From Knowledge To Practice


			(back to list) From Knowledge To Practice Thích Chân Quang Translated by Minh Thiện Phước 1. Gap from Knowledge to the Practice: A Buddhist Perspective We can clearly understand and coherently repeat that the Buddha’s disciples must practice the Four Sublime States of Mind, must share Great Compassion, Loving-kindness, Joyfulness, Equanimity with all sentient beings, and love all living beings without limit. However, that cannot guarantee that we can extend our love to those who stay side by side with us every day; and neither can it guarantee that we love the hovering birds passing by, the swimming fish in the brook. We might understand the Law of kamma very much; we might learn that to be able to gain blessings, fortune, privileges, ones have to work hard for good compassionate deeds. However, that cannot guarantee that we have enough energy to consecrate our life for the sake of human beings’ happiness. We still believe that many people who practice meditation have got peaceful, calm mind or even attain enlightenment and supernatural powers. Even we can understand some and describe some miraculous states of meditation. All, however, is unable to affirm that we are willing to endure sore legs to sit meditating regularly and diligently. In life, at times we can analyze others’ faults in detail like a respectable and strict master, but neither can it guarantee that we would fall into such same mistakes. Indeed, having full knowledge of good deed is one thing and effective practice it is another thing. Logically, when we realize what is right and what is wrong; or we cause suffering to people is wrong and help them to be peacefully happy is right; or we know that the distracted mind is wrong and the calm mind is right; once we learn such right and wrong logically causes us a wish “to want” to avoid the wrong and do the right. Nevertheless, there is something that makes us not follow the right good path. Those greed, hate, envy… still rule over our mind and incite us to do evil things. That “something” is what we need to understand inside out, to visualize thoroughly to neutralize and remove it from our mind so that we become powerful to perform good deeds according to the Buddha’s teachings and as our initial wish when we learn about the right and wrong. Not only we have to remove that something out of our minds, but also to extricate it from others’, from our disciples’ so that the goodness comes true in life and Buddhist Dharma is not an on-shelf gift displayed in a culture shop. A Buddhist educator must see through such facts, not only to improve our Dharma propagation but also to show methodical ways for our followers to fulfill the goodness they have learned from Buddhism. 2. Impediments The first impediment easiest to be accused is the lack of will, which makes one – in spite of his good dharma knowledge - unable to perform thoroughly. What is will? It is still a secret difficult to define. We only know that without will a person cannot achieve his plan, his dream since his idleness is his impediment and mundane pleasures drive his soul to another direction. The will is often shaped through practice to confront with many adversities. Therefore, people living in deficiency obtain better will than people living in luxury. It might be the reason that the bare and poor lands often produce many great talents in a country. If there is no adversity to deal with, we should create some challenges in order to train ourselves the strong will. Being on education missions, we must comprehend this factor to train our followers’ will. In other words, we must force them to experience harsh challenges instead of indulging them too much in trivial matters. Yet, there is a potential side-effect comes from one’s will; it is the Self, Obstinacy, arrogance also rouses an uprising will. Strong willed people have strong personality, strong will and easy to be arrogant. A Dharma cultivator, an educator must avoid this side-effect. Once we have achieved an iron will, we should warn ourselves to be modesty, to yield to others, to listen to others, to strain oneself from arrogance which is growing along with the will. Another way to train the will is one must try to do good things for humans’ sake or prostrate to pay homage to the Buddha and perform repentance. Another logicality of the Law of kamma is that our deeds originated from good acts will strengthen the spiritual power, or even more helpful than the training of confronting with adversities. Whoever wishes to have strong will should be diligent to do good karma and prostrate the Buddha everyday. Once he gets enough blessings, the will naturally appear for his practice on various philosophies from the Buddha’s teachings. So, a Buddhist educator must create good conditions for his disciples to share their willing help with everybody. The second impediment is that we get into inconvenient situation. Indeed, lacking of an opportune environment, even with hearty mind, it is still difficult to practice the Buddha’s teaching. At times, wisdom submits adversity. Many people want to sit meditation but their houses are too messily small. Many people want to be vegans but they cannot detach from their family meals. Many people want to help others but their own situation is in want and so on. In those cases, we should promise ourselves that we always keep our hearty wishes alive, show our deep sorrow and repentance for former evil deeds and seize any opportunity to perform good deeds. Buddhist educators must sympathize with such infeasible cases, encourage and console their own disciples to restore and nurture their confidence until a new dawn. The third impediment is that a secret karma hidden in the innermost brain to neutralize our energy and not able to do good deeds as our initial wishes. We may remember the case of the monk Culla Panthaka who suffered from a mysterious haunted karma. In his early monk life, he couldn’t learn by heart even a short line of sutra. When his old evil karma came to end, he attained the enlightenment easily and broke out a wonderful wisdom. If we look