Chan and Enlightenment 禪與悟(英文版)

Buddhism originated in India and began with Shakyamuni Buddha addressing the question of illness in human beings. We can say that humans are born with illness, for at the time of birth, they are already afflicted. People without any illness have yet to be born; and if they were born without illness, they would have to wait until they die to be again free from illness. This is because in the process of living, illness and pain—physical or mental—will happen. The Buddha said that when you are physically ill, go to a doctor; but when you are suffering from mental illness, Buddhadharma is the cure. However, the healthier one’s mind is, the less physical illness one will have, and the less the body will feel sick. Therefore, in the Buddha’s deliverance of the world he placed more importance in saving people’s mind than in saving their body.

When one’s mental illness is completely cured, that is called liberation. Having a healthy body and an unhealthy mind, one will suffer more than if one were just physically ill. On the other hand, if the body is sick while the mind remains healthy, the illness can be bearable. So, while the Buddha taught about both physical and mental suffering, he gave more importance to the mental side.

Physical illness can be painful but not necessarily suffering, while mental illness is always suffering. Therefore, Buddhadharma is not meant for eliminating physical pain—like an injection of anesthesia—but for relieving mental suffering.

The Cause of Suffering
From the perspective of Buddhism there are two kinds of causes of suffering: ignorance since time without beginning, and afflictions arising due to the law of cause and effect.

The Result of Ignorance from Time without Beginning
Western religions talk about the time when the world was first created, and Western philosophy and science speculate on the beginning of the universe. But it is not very easy to answer the question: “When did it all really begin?” For this reason, Buddhism speaks of time without beginning—it is like a circle where there may be a beginning, but you cannot locate it because every point on the circle can be the place of origin. So, Buddhism says that suffering has existed since time without beginning, and its origin is ignorance in the minds of sentient beings.

Affliction as a Cycle of Cause and Effect
From the perspective of causation, a condition beforehand causes a result afterwards, and the result becomes another cause, bringing out another result. As time moves along, through our actions we incessantly create the causes for the future results. In our life, there are three kinds of affliction: those having to do with the environment, with relationships, and with internal conflicts.

1. Affliction coming from the environment: San Francisco is a nice place, with thin mist, cool wind, and a bay view to enjoy. However, it can be cold and hot here too. Many people regard San Francisco as a “heaven on Earth,” but still, people living here are not exempt from sickness either. Just now when I was in the car, a lay practitioner was sneezing. I asked her, “Why are you sick?” She said, “I’m not sick. I am just allergic to cold air.” I thought people living in heaven never get sick, and now in such a nice place like San Francisco there are also people who get sick, and we are now speaking at this hospital. In this place, as it is elsewhere, no matter how lovely the weather, how refreshing the air, people still get sick. From time to time, there are horrible earthquakes and drought. As elsewhere, sometimes there are toxins in some foods too.

2. Affliction coming from interpersonal relationship in society: Human relations also cause us afflictions, but then who brings the most affliction? Many people would think it is their enemies, but that is not necessarily the case. It can very likely be your husband, wife, or children; it may well be your family rather than your enemies that argues with you the most. Apart from our family and relatives, we also meet people, well acquainted or not, and we develop relationships with them. Some may help us, while others may create troubles for
us; sometimes they bring us help, sometimes they bring us trouble. Living among them, you feel there is constant competition.

Yesterday I gave a talk at a great American university and someone told me that the academic circles there were most murky, and they often engage in fierce struggles. Normally we would assume that scholars are people of great learning, excellent thought, and smart brains, and so they should be considerate and help each other instead of fighting. But very often, the more knowledgeable people are, the fiercer they struggle with each other. On a common intellectual level, people struggle for power, fame, and profit; on a higher intellectual level, people struggle for ideas, thoughts, and views, having no wish to compromise at all. This phenomenon is the same everywhere. As long as there are people, there will be competition. You look down on me, and I would appear to be prouder than you. I ask you, have you ever found people competing with you? And have you ever competed with others? The answer to both questions is most likely, yes. Charles Darwin said, “Evolution is the law of the survival of the fittest.” However, this represents the nature of animals, not the nature of humans, least of all does it represent buddha-nature. So this competitive attitude brings affliction to human beings.

3. Affliction comes from our inner struggle of the emotions: Our biggest enemy is not someone from the outside but ourselves, because we constantly change our mind and ideas. When we feel regret or pride for what happened yesterday, we give rise to afflictive emotions. Very often, because we need to weigh and prioritize the pros and cons, the complexity of relationships, issues of how big, how many, how high, how much further, we find it hard to reach a decision. Very often, when we consider gain and loss, right and wrong, positive and negative, we waver and find it difficult to make up our mind, and this
is most painful. Moreover, we may think there are no problems in our minds, yet we get angry and upset all the time. I once asked a person: “Why do you have so many troubles and afflictions?” He simply replied, “I don’t have troubles and afflictions myself; it is other people that are causing me troubles and afflictions.” In fact, it is because people like this have problems themselves, that they have problems in their relationships.

Yesterday, I was in a car with four people who were talking very loudly, and they talked a lot. One of them said to me, “I am really sorry Master, that we have been so loud.” I said, “You are loud but that has nothing to do with me.” Indeed, they were loud, and I heard them all very clearly. However, since their conversation had nothing to do with me, the noise itself didn’t really matter. This morning, one of them told me, “Some people really cannot stand noise. When they hear us making noise, they feel annoyed and angry.” On the surface, this may seem like a trouble from outside, but actually it is their own problem.