Essay Writing of Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated
(Issue 4)
A Brief Discussion on Doubt
—- How a Bodhisattva practitioner can subdue doubt and actively cultivate faith to help sentient beings
Instructor：Shi Wuguang
Author: Wang Huaigu
January 18, 2012
Abstract
A bodhisattva practitioner should not only know the the harm of doubt and other vexations, be ashamed, try to stay away from doubt, subdue doubt, and not harm all sentient beings with doubt, but also practice faith in all sentient beings to actively rescue and protect all sentient beings. Because it is the duty and responsibility of a Bodhisattva to truly benefit others.
Key words: Bodhisattva, doubt, harm, practice faith, rescue and protect
Chapter 1: Introduction
Section 1 Motivation
The Flower Adornment Sutra says, “Faith is the source of the Way and the mother of merit and virtue, and it nurtures all the good roots.” In the long process of subduing the demons and achieving the Buddha Way, the subduing of doubt is the most important thing for a true Buddhist. The bodhisattva practitioner vows to break off all ignorance and doubt in oneself and others. Then, as a practitioner, especially a Bodhisattva practitioner, one should understand very clearly what doubt is. What kind of serious harm and suffering does the doubt and its offshoots bring to sentient beings? How does it manifest itself in the oral and physical karma of himself and others? What can be done to subdue doubt in oneself and others?
Section 2: Purpose of the Study
The harm that doubt brings to sentient beings, practitioners and bodhisattva practitioners is too great. It can destroy one’s own and others’ wisdom, blessings, good roots, cause , effect, abilities, interpersonal relationships, and even the supreme Buddha path. Therefore, as a true Buddhist, one should aspire to first subdue the doubt, and then subdue the demons and attain Buddhahood. If every practitioner and bodhisattva practitioner can not only subdue doubts, but also practice faith in sentient beings to actively rescue and protect them and lead them to subdue doubts and even subdue demons to achieve the Buddha Way, that would be a blessing for sentient beings, for Buddhism, and for the world, and a joy for the Buddha!
Section 3: Research Methods
As a practitioner or a Buddhas’ disciple , how should one think and act correctly in order to subdue doubts? The main way to subdue doubts is to rely on the Buddha’s wisdom. We should be wise and enlightened, that is, we should first understand and realize when people doubt, why they doubt, and on what basis doubt arises.
For example, if a Bodhisattva puts on the armor of single-minded determination to achieve the Buddha’s path, this is a wonderful way to subdue doubt. Other specific ways to subdue doubts are through the beings’ suffering and their evil wisdom, making great compassion and the return of all good roots, the extraordinary development of the ten kinds of doubtlessness, the wisdom of cause and effect, repentance in accord with the dharma, and using the power of the Buddha’s supreme vows.
Chapter 2: What is Doubt
In our lives, we often hear phrases such as “doubt, doubt gods and ghosts, I don’t believe in evil”. What is the definition of doubt? If we want to understand the definition of doubt, it is best to first know what the opposite of doubt is, “faith”, and its importance.
”Faith is the source of the Buddha’s path and the mother of merit and virtue , which nurtures all good deeds.” These are all familiar quotes from Buddhism. And they really show us how important it is to have faith, root of faith and power of faith in the Buddhas’ teachings, kind mentor, and all the Triple Jewel in the process of practicing Buddhism.
On the contrary, doubt is the natural enemy of faith, the root of faith, and the power of faith, and will destroy all these good dharma, good roots, and the supreme Buddha path. If there is doubt, there is no faith, and if there is faith, there is no doubt. The two are not the same, just like darkness and light, if there is darkness, there is no light, and if there is light, there is no darkness.
Throughout the ages, in the long practice of subduing demons and achieving Buddha Way, the subduing of doubts is an extremely crucial priority for a true Buddhist —- real Bodhisattva practitioner. As mentioned in the Four Great Vows of the Bodhisattva: “I vow to take across boundless beings , and cut off endless vexations.”
Because the harm that doubt brings to sentient beings, practitioners and bodhisattvas is so great, we must subdue the demon of doubt if we want to subdue the demon and attain the Buddha path. According to the Sutra of the Precepts for Upasaka , “All vexations are my great grievances. What is the reason? Because it is the vexation that can break the self and others.” It is because doubt and other afflictions can destroy all the good things in the world and in the world beyond, such as wisdom, blessings, good roots, cause, condition, ability, interpersonal relationships, and even the Supreme Buddha Way. Therefore, as a true Buddhas’ disciple , one should aspire to subdue vexations, especially doubt, and even to subdue the demons and achieve the path of the Supreme Buddha.
In summary, the author will try to discuss the vexation of doubt from the following aspects.
First, let us understand: what is the definition of doubt? In Volume 1 of the Explanation of the Mahayana Hundred Dharma Clear Door Theory, it says, “Doubt is the nature of hesitation in all truths and can obstruct the goodness of not doubting. The one who obstructs goodness is the one who does not have goodness because of hesitation. Doubt is the opposite of faith, that is, unbelief, and in Buddhism it is considered an annoyance.
In modern times, there are many words for doubt: “suspicion”, “doubt”, ” harbor suspicion”. From this we can see the various specific undesirable manifestations of sentient beings’ skepticism, habitually disbelieving everyone, believing only in their own way, sometimes they do not even believe in themselves. But they are not aware of the disadvantages and hazards involved. Therefore, we Bodhisattva practitioners should try to find ways to break all the doubts and disbeliefs of ourselves and all sentient beings.
Chapter 3: The Effects, Hazards, and Sufferings of Doubt
Since sentient beings have doubts in any time, they do not know the harmful effects of doubts and even the ultimate disaster. Then what are the harms and sufferings that doubt brings to us? In the following section, I will analyze with you how doubt and the vexations arising from doubt are created and the harm, suffering and destructive power they produce.
Section 1: The cause of doubt, how it is created, and the suffering and harm it causes
Why do sentient beings doubt? For example, if one’s own karma is incompatible with that of others, one will have doubts; if one’s hobbies and aspirations are different from those of others, one will also have doubts: Why is this person like this?
Some people, because of their habits, have to doubt and guess about everything. Generally speaking, it is very dangerous. Because it is a guess, and their own guesses of this and uncertainty, it is difficult to have this firm belief. Even their own guesses, sometimes also guessed the opposite, the final result is very difficult to produce the correct results. If you have doubts on top of doubts, that is to add insult to injury. For example, some people have a deep suspicion like the sea, they are fine, but because of the delusion of a thought and the cooperation of the suspicion, they suspect if they have some serious illness. He has been staring at that , all day long, thinking nonsense, the result is that he is not originally sick, but finally he is sick due to their own doubts.
