Day 8 Wielding a Sword of Wisdom | The Sword of Wisdom

Loss of Dharma Wealth and the extinction of merits,
All are caused by the mind consciousness.
Through the Ch’an door, understand the cutting off of mind,
And suddenly enter the powerful view of the unborn.

It is the activity of your mind which destroys your Dharma wealth and spiritual merit. If your mind did not engage in activity, you would immediately enter the Dharma gate of non-arising. Try to keep your mind from moving. When the mind moves, you lose. As soon as you begin to seek anything you have already suffered losses.

When Bodhidharma went to China from India, he met Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty. The Emperor told Bodhidharma how much he supported and patronized Buddhism. He bragged about the temples he built and the wealth he donated to the Sangha. He asked Bodhidharma how much merit he had gained for his effort. Bodhidharma told him that he had not gained any merit at all.
The merit this poem speaks of is spiritual merit, devoid of attachment. If your mind moves ─ if you attach to your actions ─ then no spiritual merit is gained. Emperor Wu did not accumulate the spiritual merit Yung-chia describes because his actions were self-motivated. His merit was characterized by outflows. By outflows I mean action, thought or speech that is still governed by attachment. The merit in this stanza is without outflows. It is pure merit ─ merit that derives from liberation and absolute wisdom.

Dharma wealth is sometimes explained in terms of five types of merit. The five types of merit are precepts, samadhi, wisdom (also known as root or fundamental wisdom), liberation, and wisdom that comes from liberation (also known as acquired wisdom). Root wisdom manifests when one sees into one’s self-nature, but it is not used to help sentient beings. Wisdom derived from liberation, or acquired wisdom, manifests after a person has been liberated, and it is used to help others.

Dharma wealth is not worldly wealth. Worldly wealth has form, and is governed by outflows, or attachment. It is also impermanent. The ancient city of Pompeii was buried in ash after Mount Vesuvius erupted. When it was excavated, the remains of the inhabitants were in very good condition. They found the body of a thirty year old woman. Obviously a member of the aristocracy, she was still wearing her jewelry, but it is not her wealth anymore. Her jewelry is probably sitting in a glass case in a museum. In fact, her body is probably in a museum.

Worldly wealth is subject to loss, theft, damage, decomposition, and a thousand other things. But nothing ─ not time, not natural forces, not human beings ─ can take away Dharma wealth.

However, if your mind moves, the wealth is gone.

Likewise, the instant your mind stops moving, you enter the door of Ch’an. And at that moment, your mind is pure; that is, there is no mind. At that moment, you instantly realize the wisdom of non-arising. Such wisdom is not subject to the cycle of birth and death.

The great hero uses the sword of wisdom;
This prajna blade blazes like a diamond.
It not only destroys the mind of the outer paths,
But long ago frightened away the heavenly demons.If you are able to tell your mind to stop moving, and it does, then you are a hero or great person. But if you are unable to do this, then you are just an ordinary person.

If you are able to stop your mind you will be able to move forward in practice and reveal wisdom. Wisdom is as solid and enduring as a diamond, as sharp and powerful as a peerless sword.

Wisdom functions like a vajra sword; it cuts through everything. The sword King Arthur pulled out of the stone was such a sword. If you wield this sword, then you will cut through all false teachings and subdue all heavenly demons. A person whose practice reaches this level acquires remarkable eloquence. As soon as he speaks to an audience or engages in debate, people develop strong faith in him. He has profound faith, and he also has wisdom. Such a person wields a powerful sword.

Sometimes you can be fooled, however. A person may have profound faith in his experience, but his experience may not be genuine. He may be deluding himself, and in turn, you as well. If he believes his expereience is genuine, then there is a strong possibility that his experience is false, because thinking in terms of genuine and false is still delusion.

