LESSON 3: NORMAL

UNIVERSAL BUDDHISM 1

SRAMANA=THICH THIEN HOA.

Course II: THIEN THUA BUDDHIST

Lesson 3: REGULAR.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.

A. OPENING 

The greed of humans clinging to things forever and ever.

We, as sentient beings, are more or less ambitious. That ambition is closely attached to the things that we have created and captured. We just let them go, after the last breath. Strictly speaking, it is not until the last minute that we will let go of everything; we still want to hold on to them, but they leave us. We were powerless, we didn't have enough energy to hold them anymore, so we just gave up and let them go, but if we still have energy, we still want to seize and desperately hold on to what get it. Throughout life, we still repeat the same gesture of grasping and preserving. And many times in our lives we have been suffering, disappointed, because everything in life never surrenders to our will and stays in one place. Everything is always changing, changing, now and again, like a romantic guy, like a river, like a cloud, like a horse's hooves! As time goes by, everything goes like that. In Buddhist words, that transformation and change is the law of impermanence. 

B. BACKGROUND 

I. DEFINITIONS 

What is impermanence? Listen to the Buddha taught: "Everything in the world has been transformed, corrupted, is impermanent." So impermanence means not normal, not forever staying in a certain state; always change shape; go from the state of formation to disappearance and dissolution ... Buddhism calls the changing stages of an object: city, cylinder, vandalism, emptiness (or birth, cylinder, singularity, cessation). Like a wave, when it rises, it is called a city (or being) when it rises at the highest level, it is called a pillar; when descending it is called necrosis (or freak), when disintegrating it is called (or cessation). All things in the universe, from as small as a grain of sand, to as big as a star and moon, must follow these four stages, so called impermanence. 

In order to have a clearer idea of ​​impermanence, we should immediately observe and examine our own bodies, our minds and the circumstances in which we live. 

II. NORMAL BODY 

"My body is healthy, young and beautiful, and my life is a poem ..." This is the superficial conception of some young men and women, too fond of their bodies forever young, or if they get old , it was a long time ago, to think that he was old, he died, every second of every minute. The following verse of the ancients really speaks to the rapid change of our body: 

" The ants of high street have a clear scene! Trieu is like a small, grave like snow? " 

(He did not see the old father looking in the mirror of the silver hair chamber! Soon as blue silk, as white as the snow.) 

Science has proven that, in our bodies, cells change always, and every 7 years, old cells are completely renewed. The change made the body grow fast, grow old quickly and die. The body of the previous year was not the body this year, the body in the morning was not in the afternoon, every moment in our body had birth and death. The following is a very significant story to prove the impermanence of the body: 

A pedestrian missed the way to an inn in an abandoned house. At night, he saw a blue-haired demon, carrying a new dead zombie in, trying to tear the body to eat. Suddenly another demon, with red hair, pushed the door in. Two demons scrambled for the dead, and each one of them said that he could catch it first. They are about to roll their sleeves to kill each other, to win the body. Suddenly they saw the pedestrian lying trembling in the corner of the room; they hastily pulled him out to be the arbiter, asking which of the two were the masters of the body. The pedestrian was so scared, but honestly said that the body belonged to the blue-haired demon because he saw it first. The green-haired demon was determined to be happy, thanking him for his confusion; but the red-haired demon loses his prey, angrily drags his head out and decides to devour him. It pinned him down, tore an arm into his mouth and devoured it ... The blue-haired demon felt pity for him on foot and to show his gratitude, pulling the arm of the corpse inserted into him. The red-haired demon tore at his other arm and continued to walk; and the blue-haired demon hands the corpses of him to him. Just like that, as long as the red-haired devil poked part of his body on foot to eat, the blue-haired devil took a portion of the zombie to fill his body ... After eating his whole body. of the pedestrian, the demon wiped his mouth full of gore, and left. The green-haired demon also followed. as long as the red-haired demon pits a part of his walking body to eat, the blue-haired devil fills a part of the zombie with his body ... After eating his whole walking body , the demon wiped his mouth full of gore, and left. The green-haired demon also followed. as long as the red-haired demon pits a part of his walking body to eat, the blue-haired demon fills a part of the zombie with his body ... After eating his whole walking body , the demon wiped his mouth full of gore, and left. The green-haired demon also followed. 

The pedestrian was stunned as if he had just woken up with a nightmare and wondered: did not know which body he was carrying right now or whose? 

The above story shows us from birth to death, our body has not changed many times; and the body when people put it in the coffin, it's nothing like the body when newborn. 