The reason why sentient beings doubt is that they believe that “seeing is believing, hearing is not believing”, and their insight of real being is very strong. They are unwilling to believe it if they have not seen such a fact themselves; they are also determined and foolish enough to think that they are the most trustworthy of all, so why should I believe in others and in the Triple Jewel? Is there really such a law of cause and effect? Are there really such evil paths as the hungry ghosts and hell? Is there really a Western Elysium? Is Buddha the all-knowing, all-fulfilling One? Is it true that by being kind, compassionate, joyful and giving to all sentient beings, one can achieve the supreme Buddhahood? Is there really a supreme Buddhahood?
This is the doubt caused by their ignorance, that is, they do not understand anything, but they think they do. However, they do not know that these doubts and misgivings bring about extremely serious obstacles, rejection, harm and painful effects on themselves and on sentient beings, so that they will lose the vast and boundless good benefits.
So what are the specific hazards of doubt ?
1. Doubt can obscure and obstruct the wisdom eyes of sentient beings
First of all, we should know that doubt can obscure and obstruct the wisdom eyes of sentient beings. In the Flower Adornment Sutra , it says:
“Greed and love are the entanglement, flattery is the reins and bit, doubt can obscure one’s eyes, and one enters into all evil paths.”
From this, we can see that doubt can blind the wisdom eyes of sentient beings and lead them to all the evil paths, and even create endless evils.
Secondly, doubting the right Dharma is held by the devil
Next, we should know that slandering the right Dharma will exclude the Buddha’s absorbing and upholding. The Flower Adornment Sutra also says: “The Bodhisattva Mahavamsa has ten kinds of absorbing and upholding of demons. What are these ten? The minds of slackness, one is absorbed and upheld by demon, and the aspiration and joy of inferiority, one is absorbed and upheld by demon…… Doubt and slander of the right Dharma, one is absorbed and upheld by demon.” It is mentioned here that doubting and slandering the right Dharma is a kind of phenomenon that is absorbed and upheld by the devil, and naturally the absorbing and upholding of all the Buddhas are rejected.
3. Doubt is false, specializing in deceiving and confusing unwise sentient beings
Although doubt actively rejects everything, can make the good conditions gradually go and the bad conditions come, but at the same time it is false and unreal, like the moon in the water and flowers in the mirror, like a dream and a fantasy. One must not think of it as real, because doubt is originally a delusion, a false thought, and this thought is not true. Once one take it as a real thought, there is no way to break it and subdue it, because one is sure that it is real and not false.
How can we prove that doubt is false and untrue? We can give an example to illustrate. For example, if a person is having doubts, and then someone suddenly shouts that a tiger is coming, the person who is having doubts immediately runs for his life, and when he looks back, his doubts have already disappeared. There are more than one or thousands of examples like this in our lives. It’s just a matter of whether we pay attention to it or not. From this example or similar daily examples, we can understand and realize how illusory and unreal doubt is, just an illusion like a mirage, just an illusion of instantaneous birth and death. It is not eternally true and unchanging. But since sentient beings do not have these wisdoms, but only doubts, they are often deceived and confused by doubts.
4. Doubt, like sulfuric acid, erodes the conditions, good roots, virtue and merit of each other
Doubt is like sulfuric acid water, which can erode the conditions and good benefits of each other, and even erode it in a few days. Sometimes, when someone does not agree with oneself anymore, doubts, anger, arrogance, having a bee in one’s head and delusions will come out unconsciously. Why does this happen? Why is this so? Because other people do not mess with their own, and I have doubts and other vexations, which means that one make things too complicated for people and things, so it is easy to mix with doubts and other vexations and delusions, which will erode and destroy each other’s good conditions and even good roots , virtues and merits, which is also self-destructive of good conditions and self-made obstacles.
After the above comprehensive analysis, in a nutshell, we can understand that doubt is obstructive, repulsive, delusional and erosive. In view of this, we must realize that the confusion, harm and suffering brought to sentient beings by doubt are countless and endless, and then we will use our wisdom to get away from the very powerful sulfuric acid of doubt .
Then, how do I create and manifest my doubts in my daily life and work? How many confusions, problems, hazards and sufferings does doubt bring to me? Such examples are too numerous to mention.
As the saying goes, there is waves without wind! This kind of doubt is like a gale in the sea, which makes me doubt people around me, others, relatives, friends, teachers, colleagues and leaders, and as a result, the distance between me and others and their good benefits, realms, merits, virtues and abilities becomes more and more distant. Even I don’t believe in myself, so I let my good conditions fade away and my bad conditions come, so I become a loner, and eventually I lose all my good roots, merits and virtues ! In response to the words of others and all kind mentors and teachings of the Buddha, one often has all kinds of doubts like a wise son doubting his neighbor, and one is presumptuous in speculation, suspicion, doubt, and estimation, and one is confused and entangled in myself, and I automatically keep myself away from the Three Jewels and all those around me.
Doubt also makes one feel anxious and suspicious all the time, so one can’t do one’s work, study, work, or practice, and my mind is not strong enough, let alone successful. The greatest harm of doubt is that it has a repulsive power. When I have doubts about another person, I find our good karma will be quickly closed and our bad karma will be quickly condensed, and the distance between us will naturally become more and more distant.
Moreover, as this doubt increases, the more doubt, the more distant, and when the doubt disappears to a certain amount, I can’t get back the distance, I can’t even get closer even if I want to get closer, and the good relationship and good karma between each other are destroyed by this doubt.
In the end, you will not be able to make a few good friends, not to mention friendships of life and death and life-long friendships, making my situation worse and worse, and even becoming lonely and miserable. To be suspicious of ordinary beings is so terrible. If we have doubts about the true kind mentors, good friends, buddhas ,bodhisattvas and the Dharma around us, the consequences will be even more unimaginable. It will make us farther and farther away from kind mentors and the Three Jewels , so far that we will not be able to see them in the end.
This doubt just does not want us to get well, if it sees our suffering and it is only happy, the more we suffer, the happier doubt will be, there secretly being happy.
Therefore, the doubt brings us the appearance of failure, self-harm and future misfortune, and even all kinds of future misfortune can be shaped by it.
In summary, we have realized how our doubts are created and manifested in our life, work, and practice, and the horrible harms, hazards, and sufferings they bring.
Then, what are the eight kinds of branch vexations that are derived from doubt: “unbelief, discomposure , drowsiness, dropping out, loss of thought , stinginess, flattery, and knowledge of unrighteousness”, and how do they create, manifest, and bring about the terrible harms, hazards, and sufferings in life, work, and practice?
Section 2: How do the eight kinds of branch vexations derived from doubt create and what are the sufferings and hazards they cause?
