Hello all radio-listening friends of Buddhism! Amituofo!
I am a Buddhist Monk from faraway Taiwan, called Shi Hui Jing. Tonight I am happy to have this affinity to meet with all of you over the airwaves, and really appreciate this very rare and precious opportunity. Just as we have introduced, from tonight onwards for four nights in a row, we would have 30 minutes each to form an affinity with everyone. The topic I would like to talk about today is — “Buddhism’s Views on Impermanence”.
So long as it exists, it is impermanent
When we say something is “permanent”, it must be forever unchanging, never decaying, and externally existing, never disappearing, nor dying, that’s what we call “permanence”. If we say things are impermanent, that means it will change, transform, decay, and eventually disappear or die, and so we call it “impermanence”.
All things in existence in this world are impermanent, and not continually existing, or forever unchanging. When we talk about “Things that exist”, we are including absolutely everything, because everything in existence in the universe, under the category of material existence, includes everything that our eyes can see, as well as everything that our ears can hear. Furthermore there are the formless, objects of consciousness, which also counts as being in existence. For example, our thoughts, concepts, learnings, knowledge, and intentions, are all not forever static, nor are they unchanging. Our thoughts are constantly, ceaselessly changing from moment to moment. Even when we hold onto certain fixed ideas and viewpoints, when we come across certain kinds of affinities and conditions, the ideas and viewpoints too will change. Thus we categorize these as the “impermanence” of the formless and the abstract. Now, the things outside of our consciousness, for example our bodies, belong to the material world, which is also impermanent. They are made up of cells, and cells are constantly undergoing metabolism, and thus it follows that our body must also be impermanent. Our bodies, from the moment we are born, goes through babyhood, childhood, youth, adulthood, and subsequently wither and age, and may even be riddled with illness, and when the time comes, we will inevitably die — thus is the body’s natural cycle of “birth, aging, illness, and death”. Other things, such as tables, chairs, farmland, houses and et cetera of the tools and products that we use, are also constantly in the process of decay and change. It is impossible for them to maintain a fixed shape forever, and thus is the object’s cycle of “creation, existence, deterioration, and annihilation”. Even the mountains and the rivers, the Earth itself, the Solar system, the galaxy, and even the universe at large, are also constantly subject to change and decay, this is called “Formation, Existence, Corruption, and Emptiness”. No matter the realm of objects of consciousness or the realm of the material, they are all impermanent, human beings will eventually die, objects will eventually be annihilated, thus is the teaching of impermanence.
Buddhism’s Views on Impermanence
When Buddhism talks about “impermanence”, it usually refers to the death of people. And so we can say that Buddhism’s Views on Impermanence are also views and perspectives about death. Here we will use some analogies to illustrate:
When Gautama Buddha was still alive, he was already stressing the importance of the sense of impermanence, and he frequently used the analogy of the “Four kinds of Horses” to highlight the degrees of difference in the way people feel about impermanence.
The first kind of horses are the “Excellent Horses”. As the saying goes “An excellent horse starts running when it sees the shadow of a whip”. This kind of horses are very intelligent, and when they see their rider holding the whip, they would already know to run, and no longer dilly dally on the way.
The second kind are the “Good Horses”. Even though they are not as intelligent as the excellent horses, as soon as the rider’s whip touches the tips of the hairs on their tails, they will know to run.
The third kind are the “Mediocre Horses”. This kind of horse will be relatively more dull. They have to wait until the whip lands on their body and feel pain, before they will be shocked into running.
The fourth kind are the “Drudge Horses”. This kind of horse is the most dull. Only when they are whipped until the pain becomes unbearable, will they begin to run.
The Four Different Levels of the Sense of Impermanence
The four kinds of horses are analogous to the four different levels of the sense of impermanence that people have.
The first kind of people, when they see flowers bloom and wither, will experience the sense of impermanence of human life. When they see thick smoke billowing from a cremation, they will feel the gravity of the issue of life and death. They will think about “As a person, where did I come from before birth? Where will I go to after death? Is there life after death? Suppose there isn’t, then death will be the end of it all. Suppose there is, what kind of a world will I experience? Will it be suffering? Will it be joyful?” They will think about these problems, and seek to understand them. Suppose there is a life after death, then they will seek a world which guarantees absolute peace and joy. This kind of people are what Buddhism considers to be of a higher potential. They see the flower blooming so brilliantly, but after a while it will wither and fall, and immediately they will feel that they are in a similar situation.
The second kind of people, when they see a crowd from a funeral procession, the coffin, and the hearse, they will feel that one day they too will be like that, and as such arise in themselves the intent to learn and cultivate Buddhism.
The third kind of people, have to see their own neighbours or friends passing away, or be part of their friend’s funeral, to be able to feel their own impending mortality, and to think of the dire need to cultivate.
The fourth kind of people have to wait until their closest loved ones, the ones they cared about the most, for example their own father, mother, or siblings pass away, in order to feel their own impending mortality. If a person doesn’t even feel that, and has to wait until he himself is old and burdened with illness in order to feel the sense of impermanence, this person is considered to be a little slow. Suppose a person who’s on the verge of death and still doesn’t feel it, then such a person can be said to have absolutely no sense of impermanence. A person without a sense of impermanence usually has less religious disposition, and will not seek out religious beliefs and subsequently cultivate in their practices.
