Contributed by the Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated, Australia
Mentor: Bennie Spirit
Editor: Yinyue(Ivy)
Proofread by: Wenshu, Qingdeng, Xiaoju, Lily
With gratitude to Google AI Gemini
With gratitude to Gemini NotebookLM
Draft Date: August 19, 2026
Location: BPI Meditation Center
Attendees at the Dharma assembly: Bennie, Ivy, Ellie, Grace, Enid, Dawn
If there are afflictions, there must be selfishness. A person with afflictions cannot do things that benefit others because of their selfish mind; they only want to benefit themselves, do not want others to benefit, and even fear that others might benefit.
Such a person has absolutely no awakening; they do not know that whatever they give to others is what they will receive themselves. Whatever they deny others is what they deny themselves.
The key lies in awakening, and awakening comes from wisdom. If you have wisdom, you will naturally be awakened, and it is impossible to follow afflictions to create even the slightest bit of karma, because you know that afflictions are harmful and not beneficial to yourself, and all your good causes, good conditions, and good fruits will be destroyed. If you can firmly remember this, you would not dare to give rise to afflictions at all.
Thus, it has always been said: why in the Buddhadharma can we not speak of the faults of others? Or even think of the faults of others? Even if it is purely for the benefit of others, you can only point out offenses during the recitation of the precepts; this is an absolute rule. Otherwise, you will just wait for everything to completely fail, and you will not attain peace and happiness. Therefore, those who truly wish to cultivate peace and happiness, and those who cultivate loving-kindness, do not look at the faults of others, but only see the merits and virtues of sentient beings.
If you cannot do this, you are not a person who cultivates loving-kindness. Loving-kindness is peace and happiness. You will not attain peace and happiness yourself, nor will others attain peace and happiness. Therefore, a person who cultivates loving-kindness will inevitably achieve the state of not seeing the faults of sentient beings, but only seeing their merits and virtues.
“Different” means exceptional or specific. Exceptional Bodhisattvas specifically cultivate the power of wisdom. Because their wisdom is thoroughly penetrated, no matter how they speak of others’ faults or give rise to afflictive behaviors, it is beneficial to them. Because, as mentioned later, all afflictive behaviors form the fire of wisdom; afflictions are the firewood, and only with this firewood can the fire be ignited. Thus, the more they manifest this, the stronger their wisdom becomes.
Why is this? Because they have thoroughly verified, clearly understood, and even fully mastered how karma is formed. We learned before that creating karma requires three conditions. First, there must be a root basis; second, there must be expedient means; third, there is the completion. When these three conditions are fully met, fixed karma is formed. Ultimately, fixed karma is inescapable, and you can only receive the retribution. Because Bodhisattvas possess this wisdom, they will not allow the karma to form perfectly; for them, it is not an affliction, but the firewood to ignite the fire of wisdom. Their wisdom comes from a true and thorough understanding of afflictions.
It is just like a farmer: a farmer does not like fertilizer, but they know that to make their crops grow well, they will look for fertilizer everywhere, even process the fertilizer, and then apply it. They are completely immersed in working with fertilizer; although the smell is awful and it makes people uncomfortable, the harvest will be excellent. However, this does not mean the farmer loves this stuff; they would not want to eat the fertilizer themselves, nor would they smear it on their bodies, and if a little gets on them, they will quickly wash it off. Therefore, the farmer has great wisdom.
Bodhisattvas are just like this: they utilize afflictions to nourish and expand their wisdom, relying on this fertilizer to benefit sentient beings. Therefore, the “Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra” in the *Avatamsaka Sutra* states that sentient beings are the roots of the tree; if you constantly accord with sentient beings and satisfy their need for fertilizer and water, using the water of Great Compassion to benefit them, you are the great tree that will ultimately blossom and bear fruit. If you fight with the roots over the fertilizer and water, can your great Bodhi tree still blossom and bear fruit? Even surviving would be a problem because there is no more fertilizer and water. So, on the surface, you are taking a loss, busy all day getting fertilizer and water to nourish the great tree, as if it has nothing to do with you. Actually, you are wrong; it is not that it has nothing to do with you, but that all your Bodhi flowers and fruits rely entirely on these roots absorbing nutrients to yield a harvest.