Why do we need to analyze these branch vexations that are derived from doubts? Because it enables us to know precisely what state we are in at all times, what kind of branch vexations we are in, and in which category and item we are. In other words, if we want to analyze the specific manifestations of our vexations, we can observe them in detail and then compare and study them one by one. If we pay attention to it, then we will have a clearer, deeper and more thorough understanding of doubt and its subtle branch vexations , so that we can fear or even be afraid of doubt and its branch afflictions, which will lay a very solid and firm foundation for the later subduing of doubt.
In view of the above reasons, the author will analyze and explore the specific appearance of the branching afflictions from the main doubt.
1. Unbelief
“Unbelief: It means that there is no confidence in the right Dharma because of evil views and doubts, and therefore one is angry and in a mess, which is called unbelief .”
What is unbelief? It means having evil views and doubts, not having faith in all the right Dharma, and therefore being disturbed in one’s mind.
Unbelief is doubt, but this doubt is not just doubt, it is often corresponding to arrogance, when one is in a blend of arrogance and doubt, one will not believe. For example, what happens to a person who has only doubts and no arrogance, who puts himself in a very low position?, if such a person has only doubts, he will ask questions and seek advice, and he may analyze a point of view of others and become convinced, so there must be a blend of arrogance and doubts before there will be disbelief. If he has both doubts and arrogance, he will never ask for advice, and can’t have faith.
The specific manifestations of disbelief are: disbelief in Buddha, disbelief in Dharma, and disbelief in monks . Because of disbelief, the conditions of rejection arises. If you have this kind of mutually exclusive conditions, if you have been excluding for a long time, you will not be able to see others ,the Dharma and everything else. Doubt is the cause and condition of mutual rejection, and because of it, people reject each other, and eventually they do not meet each other in old age and death, and never meet each other.
There are many examples of such doubts. For example, in the story The Greedy Man Causes Trouble (from the Sutra on the Elder Sound and Joy of the Elders Preached by the Buddha), because the layman of externalism Bulanjaya only believed in his own greed and did not believe in the Buddha’s repeated admonition of kindness and compassion, made a serious mistake and was beaten up with a stick by others with the loss of face and self-defeating.
Then, how does one’s unbelief manifest itself specifically in daily life and work?
I did not believe in the many true teachings of kind mentor. I did not believe that the kind mentor has great blessings and hidden merits, and as a result, I lost a lot of goodness; I did not believe that the kind mentor allows the other party to take care of the money when we first start a family and become the family’s finance minister, thinking that she is not like this from my own observation; I did not believe that students with poor grades can become good and grow up to be successful, and I viewed them with common and definite theories, often saying, “If you get better and get into a university, the sun will come out from the west. The sun comes out from the west.” I do not believe in supporting the official as beating a tiger, one must be successful at a time, so that I lost a better job with good pay; I do not believe in the truth that children should be educated from an early age, everything for him is left to nature, when he grows up ,he will be good naturally, foolishly thinking that one will cross the bridge when he gets to it.
At the same time, we must also understand and realize the harms, hazards, and sufferings of unbelief.
The cause of unbelief will bring about the effect of unbelief, just like a shadow follows the body, just like a sound responds sound , which is true and not false. When there is more unbelief, doubts and discomfort in my heart will naturally often arise. The distance between oneself and others, one’s realm, merit , virtue and one’s ability becomes more and more distant, and others do not believe in oneself, nor do they dare to believe in oneself. So, I can’t make a few good friends who are sincere, and even make others hold a grudge against me and doubt everything I say and do many times.
2. Discomposure
Discomposure: The mind is always at loose ends and is called discomposure . It means that the mind is always in turmoil and disturbed because it is attached by all the objects that cause it to drift away and not to be still. This is called discomposure.
What is discomposure ? Because of the fear of harming one’s own interests, one worries about this and fears that, and clings to all external conditions and objects, causing one’s mind to wander and never be still. Therefore, the mind is always in disarray.
What is scattered? It is a scattered mess, unable to focus, unable to concentrate, unable to come together. Chaos means thinking about everything. We should know that creating karma according to disorder has corresponding retributions.
Then, how does one’s discomposure and disorder manifest itself specifically in daily life and work?
If I don’t do well in my job, I think and worry about it, and I think it’s the problem of the leaders and the students, but I never think it’s my problem. When the bad results come, my mind is confused and thinks that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not work, and that the power of them is nothing more than that, so I don’t want to study Buddhism, don’t want to work well, and even think that I don’t want to study Buddhism anymore and don’t work anymore. There are many people in the world who do not study Buddhism, but they are still living a good life.
At the same time, we should also understand and realize the harm, danger and suffering brought about by disorder and distraction.
We are always thinking about having a head full of bees, saying and doing things cause oneself and others not understand.
3. Dullness or drowsiness
Dullness: The dullness of the mind and the confusion of the mind in all the dharmas, which disturbs the mind.
From this, we can understand what is dullness? It means that the mind is dazed and confused and does not know anything about all the dharmas, so the mind is disturbed and disordered.
What does it mean to be dull? When one is not sensible, when one is not in tune with the Dharma, including being unconscious and sleeping, one is called being dull. What does it mean by sinking? It means that one has sunk to the point of drowsiness and cannot be pulled out. For example, when one falls into the dike of eating and collapses, that is sinking into eating.
Also, turbidity is faintness. For example, if we go to find a transparent cup and put water inside, and look through the water, can we see everything? This is called clarity. At this time, when we put a handful of dirt in the water and look at it again, what effect does it have? This is called turbidity.
That is to say, people cannot think of problems, they think in a dull way, and this is a turbid phase. The turbid phase just isn’t clear anymore. What does it mean to be sunken? It means that one can’t sink where one should sink, but sink where one shouldn’t sink. For example, if a person falls into the ocean, he can see clearly at first, but the deeper he sinks, the more clearly he cannot see. After sinking to a depth of several thousand meters, you will find that even the light is gone, because there is no light at the depth of the sea.
And if, people fall in the lust between men and women, it is like dipping into the water, the deeper the sink is , the more confused he sees, and sinking to the end, one can not see anything, he can only feel the endless pressure, compression, pain. After sinking, there will be endless pressure and pain, but also can not see the light, if one further sinks down, the internal pressure will make all the blood vessels explode, heart explode and brain explode .From this, we should know that the pressure brought by this dullness is very strong.
Try to ask everyone, “Is it better to sink? Is it good to sleep? ”If you have experienced it, you know that it should be very bad. For example, sleep, you can try to sleep for three days in a row, and after trying it, you will know whether it is good or bad. Sometimes even without spending so long, you will find that when you get up, the waist can not get up, the body also can not stand, as if you are sick.
Waist actually has no disease, but you lie there, the pain can not get up, this is the pressure of sinking to a certain level, if you continue to sink, you can see what you can be pressured. Everyone may try this, to lie for three days as a base, you can add up, to ensure that you will enter the state of pain.