down on others’ feebleness, have no sympathy and instructions to others, prevent others’ doing good karma, envy assiduous Dharma cultivators… are evil karmas embedded in brain that cause us to be powerless to valuable noble philosophies we clearly know and need to practice. To overcome that mysterious situation, we do nothing but habitual repentance and pray to The Buddha. Until our rite of contrition for old sins gets to some extent, we will be freed from hindrance; our spirit becomes so strong that we can do what we wish. Besides, we should praise skillful people, sympathize with imbecile people, support good doers… to build up the own will gradually. The fourth impediment is that we lack whole-hearted praying to noble wishes. As we have known, wishes are the cause and deeds are the effect; deeds are the cause and retributions are the effect. To have good retribution, we must do good deeds. To have good deeds, we must learn how to wish. Therefore, wishes are the initial step of causal and retributive karma. In Buddhism, there is the rite of promise in worship to Buddha. Once we wish to do something, we should kowtow to the Buddha’s shrine to promise for our deeds. E.g. we promise to be diligent, compassionate, forbearance, abidance, meditation, renunciation, propagation… Just as we solemnly promise in front of The Buddha’s altar, a good cause comes out from innermost mind and grows up with time; then one day, it will come true. A Buddhist educator should give hints to his disciples so that they will have noble oaths and stand up in their future for good deeds to life and to themselves. 3. The Importance of Practice in Development of Buddhism We hope that Buddhism can have heritage and prosperous development in the long term. Then, like other scientific branches, Buddhism needs to be proven and experimented and also to gather laborious practitioners. Lacking practice and verification, we can be rather documentation keepers in Buddhism than keep the miracle spirit of Buddhism alive. We can speak about Non-Self fluently. If lacking of practice or verification, we can only be reporters to narrate what we have heard before. Unless we practice, experiment the Non-Self, we sit meditating calmly, contemplating the emptiness and impermanence of our 4-elements-formed body (earth, water, wind and fire) and feel the peace of a calm mind, we then can deeply say about the Non-Self convincingly; encourage listeners to practice and attain such same peaceful and calm mind. That’s the only way for us to build the most proper road of inheriting and developing Buddhism. Even with the four stages of meditation, lacking of practice, we will not understand the Buddha’s explanation of every stage of meditation. Then, we feel embarrassed to relate the Buddha’s words and we can only say about what we understand, very different from the Buddha’s and makes us farer and farer from the Buddha’s teachings. To inherit Buddhism, we have to practice The Buddha’s teachings exactly and contemplatively to comprehend all the Buddha’s words. Once understanding thoroughly we can express Buddhist theory with strong emotion and modern language to community. If we haven’t yet understood wholly, temporarily, we can use obsolete words to give lecture of Buddhist Theory; but it will make the majority of listeners difficult to absorb and be farer and farer with Buddhist Dharma. Besides, whoever practicing noble Buddhist philosophies will have a refined manners, dignified attitudes, and naturally draw people’s admiration. Such a unique self-discipline of the master convinces many people have confidence and take refuge in Buddhism, then treasure the Buddhist Tripitika. Buddhist Theory displays a feasible and flexible vitality. Should we practice laboriously the Dharma; we become more sagacious day by day. That wisdom assists us to gain many practical methods in Dharma propaganda without bound by improper means. We must recognize that no one can have better wisdom than the Buddha’s. So, if we can repeat and interpret the Buddha’s sayings precisely and plainly we may be considered apprehensible people. Never do we entertain any illusion about adding something that The Buddha hadn’t told yet to be so called developing Buddhism. The meaning of Buddhism development is on various aspects of organization, education, celebration, propagation, interpretation but not any ucommonly different in Dharma. This is something we have to verify before being true Buddhist educators. And firstly, we promise to practice The Buddha’s teachings deeply in order to experience clearly in Dharma cultivation. That makes us being good sons to inherit and develop Buddhism. SUMMARY 1. The Gap from Knowledge to the Practice: A Buddhist Perspective The thorough understanding of the Buddhist dharma, Four Sublime States of Mind, The practice of Loving-Kindness, Great-Compassion, Mercy, Exhilaration, the law of Karma; theory on meditation or an intelligent mind which is able to analize, find faults on other… are not guarantee one can reach a proper and practical practice of Buddhism. The Dhamra teaches us the fined things, educate us the right from the wrong, true and false, good and bad. Ones can act morally through vows or wishes. But there still be a hidden parameter; this parameter embeds in ones mind and obstruct our practices on morality. 2. Impediments The weakness of will, the training of will and the side effects from its training; the factors which make improving one’s non-self. Another impediment is also due to the conditions. And also past karma is an impediment which prevents ones to practice morality. The way to neutralize the effect of karma is discussed. And the last impediment, the true oath from heart based on the law of karma. 3. The Importance of Practice in Development of Buddhism This is the core of this abstract. The experiment verification and practice in a way that Buddhism develops and be inherited properly. The careful practice and thorough of the Buddha’s teaching and the effort to convey precisely the Buddha’s words without any addition untold saying in order to be a proper Buddha’s disciples.