Letters from King Yama
In Buddhism, the people who earnestly study and cultivate the dharma all share one vital basis, which is a strong sense of impermanence. As the saying goes: “Life and death is a huge matter, Impermanence strikes without warning”. We should not wait until we are aged and ridden with illness before thinking about impermanence, even as we are youthful and healthy, we should feel like impermanence is nigh. Such a person has a strong sense of impermanence, and will proactively learn the Buddha Dharma and cultivate it. If the person is not diligent in the cultivation, then he would never get attainment. Moreover, if we were to solve the problem of reincarnation within this lifetime, then we absolutely need to cultivate. As such, the view of impermanence is of utmost importance.
Here, we use the “Letters from the King Yama” as a parable:
There was once an elderly person who died, and whose spirit (or soul according to common understanding) arrived at the Court of King Yama, Lord of the Underworld. King Yama judged the old person’s sins and karmic offenses using his Ledger of Life and Death, and the Lord told the old person: “When you were alive, you did more evil and less good, and so deserve a certain punishment.”
The old person was shocked to the core, and begged King Yama: “Oh, your highness King Yama! If only you had notified me earlier, I could have turned over a new leaf, and I would perform good deeds and accumulate good merits, and I would not have come before you today and receive judgement!”
King Yama replied: “I have notified you a long time ago, and not just with one letter, or two letters, there were lots of letters! When your hair has turned white, that was my first letter to you. When your teeth started getting loose, that was the second letter. When your eyesight became blurry, and your ears could not hear so well, that was already the third letter. I have notified you for a long time, you just did not pay attention!”
As the Lord finished speaking, a youth kneeling beside the old person spoke up: “Oh King Yama! You have sent many letters to this old person, but you have not notified me! Why am I here?”
King Yama replied: “I too have notified you many times, do you remember? When that classmate of yours drowned, that was my first letter to you. When your neighbour, and that person who was the same age as you perished in a fire, that was my second letter to you. When your cousin died in a car accident a few years ago, that was the third letter. There was a youth in your village who died of knife wounds, or that other young person who died of a serious illness, those were the fourth and fifth letters! The letters that I sent to notify you, have been delivered a long time ago! Why were you not vigilant?”
Do not say that you will learn the Dharma when you are older, for solitary graves are filled with young people
“Do not say that you will learn the Dharma when you are older, for solitary graves are filled with young people”. We often think that only the elderly will die, only the sick will die, but the reality is not so. When impermanence pays us a visit, we will die, whether we are healthy, sick, elderly, or youthful. Not to mention that death has always been an inevitable phenomena, if there is life, there will be death. There is not a single person in this world who does not have an affinity with death. There are 6 billion people on this earth, and within a hundred years will be facing death. Of course there will be a handful who manage to live on, but within a few more years, they too must die. Common people treat death with great taboo, some even think that the sight of death, hearing of death, thinking of death, are all not auspicious. Thus in the elevators of tall buildings, we rarely see the 4th floor, and the hospitals do not have wards that are numbered 4, this represents the people’s fear of death (this is because the Chinese word for “four” sounds like the word for “death”). But regardless of how fearful we are, we have no choice but to face it. If we try to run away from death, we will eventually be cornered by death and suffer great pain. If we face death with a positive mindset, then we might find a solution to it, and transcend it. Which is why we students of Buddhism should not try to escape from death, but need to face it head on.
There are many monastics, especially those venerable monks with great merits, often attach a gigantic “death” word in their bedroom, and in an especially eye-catching position. This is to constantly remind themselves: “Have I transcended death?”. When we die, if we are diligently cultivating, perhaps we would not fall into the Three Wretched Realms, and can continue to be reborn as a human to continue cultivating. Or, if we are determined to be reborn in the Land of Bliss, and single-mindedly recite the name of Amitabha Buddha, we would be able to gain rebirth in the Land of Bliss. Otherwise, for the rest of us, when we die, our consciousness will definitely be judged by King Yama, and continue to cycle in the Six Realms.
Transcending the Trial of King Yama by Amitabha-Recitation
When we talk about the cycle of rebirth in the Six Realms, it’s usually more likely to be in the Three Wretched Realms. It doesn’t matter if you have the bravery and valour to conquer the world, or talent that could shock the world, who could avoid a face-to-face in the Court of the Underworld, with King Yama auditing your ledgers? Only people who have transcended the world, and recite Amitabha’s name while aspiring to be reborn in the Land of Bliss, not only can they avoid a meeting with King Yama, but also have the King treat him with respect and reverence. Any person who recites Amitabha’s name, not only that the ghosts and gods cannot harm them, even King Yama dare not invite them. All other people, be it people with high status like kings, lords, generals, or ministers, or people with low status like merchants and foot soldiers, they all have to go through the trial of King Yama. And it is because of this that Buddhism can treat death with importance, treat impermanence with importance, with the goal of transcending it.
