We must remain our gentleness and humility but never become weak.

AS MEEK AS GRASS

There’s a saying, “As meek as grass, as small as a fig, as heroic as a mighty warrior.” It sounds strange, doesn’t it? But if we reflect on it, we find that the combination of these three characteristics creates a perfect soul that helps us be liberated from samsara. Lacking any of these three characteristics, we are imperfect and our spiritual road will be blocked.

THE THREE ESSENTIALS OF A PERFECT MIND

As meek as grass

It’s believed that the ordained are meek. When writing about the life of venerable monks, the authors often build the image of compassion, tolerance, and generosity because they are the foundation of spiritual practice and they are the target of our spiritual practice, too.

A stubborn, aggressive, and persistent person will become obedient, gentle, and tolerant after his long time of practice without which, such a transformation cannot occur. Most people like to tell others what to do. However, for those who make progress in their spiritual practice find it happy to be told what to do. This feeling is contrary to that of ordinary people.

Humans often hunger for power, and that’s why there were many bloody battles in history. In ancient times, many officials had command of the mighty army and many servants but still desired the throne. The kings of powerful countries brought their troops to occupy other countries to expand their power and become the world leader. Men have spent money, made much effort, and used many tricks to gain the authority to order others and decide their lives.

When we give orders to others, we feel more powerful than them. But when we understand Buddhism, we know this feeling is because of our vast egos which are the cause of all our suffering. When a practitioner can reduce his ego, he sees himself dust and is willing and happy to do whatever others order him. He feels satisfied with his obedience, and at that time, he clearly understands what happiness is. We must practice so that we will have such a feeling and prefer being ordered than ordering others.

There is a Buddhist who often comes to our pagoda. He gets dressed like an average person, but in fact, he is very wealthy and often makes vast offerings to the Three Jewels. Once, as soon as he arrived at the gate of the pagoda, a poor woman called to him:

• Hey, take this pile of garbage away.

We can know if that person made progress in his spiritual cultivation. If he made little progress, he would get angry. He would feel proud of his being wealthy and being a dear disciple of the pagoda, so he might think, “How can you ask a dear disciple of the abbot to take the garbage away?” But if that man made significant progress, he would be happy to do the work although the person who ordered him was just a poor woman. If the man could do it, he didn’t belong to this human realm but the divine one - the realm of beings who are as meek as dust. If that person got angry, he still belongs to this world and will be reborn into this world full of competition, love, and hate.

We practice spirituality in order to attain the mind as meek as grass. Grass will bend into the direction the wind blows and lies on the ground when people trample on it and then get up again.

As small as a fig

Most practitioners feel insignificant, and only those who have this feeling can steadily go on the spiritual path. “Always feel insignificant” - it is wisdom that we must strive in so many lives to have. Why is it so difficult? There is a saying “the smaller, the bigger,” that is, the more insignificant you feel, the bigger blessing you will earn, and hence, the wiser you will be and the higher social position you will have. But if you think you are more important than others when you’re exceedingly blessed, then your blessing will reduce, and you will be back to triviality as before. That is the way of the law of Cause and Effect.

However, we are not insightful enough to find ourselves insignificant when our ego grows big enough. There was a spiritual practitioner. At first, he always felt negligible and made much effort in his practice. Besides, he tried to do good deeds but remain humble. He then was entrusted to the leader of a Buddhist group. He had a higher position, but because of being a practitioner, he didn’t feel proud of it, and for that reason, the law of Cause and Effect gave him a higher position by letting him join the Sangha, becoming a Buddhist master, but he didn’t pride himself on who he was. However, because of becoming a Buddhist monk when being old, he didn’t have much time to do Buddhist work before his death.

In the next life, he was born into a noble family and had a lot of advantages: wealth, outstanding talent, and a high position at work, thus it’s hard for him to feel trivial. If he was an excellent practitioner with a good root, he could remain his humility and respect all people and never felt significant, and the law of Cause and Effect would give him a higher status - he might become a king in his some incarnation. And when he reaches the peak of fame, hardly can he feel insignificant.

Now that the world has entered the democratic era, there are almost no people kneel before a king that, in ancient times, it was a must. No matter if one was a mandarin who was old and had a very high position, he had to kneel before the king. The power of a king is absolute, both in spirit and in law. And his son, a crown prince, will receive others’ reverence and serving, too. Is it easy for him to feel insignificant? It’s almost impossible. He started to feel the son of God who surpasses everyone else, and that’s why his blessing began to reduce, preparing for his lower status in the future. But it is a long process, maybe in the next life or many lives after. Only can great kings have enough wisdom to continue to find themselves as ordinary as dust. In Vietnam, the first three Kings in the Tran dynasty Tran Thai Tong, Tran Thanh Tong, and Tran Nhan Tong were Buddhist meditation Masters. After their death, they would go to heaven and become enlightened there.

