Today, I will delve into the concepts of the “six sense bases” and “six sense objects”(“six dusts”) in Buddhism. The “six sense bases” refer to the “eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind”; the “six sense objects” refer to “forms, sounds, odours, tastes, tactile objects, and mental phenomena”. As many of you will recognise, these concepts are mentioned in the “Heart Sutra.” We recite sutras daily. However, living in the Human Realm, it’s inevitable that our speech sometimes falls short of purity – be it through divisive speech, flattery, sowing discord, or speaking ill of others.
Consider this: when your ears are subjected to harmful or unwholesome words, don’t they become tainted? When your eyes see things they should avoid, isn’t that a form of pollution? When your mind wanders into inappropriate thoughts, isn’t that also a form of pollution? Similarly, when your nose smells odours it should steer clear of, doesn’t it also become contaminated? Notably, the Human Realm often blurs the distinction between the fragrant and the foul. For instance, many people enjoy the smell of garlic, even deriving pleasure from it. Yet, isn’t it offensive when someone who has consumed garlic or onions speaks? The act of reciting sutras also involves the mouth, which suggests it has a direct relationship with cultivating one’s energy field.
Human minds, like our eyes, ears, mouth, and thoughts, are subject to pollution within the Human Realm. Indeed, everything is vulnerable to contamination. Can we truly escape it? Now, my goal is to guide sentient beings towards enlightenment. But if I fear this contamination and choose to retreat to the solitude of a mountain for personal cultivation, would that be right? Shouldn’t I, instead, venture into what is often referred to as the ‘mundane world’, or the ‘illusory and beguiling world’, to awaken and liberate sentient beings? While I help people on the path to awakening, my duty is helping people in eradicating all these unwholesome thoughts. If I fail to help people cleanse the pollution of body and mind, then I am not fulfilling my role as a genuine practitioner.
Your Buddha-nature ought to be activated, thus ensuring your six sense bases remain uncontaminated, for you have nurtured your Buddha-nature. Consequently, you understand what the eyes should not see, the ears should not hear, the mouth should not say, and the mind should not conceive. This is to say, you can tell what is good from what is bad, what should be observed and acted upon, and what should be avoided. If you cannot even understand these things, not to mention liberate and awaken others, you can’t even attain liberation yourself. How, then, can you lead others to liberation?
Do you know what it’s called when a person retreats to the mountains for self-cultivation? I refer to it as the Dharma Door of Self-Liberation. And what does self-liberation mean? It implies disregarding others, retreating to the mountains for personal cultivation, embodying the mindset, ‘As long as I can achieve liberation, the affairs of others have no bearing on me.’ But is such an approach acceptable? As a Buddhist practitioner, one should engage with the realities of the world to liberate sentient beings. Who can you assist in their awakening if you isolate yourself in temples or mountains? Isn’t this path of practice essentially the same as self-liberation? Indeed, this path of practice is adopted by a certain school of Theravada Buddhism.
If you have the capacity to enter this beguiling world and confront this test, it is a testament to your elevated spiritual state. Without such elevation, if you only focus on self-cultivation and have no idea about how to assist others, can you truly be deemed a Bodhisattva? Are you treading the Bodhisattva Path? Remember, practising Buddhism and cultivating the mind are about an elevation of spiritual state. Without reaching a certain level of spiritual state, one cannot cultivate appropriately, let alone cultivate their mind. They may even struggle to uphold proper human conduct. If you fail to reach a certain spiritual state, the only sentient being you can truly liberate is yourself. You may reach a certain point, but you won’t be able to progress to a higher level. Is everyone clear on this point?
Thus, while cultivating in the mountains may seem pure – on the surface, your soul is untainted, your six sense bases of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are unpolluted. However, if you have not reached a certain level of spiritual state, your perspective remains limited to the superficial. For example, a person cultivating on a rooftop may see the fields, but if mountains or tall buildings obstruct the view, their gaze will not penetrate beyond. No matter how diligently you cultivate at this level, your insight will be constrained. Upon death, you may ascend to a certain heavenly realm, perhaps the Realm of Desire, but no higher. On the contrary, when your spiritual level surpasses that of the rooftop, and you cultivate at the peak of a mountain, you will not only see the rooftops but also the peaks of all the mountains. Can you imagine the spiritual state you would be in at that moment?
