THE SUPREME INITIATION THE SECOND SPEECH

Obstacles to Enlightenment and the Six Extreme Disciplines

Today I will talk about fixed ideas. I want to focus our discussion on how they hinder enlightenment, and how we can get rid of them.

Suppose there is a house with three bedrooms, and a family who lived in a house with a single bedroom moves to that house.

They may be excited and say, "what a roomy house we can move to!" (Since housing land is badly short in metropolitan areas in Japan, a house with three bedrooms is generally considered to be roomy.)

Next suppose that a family lives in the house that is twice or three times bigger than the three-bedroom house. What do they think, if they have to move to the three-bedroom house? They may think, ''How unlucky we are! Because of bad luck we have to move to such a small house." O.K.?

Now just stop and think about these two cases. The houses to which we suppose the two families move are the same: the house with three bedrooms. So, there is no difference in space.

However, it looks roomy to one who moved from a house with one bedroom, while it looks small to one who moved trom a much more spacious house. What do you think makes this difference?

I used a house as an example. What about a car? For the poor person who could barely get a driver's licence, it will be his great joy to obtain a used car which costs $2,000. He may say, "At last I managed to become an owner driver."

On the contrary, to the person who is used to drive a $20,000-$30,000 car, the $2,000 second-hand car may not be called a car. However, this is the same second-hand car as one which was the reason for excitement for the poor man.

The next example is the opposite sex. Since AUM has more male members than female ones now, let me discuss this from the viewpoint of a man. Suppose that a man who has never been popular with girls mets an ordinary girl. They come to love each other. As a result they go out together. Then, he would be fulfilled.

Conversely, let us suppose there is a man who is so popular that he has been fed up with girls. What does he feel, if the same ordinary girl confesses her love? I think you can guess the result easily.

In all the examples, the same condition is given (to the two families or the two persons): a three-bedroom house, a $2,000 used car and an ordinary girl. However, different people value them differently. You will also value a three-bedroom house differently between when you have been in a one-bedroom house and when you have been in a roomy house. You will also value a $2,000 used car differently between when you are poor and when you are used to a luxurious car. The same is true of the opposite sex.

This is why Shakyamuni Buddha said, "All pleasures and sufferings come from conditions." So, as long as we are influenced by conditions, we can not be happy.

You might say, "That is strange. One becomes happy when one moves from a one-bedroom house to a three-bedroom house. " That is right. One feels happiness in that case.

However,this world is transient. As you know, everything is changing constantly. They may have to move back into a one-bedroom house from a three-bedroom house. He may have to sell the $2,000 car which he could barely obtain. At this point he will feel unhappiness. The girl may love another boy. If she says, "Good-by," he will feel sufferings alike.

Erase out Fixed Ideas

In this way, you feel pleasure and pain according to external circumstances and conditions. Since the beginless past you have been suffering or feeling temporary pleasure. As I told you, this is because you are swayed by fixed ideas formed by a previous circumstance and condition in a particular way. As long as we are deluded by fixed ideas, we can not see the truth. So, fixed ideas are also an obstacle to enlightenment.

The State of Enlightenment

Then, how do enlightened persons feel and think? If you attain enlightenment, that is, if you step into the stage of self-realization you are free from any influence.

You see a three-bedroom house as a three-bedroom house. Whether you move from a wide space to a narrow one, or from a narrow space to a wide one, it gives no influence on you. A one-bedroom house looks nothing but a one-bedroom house. You don't feel either sufferings or pleasure. The same is true of a three-bedroom house.

Whether you drive a $2,000 car, a $20,000 car or a $30,000 car, you don't have any different feelings. Even if the woman who is very beautiful in appearance turns up before you, you are not attracted any more. Instead you sense the beauty and purity of people's minds alone. Y ou lose interests in those who can say, "Good-by" for their own interest for such a short period of time as 50 to 60 years. Through your Intuitive Knowledge you can see ones who have a pure heart and love you in a true sense. This is how an enlightened person is.

Look at Things as They Are

A practitioner should have an eye to judge people properly. Be careful of people, because they usually try to make themselves look good. For example, women's make-up, I believe, is a nneans to make them look better than they are, though I heard that there are also men's make-up goods recently.