We know that the hospital bedridden patients, lying in bed for a long time without moving, and eventually his body are growing sores, maggots, this is a sinking.
In summary, when people sink to a certain level, they are bound to suffer a lot of pain, and even suffering.
Then, how does one’s dullness or drowsiness manifest itself in daily life and work?
For example, sometimes I lose my wits, I lose my will to play with things, I have fallen into the deep pit of dullness such as mahjong, chess and go, and I often fall into the swamp of appetite, lust, sleep and drama, just like an old elephant trapping in the mud, I can’t pull myself out even if I want to.
At the same time, we have to understand and realize the many dangers, hazards and sufferings caused by drowsiness.
We are not successful in our studies, not successful in our career, not successful in our practice, and not successful in our family; the habit of drowsiness drives us to love to be drowsy, and we are not happy if we do not confuse or sink a few times in the course of our studies and work. What a bitchy bone! Sometimes, the body is heavy, stiff and weak, the mind is dark, and we spend the days like years, are not willing to do anything, can not lift the energy.
4 Dropping out
The name “dropping out” refers to the disturbance of the external world, the body and mind are shaken, unable to control and subdue, and thus are disturbed, which is called dropping out.
It can be seen that dropping out is disturbed by the external world of the heavenly flowers raining down, the body and mind shake up, and one can not control the body and mind in a situation, and thus the body and mind disturbed, taking a rake in the east and another rake in the west.
In fact, dropping, it is not very different from losing one’s mind, it is also disorganized, playing other delusions; just like a person without hands can not hold things, even if he has hands , how long can he hold it for? Even if he has hands, how long can he hold it? Not long. How long can one chant Buddha? The chanting becomes drowsy, the chanting falls down, and it becomes evil. It’s the same with doing anything right, One doesn’t have to do it for two minutes before the evil thing comes. It’s always better to be evil, but not to be evil. To be able to lift for a long time and not fall down, it requires the root and power of vigor. Without the root and power of vigor, one will not be able to lift long, and will soon fall down.
The drop, that is, no matter what you hold up, pick up anything, it falls. This drop is not a bad to the end, nor a good to the end, it is no matter what to hold，all as the northern black bears break corn, he breaks one and loses the other, working hard all night, looking very diligent, but in the end he gets almost nothing. The same is true of the harm caused by the vexation of dropping.
Another example is that we wanted to do this thing, but suddenly that thing came and we went to do that thing again. And then another thing came, and went to do another, and finally none of the things were well done. Just like when some people study, they don’t read well, and when they work, they don’t do their jobs well. Why? Because his mind is always falling down, always falling down in his study and work.
Then, how does one’s dropping out manifest itself in daily life and work?
When I study the scriptures and listen to a recording, I have to eat something to comfort myself after one or two hours, or find a wonderful and exciting TV drama to comfort myself and stimulate me; when I learn the method of subduing vexations, I do not see any obvious effect, so I want to eat, drink ,play and amuse to adjust; when I work, dwell in the self-nature, and help sentient beings for not long, because sentient beings are too obstinate and difficult to be transformed, so I think these are not very interesting, then I adjust myself, change the channel, and let myself follow the drop.
At the same time, we also need to understand and realize the problems, hazards and sufferings brought to ourselves and others by dropping out: always looking for new external stimuli, physical stimuli, mental stimuli, unexpected surprises, etc.; all the things I should do are not done successfully in one go. Sometimes, I even have a maggot in one’s head, my words and deeds often make myself and others can not understand them; I often regret for my own failure , but I can not change it, and do not want to change it ,either; I work very inefficiently, live a hard and tired life, live a very uncomfortable and extremely uneasy life.
5. Loss of thought
Loss of thought: the mind follows the evil and delusion, and the right thought is lost, so one falls down and disturbs the mind, which is called loss of thought .
From here we can understand that the loss of thought is that one’s own mind often chases evil thoughts, delusions, so that the right thoughts naturally get lost, so one sinks into the evil thoughts, delusions, the mind is disturbed.
Loss of thought is also known as dropping out. For example, the chanting of Avalokiteshvara is often lost, what should be remembered can not be remembered, always forget something, as long as the loss of this right mind, it is called loss of mind. You want to chant the Buddha you do not chant, making the Buddha chanted lost is called loss of thought. As long as it is always lost thoughts, then it is called loss of thoughts. Sometimes, one wants to find that thought, to find that delusion, but it is lost, one can not find it, which is also called losing thought.
Then, in daily life and work, how does losing one’s mind manifest itself in concrete ways?
I forget where I put things, such as keys, cell phones, etc.; I often lose the thought of kindness, compassion, joy and giving, I think it’s too much trouble to benefit others, and I often lose my compassion; I lose the thought of dwelling in my own self-nature, and dwelling in the thought of goodness and good deeds; I often get disturbed by delusions when chanting the Buddha’s name, and I end up losing my right mind at that moment.
At the same time, we must also understand and realize the harm, danger, and suffering that comes from losing our thoughts.
We do not do all the things we need to do in one go, and we often do not finish the self-beneficial and others-beneficial things in time, and they are always delayed. Like the vexation of losing one’s mind, one often has a head full of bees; one often regrets one’s own failures, but one often cannot change them; one is not efficient, one lives a hard and tiring life, and one is extremely uncomfortable and uneasy.
6 Stinginess
Stinginess: Not giving willingly is called stinginess. One is greedy and saving for all the wealth and property and can’t give it away, and is always worried about losing it, and his mind is disturbed, which is called stinginess.
Stinginess is like cutting off one’s flesh, and he deeply regrets it . When one is stingy and gives something to someone, one cannot let go of it, just like cutting off his flesh. As it is said in the Sutra of the Merit and Virtue of the Past Vows of Medicine Master Vaidurya Light Tathagata, “It is like cutting the flesh of one’s body, and he deeply regrets it.”
As we have learned in the story of talking about cause The Incarnation is involved in a lawsuit in the Law, the most typical representative of a man who was so stingy was Lu Zhi. He was so stingy that he could not even give or use his own money, let alone his wife and servants, and it was even harder for others to give. In practice, the more you are stingy, the less you attain. Only fools and devils’ sons can be stingy, but wise Bodhisattvas are active in giving.
There is also a story that illustrates the danger of being stingy very well. The title of the story is: The difference between everyone’s giving something to me and my giving something to everyone. The story goes that there were two people who were about to get out of hell. The Yama said to them, “ Now I will give you a chance to say what you want and what you want to do after you get out, and I will fulfill your wishes.” One of them said, “I wish everyone would give me something.” Another said: “I wish to give something to others.” Finally, when Yama heard this, he said, “Okay, I have promised to fulfill your wishes, and I will do it. So he asked one man to be a beggar and get something from everyone, and asked the other man to be an alms-giving billionaire and give something to everyone.