I will again use a few stories to prove that the people who recite the Buddha’s name will gain respect from King Yama:
During the Tang dynasty, there was a person called Fang Zhu who died. His consciousness arrived at the Court of the Underworld, and King Yama said to him: “According to the Ledger of Life and Death, you once advised an elderly person to recite the name of the Buddha, and now this elderly person has been reborn to the Pure Land of Bliss. Because you bore such merits, you too could gain rebirth (in the Pure Land), and as such we have invited you for a meeting to explain this.”
Householder Fang Zhu replied to King Yama: “I once vowed to recite the Diamond Sutra ten thousand times, and I have to go to Wutai Mountain to pay homage. I did not think it was time yet to gain rebirth to the Pure Land.”
King Yama then said: “Reciting the sutra and paying homage on the mountains are both good deeds, but they are not as good as gaining rebirth to the Pure Land as early as possible. The good merits from being reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss far exceeds the merits from sutra recitation and paying homage by hundreds of thousands of million times.
However, Fang Zhu was adamant about his wishes, and so King Yama had no choice but to return him to the world of the living. This story tells us that, advising others to learn about Buddhism, and recite the name of Amitabha Buddha not only allows us to be reborn to the Pure Land of Bliss, but it can also move even the Court of the Underworld, and gain us respect from King Yama Himself.
There is yet another story:
In the State of Rao there was a military person called Zheng Lin. After he died, he came to the world of the Dead. Because he was not supposed to be dead yet, he was to be sent back to the world of the Living. But before he was sent back King Yama told him: “Once you are back amongst the living, you have to diligently perform good deeds and accumulate merits, when you see other people slaughtering animals, please recite the name of Amitabha Buddha. This way, the animals who were slaughtered can gain rebirth to a better realm, and you would also be able to receive auspicious outcomes.”
From this we know that the recitation of the Buddha’s name could transcendentally deliver the souls of the departed, and at the same time, increase our own auspicious merits and lifespan, and not only for the benefit of gaining rebirth to the Western (Pure) Land after we die. Both of these accounts were recorded in the Pure Land Texts of Long Shu, by householder Wang Ri Siu from the Song Dynasty. This book is very famous, and focuses on expounding the teachings of Pure Land Buddhism.
I am going to tell you all a parable of “The Unfulfilled Three Wishes”, the story of the three wishes that were not fulfilled:
There was a monastic who went to visit a householder friend, in order to convince him to use his time wisely in order to study Buddhism and recite the name of Amitabha. His friend said: “Studying Buddhism and Amitabha-recitation sounds good, I too have the wish to do so, but it’s just that I have 3 wishes that are yet unfulfilled: First, I need to renew my house, and my new house is not built yet. Secondly, I have a son who is yet to marry. Thirdly, I have a daughter who is yet to marry also. Once these three wishes have been fulfilled, I will be able to focus my heart into studying Buddhism, and reciting the name of the Buddha.”
But not a few days after that, this householder suddenly died, and so the monastic, with great forlornness, composed this poem: “My friend’s name was Zhang Zhu Liu, could Nianfo but for three wishes still, alas King Yama was not told, hooked him before wishes filled.”
This poem was saying that I have a friend called Zhang Zhu Liu. I advised him to study Buddhism and recite the Buddha’s name, but he said that he has three things left to do. Unfortunately King Yama was unsympathetic, without waiting for him to complete even one of the three wishes, reaped his life away from him. As the saying goes: “If King Yama has determined that you die at midnight, he will never allow you to see the sunrise.” There is no negotiating with death, once we are faced with it, no amount of bargaining will change it. Unless we recite the Buddha’s name right then and there, perhaps we could extend our lifespan or gain rebirth to the Land of Bliss, and avoid a meeting with King Yama.
The Simplicity and Auspiciousness of the Nianfo Dharma Door
The Nianfo Dharma Door is actually very simple. We don’t have to become monastics, or live in a temple, or undergo solitary retreat, or live deep in a mountain. Amitabha-recitation is very convenient, easy to do, and the merits are exceedingly rewarding. It allows us to directly resolve the problem of life and death, and guarantees Buddhahood. No matter if we are laymen, or monastics, male, or female, whether we have deeply studied the collection of Buddhist sutras, none of those matters. All that matters is that we have a wish to be reborn in the Land of Bliss, and that we recite the name “Namo Amituofo”. Based on our current status, occupation, environment, recite when we find the time to, recite based on your own level of potential, and recite as much as you are able to. This way, we are not only blessed with the protection of Amitabha’s light, avoid disasters and calamity, turning bad outcomes into good ones, increase our auspiciousness and lifespan, but also when we are on the verge of death, we will arrive at the Land of Bliss, and once and for all resolve the problem of impermanence, transcending the cycle of life and death. If our views of impermanence are deeply rooted, and aspire to be reborn in the Land of Bliss, and recite the Buddha’s name, then we are guaranteed to transcend reincarnation in this lifetime, and be reborn in the Land of Bliss.
Thank you all Lotus friends, that’s all I have for you today!
Namo Amituofo!
The “Earth Pure Land” program, by radio station AM990, Auckland, New Zealand
Nighttime 12th November 2001