To Understand Buddhism - The Fourth Vow

The Fourth Vow: To Regret Karmic Obstacles

Everybody has karmic obstacles. Every thought in a person s mind causes a karmic act, which in turn will certainly results in an obstacle. What is obstructed? Our true nature, within which there is infinite wisdom and virtue. There are two types of obstacles: those caused by afflictions and those caused by knowledge-attachment. We create these con" stantly. The Buddha told us in the Flower Adornment Sutra,  All beings have the Buddha s wisdom and virtue but cannot attain them due to their wandering thoughts and attach" ments . Like a doctor, the Buddha pointed out the root cause of our illness. Attachments are the root cause of afflictions and wandering thoughts are the root cause of knowledge-attachment. For all methods, learning and cultivation is simply a matter of doing away with our wandering thoughts and attachments. Once we do this we will uncover our Buddha na" ture. All the methods in Buddhism teach us to regret our karmic obstacles. Thus, to regret karmic obstacles is the key to our cultivation.

However, it is very difficult to remove these obstacles. Of all the methods, that of the of the Five Deadly Offenses and are thus destined to fall into the Avici Hell, we can still re" move our obstacles and attain Buddhahood. We need to feel remorse, vow to change and practice Buddha Name Recitation to achieve birth into the Pure Land. This is why Master Ci" yun said that this recitation method alone is able to dispel obstacles, for they cannot be dis" pelled reciting sutras or mantras.

In the past few years there was a theory being circulated that said a person with exist" ing karma could not attain birth into the Pure Land. This greatly shocked and panicked Pure Land practitioner. When I went to Los Angeles in1984, I was asked if this was really true. On hearing the question, I smiled and said,  If it were true that no person with existing karma could be born into the Pure Land, then the only person there would be Buddha Amitabha. What then is the use of going there? The person questioned  Why? I replied,  Have you ever heard of the four lands, three kinds and nine grades in the Pure Land? He replied that he had read of them in the sutras. I told him  If no one with remaining karma had been born into the Pure Land, why are there four lands, three kinds and nine levels? With this he under" stood.

The division of lands, kinds and levels is based on the amount of remaining karma. With heavier karma we are born into a lower grade: with less karma, a higher grade. I then explained,  Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Manjushri Bodhisattva and Universal Worthy Bodhisattva are all Equal Enlightenment Bodhisattvas. The sutras tell us that even Bodhisattvas of this high level keep one degree of remaining ignorance. Isn t this a karmic act? My questioner was relieved at my words. So even an Equal Enlightenment Bodhisattva goes to the Pure Land with remaining karma. Buddha Amitabha is the only one there without any karma. I then concluded,  Who says that a person with remaining karma cannot be born into the Pure all beings in the Pure Land had gone there with their remaining karma.

Buddhism teaches us not to be angry or hold grudges against others. So I added  It is not wrong to advocate extinguishing karma for it is good to carry as little karma to the Pure Land as possible. In this way the person can attain birth into a higher level .

Later, I went to New York. As soon as I got off the plane, I was asked the same ques" tion. People did not know the truth. As soon as I explained, they understood that it was not wrong to have karma. Extinguishing karma is good for it is feeling regret for the obstacle.

Buddha Name Recitation is a sincere act of regretting and vowing to change. How" ever, when regretting we must be sure that our heart is the same as Buddha Amitabha s, our vow is the same as Buddha Amitabha s and our behavior corresponds with that of Buddha Amitabha. How do we do this? With sincerity by not merely reciting with our mouth but with our heart. In this way we will perfectly fulfill the teachings in the sutras. Only by doing so can it be said that we are true cultivators of the recitation method. Be sure that with every thought of  Amituofo we have the same thought and vow as the Buddha. We need to turn his forty-eight vows into our own. Only in this way can we be rid of karmic transgressions.


The Fifth Vow: To be Joyful over Others Meritorious Deeds

This requires us to go against what seems so natural to us, jealousy. All humans are born with this emotion. For example, babies of only a few months appear unhappy when others receive more candy than they do. This is jealousy and it is a major obstacle to our self- cultivation. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva largely attributed this vow to jealousy. He taught us

not to feel envy but rather to regard others meritorious deeds as our own and to further assist

This vow tell us to not only feel joyful over others meritorious deeds but to help them accomplish even more. If we are unable to offer assistance, we can at least express our pleasure and admiration. However, if we are able to offer assistance then it will be a true ful" fillment of this vow. Remember that helping others is helping ourselves. We would do well to love and tolerate those who exceed us for in this way we will accomplish the virtue of this vow.

In ancient times, education in China was such that each following generation was ex" pected to exceed the current generation in accomplishment. If not, the education was considered a failure. People today however, are afraid that others will exceed them. When they teach others they may hold back important information. This is called grudging teach" ing, which will incur the retribution of ignorance. Grudging money incurs poverty. These people are not aware how serious the retribution will be. We should strive to continuously progress in our cultivation of virtue, acquisition of knowledge, development of ability and improvement of the standard of life. Only in this way will education be successful with the entire society progressing.

It will be our responsibility in the next era to educate others. If we fail to attain virtue, knowledge and ability, we will not be able to help the next generation of sentient beings. Why? Look at today s children. The education they receive is leaning more and more to" wards science and technology while society is becoming more and more complicated. Therefore, those who have vowed to help others will need to have a purer heart, greater wis" dom and higher virtue to cope with the new era and opportunities. Jealousy and hatred are extremely harmful to our self-nature and hence should be extinguished. So the virtue of being joyful over other s meritorious deeds will be even more important.