I met a person in Taiwan who had studied Transcendental Meditation for a long time, and he had absolute faith in it. He believed his experience and wisdom were profound and claimed he could see everything in the world clearly. He visited me to share ideas, but he did all the talking. I could not get a word in edgewise. Finally, I squeezed in one question, and then he took over again, rambling on for another fifteen minutes. He did not answer my question, but instead repeated all his beliefs. I asked the same question again, but he kept repeating himself. For over an hour I listened to and analyzed what he said. It boiled down to a few points which he reiterated over and over. Eventually, I had no more time to talk, or in this case, to listen. As the man left, he said, “You should believe this. You have to believe this.”

No one could refute this person because he would not give anyone the opportunity. He said he had visited many teachers, but no one could stand up to him. He thinks his wisdom is immense. Actually, it is not wisdom. It is fanaticism. He does not wield a vajra sword. His sword is false, because he does not test it.

If you feel you have genuine wisdom, do not expound your ideas in uncontested monologues. If you believe you have a vajra sword, then unsheathe it and take challenges. If it gets hacked into pieces, then it obviously was not the sword you thought it was. You must put your practice and attainment to the test. The man I spoke to pulls out his sword and bellows, “Don’t you dare pull out your sword!” Nobody does, because they are intimidated. That’s not a challenge. He swings a false sword. Of course, his sword is not totally useless. He could use it to cut turnips and greens. But I don’t think that is the kind of sword you want.

At any point in your practice, you may test your insight against Buddhist scripture. If it does not stand the test, then it is not true wisdom. However, there is a problem with this course of action. You might misinterpret the sutras and turn around the meaning to support your experience. Therefore, it is best to rely on Buddhist tradition and study with a good master.

I encouraged someone in Taiwan to study the Diamond Sutra in order to learn about Buddhism. She said she read the Diamond Sutra everyday, but she interpreted and understood it in her own way, which had little in common with the traditional Buddhist interpretation.

Sound the Dharma thunder; beat the Dharma drum;
Spread the clouds of compassion and scatter ambrosia.
Where the elephant king treads the favors are boundless,
The three vehicles and five natures are awakened.

This stanza explains how wisdom can help to save sentient beings by enabling them to attain and experience wisdom. Buddhism teaches the perfect equality of all beings and aims for the liberation of all sentient beings. Analogies along these lines illustrate this point.

The first two analogies are the sounds of thunder and a drum. In the past, people believed that everybody everywhere heard thunder at the same time. They did not know that thunder was a local phenomenon. They believed that in the springtime, when the first sound of thunder clapped in the sky, all beings on earth, whether sleeping, resting or hibernating, were instantly awakened.

Likewise, there is a legend in India about a special drum. If you smear poison on the skin of the drum and then beat it, any enemy who hears the sound will die.

These analogies compare preaching Buddhadharma to the clap of thunder and the beating of a poison-smeared drum. The clap of thunder that awakens all beings in springtime is like Buddhadharma. The Dharma awakens all sentient beings who are lost in the dream of vexation by showing them the truths of Buddhism. The poison-smeared drum is likened to the Buddhadharma’s ability to destroy the false views of outer path followers and demons.

In the second line, the cloud of compassion is like a cloud which temporarily covers the relentless rays of the sun on a sweltering day. When the sun is covered by clouds on a hot day, people are relieved. The heat produced by the brilliant sun is like the suffering produced by vexation, and the cloud that covers the earth and shields sentient beings is Buddhadharma.

I have met people suffering so greatly from mental vexations that they have contemplated suicide. But after hearing the Dharma, they felt better and regained the will to live. A disciple came to see me a while back. She had recently been divorced and her children were visiting her ex-husband and his new wife. She was so despondent that she considered suicide.

I asked her to participate in the winter retreat. At first she refused because, as she said, “I don’t want to practice. I want to die.”

I said, “Please come to the retreat first. After it’s over, if you still want to kill yourself, I won’t try to stop you.” By the third day of the retreat her condition was much better, and by the end of the retreat she felt reborn. She told me her life was starting over again. Since then, things have been wonderful for her. The burning discomfort of mental vexation that she felt was soothed and lessened by the Dharma, just as clouds diminish the searing heat of a relentless sun.