Yesterday's stream of the Dong Nai River, for example, looks no different from the stream today; but yesterday water is now probably mixed with salt water in the ocean and the water today is another source from the new source. So does the human body, "moving like a stream" (flowing like a flood). 

But miserable! Does it change from one to another, just like the first! One cell is lost, another is replaced, but the previous one is younger than the next; The next cell is older than the next just ... And just like that the body goes from young to old, from life to death! 

The Buddha, while still a Crown Prince, lamented to Da Du in the royal palace, thinking of the impermanence of the human body. 

"... We will grow old and ugly. Time will cover our heads with silver ashes. Oh! Your inner eyes will be opaque! Your red lips will then stain! ... I listen in me, in you and in everyone, every day broken, under the ravages of time hammer, all the precious things of life ... we hold desperately, the treasures things in us, like holding onto a shadow, like capturing a fragrance! ". 

Wisdom instead! Man is high and young and beautiful, besides having a good wife early in the servant's day, yet still clear enough, to see the law of impermanence, smashing what is called the nobility and beauty of life! Such anguish words, not only alerted Princess Du Du, but also awakened those who were still deeply immersed in the scene of temporary life, scenes of birth, old age, sickness, death, embodying the law of impermanence. If you have a body, you have to suffer from the rule of being old and die, can't survive forever. Lao Tzu also recognized that the body is the source of sin, the root of suffering, so he uttered the sentence: 

" Organic corn, organic corn, 

Wu Wu is incompetent, arrogant? " 

(I have great misery, because I have body, 

If we are not close, what is the point?) 

The body is impermanent, yet many people want to cultivate, cultivate, and provide the body so much that it causes so many atrocities! Because want to be like the mouth, body, but many people have to kill the weak animals and execute innocent animals before they die in a grisly way. Reading history, listening to Qin Shi Huang eating raw monkeys' brains, we could feel the pain of the animals being killed, but the party attendees were still happy and happy, regardless of the groaning, screaming, the waving them, how cruel it is! Where is the compassion of the people? O oh! Wicked and cruel, the heart of man! 

Because of greed, clouding one's conscience, darkening one's conscience, people do not see clearly the impermanence of the body and are willing to do such cruel things! 

III. MIND OF MIND 

The body is impermanent, but is the mind normal? The mind also silently changes, and it is somewhat faster and more subtle, if we do not look deeply, it will be hard to see. 

Our minds change in every moment, in accordance with the external environment: we are sad and happy, injured and angry. One minute I remembered this, the next minute I thought of something else. Yesterday we diligently practiced, today was favorably moved. Just as the Buddha said: 

" The human heart is like a gibbon passing a tree, 

Like a horse in a field ... " 

Our mind arises and falls away in every moment; and precisely because it ceases and falls so quickly, it feels like it hasn't changed at all. For a child, if we say that the moving images are printed on the screen in real life, it is due to the succession of films, images that appear and disappear, to make room for other images, first. the lamp ... if I told that to a child, he probably wouldn't believe it, because he didn't understand the use of speed. In the same way, our mind is made up of each thought arising and falling away, but because we do not receive its swift transformation, we think that it is pure and immutable. What we were minutes ago is what we are this minute? And this self is no longer a min? So who is the true self? The ego moments ago, Ego this minute or Ego minute? A poet asked a seemingly silly question but thought deeply about it: 

" Who told me: do we have me ?" 

The self (or the mind, too) is transient, so artificial, yet people call it the center of the universe, cling to it, in its name to greed and vain for wealth. , fame and fortune around, and despite trampling on the happiness of others, causing much suffering to fellow people, also wear! It is so dim! 

IV. PERMANENT PERFORMANCE 

As above we have seen the law of impermanence everywhere, not only the body and mind are impermanent, but the circumstances, the greatness of the earth, are also impermanent. 

Books often have sentences: 

" Commercial customs, mourning " (The bride's beach) 

That sentence sounded like a polished picture of literature; but actually, that is a very true comment. We often mistakenly think that only creatures are transformed and quickly die, but great things like mountains and rivers, sandy soil, they still remain in place forever. But we are wrong, the mountains and rivers also have the old and young, sandy soil sometimes landslides. Nothing is permanent. Our proverb has many sayings about the impermanence of things in a very profound way, such as: " Change, repatriate " or " Nobody is rich in three families, no one is difficult in three generations ." 

Indeed, a lifetime of ours has witnessed so many ups and downs, humiliations, and elephants and dogs. Rich, cowardly things continue to unfold before our eyes like a fresco, like a movie in a movie theater. How many people, before, the palatial mansion, the stork fields flew straight to the wings, but after a fire, the career suddenly became like clouds of smoke! How many people of high authority, bossy and overbearing position, yet one minute of failure, suddenly become people who pray for food, or become imprisoned! 

