun lived to be 119. While he struggled, he never said, “This takes too long. I’m giving up. I’m not going to be a monk if I can’t get enlightened.” Achieving enlightenment should not be the only reason for practicing. Cultivating practice is what is important. Practice is the means and the end.

These priceless treasures have endless functions;
There is no hesitation in helping others.
The three bodies and four wisdoms are complete in essence;
The eight liberations and six psychic powers are the mind-ground seal.

When you discover the priceless gem of enlightenment, you can use it to help others reveal their own treaure. Its powers and uses are inexhaustible. No matter how much you give, there is as much left when you finish as when you started. The sutras call it the mani pearl, but it is your self-nature. When you reveal your self-nature, wisdom manifests to help yourself and others. Wisdom cannot be squandered. You do not have to hoard it, and you do not have to ration it.

Within the priceless gem are the three bodies, the four wisdoms, the six psychic powers and eight liberations. These are expedient means to help sentient beings attain liberation. I will list them, but I will not explain them in detail.

The three bodies are the Dharma body, the retribution body, and the transformation body.

The four wisdoms are the great mirror wisdom, the wisdom of equality, the profound observing wisdom, and the perfecting wisdom.

The six psychic powers are divine sight, divine hearing, knowledge of others’ thoughts, knowledge of former lives of oneself and others, power to appear anywhere at will, and insight into the destruction of outflows. Outflows are thoughts, words and actions that derive from attachment to a self; insight into the destruction of outflows liberates one from birth and death.

The eight liberations are: (1) liberation arising from meditation of impurity with attachment to form; (2) liberation arising from meditation of impurity without attachment to form; (3) liberation from desire by meditation on purity; (4) liberation in the state of boundless space; (5) liberation in the state of boundless consciousness; (6) liberation in the state of nothingness; (7) liberation in the state of neither thought nor absence of thought; (8) liberation in which there is extinction of sensation and perception.

The eight liberations correspond to eight levels of samadhi. Progressively deeper levels of samadhi free one from particular attachments. The eight liberations do not free one from Samsara ─ the cycle of birth and death. The ninth samadhi level liberates one from Samsara.

A Ch’an practitioner does not have to cultivate the three bodies or four wisdoms. Rather, the three bodies and four wisdoms are already complete in his realization of self-nature. Likewise, he does not have to cultivate the six psychic powers and eight liberations. They are all complete in the enlightened practitioner’s pure mind. When the enlightened practitioner interacts with others, he uses his wisdom to help sentient beings, but he rarely displays extraordinary powers. Ch’an patriarchs and enlightened beings look and act like ordinary human beings.

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