If there were no clouds or dew in an arid region, nothing would survive. One drop of dew is enough to sustain life. So it is with sentient beings who are plagued moment after moment by the heat of vexation. The smallest amount of Buddhadharma is enough to encourage them to continue to practice. It nourishes practice and helps it to grow.

Ambrosia is the fourth image in this stanza. Supposedly, ambrosia is a magical nectar that grants immortality to the person who drinks it. Buddhadharma is like ambrosia. If you drink ambrosia, your physical body will not die. If you embody the teachings of Buddhism, then your wisdom will be eternal.

A person who has revealed true wisdom and uses it to spread Buddhadharma to help sentient beings is called an elephant king. The elelphant, especially a white elephant, is an auspicious animal. Queen Maya dreamt about a six-tusked white elephant at the time of Buddha’s conception. The elephant king is a special, spiritual elephant that is not bound by worldly conditions. It flies above the world. A great Ch’an practitioner is an elephant king. Even though he lives among humans and other sentient beings, he is not subject to suffering. Like the elephant king, the enlightened Ch’an practitioner is not affected by the restrictions of the mundane world. He rises above them and helps all those who have karmic affinity with him.

Originally, only the Buddha was an elephant king, but his disciples who followed in his footsteps became elephant kings as well. Buddha was a prince, but he did not want to grow up to be a king. Others tried to persuade him to abandon his desire to become a monk, but he refused to listen. In the course of his practice, he was attacked by legions of demons. Some came as soldiers who tried to frighten him. Others came as beautiful women who tried to seduce him. He prevailed in every situation. He was not attached to the power of kingship; he was not attached to fear of pain and death; he was not attached to desires of the flesh. He transcended all worldly desires and became an elephant king. He became the Buddha. If a person cannot achieve what the Buddha achieved, then he is not an elephant king. He is a baby elephant who wields a sword that cuts only turnips.

The three vehicles spoken of in the last line of the stanza are Bodhisattvas, sravakas and pratyekabuddhas. They are also incorporated within the two vehicle system of Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism.

The first three natures belong to those beings who are destined to become Bodhisattvas, sravakas and pratyekabuddhas. These beings cannot change or digress from the course they are on. The fourth nature belongs to beings who are not necessarily destined to attain any of the three vehicles. They may attain enlightenment, or they may not. They can digress from the path. The fifth nature belongs to those who are not destined to attain any of the three vehicles. Such beings have not cultivated good karmic roots or karmic affinity with Buddhadharma. However, according to the Ch’an tradition, anybody, no matter which nature they have at the moment, can attain enlightenment and become a Buddha.

The pinodhi grass in the snow mountains is unmixed; I often enjoy the pure ghee it produces.The snow mountains refer to the Himalayas. The Nirvana Sutra mentions an herb called pinodhi grass (fei-ni in Chinese) which grows in these mountains. If a cow eats this grass, then the milk she produces will be like ghee, or refined butter. In this analogy, the pure essence of the pinodhi grass cannot be produced artificially. The pinodhi grass represents the precious essence of Buddhist teachings. Drinking the special ghee has the same effect as sipping ambrosia. A person who practices Ch’an and attains enlightenment will be able to teach the Dharma, and no matter what he says, it will always be the essence of Buddhadharma.

When I lead a Ch’an retreat, I often feel as if I were a mother cow producing milk for her calves. As the calves suck, the mother grows skinny while they grow big and strong. I feel like that mother cow after a Ch’an retreat ─ a little thinner and weaker. It would be great if all I did was eat pinodhi grass and that everything I said was like ghee. But when all is said and done, some people still do not benefit much.

Some people just do not understand. Give them ginseng and they think it’s a carrot. Feed them ghee and they think it’s lard. Of course they benefit even if they do not understand, but not as much as they would if they knew what they were doing, and why they were doing it.

Buddhism says that all sentient beings are equal. However, at any time only some people have karmic affinity with Buddhadharma. Those beings with karmic affinity encounter the Dharma, appreciate it, understand it, and benefit immensely. But you cannot force someone to understand what he or she reads, and you cannot coerce anyone into practicing. Although all sentient beings are equal, some receive more benefit from Buddhadharma than others.

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