Contributed by the Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated, Australia
Mentor: Bennie Spirit
Editor: Yinyue(Ivy)
With gratitude to Google AI Gemini
With gratitude to Gemini NotebookLM
Draft Date: August 21, 2026
Location: BPI Meditation Center
Attendees at the Dharma assembly: Bennie, Ivy, Ellie, Grace, Enid, Dawn
You should observe, is it truly like this? For a Bodhisattva who has initially generated the bodhicitta (aspiration for awakening) to practice: ‘You should learn to observe. As you observe more, you will be able to see it as it truly is, its true phenomenon.’
Anger (Dvesha) is the Greatest Fault
For instance, the human mind is constantly guarding its interests and striving to seize them. When it fails to obtain them, anger arises. Once anger arises, do not even think about obtaining the merits of others; all the misfortunes of others will immediately fall upon you. In the Avatamsaka Sutra, it is explained in detail. The Buddha said, ‘I have never seen any fault greater than anger. If you give rise to anger towards other Bodhisattvas, you will not obtain any of their merits, no matter how hard you practice. All misfortunes will immediately manifest.’
Devoid of Awakening (Bodhi)
No awakening can arise within you. If no awakening can arise within you, you are in immense trouble. Gradually, you will become ignorant of everything, increasingly muddled. When muddled, you still dare to let your thoughts run wild, which is simply delusional thinking. Speaking based on delusional thoughts is talking nonsense. Acting based on delusional thoughts is acting recklessly. Just this single obstacle of not seeing Bodhi is enough to cause your complete downfall. Can we remember this? Only by remembering can we dare not commit the evil karma of anger.
Unable to Hear the True Dharma (Saddharma)
Corrupted to the very end, you will not even be able to hear the True Dharma, and you will not even have the mood or interest to hear it. Look at the past; there were many people studying together. If we add up everyone from different periods, there were tens of thousands. Why did some people start off studying so well, but run away before long? They lost interest. The root cause is that they generated anger towards one another. Therefore, it became impossible for them to study together. In the end, heavily influenced by this evil karma of anger, they themselves no longer liked to study, because the obstacle of anger is that you cannot hear the True Dharma. Why? Other Bodhisattvas are also Bodhisattvas who must receive and learn all dharmas. If you are angry at them, it is equivalent to being angry at the Dharma. Being angry at the Dharma naturally leads to rejecting the Dharma. It becomes impossible for the Dharma to function within you. Therefore, it is said that it can obstruct all the benefitsof the Dharma for you. How terrifying and dreadful this is! Because the Dharma is the Mother of Buddhas; all Buddhas are born from the Dharma, and all supreme benefits, merits, and blessings are also born from the Dharma. Other Bodhisattvas inherently carry the Dharma. When you are angry, you are also angry at the Dharma. You reject the person, and you also reject the Dharma, completely severing your affinity with the Dharma. That is to say, you have completely lost the root of attaining goodness. How could you possibly attain goodness? You will not only lose that person but also lose all of their Dharma. This is bidirectional. If there is mutual anger, the speed accelerates tenfold. You rapidly detach from both people and the Dharma, and what you have already established can vanish in an instant. Why? This is a natural law, a universal principle. Just like a magnet has a repulsive force. You can quickly repel the root of all goodness, which is the Dharma. Because right now, you are a magnet that specifically repels the Dharma; you are an “anger magnet.” You can do an experiment: if you forcibly put magnets with strong repulsive forces together, can you do it? Anger specifically exerts an absolute repulsive force against all wholesome dharmas, wholesome causes, wholesome conditions, and wholesome results. So, you see, people may outwardly appear to be protecting their interests, but in reality, once anger arises, all the interests you are trying to protect will automatically separate from you. Because it has a repulsive nature. Tell me, how terrifying is this? As long as there is anger, there is repulsive force. If body, speech, and mind are angry simultaneously, the magnetic force of this field is infinitely magnified. If you only have anger in your mind, this repulsive force is at its lowest, but it is already there. If you have intense anger in your heart but pretend outwardly that nothing is wrong, it is still very severe, for the mind is the root. The problem is, all the good, the good you desire, your interests, your blessings, your merits, absolutely everything, you are repelling. Repelling to the very end, you will have absolutely no blessings and no merits left. What kind of person would you say this is? A terrifying person! Even to the end, not only will you fail to obtain what others have, but your own possessions will also begin to diminish. Even what you already possess. For example, some people have many followers. To guard their followers (“my followers”) and protect their own interests, they occasionally get upset, start to panic, become angry, and even imagine things that don’t exist. Consequently, driven by this anger, their expressions, words, and actions naturally manifest it, creating karma with anger. Think for yourselves, have you ever done this? ‘People, money, and materials are all mine.’ Guarding these things all day long absolutely contradicts the greed you are guarding, because your self-centeredness is so heavy that people are scared away when they see you like this. Eventually, you become even more angry: ‘I am your master, how could you run away? What will I do if you run?’ You get angrier, more hateful, and lose even more. In the end, you are forever left all alone, without blessings, wisdom, or abilities. How can such a person survive?
Deficiency and Diminution of the Six Sense Faculties (Sad-indriya)
We will also learn later that not only towards the Dharma and towards people, but even your own six sense faculties will begin to become deficient and diminished. Deficient means, for example, your six sense faculties are notcomplete—you are either missing eyes or limbs. Diminished means you have them, but they are lacking in quality. For instance, you are not as tall as others; you are not as beautiful; you have eyes, but you are nearsighted, astigmatic, or colorblind. It is a state of diminution; your merit power is insufficient. For example, as your merit power increases, the scope of what you can see increases. The Lotus Sutra, in the “Merits of the Dharma Teacher” chapter, states that you can see everything in this world. Why do we experience states of deficiency? It is because your six sense faculties are impure, lacking in merit. The more impure you are, the more you lack merit, and the more deficient they become. What is diminished? For instance, the ability of your eyes to see diminishes, as well as your ability to hear, smell, and taste. Even your height is destined to become shorter over a lifetime. What kind of karma do you think you are creating? That is why I often remind you that it is self-mutilation, selfharm, and self-destruction. I do not say these things without basis. Based solely on the point of anger, you are truly engaging in self-mutilation, self-harm, and self-destruction. This is not only true in relation to the Buddha Dharma, nor is it just towards a specific person. The most crucial point is that it concerns yourself; it is you who becomes increasingly miserable. Remember: when blessings are gone, wisdom is gone, abilities are gone, and even the capacities of your six sense faculties are gone, you will truly head towards a vegetative state. If you become a vegetative person, who in your family will take care of you? Who will feed you every day and clean up your waste? Do you have the blessings to have someone serve you? Most people would throw you away like garbage. Do you know that you are creating this very destiny for yourself?
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