Impermanence was palpable in front of his eyes, yet so many people were still not awake, clinging to the most flashy of the time. The baron, the mandarin, the listener of the greedy ... cause so many jokes for the indifferent guests, and present a lot of hardships for the insiders. 

Once upon a time, there was a king who, after strolling through the streets, saw that the people were wealthy, newly born greedy, wanting to confiscate their possessions, to put them in storehouses. The king then ordered whoever had to pay for the court. 

The command was given out, the house is angry, but who can complain about now? Meanwhile, a merchant, wishing to awaken the king, ventured to bring all his possessions to the capital, to the midst of the movement, offered to the king and said: 

- Lower god would like to offer all assets to the court. 

The King was surprised and asked: 

- I only collected a part, why did you give all that? 

-My Lord, because I think of this is not of me, but of 5 houses: water drift, fire, bandits, confiscation and wife and children dispersed. Lower god despite trying to preserve how, also could not help from being one of the 5 houses that he appropriated. Therefore, I would like to offer all, do not keep doing anything, so that I will not suffer from it later. I hope the king can accept it all, I thank you so deeply. 

After hearing the words of the merchant, the king thought for a long time, suddenly awake, both shy and secretly said: "This man came to teach me wisely. Giang my camellia, I can preserve for long Or will the five houses, which the merchant just said, take away? Jiangshan still has not kept, let alone the property of the people! This man is my benefactor, if there is no one who brings the light to wake up I will do something very cruel. " 

After thinking, the king ordered to stop the confiscation, and even gave money to the poor. What a precious story, to awaken those who are still immersed in fame and gain, causing suffering to themselves and those around them, because they have not realized the impermanence of the situation. 

V. DECISION 

Some people suspect that: Buddhism says impermanence, does it casually instill in people's hearts rotten notions of life? Because things are impermanent, you should not do anything, have diligent business activities and then go nowhere. Ashes, will you become ashes? 

Answer: The impermanence of Buddhism is a method of pointing out the reverse side of life, to eliminate the delusion, to prevent people from running after sex, it is not absolute theory. 

Buddha as well as physician depending on the disease that gives medicine. With the disease "accept often not lost", then use the "impermanence" remedy to treat, when healing, the Buddha gave the other more valuable tonic, the "theory of the immutable chon". According to the Surangama Sutta, Ananda was as mistaken as we are, so the Buddha told Himalah to ring the bell to show him that A-Nan distinguishes the "transmutation of destruction", and the "often not." change". When the bell rang by Rahula, the Buddha asked Mr. Anan, did he hear? 

Ananda answered: 

- White World Religion! Listen. 

When the bell stopped, Buddha asked: 

- Did Anan hear? 

Ananda answered: 

- White World Religion! No more listening. The Buddha said to Mr. Rahula again, struck the second bell, and then the Buddha asked the same thing as last time, and Ananda also replied to hear. 

Buddha rebuked: 

- Ananda, after that he answered silly like that? 

Mr. Ananda was surprised and replied: 

- Not only me, but everyone acknowledged that I could hear it, but I could no longer hear it. 

Buddha recalls: 

"He and everyone have a reputation for having heard, the sound stopped, then there is no more hearing; so the" nature of hearing "to follow the loss, then perhaps never hear again. If you hear the second language, you definitely know it is not the ending without hearing. The sound sometimes lost, "the nature of hearing" is often unchanged. Tanh no longer hear, then what knows the hearing is not heard? " 

Said, the Buddha taught "impermanence" to treat the longer attachments of beings. Until sentient beings have understood the impermanence, the Buddha only shows the feet of unchanging truth. 

C. CONCLUSION 

Impermanence is a law that governs all things, from the body and mind to every situation. Understanding impermanence, we have had a miraculous remedy to eliminate craving, confusion. We have suffered because of good and bad colors, because of bad voices, because of the sweet, bitter taste, because of things we like, pleasant. We now take the pill of "impermanent teachings", to eliminate craving and to proceed to the peace of mind. 

Knowing impermanence, people can remain calm in the face of sudden changes and may be cold in the middle of a sexual separation. Knowing impermanence, people dare to sacrifice their assets and lives in order to do their jobs. Knowing impermanence, people are fed up with temporary, false, and lucid pleasures to find true pleasures. Because actually, true joy often exists, the true nature often exists, but it lies within the temporary, impermanent layer of this world, so we cannot see. When we have resolutely removed that false shell, then of course the true value, the true true happiness, the Buddha enlightened, surely forever will appear. . END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).WORLD VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST ORDER=GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.3/1/2020.