I had a friend, Mr. 0. He had a marriage for love. He was shocked when his wife took off her make-up. Such a relation between a husband and wife can break down easily.

Look at women of the AUM staff. They don't make themselves up a lot. However, I believe that the beauty of their minds is shining around them. It's much better to clean the mind and express its purity than to put on make-up. You will realize this, as you keep practicing. If you were to go on the path of enlightenment, express everything as it is. Make-up is one of many examples. Not only beauty, but express everything as it is. It brings you the best luck and leads you to a happy world after death. For to express a thing as it is means to get rid of your desires. T hose who stick to desires try to make themselves look better or bigger than they are. You should leave such a low stage as soon as possible and you should go much further.

Live as You Are

The reason that enlightened people can see everything as it is without being influenced by any condition and circumstance is not only because they have no fixed ideas, but also because they have no desire. Even if a condition turns for the worse, if you don't have any desire, you feel nothing. For example, you feel pain when you move into a smaller house from a bigger one) because you feel, "0h, I hate such a small house. I like a bigger one." If you don't desire anything, there is no problem. You can accept a thing as it is without feeling any pain. You can also see a thing more precisely.

That's why the scriptures of Yoga and Buddhism say, "See the world as it is and live naturally." To live naturally means that you should not want more than given conditions. Given conditions are karma given to you. A man lives according to his karma.
Karma does change, however. It changes as long as we try the Six Extreme Disciplines. So, let me explain the practices which make good karma and lead us towards happiness.

The Secret Practices to Change Your Destiny

Ropparamitsu or the Six Extreme Disciplines is the path to enlightenment in Mahayana Buddhism. It is to practice six kinds of practices to the utmost limit: Fu-se or offering, Jikai or observance of commandments, Nin-ni-ku or patience, Shojin or devotion, Zenjo or meditation, and Chie or supreme wisdom.

Fu-se (Offering) Brings Good Fortune

The basis of the Six Extreme Disciplines is extreme Fu-se, or offering. Since about three quarters of participants today experienced seminars more than twice, I think, you understand there are three kinds of extreme offerings: Zai-se or offering of money and goods, Anshin-se or offering of peace of mind, and Ho-se or offering of the true dharma.

Offering of money and goods means, "We need only food and cloths to survive, and we will offer the rest for the sake of the world or the truth."

Offering of peace of mind means, "We are in touch with the law of the truth, and so we have a peaceful mind. Since we have not attained perfection, a little pain may be in our mind. However, there are many people who have more pain than we do. Why not relieve them? Why not help them free their minds?" To carry this out is offering of peace of mind.

Lastly, what is offering of the true dharma like? It means, "We understand the dharma of the truth and the law of the universe. Let us tell them to everybody. L et's try to gather all under the truth." This is offering of the true dharma.

Jikai (Observance of Commandments) Overcomes the Devil State When you pass extreme discipline of offering, a guru, that's probably me in your case, gives each of you commandments. For example, "Do this practice intently," or "Don't do this in your ordinary life." The practitioner has to observe given commandments to the utmost limit. This is extreme discipline of Jikai or observance of commandments.

Virtue of offering brings good things to you. Your environment will change. Virtue of the observance of commandments will prevent bad things from happening to you. You can get out of Devil State if you are in it. In this way, though offering and the observance of commandments seem hard to practice, they are certainly worth practicing.

A Strong Will Is Cultivated through Nin-niku (Patience)

Next you should do extreme discipline of Nin-niku, or patience. It means to endure to the utmost limit. In other words, you should constantly challenge your limit.

For example, meditative practice is very hard. When I started meditation, it was hard to meditate even for three niumtes. However, I did endure it. By so doing, I increased the time of meditation little by little. Now I can sit m meditation easily for even 15 or 16 hours. It is the fruit of the extreme discipline of patience.

Through such extreme discipline of patience as T told just now, we can cultivate very strong will and strong concentration. These form the basis to focus your mind on one point. This one-pointed concentration is necessary for Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga.

This practice has good effects on your ordinary life. You can easily endure the environment which ordinary people feel is painful. In other words it expands your limit of patience with suffering. I believe that is quite beneficial.

Glossary