–Volume 2 (Part5)
Author: Fafu
Translator : Lotus
Dear Dharma friends！
Hello everyone. Welcome to this episode of the podcast contributed by the Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated of Australia.
Today, we will explore the Buddha’s teaching on the ” two upside-down discriminating false views ” and the concepts of “weariness of seeing,” ” disease of seeing,” and ” diseased eyes.” With compassionate wisdom, the Buddha revealed the root cause of sentient beings’ reincarnation due to deluded views, guiding us to abandon the illusions of falsehood, sever the cycle of birth and death, and awaken to the pure, wondrously clear true nature of the mind.
- Two upside-down discriminating false views
The Buddha pointed out that the root cause of sentient beings’ reincarnation in the world is “due to two upside-down discriminating false views. Wherever these views arise, they cause one to revolve through the cycle in accord with their corresponding karma.” These “two upside-down discriminating false views” refer to: individual karma and collective karma. These two types of deluded views cause sentient beings to mistakenly perceive illusions as real, clinging to distinctions of “is” versus “is not,” “good” versus “bad,” thereby creating karma and receiving retribution, perpetuating the cycle of birth and death.
2. Weariness of Seeing, and Disease of Seeing:
The Buddha used the example of “when the eyes have a defect (red haze) or are strained from prolonged staring, seeing a lamp’s light produces an illusory circular shadow.” This illustrates how sentient beings’ deluded views arise. The circular shadow is a disease of the seeing brings about reflection,” caused by “weariness of Seeing,” and even the perception of the shadow itself is a diseased state. The Buddha extends this to the entire world, pointing out that all that sentient beings perceive—”mountains, rivers, lands, and all beings”—are formed by the “disease of seeing” that has existed since beginningless time. These phenomena are like flowers in the sky, manifesting due to the karma of sentient beings.
3. Perception and Seeing are a Diseased State:
The Buddha further revealed that sentient beings” Seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing ” are manifestations of a diseased state. Why? Because these are all tainted by past karmic habits and arise from delusion. For example, when we see people, hear sounds, or experience things, our perceptions are always mixed with the habits of greed, anger, and ignorance, clinging to distinctions of “is” versus “is not,” “right” versus “wrong.” Therefore, we should not pursue these deluded afflictions or establish another layer of ” knowledge and views “; nor should we view people and things through the lens of emotional consciousness.
4. Transcending Conjunction and Non-Conjunction
The Buddha concluded: If one can “transcend all conditions of conjunction and non-conjunction,” meaning to move beyond the illusions arising from the conjunction or non-conjunction of causes and conditions, one can “extinguish all causes of birth and death,” thereby severing the root of reincarnation
Originally, all illusory phenomena arise dependent on the wondrously clear true mind, free from distinctions of right or wrong, good or bad. Yet, sentient beings insist on discerning high and low, arguing over right and wrong, thereby giving rise to greed, conflict, and deluded confusion, trapping themselves in endless afflictions.
Thank you, everyone!
