I. The Illusion of Selfishness vs. The Law of Cause and Effect
When governed by afflictions (kleśas), people refuse to perform actions that benefit others. Driven by selfishness, they seek only personal gain, withhold benefit from others, and even harbor fear at the thought of others prospering.
Such people are entirely devoid of awakening. They fail to understand the fundamental law of cause and effect (karma): whatever you give to others, you shall receive in return; whatever you deny to others, you deny to yourself.
These are simple truths within the domain of karmic causality: as you sow, so shall you reap. If you reject and deny others, you yourself will inevitably be rejected and denied.
The crux lies in Awakening (bodhi), and awakening arises solely from Wisdom (prajñā).
II. The Danger of Affliction and the Pure Mind of Compassion
If you possess wisdom, awakening follows naturally. You would never follow afflictions to create even the slightest unwholesome karma, knowing that afflictions bring only harm and zero benefit to yourself. All your wholesome causes, wholesome conditions, and wholesome fruits are obliterated by afflictions.
If you engrave this truth in your mind, you will never dare to give rise to afflictions. This is why in the Buddhadharma one must not speak of others’ faults, nor even harbor thoughts about their shortcomings. Even when acting purely out of altruism, pointing out faults is permitted only under the most exceptional, prescribed conditions—this is an absolute rule. Failing this, all spiritual endeavors collapse completely, and true peace remains unattainable.
Therefore, a genuine practitioner who seeks peaceful abiding and cultivates compassion does not see the faults of sentient beings; they see only their virtues and merits.
If you have not accomplished this, you are not yet a practitioner of compassion. You will have no peace yourself, nor will you bring peace to others. Thus, one who cultivates true compassion inevitably reaches the state where they see no faults in sentient beings, perceiving only their merits.
III. Transforming Affliction: Wood for Wisdom’s Flame and Fertilizer for Bodhi
A true Bodhisattva is endowed with wisdom. Because their wisdom is thoroughly penetrating, whether they point out others’ faults or manifest seemingly unwholesome behaviors, every action turns into an opportunity for spiritual benefit. All afflictive manifestations become the fire of wisdom; the afflictive actions themselves serve as the firewood. The more firewood is added, the brighter and fiercer the fire of wisdom blazes.
Why is this so? Because the Bodhisattva has thoroughly investigated, thoroughly purified, and completely mastered the exact mechanics of how karma is formed.
As we have studied previously, generating karma requires three conditions:
- The Basis / Intention (mūla)
- The Means / Action (prayoga)
- The Consummation / Completion (niṣṭhā)
When all three conditions are fulfilled, a fixed karma (kṛta-upacita-karma) is established. Once fixed karma is formed, escape is virtually impossible; you must undergo its retribution.
Endowed with complete wisdom, the Bodhisattva never allows the karmic cycle to crystallize into rigid bondage. To them, these experiences are no longer afflictions, but fuel—wood that generates the fire of wisdom. Their wisdom arises precisely from a direct, penetrating understanding of the true nature of afflictions.
The Metaphor of the Farmer and Fertilizer
Consider a farmer: do they personally like manure? No, but they know that for crops to thrive, fertilizer is indispensable. So they search for fertilizer, process it, spread it across the field, and work immersed in it. Despite the foul and unpleasant odor, the autumn harvest yields magnificent fruit.
Yet, this does not mean the farmer enjoys fertilizer itself. They would never eat it or smear it deliberately across their skin. If it gets on them, they wash it off immediately. In this regard, the farmer acts with practical wisdom.
The Bodhisattva operates in the exact same manner. They utilize afflictions to cultivate and expand wisdom, using afflictions as fertilizer to benefit sentient beings.
As the Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra states:
“Sentient beings are the roots of the tree, while the great Bodhi tree that blossoms and bears fruit is your own accomplishment. If you fight with the roots over water and fertilizer, how can your Bodhi tree ever blossom and bear fruit?”
Deprived of moisture and nutrients, the tree cannot survive.
Outwardly, it may seem as though you are at a disadvantage, spending your days laboring with water and fertilizer to nurture the great tree, appearing to gain nothing for yourself. But that view is mistaken. All your fruits of Bodhi are realized only because these roots absorb the necessary nourishment.
Ask yourself now: Are we competing with sentient beings for water and fertilizer, or are we using Great Compassion (Mahākaruṇā) to bestow water and fertilizer upon them? To what degree have we actually put this into practice?
Satisfying the legitimate needs of sentient beings is the act of bestowing water and fertilizer through Great Compassion. If you contend with them for fame, wealth, and worldly gains, the great Bodhi tree will wither and die, leaving you with nothing.
Therefore, it is said: Bodhi belongs to sentient beings. Only when sentient beings are benefited, their needs met, and their welfare prioritized can your great tree flourish and yield an abundant harvest.
IV. The Tragic Trade: Trading Ten Thousand for a Penny
Afflictions bring only harm and zero benefit. When you struggle to seize an immediate petty gain, you lose everything. You contend for a single penny and forfeit ten thousand dollars. Are you gaining or losing? Sentient beings spend their entire lives making such devastating bargains, stubbornly reducing gold into copper pennies.
In the Chapter on the Ten Dedications of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, it is taught that a Bodhisattva spares no expense to benefit sentient beings, gladly giving away head, eyes, hands, and feet, because the Bodhisattva understands: this is not a loss; this is the ultimate gain. This alone is true wisdom.