When these two people heard this, the one who “wanted everyone to give me something” was dumbfounded. This is not my original purpose, I was originally afraid of something less, so I want everyone to give me something, I am not afraid of something more. But in fact, what kind of people can get something from everyone? It is the beggar, the one who asks for food. What kind of person can give something to others? First of all, he has to have something, he can give people, that is good alms billionaire. So that person who goes to be a beggar is simply very sad, because he originally did not mean this, the result is such a result. Why? Because of this annoyance: stinginess, so he suffers from it.
There is also someone who likes to settle accounts with his family, and this is actually also stinginess.
First, he is afraid that he will suffer; second, he cannot let others take advantage of him; third, he does not want to give to others, and he is not willing to give. However, if one is stingy for one’s brothers and sisters, it is not a bad thing. If you have to count your wife and children, you are seriously stingy.You can imagine that this kind of person will be utterly isolated.
But there are those who are frugal with themselves and are willing to give alms. That is to say, he is very stingy to himself, but he is very happy to give alms, and he is very good at cultivating, he knows where to throw money and things. This is very impressive.
So, how does my own vexation with stinginess manifest itself in everyday life and work?
I unwilling to give good things, good books, good decorations, beloved rings, clothes and hats to others, and even if I do, it is like cutting off flesh, and I even takes back the $100 I gave to my best girlfriend, completely breaking the other person’s heart, I have no gentlemanly manners; I am unwilling to make more offerings to the Three Jewels and sentient beings when the food is very tasty, and I am very reluctant to let go of it. The ugly and unpleasant appearance of an iron rooster who does not pluck a single hair.
At the same time, we need to realize the dangers, hazards, and sufferings that come with the stinginess.
It greatly reduces or even destroys one’s identity, personality and image, and loses all good opportunities to make good conditions. I hate myself for being stingy and ungrateful, and I hate the party for not being humane. Why can’t he understand me? Why is he so heartless?
7 flattering
Flattering means brown nose, sweet words, curry favor with sb., play up to others’ hearts, and unsettled hearts.
Flattering is to follow others with a hiding heart, and the evil deeds one does are infinite and boundless. It is also beating around the bush, deliberately talking about the west when you clearly want to talk about the east; deliberately talking about the east when you clearly want to talk about the west.
Flattery is not good. Even if we compliment a person, we should not exaggerate too much. Excessive and flattering words are false and flattering speech , and in the end one will not get well.
Then, how does my flattering manifest themselves in daily life and work?
I once had a student who was already in society to ask me to help him get a graduation certificate, and it didn’t cost much, but I told him that it required a lot of procedures and was not easy to get it. It is just to take advantage of the opportunity to blackmail ; when I am not in a good mood and do not want to help people, I find all kinds of excuses, deliberately beating around the bush, being false and trying to make people think that I am still a good person.
At the same time, we need to understand and realize that these flattering problems, harm and suffering are also horrifying.
Others do not trust me; I am not straightforward with ourselves; I do not have personal loyalty; we can never erase the shadow of deceit and flattery, and our conscience is often troubled.
8: Unrighteous Knowledge
Unrighteous knowledge: the evil understanding of the Dharma, being far from righteous knowledge, going against enlightenment, being united with vexations, regarding delusion as the truth, and that the mind is disturbed by the delusion.
The unrighteous knowledge is also in the ignorance, all the thoughts that come up are not right, none of the thoughts are right. It is also called incorrect understanding, incorrect view, that is, the knowledge and view is reversed, the method is used wrong. Truly speaking, in Buddhism, we often see the phrase “sentient beings are perverse”, which means that sentient beings have perverse minds, perverse views, perverse interpretations and perverse actions. What does it mean to be perverted? It is the opposite. In reality, people do a lot of perverse things every day, just whether they are aware of it or not.
For example, men and women most often have different ways of thinking and are often misunderstood. Some women obviously like men in their hearts, but she has to say “hate” on the contrary, the man saw that the other party does not mean this, let it go, and did not cater to her, so that the woman saw the man did not understand her “hate” meaning, and was really upset, the man was also confused . The reason why there are often such misunderstandings between men and women is that they have different opinions and different perceptions, thus creating a lot of misunderstandings, and as a result, they become two different things, which are not what they want, and they are also dumbfounded and confused.
So sometimes, because of this perverted view, perverted understanding, perverted knowledge, people generated perverted behavior, perverted language, with these perverted language, behavior, then the result must also be perverted , in other words, in the world of their own discovery following their karma is often perverted, making themselves confused.
Then, in daily life and work, how do I create and manifest my own unrighteous knowledge?
I often have wrong thoughts, which lead to wrong speech and wrong behavior. Sometimes I think, “Is the kind mentor really that powerful? Is everything he says the truth? I’ll have to examine and verify it before I say anything, but I often think of myself as a standard of faithfulness and an inspector of the kind mentor. After my mother passed away, my father wanted to find a companion for his old age, and the kind mentor thought that he should help him achieve success and asked me to help him find one. Although on the surface, I did not dare to oppose anything, but in my heart I thought that my father was really nosy and the kind mentor was also on his side. I am very afraid that this matter will affect my future, add unnecessary trouble to me and increase my burden. As a result, the distance between myself and the kind mentor or my father was widened. In fact, the matter ended up not being resolved, but I lost a great opportunity to plant good causes in a blessed field!
At the same time, we have to understand and realize that the harm, danger and suffering caused by knowledge of unrighteousness is also horrible.
The ground of cause is not true, which leads to the false fruit , or the slightest difference leads to a huge loss. The words, behaviors, and results are all upside-down, and things are not as we wish. The distance between me and other people is widened, and everything I incur is wrong, the medicine is not true, the characters are flattering, and all actions and thoughts are all sinful and karmic, and vexations arise first. I feel sad and sigh for not being able to obtain all right, all true, and all good persons, things and objects.
Section 3: The Common Comprehensive Vexations Including Doubt
In addition to the above-mentioned doubt and its subtle branch vexations, there are also common comprehensive vexations that include doubt. For example:
Find fault and control: Why do people want to find fault and control? What vexation is working ? Greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, doubt and cynicism, which are the manifestation of comprehensive vexations.
Also, to be angry, to overthrow, to beat others: these are often accompanied by greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, doubt, cynicism, karma, and habits, which are also the manifestation of comprehensive vexations .
These comprehensive vexations are very common in our daily life, work, and practice, and they can easily come out and bring us great harm and suffering. We should also take precautions, be aware of them at the moment, and stay away from them at the moment .We should not follow them to make waves ,to harm oneself and others ,and create a bad luck future for ourselves.
