96winter

THE FOUR STEPS TO
TRANSCENDENTAL POWER
(Rddhipada)

Lectures by Master Cheng Yen
Condensed and Translated by
E E Ho and W. L. Rathje

1. Concentration of Wishes (Chanda)

To wish is to hope. To hope is to commit oneself. We must make the important commitment to save all living beings and hope that our commitment will be fulfilled as perfectly as our heart wishes. In learning Buddhism, we must make commitments, because they will generate great power. With both commitment and power, there is the greatest likelihood that the power of our commitment will be fulfilled perfectly. If we only hope and dream and do nothing, then things will not turn out as our heart wishes and our commitment will remain difficult to achieve. Moral cultivation then ends up to be nothing but wishful thinking.

We must fulfill our own salvation and also work to bring all living beings onto the same Path. If one only cultivates oneself and does not work for the salvation of other living beings, what's the difference between that and useless images like pretty flowers in a mirror or a moon in the water? Moral cultivation requires that we simultaneously work for the salvation of other living beings. To cultivate oneself is to commit oneself to work for the salvation of all beings and to bring them to the right path of buddhahood--the road (tao).

If one keeps on making commitments while standing still in the same place and not moving forward, then one will never reach the desired destination. Therefore, if we hope that our wishes will be fulfilled, we must make commitments from the heart to realize the true path of life and to develop the highest consciousness. Such is the meaning of "concentration of will to achieve transcendental power."

2. Concentration of Mind (Citta)

"Mind" means to focus our thoughts. We must focus our minds on the right thoughts every second and every moment. All of our worries come from thoughts of desire. To be rid of our worries, we must adjust the attitudes and thoughts in our minds. When we have the right thoughts in our minds, we will find that things move more smoothly around us. We must embrace the four divine states of mind (Brahma Vihara, ways to attain nirvana): kindness, compassion, joy and giving. Then all things will work out for the best and we will be content with life.

3. Concentration of Energy (Virya)

"Concentration of energy" means diligently plugging along in life. "A trip of one thousand miles starts with the first step." The journey from an ordinary human being to a saint is a very long path, and yet the only way to reach sainthood is to start with baby steps. The most important thing to remember is that an initial deviation in direction of only a few millimeters can end up taking us thousands of miles away from what would have been our destiny. When we move forward on the path, we must make sure that we are heading toward the right destination. Therefore, "concentration of energy to achieve transcendental power" is to make sure that the direction and the goal of our diligent efforts are correct. If one only spins around in the same place or gets lost in a maze, then the destination will become less and less clear and one will not know which path to follow. Therefore, we must intensify our concentration in order to channel our energy in the correct direction toward our divine goal. In this way, properly directed actions will empower us to reach our ultimate goal.

4. Concentration of Wisdom (Vimamsa)

Wisdom is insight. If we can achieve a correct understanding of Buddhism, then it becomes possible to achieve the goal of moral cultivation. The steps toward transcendental power require that we carry out what we have learned in daily life on our two feet. In other words, we need to cultivate both blessings and wisdom at the same time, just as if they were our two feet. One cannot move forward with only one foot cooperating. It takes two feet, moving one after the other, to make any progress. Therefore, when we cultivate karmic blessings, we must also cultivate wisdom at the same time. The same is true when we cultivate our wisdom: we need to accumulate blessings concurrently. Those with blessings always get along well with all living beings, and being able to get along enables one to own all sorts of blessings to their fullest extent. In turn, wisdom provides the leadership to guide all living beings onto the path to buddhahood. Therefore, it takes the concentration of both blessings and wisdom to achieve transcendental power.