Those blinded by afflictions can only follow delusions, subjective feelings, and fleeting impulses, acting on whims. The outcome of such actions is the systematic destruction of their own true welfare. Having squandered all genuine benefits, how much freedom and peace could they possibly have left?
If one does not apply their mind toward awakening, these truths remain hidden. If one applies their mind to awakening, they become crystal clear.
If you view greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt as fertilizer—not something you love, not something you desire for yourself, but a tool you skillfully utilize for the benefit of sentient beings because they need it—you must maintain this pure attitude at all times.
The moment you think, “This fertilizer looks tasty; let me take a bite,” you have fallen from the Bodhisattva path, especially the path of the Wisdom-Practicing Bodhisattva (Jñāna-cāri-bodhisattva). You have dropped back to the level of ordinary sentient beings, acting merely as a root for others to attain their Bodhi fruits.
V. Deep Faith and Understanding (Śraddhā-Adhimukti)
Have you genuinely benefited anyone sitting here today? From what point in time did you begin?
If you wish to eradicate all karmic obstacles—the obstacles that cause everything you attempt to fail and turn every desire into greed—you must understand why these obstacles arose. They are the retribution of past karma. If you wish to cease self-sabotage and be liberated from these obstructions, you must cultivate deep faith and understanding in all dharmas practiced by Bodhisattvas, such as karmic causality and the fruits of Bodhi.
One who gives rise to profound faith and understanding toward the Bodhisattva conduct will resolutely seek the genuine virtues of the Tathāgata. How much faith do we truly have in the Buddhadharma? Many say, “I believe in the Buddha,” but if you genuinely believe, you will unconditionally trust the teachings spoken by the Buddha and practice accordingly (yathā-vādī tathā-kārī). That alone is genuine faith.
Presently, your faith has not yet met the standard, let alone reached “profound faith” (thâm tín / adhimukti). To elevate yourself:
- Maintain pure faith: do not add to, subtract from, or distort the Buddhadharma in the slightest.
- Maintain that pure state to understand: Faith is the cause, Understanding is the fruit.
- Take the fruit of understanding and sow it as a new cause to yield deeper faith.
Through this continuous cycle, faith and understanding will become all-pervasive, and the fruits of realization will manifest everywhere.
[ Pure Faith (Tín) ] ──(Cause)──► [ Understanding (Giải) ] ──(Fruit)
▲ │
└──────────────(New Cause for Deeper Faith)────────────┘
Warning: Do not stop at superficial faith and understanding, nor view the Dharma through the distorted lens of personal delusion. The gravest error is using the Buddhadharma as a tool to fulfill the selfish desires of your afflictions—that is the work of Māra (the tempter/demon), not the conduct of a disciple of the Buddha. A true disciple inherits the original legacy of the Buddha to revitalize the lineage of the Tathāgata.
If you truly believe that affliction is evil, you will cease running after it. Looking deeper, you will recognize that affliction is Māra—it brings only harm and zero benefit. If you consume the fertilizer yourself, it poisons you.
VI. The Skillful Means of the Wisdom Bodhisattva (Upāya-Kauśalya)
A Bodhisattva possesses profound, penetrating mastery over Skillful Means (upāya).
What is the practice of skillful means?
Consider a master physician who thoroughly understands a patient’s illness. They apply the precise prescription to resolve the suffering:
- Some patients require surgery;
- Some need medication;
- Some need injections;
- Others need compassionate dialogue to untangle psychological wounds.
These strategies and methods are called Skillful Means (upāya). The concrete application of these methods—when deeply understood and skillfully wielded by the physician—is what truly resolves the disease.
A physician does not become proficient in a day or two. It takes years of rigorous training just to cross the threshold of medical science. Only by entering the door and advancing continuously can one step into the grand palace of medicine.
The path of a Bodhisattva follows the exact same principle:
- First, thoroughly comprehend cause and effect, afflictions, and wisdom to enter the door.
- Then, advance steadily to step into the Palace of Awakening—this is true mastery (thâm nhập).
The Dimensional Contrast: 1D vs. 3D Perspectives
Because of this depth, the skillful means of a Wisdom Bodhisattva are extraordinarily difficult to believe and understand (nan tín nan giải).
Ordinary sentient beings, trapped in a lower dimension, rashly pass judgment on higher-dimensional actions. They claim these practitioners are flawed, cold, or heartless.
Consider the famous Buddhist parable where an awakened father witnesses his child pass away and remains completely unperturbed, calmly asking the family to pack one less portion of lunch. The wife likewise remains composed.
Worldly people, viewing this from a one-dimensional (1D) perspective, harshly criticize them as unfeeling monsters. They cannot comprehend because the practitioners operate in three-dimensional (3D) wisdom.
From a 1D perspective (a single point), the concepts of front/back, left/right, and depth do not exist. When someone describes higher dimensions, a 1D mind calls it absurd because it lies completely outside their frame of reference. If you stubbornly cling to your one-dimensional limitations, you remain forever trapped at a single point.
The core message here is: not everyone is capable of believing and understanding this profound Dharma; therefore, do not speak of it casually or carelessly.
Even the historical assembly of five hundred Bodhisattvas fell into doubt and generated unwholesome karma precisely because they trusted their limited, lower-dimensional perceptions and rashly passed judgment—falling into states more tragic than ordinary beings.
Therefore, the skillful means of the Wisdom-Practicing Bodhisattva are exceptionally difficult to comprehend and accept. All subsequent teachings follow this identical principle.