Chapter 4: The Excellent Effect, Benefit and Happiness of Not Following Doubt
Section 1: The resting of the crazy mind is bodhi
To rest from following vexations is to become enlightened. It is said in the Shurangama Sutra that “the resting of the crazy mind is bodhi”, which means that the mind of doubt and other vexations has stopped, and no longer chases after the clouds and dreams, and is enlightened instantly, and not confused.
Section 3: “The Non-returning Bodhi Mind” by Being Straight Pure in quality and Free from Doubt
The bodhisattva must also be ” straight and pure in quality and free from doubt”, so that the bodhi mind will not recede. As the Sutra of the Precious Rain Preached by Buddha says, ” the second is to be pure in quality and free from all doubts. ……” It is clear from this that by doing so, the Bodhisattva strictly observes the Buddha’s teachings and does not have any vexation and stained mind in order to guarantee the non-returning of the Bodhi mind, otherwise it is the opposite path from the Bodhi mind, which is demonic karma.
Section 3: If one has no doubts about the words of kind mentor, then one always meets all kind mentors
If a Bodhisattva wants to meet all good friends, he must not have the slightest doubt about the words of all kind mentors. According to the Flower Adornment Sutra, it says, “Those who have no doubts about the words of the kind mentor will always meet all kind mentors .”
Knowledge such as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Section 4: Achieve the Supreme Enlightenment
The teachings of the kind mentor are the wonderful nectar, and the Bodhisattva should accept them with joy, without any doubt or fear. In the Flower Adornment Sutra, it is said, “If any bodhisattva follows the teachings of the kind mentor has no doubts or fears, and abides in his mind without moving. You should know that such a person will attain great benefits, sit under the Bodhi tree, and attain supreme enlightenment.”
Section 5: A deeper mind free from doubt and able to understand all the secret words of the Buddha
The Bodhisattva must not only have a mind that is free from doubt, but this mind must also gradually increase and become deeper. In the Flower Adornment Sutra , it is said, ” If one has the deepening mind of freedom from doubt, he will understand all the secret words of the Buddha ……”.
Section 6: The Comprehensive Benefit of Not Only No Doubt but Full Faith
The Bodhisattva must not only subdue doubt, but also have full faith, the root of faith, and the power of faith, which brings very greatly comprehensive benefits.
As it is written in the Flower Adornment Sutra: “If one has a undefiled faith and a pure mind ,the elimination of arrogance and the capital of respect, one has the first treasure of the Dharma Store, and has the pure hand that receives all actions. Therefore, in accordance with the practice of the order, faith and happiness are the most precious and hard to come by, such as in all the worlds, he has wonderful jewel at will.”
In summary, to be free from doubts is to have the ” wonderful jewel pearl at will”, which is a very basic and important condition for obtaining many unimaginable benefits, merits and virtues.
Chapter 5: How to Subdue Doubt for Bodhisattva Practitioners
Now that we know the terrible, fearful, and tremendous destructive, repulsive, and corrupting power of doubt, how should a Bodhisattva practitioner think and act correctly in order to subdue doubt in oneself and others?
As a Bodhisattva practitioner, one should not forget the great bodhi mind that one has developed in the beginning to attain Buddhahood upwards and transform sentient beings downwards, think and act according to the Buddha’s wisdom and the iron law of cause and effect, give full play to wisdom, faith, kindness, compassion ,joy and giving, and joyfully, actively and proactively help all the suffering sentient beings who are full of doubts and hard to be transformed. He should not be like the worldly beings with vexations who calculate all with them and repay their doubts with doubts. In this way, the sentient beings will not be distressed and will be saved, and one will truly practice the Bodhisattva practice of self-benefit others-benefit.
So, what are the specific methods of subduing doubt? The author’s discussion below focuses on the wisdom of the Buddha to subdue doubt.
Section 1: By being single-mindedly determined, one is free from doubt in all dharmas
There are many wonderful ways for the Bodhisattva to subdue the doubts of the self and others. Let’s first look at the first of these wonderful ways. It is mentioned in the Flower Adornment Sutra that:
The Bodhisattva Mahasattva has ten kinds of armor that can be cloaked . What are the ten? They are: wearing the armor of single-mindedness and determination, which is free from doubt in all dharmas. If all Bodhisattvas abide in this Dharma, they will be covered with the supreme armor of the Buddha and will be able to destroy all demonic armies.
This shows that if a Bodhisattva puts on the armor of single-minded determination to achieve the Buddha’s Way, he can be free from doubt in all dharmas and even destroy all demon armies.
Section 2: Through viewing beings’ suffering and his evil wisdom, the Bodhisattva can break and subdue the doubts of the self and others
What are the other wonderful ways for the Bodhisattva to subdue the doubts of others?
It is also mentioned in the Flower Adornment Sutra: “Woe to all sentient beings! Without the eye of wisdom, they are always covered with doubts about the view of the body . What shall I do for them to facilitate the resolution of his cataracts of views of doubts ?”
Section 3: Through the superior mindfulness and the ten kinds of undoubtful mind, one can have no doubt in his mind in all Buddha Dharma
There are many wonderful ways for the Bodhisattva to subdue doubt in oneself and others. As also mentioned in the Vajrayana Sutra
“The Bodhisattva Mahasattva has ten kinds of developing mindfulness. What are these ten? They are: I will develop the mind that I shall cut off all doubts …”
It is clear from the above that if bodhisattvas abide in the ten kinds of unquestioning mind through developing the superior mindfulness, there will be no more doubt in their minds about the Buddhas’ teachings.
Section 4: Subdue Doubt and Other Vexations Through Repentance in Accordance with the Dharma
Repentance is a very common remedy for subduing doubt and other vexations. As mentioned in the Sutra on Mahayana Contemplation Generating From Heartland Originally, “If one can repent in accordance with the dharma, all afflictions will be removed, just as a fire of the end of an eon destroys the world, burning up the Sumeru and the great sea. Repentance burns the fuel wood of afflictions, repentance leads to the path to heaven…”
Therefore, we should confess our doubts as much as possible. If we do not confess our doubts, even the best conditions will not be able to withstand its destruction. If we don’t confess our doubts to purity, sooner or later they will destroy all our good roots virtues and merits.
Therefore, we should strive to be a wise person who confesses more often, and not a foolish person who always picks up garbage. In other words, a wise person will throw away all his bad things and take all the things that are good for him, while a foolish person will throw away all his good things and pick up all his bad things.
To sum up, we must always be wise and repent diligently; we must not be foolish and always pick up garbage; and we must even praise all the unquestionable pure virtues of the kind mentors ,the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas!