Think about it now: are we competing with sentient beings for fertilizer and water, or are we giving away fertilizer and water to sentient beings with a mind of Great Compassion?
Satisfying the needs of sentient beings means giving them fertilizer and water with Great Compassion, which is constantly according with sentient beings. If you fight for everything, the great tree will eventually wither, and ultimately, your Bodhi tree will be gone too.
Therefore, it is said that Bodhi belongs to sentient beings because when sentient beings receive benefits, when you satisfy their interests and accord with their welfare, your great tree can thrive and yield abundant flowers and fruits.
If you fight for what is right in front of your eyes, you lose everything. You fight for a penny, but lose ten thousand dollars. Have you suffered a loss or gained an advantage? Sentient beings spend all day doing things that result in huge losses, forcefully turning ten thousand dollars into a penny.
Therefore, in the very first dedication of the Ten Dedications in the *Avatamsaka Sutra*, it is mentioned that Bodhisattvas will benefit all sentient beings at all costs, even giving away their heads, eyes, hands, and feet, and even giving away their entire family to them. Why do they do this? Because Bodhisattvas all understand that this is not a loss, but a gain, and this is called having wisdom.
A person with afflictions can only believe in delusions and follow their feelings; on impulse, they will do anything, and the result of their actions is the destruction of all their own benefits. How much peace, happiness, or freedom can a person who has lost all benefits still have?
When can these concepts be remembered at all times? If you remember them, you become a Bodhisattva with wisdom, and all the afflictive matters and afflictive actions you give rise to will generate true benefits for you.
Just like the story of the farmer mentioned earlier: they do not like this fertilizer, they never take a bite of it, nor do they wear fertilizer as clothes, or sleep on it, but all year round they are immersed in the process of making and applying fertilizer.
If you treat all greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt as fertilizer—not something you like, not something you want, not something indispensable—you can use it to benefit sentient beings, using this fertilizer to benefit them because sentient beings need it. Maintain such a mindset at all times, and let it be a purely purified mindset. Do not say, “The fertilizer is quite good, let me take a couple of bites.” Then you are no longer a Bodhisattva, much less a Bodhisattva of Wisdom Practice; you are on the same level as sentient beings; you are merely a tree root, the root for others to achieve their Bodhi flowers and fruits.
You want to depart from all karmic obstacles (meaning you are incapable of doing anything but eating). Why do such karmic obstacles appear? Because of past retributions; the karma created in the past forms the retribution now.
If from now on you no longer wish to self-harm, self-injure, or self-destruct, and you want to be liberated from these karmic obstacles, you should give rise to profound faith and understanding in all the Dharmas practiced by Bodhisattvas.
For example, regarding cause and effect, as well as the Bodhi flowers and fruits, can you deeply believe and deeply understand them? If you have already achieved this, you will naturally not give rise to discrimination regarding the faults of sentient beings, and you can see at a glance that this is simply how things are. So, they are the roots of the tree; they can only consume fertilizer and water, and what they receive is nothing but fertilizer and water.
If you are there discriminating about how many kinds of fertilizer they ate, how many kinds of water they drank, and even want to fight for a little bit, then you become the same kind as them.
After generating profound faith and understanding, you will not discriminate about this; you will not discriminate about what flavors the maggots in the cesspool are tasting, nor will you go and fight them for those flavors, because your dimension is different from theirs. A person who has generated profound faith and understanding in Bodhisattva practices will inevitably resolve to seek the true merits and virtues of the Tathagata. The key is profound faith and understanding.
How much faith do you have in the Buddhadharma? Many people say they believe in the Buddha; if you truly believe in the Buddha, you will certainly believe in the Dharma spoken by the Buddha, and you will certainly practice according to the teachings—that is called true faith. Your faith currently is not up to standard, let alone profound faith. Therefore, to elevate yourself, you must first maintain pure faith; do not add a little, subtract a little, or change a little of the Buddhadharma; maintain its original flavor in your faith, and maintain this state in your understanding. With more understanding comes more faith, and with more faith comes more understanding. Faith is the cause, and understanding is the fruit; when you plant understanding as a cause again, it will bear even more fruits. Cycling eternally in this way, you will have faith everywhere, understanding everywhere, and the realization of fruits will manifest everywhere, which can be considered profound faith and understanding. Do not stagnate in superficial faith and understanding, or even faith and understanding tainted by your own emotional consciousness and assumptions. The most severe cases are those who use the Buddhadharma as a tool in an attempt to satisfy their afflictions; they are demons, not disciples of the Buddha. Disciples of the Buddha inherit the Buddha’s legacy in its original flavor and revive the Tathagata’s enterprise.
