Blog » Symposiums And Lectures » Precepts » Eightfold Precepts prepare you for monastic life and Buddhahood (2)
Eightfold Precepts prepare you for monastic life and Buddhahood (2)2014-02-17
♦ Spoken by Dharma Master Jin Fan
English Translation by Lotus Lee
I would like to use the remaining time to introduce to everyone the eightfold precepts. “Eightfold” is a number which tells us that our actions and conduct must be in accord with the dharma with regards to eight things, the eight characteristics of the precepts. They are: no killing, no stealing, no sexual conduct, up to and including the eighth precept against eating at improper times. This is the meaning of the word “eightfold.”
The Chinese character “guan” means closing. We close off all negative karma of the body, mouth, and mind, and gather in the six faculties of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mouth, preventing them from running off in pursuit of things on the outside. This is also a kind of closing. Originally, when our three karmas are impure, they will create various kinds of negative karma, or our six faculties will seek externally and also create negative karma with respect to their corresponding sense objects. However, if we uphold the precepts and stop creating negative karma, we thus close off the doors leading to the three evil paths. When you uphold the precepts, you cut off all possible ties to the three evil paths, causing the doors to naturally close and preventing you from being reborn in the three evil destinies.
As for the word “zhai,” which means “vegetarian,” its structure (when written in Chinese) is quite similar to a character that means “orderly” or “organized.” What is it that is organized? Using a standard that we can follow, we organize the three karmas, making them follow the rules and stopping them from creating negative karma. Another meaning of this word is to “gather in.” By taking the precepts, we gather in all wholesome dharmas, preventing evil and stopping wrongdoing. Thus, our body and mind will become orderly and organized.
Many people think that the word “zhai” simply refers to eating vegetarian food. Actually, this is incorrect, because the meaning of this word is not limited to vegetarianism. As applied to the precepts you have received today, it simply means that you should not eat at improper times. The precept that has to do with eating or vegetarianism is the precept against eating after noon. After you have received the eightfold precepts, you cannot eat after noon. At night, some people may get hungry and drink water, but you have to wait until the next morning to eat. What time can you eat again tomorrow morning? At the sign of dawn. This does not mean that you can eat as soon as the sun has risen. If you are able to see the tiles on the roof clearly by the light of the sun, or if you can see the lines of the palm of your hand, then it is dawn, and you can eat breakfast.
Why do we not eat after noon? The first reason is to decrease our greed towards food. The second is out of compassion. The devas eat in the morning, the Buddhas eat at noon, animals eat in the afternoon, and ghosts eat at night. When ghosts see people eating at night, or hear the clattering of bowls, they will become hungry, for their stomachs are as large as drums but their throats are as thin as needles. Anything they put into their mouths becomes blazing fire that burns their mouths. As a result, they have much suffering. However, when they see people eating at night, because they are hungry, they will still want to eat.
In the Shramanera Precept Manual, Great Master Lianchi said: “When hungry ghosts hear the clatter of bowls, fire blazes forth in their throats.” Because they are so hungry, fire blazes forth in the throats of these hungry ghosts as soon as they hear the sounds of people eating, much less seeing the food itself. Therefore, we refrain from eating at night out of compassion, so that living beings reborn in the destiny of hungry ghosts will not have their desire for food triggered by the sight of us eating, or even try to snatch food for themselves, causing them to undergo the suffering of being burned by fire.
When the Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana brought a bowl of food to his mother, his mother kept the food to herself and hid when she tried to eat it. But as soon as the food touched her mouth, it turned into burning coals, and she was unable to swallow it. Even though hungry ghosts may have food, due to their karmic obstructions, the food transforms into blazing fire or burning coals. The ghost will then give rise to anger and hatred, believing that humans have used some sort of magical spell to hurt them. That is why the Buddha established this precept.
Perhaps people may have doubts about what to do if we do not eat dinner. I believe that there are many Chinese Buddhist monasteries that serve dinner. However, they treat such food as medicine, or regard it as eating tasteless rocks. This shows that you are not enjoying the delicious flavor of the food. Now that we are aware of these principles, in the future, when we are not upholding the eightfold precepts, it is best to hold compassion in our minds as we take our evening meal. As you eat, you should hope that the living beings in the destiny of the hungry ghosts will not fall into this destiny anymore, or that they will also obtain food and become full. We know that during evening recitation, there is the Meng Shan Ceremony that uses a ritual to offer food to hungry ghosts so that they can eat.
Let us see why the Buddha established the eightfold precepts. The Ten Wholesome Precepts Sutra says: “The eightfold precepts were established by the Buddhas, Tathagatas, of the past and present as a dharma of leaving the home life for those in the lay life.” In other words, the eightfold precepts were established by the Buddhas of the past and present as the dharma of monastic precepts for laypeople. If you have not left the home life yet, why do we call them monastic precepts? The eightfold precepts are actually only a precept away from the ten precepts of the shramaneras. In the eightfold precepts, there are two of the shramanera precepts that are combined, and the precept against handling money or wealth is omitted. Other than this omitted precept, all the other precepts in the eightfold precepts are the same as the shramanera precepts. What was the Buddha’s purpose for establishing these precepts? The Buddha knew that there are many laypeople who wish to leave the home life, but perhaps they are not yet accustomed to monastic life. As a result, he established the eightfold precepts, which are upheld for one day and one night, for laypeople to get a taste of the monastic lifestyle.
If you often uphold the eightfold precepts, perhaps you firrst receive it for one day, and then you feel that you can continue for a week, or an entire month. At Tathagata Monastery at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, we have a Shramanera Preparatory Class, for laymen who wish to leave the home life. They become members of the class by receiving and upholding the eightfold precepts, and following the same daily schedule as monastics. After six months or one year, if they are able to keep up, and their upholding of the precepts is deemed to be pure, the leaving home ceremony will be held for them so that they will be ordained as shramaneras. The eightfold precepts they uphold are somewhat different from the ones that you have received today, in that theirs last throughout their entire lifetime, signifying that they have made up their minds to leave the home life. We have seen that the third precept of the eightfold precepts is against sexual conduct, which rules out even spousal relationships; this is the monastic lifestyle.
If you also wish to leave the home life, it is best for you to frequently uphold the eightfold precepts, so that you are accustomed to monastic life. Why should we leave the home life? It is because only by leaving the home life can we attain liberation from the three realms and the six paths of rebirth. According to Theravada sutras, laypeople can only attain the third fruition of an arhat. However, the third fruition is still within the Heaven of the Fourth Dhyana, in the heavens of the realm of form, not outside the three realms. One must attain the fourth fruition to leave the three realms. If you wish to attain the fourth fruition of an arhat, you must leave the home life and cultivate. When the Buddha was born in the world, he manifested the eight characteristics of attaining the Way: descending from Tushita Heaven; entering the womb; leaving the womb; leaving the home life; subduing the demons; attaining the Way; turning the Dharma Wheel; and entering Nirvana. One of these characteristics is to leave the home life. Every single Buddha manifested the appearance of a monastic before attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, if you wish to attain Buddhahood, you must leave the home life as well. When you uphold the eightfold precepts, you are making preparations for leaving the home life and attaining Buddhahood in the future.