I employ these analogies to illuminate underlying principles. If the mind remains unpolluted, one can sense a solid foundation inherent in humans. Every person has a foundation for cultivating their mind. Whether you embrace Buddhism today or someone else does tomorrow, it all depends on this foundational basis. The foundation can be likened to your physical health. If your body is in poor condition (in other words, if your foundation is weak), could you climb high mountains? It is only those in good health, those with a robust foundation, who can ascend to the summit and elevate themselves further through cultivation.
That’s why I want to tell you this. Those who isolate themselves in the mountains are practising the Dharma Door of Self-Liberation. Such individuals typically retreat to the mountains in search of self-liberation, driven by thoughts such as ‘I want to be free from troubles,’ or ‘I don’t want to be this way or that way.” On the other hands, cultivating within the mundane world carries different requirements. It requires the practitioner to cultivate themselves first, after which they can help others towards awakening. In the mundane world, you not only cultivate yourself but also seek to liberate other sentient beings. This is the essence of the Bodhisattva’s Path – awakening and liberating other sentient beings.
It is essential to note that choosing to practise in the mundane world entails tests. These tests, given by the Bodhisattva, aim to protect your six sense bases from being polluted by their contact with the corresponding objects. Failure to maintain this purity hinders your progress towards the spiritual state of a Bodhisattva. To awaken and liberate others, one must pass these tests. If you are unable to weather life’s trials and tribulations, how can you help others? For instance, if you consume meat while advising others to adopt vegetarianism, how can you convince them? This is what spiritual state implies and why they are called tests. If you advise others to cultivate their mind, you must first ensure that your own speech is not frivolous or meaningless. Only then will you be qualified to guide others. As the saying goes, “The power of setting an example is infinite.” Only when you meet these standards can you truly liberate other sentient beings. If you are unqualified to awaken and liberate others, how can you awaken others as a Bodhisattva?
You would know that many truly skilled and practised monks are capable of cultivating their minds even amidst chaos. Even in the height of tumult, they can meditate and cultivate their minds, remaining undisturbed by external distractions. They are regarded as eminent monks; they embody a high spiritual state, a superior level of cultivation and skill. Your skills and capabilities correlate directly with your merit and virtue; the more you accumulate, the greater your capabilities. Those devoid of merit and virtue lack such skills and capabilities. As I’ve previously explained, merit and virtue originate from within – from the soul. When your heart has been refined and purified, only then will you possess the resilience to persist on your path of mental cultivation and Buddhist practice. Only then will you rise above a life steeped in ignorance, much like an animal’s existence. When one’s cultivation, merit, and virtue reach a certain level, they can endure anything, exercise restraint in any situation, and approach all matters with an open mind. This signals the elevation of their spiritual state.
Confucius once said, “Restrain yourself and return to the rites.” Many interpret this as a return to the rituals of the Duke of Zhou, an influential figure from the Zhou dynasty. However, this interpretation is a misconception. Critics have taken “restrain yourself and return to the rites” out of context, insisting that this “rite” pertains to restoring the rituals of the Duke of Zhou. In reality, Confucius was referring to the restoration of human nature. This “rite” is not merely a formal ritual but emanates from the heart as a mindset, urging everyone to overcome their flaws and revert to their inherent nature.
You should note that these ancient sages are incarnations of Bodhisattvas; they are merely identified by different names. When these sages descended to the Human Realm to liberate humanity, they endured great hardship. They traversed numerous countries, influencing people wherever they journeyed, echoing the actions of Bodhisattvas who strive to liberate and awaken sentient beings everywhere. Renowned Dharma masters traverse the globe to spread the teachings of Buddha-dharma; am I not doing the same? The only difference is my method of ‘travel’. I use modern advanced technologies such as radio broadcasting and the Internet to ‘travel’ around the world. Wouldn’t you say it’s the same?
Remember, the ancient sages were Bodhisattvas who descended to the Human Realm to awaken and liberate sentient beings, so we should endeavour to emulate their spirit. A person must learn self-restraint. Without an understanding of self-restraint, how can one return to their inherent nature? From the Buddhist perspective, this “restraint” represents a “precept”. Observing the precepts is integral to learning the Buddha-dharma. If everyone in this world neglects to act according to ethical norms and standards, what would our world become? Reinstating rites and etiquette, and returning to the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, signifies a restoration of human nature. However, even so, it still falls significantly short of Buddhist standards.