Simian

Simian

【Preface】

We often see that once a child gets into trouble outside, he quickly hides home and asks his parents to take care of the aftermath, so the Buddhist scriptures use "parents' residence" to describe a safe place for individuals. But when this child grows up, when he faces complex interpersonal relationships, bosses, colleagues, competitors and other objects, when problems arise, where is his safe place? Where is his "parents' dwelling"? some people have career problems; Some people have no career problems, but they have marriage problems; Some people have no career and marriage problems, but they have physical problems,...... All living beings always have endless problems and often fall into various troubles. The current state of these afflictions is called "affliction demons" in the Buddhist scriptures. How to avoid these "troubled demons" and hide in your "parents' residence"?

The Buddha's birth was to point out the crux of the problem for suffering beings, and give specific prescriptions to solve the "troubled demons".

【Buddha's Lectures in Aham】

For a time, the Buddha lived in the Garanda Bamboo Garden in Rajgir City. There are monks meditating here in the garden. Every dusk, the monks gathered in front of the Buddha to listen to the lectures. On this day, the Buddha said to the monks:

In the cold and icy areas of the Great Snow Mountain, there are still no monkeys, let alone humans! There are also mountains where monkeys live but no one is inhabited. There are also mountains where humans and beasts live together.

Here, the Buddha first used an analogy to illustrate that there are three types of people: the first type of person, such as an arhat, has a completely pure heart, and does not have the mentality of "irrational intentions" in his heart, nor does he have the current "affliction demons". The ape represents the psychology of "irrationality", and the hunter represents the "trouble demon". The second type of people, such as the saints who pre-flow the fruit, the first fruit, and the non-return fruit, have already realized the truth, and their hearts have begun to purify, and they still have the mentality of "unreasonable intentions", but there is no "affliction demon" in their hearts. The third type of people is ordinary people, who have not yet realized the truth and have not been purified in their hearts, and they not only have the mentality of "unreasonable intentions", but also the current "trouble demons", this kind of person is like being under a snow-capped mountain, not only apes, but also hunters come here to hunt. After speaking the metaphor of the snow-capped mountains, the Buddha continued:

In places where apes often walk, hunters apply glue to grass and trees. The wise ape avoids it when it sees it, but the foolish ape does not know how to avoid it, but touches it with its hand, and sticks to its hand when it touches it; It tried to untie it with two hands and seek freedom, but it stuck to both hands; then use both feet to step on the touch to seek liberation, and stick to both feet; It had to bite the grass with its mouth, and it stuck to its mouth. The ape's two hands, feet and mouth were all glued at the same time, and his body curled up on the ground.

As soon as the hunter came, he pierced the ape with a wooden staff, carried it away, and saved the rope. The monks should know that this is because the foolish ape has left his parents' dwelling and has gone to other territories, which will cause suffering and trouble.

After the Buddha finished speaking the parable of the ape and the hunter, he then talked about the "Dharma righteousness" that this parable represented, and the Buddha said: The same thing, monks! Some ordinary and foolish practitioners live in villages, and in the early morning, they put on vestments and walk into the village with a bowl in their hands to beg for food, but they do not know how to take good care of themselves. When the ears hear sounds, the nose smells fragrances, the tongues taste tastes, and the body touches objects, they all immediately become greedy. After the inner root of these foolish practitioners comes into contact with the external world, they are bound by the ropes of the five kinds of eros, and then they have to be begged by the demons of afflictions.

Therefore, ordinary foolish practitioners, like the foolish ape, are deceived by external sounds and colors, leave their own territory, leave their "parents' residence", climb outward, and are bound by the ropes of the five kinds of eros, resulting in endless suffering. So, where is the "parental dwelling" that practitioners want to settle in? The Buddha then pointed out:

Therefore, bhikkhus! You should learn like this: stay in the realm of your parents where you are going, and do not follow the other realm of others. Why do monks live in the realm of their parents? It is called the four places of thought: the body and mind dwell, and the mind and Dharma concepts dwell.

Here the Buddha pointed out that the practitioner's "parental state" or "parental dwelling" is the four places of thought: the concept of body, the concept of receiving, the concept of mind, and the concept of Dharma. Only by clinging to the four thoughts can practitioners not be caught by the demons of afflictions. In other words, as soon as a practitioner leaves the place of the four thoughts, he has already fallen into a dangerous place or other realm.

After the Buddha finished preaching, all the monks who listened happily followed the Buddha's teachings. The sutra introduced above is the 620th sutra of the "Miscellaneous Sutras".

[Some reflections: Stay in the four thoughts and get rid of the troubles]

Why is it that the body and body are the true "parents' dwelling" of the practitioner? This is because practitioners must first start from the "body concept" to solve their scattered ape-like mind, and protect their hearts: they must be aware of their every move in their bodies. After training for a long time, you will be able to stop climbing everywhere, and then you can objectively be aware of the feelings and sensations that arise at the moment, which is "accepting the concept of dwelling", and you can also objectively be aware of the stability of your own mind at the moment, which is "mind-mind-mindedness", and finally you can be truthfully aware of the thoughts, thoughts, and other psychological phenomena that arise at the moment, this is "Dharma concept dwelling": at this time, when the eyes see the lovely color method, the psychology of greed will not arise, and when the eyes see the unlovely color method, the psychology of anger will not arise; In the same way, when the ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are aware of a lovely object, they will not develop a greedy mentality, and when they are aware of an unlovable object, they will not develop a sense of anger. Practitioners in turn abide by the concept of body, the concept of receiving, the concept of mind, and the concept of Dharma, and settle their mind on stable awareness, so that their hearts are constantly purified, so it is said that the four thoughts are the residences of their parents.

Some practitioners cannot clearly think about their body's every move, so they want to "observe the mind" and "look at the thoughts", just like a child who can't walk and wants to run. Also, in the parable mentioned by the Buddha, when the foolish ape wanted to break free from the glue, he was busy stepping on it with both feet, and as a result, both feet also stuck; This metaphor means that many ordinary people want to get rid of some bad habits, but because they do it in the wrong way, they end up getting infected with another bad habit. For example, I wanted to use betel nut to quit the habit of smoking, but I didn't quit smoking, and I developed the habit of eating betel nut. This is because they have not cultivated the ability to cultivate positive "thoughts" and thus cannot resist the power of bad habits, so the Buddha repeatedly emphasized in the sutras that only by relying on the "four thoughts" can we avoid being caught by the demons of afflictions.

【Conclusion】

The Buddha's teachings to sentient beings 2,500 years ago are still vividly preserved in the Aham Sutra, and the troubles of sentient beings that day are still the same as those of sentient beings today. The method of eliminating afflictions on that day is still the same as the method of eliminating afflictions today. The Buddha asked us to always be aware of whether our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body are stuck by external colors, sounds, fragrances, tastes, and objects of contact. You should always think of the metaphor of the foolish ape, and don't be caught by the troubles of the hunter, so that it can be considered practice. Finally, the Buddha asked all beings to become saints from the ordinary, and through correct practice, they should first attain the status of a sage learner, and then attain the holy fruit of an unlearned arhat like the depths of a snow-capped mountain, and then follow the fate to save the masses and benefit all sentient beings.

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