Click here to go to the next issue
Highlights Home Page | Receive the Nonduality Highlights each day
How to submit material to the Highlights
Nonduality Highlights: Issue #3563, Sunday, June 14, 2009, Editor: Mark
What great beings practice is called the eight awakenings. This
is the last teaching of our original teacher Shakymuni Buddha,
which he gave on the night he entered pari-nirvana.
The first awakening is to have few desires. To refrain from
widely coveting the objects of the five sense desires is called
"few desires." The Buddha said, "Monks, know that
people who have many desires intensely seek for fame and gain;
therefore they suffer a great deal. Those who have few desires do
not seek for fame and gain and are free from them, so they are
without such troubles. Having few desires is itself worthwhile.
It is even more so, as it creates various merits. Those who have
few desires need not flatter to gain others' favor. Those who
have few desires are not pulled by their sense organs. They have
a serene mind and do not worry, because they are satisfied with
what they have and do not have a sense of lack. Those who have
few desires experience nirvana. This is called few desires."
The second awakening is to know how much is enough. Even if you
already have something, you set a limit for yourself for using
it. So you should know how much is enough.
The Buddha said, "Monks, if you want to be free from
suffering, you should contemplate knowing how much is enough. By
knowing it, you are in the place of enjoyment and peacefulness.
If you know how much is enough, you are content even when you
sleep on the ground. If you don't know it, you are discontented
even when you are in heaven. You can feel poor even if you have
much wealth. You may be constantly pulled by the five sense
desires and pitied by those who know how much is enough. This is
called "to know how much is enough."
The third awakening is to enjoy serenity. This is to be away from
the crowds and stay alone in a quiet place. Thus it is called
"to enjoy serenity in seclusion."
The Buddha said, "Monks, if you want to have the joy of
serene non-doing, you should be away from the crowds and stay
alone in a quiet place. A still place is what Indra and other
divas revere. By leaving behind your relations as well as others,
and by living in a quiet place, you may remove the conditions of
suffering. If you are attached to crowds, you will experience
suffering, just alike a tree that attracts a great many birds and
gets killed by them. If you are bound by worldly matters, you
will drown in troubles, just like an old elephant who is stuck in
a swamp and cannot get out of it. This is called `to enjoy
serenity in seclusion.'"
The fourth awakening is diligent effort. It is to engage
ceaselessly in wholesome practices. That is why it is called
"diligent effort." It is refinement without mixing in
other activities. You keep going forward without turning back.
The Buddha said, "Monks, if you make diligent effort,
nothing is too difficult. That's why you should do so. It is like
a thread of water piercing through a rock by constantly dripping.
If your mind continues to slacken, it is like taking a break from
hitting stones before they spark; you can't get fire that way.
What I am speaking of is `diligent effort.'"
The fifth awakening is "not to neglect mindfulness." It
is also called "to maintain right thought."
This helps you to guard the dharma so you won't lose it. It is
called "to maintain right thought or not to neglect
mindfulness." The Buddha said, "Monks, for seeking a
good teacher and good help, there is nothing like not neglecting
mindfulness. If you practice this, robbers of desire cannot enter
you. Therefore, you should always maintain mindfulness in
yourself. If you lose it, you will lose all merits. When your
mindfulness is solid, you will not be harmed even if you go into
the midst of the robbers of the five sense desires. It is like
wearing armor and going into a battlefield; there is nothing to
be afraid of. It is called `not to neglect mindfulness.'"
It is rare to encounter the buddha-dharma even in the span of
countless eons. A human body is difficult to attain. By
practicing and nurturing these awakenings, you can certainly
arrive at unsurpassable enlightenment and expound them to all
beings, just as Shakymuni Buddha did.
The sixth awakening is to practice meditation. To abide in dharma
without being confused is called "stability in
meditation."
The Buddha said, "Monks, if you gather your mind, it will
abide in stability. Then you will understand the birth and death
of all things in the world. You will continue to endeavor in
practicing various aspects of meditation. When you have
stability, your mind will not be scattered. It is like a
well-roofed house or a well-built embankment, which will help you
maintain the water of understanding and keep you from being
drowned. This is called `stability in meditation.'"
The seventh awakening is to cultivate wisdom. It is to listen,
contemplate, practice and have realization.
The Buddha said, "Monks, if you have wisdom, you are free
from greed. You will always reflect on yourself and avoid
mistakes. Thus you will attain liberation in the dharma I am
speaking of. If you don't have wisdom, you will be neither a
follower of the Way nor a lay supporter of it, and there will be
no name to describe you. Indeed, wisdom is a reliable vessel to
bring you across the ocean of old age, sickness, and death. It is
a bright lamp that brings light into the darkness of ignorance.
It is an excellent medicine for all of you who are sick. It is a
sharp ax to cut down the tree of delusion. Thus, you can deepen
awakening through the wisdom of listening, contemplation, and
practice. If you are illuminated by wisdom, even if you use your
physical eyes, you will have clear insight. This is called `to
cultivate wisdom.'"
The eighth awakening is not to be engaged in hollow discussions.
It is to experience realization and be free from discriminatory
thinking, with thorough understanding of the true mark of all
things. It is called "not to be engaged in hollow
discussions."
The Buddha said, "Monks, if you get into hollow discussions,
your mind will be scattered. Then, you will be unable to attain
liberation even if you have left the household. So, you should
immediately leave behind scattered mind and hollow discussions.
If you wish to attain the joy of serenity, you need to cure the
sickness of hollow discussions. This is called `not to be engaged
in hollow discussions.'"
These are the eight awakenings. Each awakening contains all
eight, thus there are sixty-four awakenings. When awakenings are
practiced thoroughly, their number is countless. When they are
practiced in summary, there are sixty-four.
These are the last words of Great Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha, the
ultimate admonition of the Mahayana teaching. He said at midnight
of the fifteen day of the second month, "Monks, you should
always endeavor wholeheartedly to search for the way of
liberation. All things in the world, whether they are in motion
or not, are insecure and bound to decay. Now, all of you be quiet
and do not speak. Time is passing and I am going to cross over.
This is my last admonition to you." Without expounding
dharma any further, the Buddha entered pari-nirvana.
- all posted to DailyDharma, from the "Dailyzen"
website, 2006