Blog » Sweet Dews Of Dharma Talks » 2013 » Liberating those who are hanging upside-down

Liberating those who are hanging upside-down2013-10-24

 

Spoken by Dharma Master Heng Yun
English Translation by Lotus Lee

I believe that many people already know how Ullambana Day came about. In order to help is mother leave the suffering of the hells, the Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana asked the Buddha to think of a method that would enable his mother to leave suffering and attain bliss. Because his mother’s evil karma was very heavy, the Buddha said: “Your mother’s karma is deeply rooted, you alone cannot do anything. Only the power of the Sangha will be able to help her.” This was the origin of Ullambana.

The meaning of Ullambana is to “save those who are hanging upside-down,” to save these people from their suffering. Where does “hanging upside-down” come from? It comes from our inverted knowledge and views. If we did not have inverted knowledge and views, our physical bodies would not undergo such suffering.

In the Ullambana Sutra, the Buddha said that the karma of the Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana’s mother was deeply rooted. How was it deeply rooted? When the Venerable Master was explaining the Earth Store Sutra, he once said that the Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana was Earth Store Bodhisattva. In the Earth Store Sutra, there was a story about a Brahman woman whose mother fell into the hells after she died. The Brahman woman thought of every method possible to save her mother; she said, “My mother had deviant views and slandered the Triple Jewel.” Not only did her mother have deviant views, she also mocked and slandered the Triple Jewel, and so fell into the hells after she died. In another story, the Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana’s mother loved to eat fish eggs when she was alive, killing countless lives. Because of such karmic offenses, she fell into the hells.

Therefore, our knowledge and views are very important, because our views, opinions, and thoughts will develop into actions. From our actions, the endless cycle of becoming confused, creating karma, and undergoing retribution comes into existence. Having confusion means that you do not understand and are confused about the truth. Then, you create karma, which is a form of action, and undergo retribution according to the karma that you have created. This cycle never ends. How we develop and nurture our proper knowledge and views is crucial.

In the poem “Praise of the Sangha,” Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty wrote: “I was originally a left-home person of the West. How did I fall into the house of nobility?” He sadly said, “I was originally a monastic. Why did I fall into the house of nobility? I have spent the past eighteen years worrying about my country, my people, and the state of the world. I do not have even a single day of peace.” The verse continues: “If only I did not have that one thought of ignorance”: this means that in the past, when he was a left-home person, he had a thought that went out of line. Perhaps he thought, “Being an emperor isn’t too bad,” and because of the blessings he had accumulated from his cultivation as a monastic, he became an emperor in his next life. The Venerable Master once said that there were two national leaders who were both monastics in their past lives. Because of the blessings they had accumulated in the past, they were leaders of countries in this life, but due to mutual conflict that had occurred when they were on the causal ground, in this retribution, they were enemies.

The Venerable Master once said that when we cultivate, we must pay great attention to virtue. Only with virtue will our cultivation be successful and correct; only with virtue can we use our cultivation to help the world. Where does virtue come from? It begins in the mind, for our thoughts mold our knowledge and views. If our knowledge and views are incorrect, we cannot accumulate virtue. For instance, since the Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana’s mother had deviant knowledge and views, she slandered and mocked the Triple Jewel. Why did she slander the Triple Jewel? Because she did not understand the truth. She neither believed everyone has the pure inherent nature nor believed in the existence of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Speaking of the Triple Jewel of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, we are also replete with the Triple Jewel of the inherent nature, which are the essence, qi, and energy of the body. The reason monastics lead a celibate life and do not marry is to retain essence, qi, and energy. When the Triple Jewel of the inherent nature is perfect, then Buddhahood is attained as well. The Buddha is the enlightened one, for he enlightens himself and enlightens others, and his practice of enlightenment is perfect. He has perfected enlightenment in these three ways. The Buddha began as an ordinary person, just like us, but he perfected his cultivation and so became a Buddha. We should also believe that we have the innate ability to attain Buddhahood. In his manifestation of the process of leaving the home life, attaining fruition, and attaining the way, the Buddha was serving as a role model and telling us that we can be like him too. Because the Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana’s mother did not believe all of the above, she slandered the Triple Jewel; we can also say that she did not believe that she had the potential for attaining Buddhahood. Consequently, because of her inverted knowledge and views, she did many wrong things, and fell into the hells afterwards.

The story of the Venerable Mahamaudgalyayana’s mother should serve as a moral for us, for it is speaking the Dharma. On this Ullambana Dharma assembly today, I hope that we not only be able to save our parents and ancestors of past, present, and future, and our elders and teachers who are hanging upside-down, we will also be able to save ourselves from the same predicament. In order to do so, we must begin from the mind, for we must first have correct knowledge and views, and proper action will follow.