Section 5: Subduing Doubt by Thinking about Cause and Condition, Practicing Cause and Condition, and Making Vows of Transfermation
In order to subdue our doubts, we must also make use of the great wisdom of cause and effect. We can ponder and study all the sufferings arising from doubt in detail, and see if we are willing to bear these sufferings and fruits. If we are not willing to bear them, should we still create them? Let us first clean up our own karma,then edify and practice more of this wisdom. Then we can think of all sentient beings in the same way, and then we can transform our good roots and merits to all sentient beings, wishing them to be purified as soon as possible and not to be stained by doubts and other vexations.
The more detailed our analysis is, the better it is, the more detailed the analysis of the consequences and rewards following doubt to create karma, the better it is. We are not afraid of repetition, not afraid of verbosity, the more verbose ,the better, the purpose is to permeate us again and again, with different people, different things to permeate us, to permeate themselves into fear when they see annoyance, and even great fear of annoyance.
The wisdom of cause and effect is also a vital part of the ability to subdue doubt. For example, the thought of doubting our parents is often too frightening for us to bear, and we dare not doubt again. If we ever doubt our parents, then everyone will doubt ourselves in all lifetimes because they are creating karma on the field of blessings, which is the repeated fruits to be suffered.
If you think about it in this way, you will not dare to follow your doubts, and you will be ashamed, and you will be ashamed of your deeds, and you will hide and protect your roots, and you will be happy to follow the example of His Holiness Youboli and Sariputra, who had great faith in the Buddha, and you will actively subdue your doubts and believe in all parents, kind mentors, the Three Jewels and even in all sentient beings. It is very important to practice faith in all sentient beings, and we will discuss this in more detail later.
Therefore, it is very important and supreme for the Bodhisattvas to always dedicate and make vows, to sow the seeds of Bodhi, to sow the seeds of subduing vexations, to plant the absolute good roots for the future subduing the doubts of self and others, and to cultivate cause and condition well. As in the case of the Ten Dedications, Pure Conduct and so on of the Flower Adornment Sutra, they should make a joyful, active, and vigorous dedication. May all sentient beings, with full cause ,condition and quality, attain the benefits of the Dharma and be able to break the doubts of all sentient beings.
With such a superior cause and condition, one can naturally subdue one’s own doubts and even those of sentient beings when the cause and effect are ripe, and “when the cause and effect meet, the reward will be self-fulfilling!”
You can also use the wisdom of cause and effect to relieve the doubts of sentient beings, because if you break one point of doubt, you will grow one point of faith; if you break ten points of doubt, you will grow ten points of faith. Let’s conduct a specific case study in the hope that we can all break our doubts and grow our faith.
Case Study 1:
If someone asks you: I come to lie to you, and you know it yourself, what will you do?
Wisdom Answer: If this is the case, I will absolutely believe you, although I know you are lying to me, I still believe in you, 100% believe in you. If I have any doubts, I must confess and purify myself, and I must have the right wisdom to believe, because I know that if I practice the cause of believing in you, you will definitely trust me in the future. When you trust me, I will have the opportunity to bring you up in the future.
Case Study 2.
If someone asks: What should I do if someone is giving something to myself with a false heart?
Wisdom Answer: Don’t care if someone is real or fake, that is letting your annoyance demon, doubt destroy your destiny with him, you can be sincere with others, for example, if you want it, you want it, if you don’t want it, you don’t want it, that’s all. Why do you say you don’t care if someone is real or not? Because it is not relevant to you what kind of karma he creates, but what kind of karma you create yourself, that is relevant, that is serious. Because the karma created by others will be rewarded, but you will not be rewarded . The key to cause and effect is still the same: whoever creates karma will be punished! What do you care if someone is real or not? Do not let your own doubts play a role in delaying your own practice.
On the other hand, if you have a doubtful thought, the first thing you do is to break the condition or destiny with others. If someone gives you something with a false heart, he is the one who is destroying it, not you. If he is suspicious, you also destroy, the two of you will destroy together, each other’s destiny will be lost. If he is false to you, you are still sincere to him, at least you maintain the karma with him, he himself destroyed the condition with you, it has nothing to do with you. The cause and effect of this must be clearly and minutely known by you.
Section 6: Subduing Doubt through the Power of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas’ Exceptional Power of Vows and Virtues
As we all know, according to Buddhist scriptures, as long as the karma of the body, mouth, and mind of sentient beings is in line with the supreme power of vow and merit of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they will naturally be answered in a thousand ways. Especially for those sentient beings who do not have enough wisdom, precise advance and meditation, and who are unable to dry up the sea of doubts, as many as the ocean, then this method is superior.
The Buddha said in the first volume of the Sutra of the Precious Rain Preached by Buddha: “There is a Bodhisattva whose name is Stopping All Afflictions – why is the Bodhisattva given this name? If all sentient beings hear his name, they will be able to break all the bonds of obstacles , so he is named Stopping All Afflictions.” From this, we can see that the supreme vow of this Bodhisattva can help us sentient beings to break all the obstacles, afflictions and bonds.
To sum up, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas all have this ability, power of merit and virtue to break the doubts of sentient beings, and as long as we can correspond with their powers of vows, we can definitely subdue the doubt.
Chapter 6: How a Bodhisattva practitioner can rescue and protect sentient beings
As a bodhisattva practitioner, since he knows the horror and danger of doubt, he always uses wisdom, treats everything according to wisdom, and forever breaks his doubt. Is he satisfied ? Is that enough? He will not be satisfied. He will not only be free from doubts and confusions, but will also actively give full play to his eloquence, wisdom of spiritual power, seeking the dharma, and faith in order to rescue and protect all sentient beings, not only to have pure faith and a mind free from doubts, not only to be free from doubts, subdue doubts, remove the roots of doubts, and return to the supreme path, but also to actively give full play to faith in order to rescue and protect all sentient beings. What should be the specific practice and how to do it?
In the Flower Adornment Sutra, it says：
Seeking the dharma for the sake of relieving all sentient beings of their vexations, not for the sake of fame and respect …For the purpose of relieving all sentient beings of doubt and seeking the dharma, so that there is no hesitation … These are the ten. If all bodhisattvas abide in this Dharma, they will attain the great wisdom of all Buddha Dharma without being taught by others.
In summary, the bodhisattva has not only achieved the eloquence to speak clearly about all things and all dharmas without doubt and ignorance, but he is also able to actively bring into play the wisdom and spiritual power, and the ability to seek the dharma for the sake of breaking the doubts of all sentient beings.
