Chapter 9 - On Work
Ethics
1. Whatever you do, do it willingly and joyfully; otherwise,
your wisdom cannot grow.
2. Do whatever needs to be done, irrespective of whose
responsibility it is. As long as you do it willingly, you will earn merits for
yourself. Do not criticize others for not doing their jobs. Bad-mouthing will
only create negative karma. Remember, you are working for no one else but
yourself in order to eradicate your karmic obstructions.
3. Think (and plan) carefully in whatever you do and be your own
master. Do not follow blindly what others say or do, make your own judgments.
Practice means cultivating wisdom through the tasks we perform and the mistakes
we make.
4. Perform your monastic assignments dutifully. If you simply
want to enjoy a good life and neglect your duty, your merits accumulated in
previous lives will soon be used up.By then, you will be under the full swing
of your karmic obstructions and it will naturally be difficult for you to hold
on and continue your practice in the monastery.
5. Concentrate on your assignments and do your best. Do not try
your hands on verything and end up doing nothing well.
6. Through carrying out daily chores in the temple, we may
discipline our minds to become sharp and deft. The way a person performs his/her duties
reflects the degree of dedication and concentration of his/her mind. Those who
carry out their tasks with an undivided mind can also concentrate on their
practice. That's why we should try to comprehend the essence of practice
through performing monastic duties. Thus, when you carry out your assignments
with utmost sincerity and concentration, your mind will be as pure and clean as
the bright moon, and your wisdom will fully unfold. By then, you will know
clearly as to what needs to be done or where has to be cleaned, even a grain of
dust on the floor will not escape your eyes. As everything becomes apparent and
crystal clear, you will not feel bewildered at the tasks assigned to you. Such
a state indicates the revelation of wisdom.
7. Cheerfully accept instructions and advice. For example, the
Master might ask you to wipe again the chair you just cleaned. Your spontaneous
reaction might be: "Why? It is clean enough!" If so, you still react
like a lay person rather than a practitioner, and vexations will arise. As a
practitioner's mind is straightforward, you should just answer: "Fine,
I'll wipe it again." This will test your proficiency in practice and gives
you an opportunity to train your mind.
8. In addition to perseverance, an attitude of
"non-attachment" is also necessary to do a job well.
"Non-attachment" does not mean indifference or carelessness, but
rather you should do your best and not worry about the results. If your mind
lingers on the task after it is done, it is a sign of attachment. Such
attachment will obscure your wisdom, generate vexation, and even spoil your
accomplishment.
9. Be patient in performing all your tasks. For example, when
you are sweeping the floor, not only should you clean the floor but also purify
your mind. You can recite the name of the Buddha while working. Don't let your
mind become slack or diffused. Practice disciplining your mind through work so
as to purify your deeds, words, and thoughts.
10. Be patient while working. Also, recite the Buddha's name and
free your mind from vexations. By so doing, you will naturally attain a certain
level in your practice.
11. "Treat everything of the monastery with care, as if
protecting your own eyes." Plancarefully before taking any action, rather
than doing it at will and carelessly. Use the most proper and flawless way to
take care of the possessions and affairs of the monastery.
12. Do your best on your daily chores and practice diligently
with an undivided mind. Were you able to do so, even sweeping the floor can lead to
enlightenment.
13. Work can train our minds to concentrate and make our
reactions deft. Therefore, it's better that we have something to do lest we
should be overrun by erroneous and illusive ideas and waste our life in vain.
14. "Don't think too much" does not mean that you
should not use your head and make plans when carrying out a task, but that you
should not dwell on it once the job is done. Lingering not on past successes or
failures lest your vexations should increase.
15. Don't be stubborn and insist on a certain way of doing
things or cling to any specific principle; flow with circumstances! For
example, when someone does you a favor, if you feel uncomfortable because you
either think you are unworthy or fear it might cost you some merits, then you
are rigidly clinging to a principle. In fact, if you wish others to gain
merits, you yourself have to acquire abundant merits and wisdom, and attained
an impeccable level in your practice. Only by then can you persuade others to
follow you, to plant the field of blessings thereby increase their positive
affinity with Buddhism. And such efforts are in accord with the bodhisattva vow
that quests for self-elevation while benefiting others.
16. At times, those who are in responsible positions in the
monastery may reprimand us or correct our mistakes. They do so because they
care about us. Regard them as our valuable mentors; don't be upset or be vexed
upon hearing any reproach.
17. Put the Master's words into practice: recite the name of the
Buddha while carrying out your daily chores about the temple; get rid of your
clinging to both "the sense of self" and "the Dharma." By
so doing, you can gradually unfold your wisdom. However, wisdom is formless and
colorless; you might not even realize that it has unfolded. But when it does,
you can naturally figure out the most adroit and flawless way to handle any
problem that emerges.
18. You should incorporate recitation into your daily routines,
i.e. recite the Buddha's name while working to the extent that your mind becomes tranquil
and untainted, and you can hear distinctly every word you recite. "Recite
with the essence of your mind and listen with the same" until the mind is
"undivided and unperturbed."
19. Recite the name of the Buddha with an undivided mind. But
when you concentrate on your work and are free of illusive thoughts, your mind
is also undivided. In that state, you would have no thought but how to benefit
others and whatever you do would be based on lovingkindness and compassion;
also all your understandings would naturally be right views hence your mind a
buddha-mind.
20. Work can help discipline and keep our minds from being distracted
and dispersed. Therefore, to monastic practitioners, the meaning of work is not
the same as that to lay people because their inspiration and goal are not the
same. Lay people work to earn profit, monastic practitioners to enhance their
practice. Maybe there seems not much difference as monks/nuns, like lay people,
also need three meals a day along with proper clothing and housing, but the
essence is completely different.
21. How can we carry out a task successfully? It requires
complete cooperation andcommunication among all involved. It won't work if
someone within a group would only give orders. For example, when working on a
garden, if someone is unfamiliar with the task, those who do should show him
how to do it. Otherwise, not only things can't get done, animosity may be
generated within the group.
22. Monastic practitioners ought to be merciful and
compassionate. Do not try to command people according to lay principles. Put the Dharma into
practice so that, by our virtue, we can convert other sentient beings
naturally.
23. "Don't do anything that is immoral, and do all things
that are right." Practitioners should unconditionally do whatever would benefit other beings.
And, instead of being resentful, endure all hardships with a pure and joyful mind.
Fill your heart with senses of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity
and carry out your daily tasks with abodhi mind. Keep on these
practices and you will eventually comprehend their true virtue and your wisdom
will unfold.
24. Instead of criticizing others, we should try our best to do
things others would not do,or to complete tasks others could not finish.
Otherwise, we would be acting like a lay person.
25. "Alms come from the ten directions (i.e. different
places) should be returned to the ten directions." People from the ten
directions offer alms to the temple, believing they are planting the field of
merit. We who receive such alms should practice diligently so that their
offerings would not be given in vain. Then, we should transfer our merits
acquired through practice to all beings of the ten directions. By such transfer
of merits, we should wish to repay the grace of our parents, of all beings, of
the state, and of the triratna (Buddha, Dharma, and
Sangha) and to relieve the suffering of those in the three evil divisions of
rebirth (beasts, hell, and hungry ghosts), and hope that all beings can escape
misery and attain happiness.
26. As a lay practitioner working in the secular world, you
should always keep your promises, avoid greediness, and do your best in all endeavors.
If you are devoted to your tasks, your supervisor will hold you in high regard.
It is the same with being a Buddhist:if you truly believe in the Buddha, the
Buddha will bless you.
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