You do not even have superficial faith; if you truly believed, you would know that afflictions are bad, and you would inevitably not follow them. Going a little deeper, you would know that afflictions are demons, harmful, and not beneficial; just like if you ate that fertilizer, it would be harmful and not beneficial to you, so you definitely would not follow afflictions, pledge loyalty to afflictions, or become offspring of demons. Only through your true faith in the Buddha and the Buddha’s wisdom can you allow yourself and sentient beings to attain true benefits and peace, and you will not use the Buddhadharma as a tool to benefit the demons of affliction. It still comes down to the issue of faith and understanding; corresponding to how true, pure, deep, and broad your faith and understanding are, your ability to destroy afflictions will achieve the same effect.
First of all, you must know that there are many Bodhisattvas who understand the various expedient practices very deeply and thoroughly.
Expedient practices are just like a doctor who has a thorough understanding of the illnesses of sentient beings; they can rely on the corresponding solutions (which are methods) to resolve the suffering of the illnesses. Some people need surgery, some must take medicine, some need injections, and for some, you have to chat with them to resolve their psychological issues.
These solutions and methods are called expedient means. Expedient practices are the expedient actions of applying these solutions and methods, which are the specific implementations; they must delve deeply into them, thoroughly understand and exercise them, in order to truly resolve the problems.
As for a doctor, this cannot be achieved by studying for one or two days; it may even take five or six years of professional study and training just to step through the threshold. Moving forward after entering the threshold, they can enter the great hall of medicine, and at this time it can be called deep mastery.
In terms of cultivation, Bodhisattvas follow this same principle; only starting from your initial thorough understanding of cause and effect, thorough understanding of afflictions, and thorough understanding of wisdom can you enter the threshold. Moving forward after entering the threshold and ascending to the hall of awakening is called deep mastery.
Therefore, one should know that the expedient practices of a Bodhisattva of Wisdom Practice are difficult to believe and difficult to understand; they are very hard to believe, comprehend, and understand, because they are fundamentally not from the same dimension.
However, sentient beings easily judge things of a higher dimension, and even think, “How are these people practicing well? They are simply sick, simply heartless and ruthless.” When everyone studies “The Beloved Son Dies by a Snake,” they use their own one-dimensional level to understand three-dimensional matters, and they truly cannot understand it: what kind of people are this family? The father sees his son dead and does not care at all, even saying to bring one less portion of food. The mother does not care, and the wife does not care; it cannot be understood. Of course it cannot be understood, because you are one-dimensional and they are three-dimensional, so how can you understand them? Not only do you not understand, but you will also use your one-dimensional perspective and reasoning to say, “This two-dimensional stuff is completely unreasonable; where is front and back? Nonsense, there is no such thing.” As for three dimensions, “That is even more nonexistent; left and right have appeared, not just front and back, it even formed a plane—what an outrage!” If you limit yourself to your one-dimensional state and refuse to change, you will forever remain a one-dimensional point.
The key point in this passage is to explain that a Bodhisattva of Wisdom Practice is not someone just anyone can believe in, and not someone just anyone can comprehend; therefore, do not lightly speak nonsense. Think of the five hundred Bodhisattvas mentioned earlier: they easily believed in their own dimension, were ignorant of matters in higher dimensions, and passed reckless judgments, making themselves more and more miserable—so miserable that they were inferior even to ordinary sentient beings; they became incapable of doing any proper matters, but fully capable of doing improper matters, doing what they should not do, and losing their right mindfulness.
Therefore, the circle is completed here: you must know that the expedient practices of a Bodhisattva of Wisdom Practice are difficult to believe and understand!
Realization: Being the “tail of a phoenix” is the safest; being the “head of a chicken” makes it very easy to take on other people’s negative karma for oneself to bear!
ENDING
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