Part 3
At the Kingdom Three eyes, obtaining Dharma from the Bhikshu Good Looking. Going south, from the kingdom Renown until the city Wondrous Light. Visiting Pure Youth Comfortable Chief, the Upasika Complete Abundance, the Layman Clear Knowledge, the Elder Crest Jewel of Dharma, the Elder Universal Eye, the Raja No Satiation and the Raja Great Light, and receiving Dharma Doors of Bodhisattvas. At the capital City Peaceful Dwelling, Upasika Unmoving said to Good Wealth,
‘After bringing forth that resolve, throughout kalpas many as dust motes in Jambudvipa, I have not given rise to a mind of desire, much less conducted myself in that manner. Throughout all those kalpas, I have not given rise to a mind of anger towards my own relatives and retinues, much the less toward other living beings! Throughout all those kalpas, I have not given rise to a view of self regarding my own body, much the less a calculation of that which is mine with respect to the myriad objects…’
Good Wealth goes south again, drawing near to the Bodhisattva named Going Everywhere.

Annotation
Every Good and Wise Advisor that Good Wealth met told him to proceed south. Is there some significance in it? National Master Ch’ing Liang says,
‘Principle has no corner, and people are found everywhere. However, if one wishes to convey a particular intent, one can designate a certain direction. This is a case of applying specifics to principles. The South denotes five meanings,

1. To bring forth one example in order to illustrate the rest. As it is so with one direction, it is the same way with the other directions.
2. In the Western regions most of the houses face East. The movement from East to South corresponds with the course of the sun and moon. This signifies that Good Wealth enters the Dharma in accordance with the natural order of things.
3. The South symbolizes the orthodox and proper; whereas the East and West carry the connotation of the biased and deviant.
4. The South is the bright principle of fire; it brings the myriad things of life. For this reason the Sages are situated toward the south.
5. The South has the meaning of birth and growth.

Good Wealth did not just go around collecting instructions. He honestly upheld and practiced what he had learned from each Teacher and thus certified to the various Dharma Doors and positions.
The ancients say,
 ‘The Way must be practiced. If it is not practiced, what use is the Way? Virtue must be cultivated. If it is not cultivated, from where does virtue come?’

Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua says,
‘Those who can speak cannot match up to those who can listen,
Those who know how to listen cannot match up to those who know how to practice,
Those who are able to practice cannot match up to those who are able to certify.’

When the Upasika Unmoving saw the fine appearance of the Buddha in her previous life, she felt so happy. Such is the great power generated by the Buddha’s perfect adorned hallmarks and great virtue. Living beings that see the World Honored One are delighted and feel inspired to cultivate. It is said,
‘When one is completely pure,
One has already taught and transformed living beings.’

Upasika Unmoving is completely pure. Thus, those who see her will give rise to a proper and reverent attitude. Since her beauty is based on her cultivating purity to perfection, she can inspire others to bring forth a resolve for enlightenment. Based on wisdom, she cultivates kindness, the gentle and compliant qualities, which are personified by a pure maiden. There is no way to measure the depth and vastness of her virtuous practices and qualities.

Ever since she brought forth the initial Bodhi resolve, throughout all the ensuing eons after that, she has never even given rise to a single lustful thought. Hence, she also never got angry with her family or relatives. She has certified to such an inconceivable state because she upheld the moral precepts with uncompromising purity and sternness.
In maintaining the moral precepts, it is not enough to merely not be physically involved in any improper behavior, one must also not commit them in one’s mind. Every unwholesome or wholesome action begins with a good or evil thought in the mind. Therefore, one needs to constantly apply effort on that level and guard and restrain one’s mind at all times.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said,
‘Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,
Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you,
That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.’

In Jainism, they regard someone who had conquered his senses a hero. The Jains focus themselves on the purification process.
Socrates said, ‘True philosophers abstain from all bodily desires and withstand them and do not yield to them.’

In the Shurangama Sutra, the Buddha states very emphatically that the First Clear and Unalterable Instruction on Purity is: One must cut off both physical and mental lust.

Purity is not obtained through castration, it can only be attained by severing the mind of lust. Without purifying the mind, one is still in a very precarious position. During the Buddha’s time, there was a nun who cultivated very diligently until she was able to recollect her past lives. She saw that in her previous existences, she was sometimes a nun and at other times a prostitute.

Those who are born in the Six Desire Heavens are not completely pure. They still have lustful thoughts. An exception is for those who are born in the Inner Court of the Tushita Heaven. If one is upholding the precepts very strictly, one will also remember to maintain them in one’s dreams. If one is able to fly in one’s dreams, that may mean one wishes to be born in the heavens. Our dreams can reveal whether we are vigorous or lax in maintaining the moral precepts.
Anathapindika was a lay disciple of the Buddha. When he was very ill and was nearing his end, the Venerable Shariputra went to see him and to admonish him to free his mind from all attachments. The Venerable Shariputra said to Anathapindika,
‘Do not cling to the six sense faculties and do not attach your thoughts to them. Do not cling to the six sense objects and do not attach your thoughts to them. Do not cling to the six types of consciousness, to the six sense contacts, to the six feelings, to the six elements, to the five aggregates, to the four formless realms. Do not cling to anything that is seen, heard, sensed, thought, perceived, and investigated in the mind, and do not attach your thoughts to this.’
At one time, the Venerable Mahakatyayana said to a group of monks,
“How is consciousness ‘distracted and scattered externally?’ When a monk has seen a form with his eyes, if his consciousness follows after that object and becomes attached to it, then his consciousness is called ‘distracted and scattered externally.’ But, if, on seeing a form with the eyes, the monks does not follow after it or become attached to it, then his consciousness is called ‘not distracted and scattered externally.’
“Monks should examine things in such a way that while examining them, his consciousness is ‘not distracted nor stuck internally.’ If he attains the dhyanas or blissful meditative states and his mind attaches to its bliss, then his mind is ‘stuck internally.’ If he can attain the dhyanas without becoming attached to them, his mind is ‘not stuck internally.’”

The Buddha once recited a poem and the first verse says,
‘Let not a person revive the past
Or on the future build his hopes,
For the past has been left behind
And the future has not been reached.

The Venerable Mahakatyayana explained the verse saying that one ‘revives the past’ when one recalls the form seen in the past and dwells on them with desire and lust. One ‘builds up hope upon the future’ when one sets one’s heart on experiencing in the future sense objects one has not yet encountered, yearning for future sensory experience.

Upasika Unmoving never got angry and she did not cling to anything at all. How can one emulate her lofty conduct? One can begin by being a gentleman, a gentle human being.
A father once advised his son saying,
‘Treat everybody with politeness, even those who are rude to you. For remember that you show courtesy to others not because they are gentlemen, but because you are one.’

One can practice not being attached to anything by contemplating,
‘Say not that this is yours and that is mine,
Just say, this came to you and to me,
So that we may not regret the fading shine,
Of all the glorious things which ceased to be.’

Why did this Bodhisattva manifest in a body of a layperson? I think it is to inspire all Upasakas, Upasikas, and laypeople to bring forth a resolve for Bodhi and to purify their karma of body, mouth, and mind. Laypeople may be more inclined to assume that since they have not left the householders’ lives to become monks and nuns, then they can be more relaxed regarding the matter of ending their birth and death. But, in actuality, the laypeople should cultivate even harder to end birth and death and obtain liberation because they are faced with more unfavorable conditions and surrounded by more temptations. Whether or not we leave the home-life, we must make vows to never be apart from the Buddhadharma and to always cultivate pure conduct until we arrive at our final destination and attain the unsurpassed fruition.

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