In the Flower Adornment Sutra, it is said, “In all sentient beings, the Bodhisattva is able to have unbreakable faith, view them with compassionate eye, and dedicate the good roots to all beings for the universal benefit of all.” It can be seen that if the Bodhisattva wants to give full play to faith in order to ambulance all sentient beings, then the first step he must take is to cultivate faith in the sentient beings, to cultivate the cause of faith, to cultivate the condition of faith, in order to move future sentient beings to have faith in him. The Bodhisattva is deeply penetrated by this wisdom of cause and effect.
Therefore, in the Flower Adornment Sutra , the Bodhisattva is required to make such a return, to first cultivate the cause of faith in sentient beings. How should a Bodhisattva cultivate the condition of faith in sentient beings? How does he establish his faith in sentient beings?
If one is deeply disturbed by doubt and does not establish one’s own faith, sentient beings will not believe in oneself. These beliefs cannot be helped and built by others, so we have to actively establish them ourselves.
So how can a Bodhisattva establish his own faith? Firstly, what he says must be real, true. Secondly, he must be able to do what he wants to do for sentient beings, and he must be able to do all the things he promises to do for them. In this way, the Bodhisattva is able to build up the faith of sentient beings in him gradually.
If the Bodhisattva can make sentient beings think that he is absolutely reliable countless times, then sentient beings will definitely have faith in the Bodhisattva , Therefore, this faith is established by the Bodhisattva himself. After having faith, it is easy to do. If the Bodhisattva has established faith in the sentient beings ten thousand times, suddenly even if he lies to the other side, the other side will believe in him. If a Bodhisattva has lost faith in sentient beings ten thousand times, then suddenly he comes up with the most sincere words or actions, the other side will not believe him because the other side cannot believe him. Therefore, if we see how many people believe in ourselves, Starting from the effect to view the cause, we can see how much we have made others believe in us, and then see how much we have done to make others believe in us.
If we have never done it ourselves, it is impossible for us to make others believe in us. Similarly, if someone trusts the Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva has established faith in him since the past. If the Bodhisattva has never established faith in front of that person, there is no way for him to believe in the Bodhisattva.
I once heard my Vajra master, Monk Tao, tell such a vivid and wonderful story about how an old monk in Jiuhua Mountain cultivated faith in sentient beings.
At that time, my Vajra Master heard that a new monk in the flesh had come out of Jiuhua Mountain and had been sitting in a vat for several years without breaking down. So how did this old monk cultivate? He must be a very capable or talented person, so how capable or supreme is he ? He wanted to investigate the real situation, and after my guru’s personal investigation, this old monk was eating and living as he saw fit, healing people, for example, if a child or an adult was sick, unless he didn’t know, if he knew he would run there, and he could cure the illness. The unanimous comment about him was that he was “a good man and a fool”. At that time, my guru also found it hard to believe: How could he cure people’s illness if he was so stupid?
Because, according to Buddhism, a practitioner should be very wise, not stupid. My master asked many people, and they all said that the old monk was stupid, and that he could diagnose and cure people.
At the same time, my master was told an amazing story: the old monk stood for days for some naughty and lying children, just to tell them the price of vegetables, and that’s how he established faith in the children.
At that time, the old monk walked for dozens of miles to ask the price of vegetables for a few children who amused him, and after asking the price of vegetables, he did not see the children come, so he waited for the children to arrive at the place they had agreed, and the waiting and standing was for several days, so that others were confused. Others went to ask him, he always said the same thing, that he was waiting for that child, told him the price of that vegetable.
Later on, my guru, with more practice, understood better: The old monk turned out to be a man of great stature, because he was practicing faith with all sentient beings, and he was a person without vexations. Why? Because the sentient beings have not established faith in him, so now he must first cultivate faith in the sentient beings, otherwise how can he make them believe in himself? This kind of the power of practice, endurance, and meditation is not something that ordinary mortals can have.
Therefore, a Bodhisattva practitioner should not only be aware of the troubles of doubt and other vexations, be ashamed, stay away from doubt, subdue doubt, and not harm all sentient beings with doubt, but also joyfully, actively, and proactively practice faith in all sentient beings, just like the old monk on Mount Jiuhua mentioned earlier, to joyfully, actively, and proactively rescue and protect all sentient beings. By extension, the Bodhisattva actively accompanies and ambulates all sentient beings, leading them to develop good karmic habits such as no doubt, to have full faith in the Three Jewels, to be pure, to be at ease, and to accomplish the great task of freedom from suffering and attaining happiness! Because the Bodhisattva knows deeply that it is his duty and responsibility to truly benefit others, and that is his true happiness and fulfillment.
In summary, we know that it is extremely important and imperative to understand, recognize and subdue doubts. Furthermore, as a Bodhisattva practitioner, we should accompany, accept, and transform all sentient beings so that they can also subdue all the vexations such as doubts and eventually subdue the demons, achieve the Way, leave the ultimate sufferings and attain ultimate happiness.
Chapter 7: Conclusion
Doubt is unbelief, speculation, suspicion, estimation, and all kinds of hesitation, doubt, and distrust about the Three Jewels, the Four Noble Truths, and all the wonderful principles of the Buddha’s teachings.
Doubt and other vexations are the great grievances of all sentient beings and practitioners, and can destroy all good deeds, good roots and other merits and abilities, and can bring about the disaster of extinction. Doubt brings us the appearance of defeat, self-harm, and future misfortune.
To be free from doubt, a practitioner has the “wonderful pearl of freedom”, which is a very basic and important condition to obtain many unimaginable supreme benefits and merits.
As a practitioner or bodhisattva practitioner, it is imperative to subdue doubt, cultivate good karma such as no doubt, and actively cultivate faith in all sentient beings, and also actively cultivate the infinite merits and abilities such as good roots, eloquence, and spiritual powers, and joyfully and actively give play to kindness ,compassion, joy, and giving, so as to ambush all sentient beings and make oneself and the Three Jewels a solid support for all sentient beings, so that they can be purified and free as soon as possible, and complete the great task or career of being free from ultimate suffering and attaining ultimate happiness!
References
Ancient texts (in chronological order of dynasties)
1.[Wu] Zhi Qian: The Sutra on the Sound and Joy of the Elders Preached By the Buddha, vol. 14, Da Zheng Zang,.
2.[Yaoqin] Kumarajiva : The Brahma Net Sutra, vol. 24, Da Zheng Zang.
3.〔Yao Qin〕 Kumarajiva：Treatise On the Perfection of the Great Wisdom, Vol.25 , Dazhengzang .
4.〔Beiliang〕 Tanwuchan：the Sutra of the Precepts for Upasaka ， Vol.24, Dazhengzang.
5.[Tang] Shikonanda: The Avatamsaka Sutra, vol. 10, Dazhengzang.
6.[Tang] Xuanzang: Sutra of the Merit and Virtue of the Past Vows of Medicine Master Vaidurya Light Tathagata, vol. 14, Dazhengzang.