In particular, King Tran Nhan Tong was a talented military master and an eminent king who attained a high level of meditation. He had excellent credit for leading our country to fight and won victory over Mongolian troops, bringing prosperity to the nation and happiness to the people, creating a golden period in the Tran Dynasty. For Vietnamese people, he is the Buddhist King. When a child, the king often accompanied his father to mount Yen Tu and soon exposed his wish to become a spiritual practitioner. After bringing peace to the nation and completing his glorious career, he gave the throne to his son and left the palace for a Buddhist life on Mount Yen Tu, becoming the first Patriarch of Truc Lam meditation sect. Only those who never mind fame and wealth have enough bravery and insight to feel trivial and then become liberated, and for that reason, we now worship them like Buddha.

Most kings cannot remain their humility. And when they start to feel significant, their blessing starts to reduce. So how can we become liberated if it’s too hard? The truth is it is very, very hard, and that’s why Buddha had to preach 600 books of Heart Sutra to remind people to keep their humility when their blessings are increasing. For example, lay people always feel humble and show their respect to the ordained, but if the ordained do not have enough wisdom and bravery, they feel superior to the lay people. The Eight Garudhammas in Buddhism forces the nuns to respect the monks, and if the monks think they are at a higher level than the nuns, they are wrong and will have affliction.

A Buddhist Master earns people respect and admiration and has a blessing of becoming the abbot of a pagoda in a luxurious residential area. It’s hard for him to remain his humility. But if he still feels insignificant, his blessing will grow and grow and will become a preacher who can transform and convert even the most stubborn beings. An excellent preacher will receive praise and reverence from the public. He must be at a high level of spiritual practice and have enough wisdom to feel mediocre, or else he starts to feel good and his blessing will reduce, and his Buddhist career will be ruined.

It’s necessary to progress in spiritual practice in order to make a great contribution to Buddhism and educate human beings. But don’t ever think that you are superior to others, or else you will go backward on the path of cultivation. So it requires one’s effort and wisdom to feel as meek as grass, as small as a fig because when your good results come, you will have a higher status, and it’s hard to keep our humility as from the beginning. You may not feel it hard but when receiving much reverence from the mass, most people feel arrogant, and thus their careers end. So always remember this book to make the necessary preparation for yourselves.

All of those who practice Buddhism, believe the law of Cause and Effect, diligently worship Buddha and meditate, try to avoid mistakes even the minor ones and to do good deeds even a tiny thing, then their blessing grows and grows, and thus their higher status later.

There was a gentle old Buddhist woman who strictly obeyed the Buddhist precepts and practices the Dharma. She told her children two days in advance the day she would die. Despite a tumor in the brain, she didn’t feel pain or in a confused state of mind. She left this world in peace. Her children told us that when she was alive, every day she made 300 bows to Buddha and during the summer retreat of Buddhism, she ate vegetarian food. She didn’t do many great things but just lived a righteous life and often paid homage to Buddha. And she could know the day of her death and died at peace. Meditation Masters can know a year in advance the day of their death.

As for the old woman above, if she hadn’t been reborn into heaven, she must have been reborn into the noble and wealthy family in this world. And most Buddhists who make progress in their practice achieve that result because their blessing increases every day. However, some will reach the level of Saints, but some will fall to a lower condition: they may be rich in the current life but will be poor in the next life, or they may have a high status in the present life but will have a low position in the next life. What is the difference between these two types of people? It is that if they still feel insignificant and remain their humility forever.

Understanding this, please forever keep your humility. You may forget all the things of this life in the next lives but please bear in mind this teaching, “always feel insignificant.” Therefore, when we’re born into a noble and wealthy family and later have a high social position, achieve great success, and win others’ respect and admiration, if you still feel insignificant, then you will make progress forever until you reach full enlightenment. Otherwise, you will keep going forward then backward forever.

So, the difference between ones keep going forwards, and ones who go forward and then backward is that if they feel insignificant.

As heroic as a mighty warrior

You must be “as meek as grass, as small as figs” and “as heroic as a mighty warrior” to have a supreme mind.

Often, our meekness easily makes us weak, and that’s why many people aim at it and gradually become weak. If we dare not object to others’ wrongdoings or defend innocent people from being bullied, our soul is imperfect, and hence we cannot become Saints.

Weakness is a moral fault that we easily have.

But who is said not to be weak? That is one who always stands for the right things and tries to say or do something to prevent or neutralize wrong things so that there will be less and less evil things in this world. When we practice for meekness, we will find there’s no point in competing with anyone. There is a verse expressing this idea:

If there is the best, then I will be the second
But if there is the second, then I will be the third.

We must remain our gentleness and humility but never become weak. We must determine to stop evil things from happening. Such people are “as meek as grass, as small as a fig, and as heroic as a mighty warrior.” They have a perfect personality. Therefore, there are always things conflicting but complementary which makes up the perfect character of a saint. Like a diamond, it must have many perfect sides to be precious.

Written by:
Janna

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