Table of
Contents
Teachings of Master Man Sang: Sutra of the Eight
Realizations of Great Beings
Story From the Sutras: The Karma of a Poor Old
Man
Cornucopia: Life Is Valuable, Not Cheap
Changing With Circumstances: Ties That Bind
Dharma Transmitter: Master Mengcan
on Making Offerings
By Dharma Master Yin Chi
People are always busy. They spend every
day pursuing things. The poor naturally must strive to scratch out a living,
but even the wealthy spend their time struggling with financial affairs. What
are we actually pursuing? In a world of material abundance, people get lost
easily. A Buddhist story goes like this –
One day, Indra
came to our world on a tour of inspection. The god saw a man sitting on top of
a glittering, golden pile and stretching out his arms to beg from passers-by.
As he watched the man do this every day, Indra
couldn’t help asking him what was going on.
Seeing someone approach, the man
went towards him to beg. Indra asked him, “Is this
gold yours?” The man nodded firmly. “Since you already have so much gold, why
are you begging every day?” asked Indra.
“Yes, I do have a pile of gold,”
replied the beggar. “Others too have told me I am very rich. Yet I’m afraid I
don’t have enough. So despite getting looks from people, I must do my best to
get more.” Indra gave him some encouragement: “There
is much you can do. Don’t waste any more time begging here.” Said the
supplicant, “I’ll feel at ease once I accumulate another pile of gold. Then I
will certainly do something more meaningful.” Indra
thought the man both foolish and pitiful. So the god gave him a big pile of
gold.
After a while, Indra
came to visit our world again. The man was still begging. The god went up to
berate him. Stammering, the man said, “Though I have two piles of gold, I still
have no wife or mansion. I don’t feel sufficiently at ease to start working.” A
bit contemptuously, Indra fulfilled his wish and left
in a huff.
When Indra
came again after some time, the man was still begging with a worried look. Indra could not curb his anger, but the supplicant wept and
said, “I have gold, a beautiful wife and a luxurious house, but I’m still
unhappy. Today I think about fame, tomorrow great wealth; in my dreams I pursue
power. I am very tired, and my days aren’t easy! Can you give me happiness and
peace of mind?” Indra instructed him: “Since your
possessions have failed to bring you happiness and peace of mind, why not try
giving what you have to those in need? Perhaps, against your expectations, you
will find joy.”
After a long absence, Indra returned to find the man with only a small bag of
gold left. He continued to give it away to the needy, smiling all the time.
When he saw Indra, he said happily, “Every day I used
to ask others for things, struggling and begging as necessary. Though I
accumulated much, I was not happy. Nowadays I am very pleased to give my possessions
to the poor. Indeed, giving is the source of happiness. I am very grateful for
your instruction.”
This is a fable, but it is
descriptive of contemporary realities. People today focus mostly on external
pursuits; they chase after wealth, sex, fame, fine food and sleep. Though
others euphemistically call them proactive or progressive, such people
unknowingly become prisoners to wealth and their own desires.
Valuable assets and renown may bring
joy at first, but with time they make people numb and lost. Even if they owned
a thousand luxurious mansions, they believe their wealth insufficient. The
narcotic effects of pursuit make them unable to stop. When they become
exhausted from their excessive grasping, they might sudden wake up and ask
themselves what has it all been for. But they are inextricably mired. They ask
themselves, what can I do if not this? And they carry on as before!
The new year has just begun, and the
Chinese Spring Festival will soon be here. During Lunar New Year, we wish one
another Gongxi facai! – “May
riches befall you.” We should adopt a correct attitude towards material wealth,
neither pursuing it blindly nor despising it. Rather, we
should know how to help others with our money.
The Bodhisattva spirit asks of us the
ability to take things up and well as put them down. To take things up means to
assume responsibility for the well-being of our family, society and the public
– to help bring them happiness, peace of mind and harmonious living. Putting
things down means letting go. It is embodied in the practice of generous
giving, of making contributions. We share with others our possessions, our
aspirations and our abilities. We contribute to society and benefit others as
well as ourselves. By doing so, we will experience satisfaction and the truth
that “giving is the source of happiness.”
May I take this opportunity to wish
you all happiness and prosperity. May your days be agreeable and auspicious.
Sutra of the Eight
Realizations of
Great Beings
THE EIGHTH REALIZATION: To know that the inferno of life and death brings endless
anguish and affliction. We must develop the Mahayana mind to deliver all
beings. We are willing to bear untold suffering on their behalf, so they might
experience ultimate joy.
Develop the Mahayana mind: The
Mahayana mind is also known as the great Bodhi mind. We often say, “So-and-so,
you are really firm in your resolve [to develop a certain mind]!” What mind is
that? The Mahayana mind. “Bodhi” here means “awakened.” It refers to the
resolve to cultivate an awakened mind, not only in ourselves but also in
others.
To develop the Mahayana mind is to
undertake the Four Great Vows. When we take the Refuges and the Precepts, we
take on the Four Great Vows. They are 1) to deliver countless beings, 2) to end
innumerable afflictions, 3) to learn the boundless Dharma teachings and 4) to
accomplish the unsurpassed path to Buddhahood.
“Vow” is to develop resolution.
Everyone has resolutions, but we must only develop positive vows, never
negative ones. The first Great Vow is “to deliver countless beings.” There are
too many sentient beings to count. Like us they dwell in this world, suffering
the countless afflictions associated with the cycle of rebirth. We must free
ourselves, as well as other beings, from suffering. So we contemplate suffering
and vow to deliver sentient beings from it.
Why do they suffer? Because of their
afflictions – greed, anger and delusion. We earlier mentioned the “six basic
afflictions” and the “20 supplementary afflictions.” Because of various
afflictions, sentient beings create karma and suffer life and death. Therefore
the second Great Vow is to end the afflictions of beings. We must purify our
own minds and bodies as well as those of others, and not have evil thoughts. So
we vow to “end innumerable afflictions.”
It isn’t easy to purify our minds
and bodies, however. We must have a method. For example, a method is needed to
heal a sick person. A doctor has medical knowledge, which can cure someone who
is ill. But how can we put an end to the ailments and afflictions in the minds
of sentient beings? That’s why the third Great Vow is “to learn the countless
Dharma teachings.” To learn the Buddha’s teachings is a good way to heal the sicknesses
of the psyche.
It’s like listening to Dharma
discourses as we study the sacred texts. We can make use of the principles we
hear to treat our psychological ailments. The Dharma is like a sharp instrument
that can cut out afflictions – the reason we must resolve to learn the
teachings extensively. Without learning the Dharma, how can we cleanse our
bodies and minds? So the third Vow is to study the countless Dharma teachings.
If we can deliver sentient beings,
put an end to afflictions and learn the Dharma, we can attain the highest goal
– Buddhahood. Only that marks true completion. So the fourth Great Vow is “to
accomplish the unsurpassed path to Buddhahood.”
To take on the four Great Vows is to
develop the Bodhi mind. Delivering sentient beings is an action that benefits
others. Ending afflictions for self and others is an undertaking that benefits
both self and others. To learn the Dharma is to awaken the self while helping
others awaken. And when we have finished benefitting and awakening both self
and others, we will naturally attain Buddhahood.
At present we have not gained
Buddhahood, but we must first undertake the four Great Vows. To do so is
to commit ourselves to cultivating the
Bodhi mind, which is the same as developing the Mahayana mind.
(to be continued)
The Karma of a Poor Old Man
In Jetavana Vihara one day, 1,250
monks, 10,000 Bodhisattvas and countless celestial beings assembled respectfully
to hear the Buddha teach, amid much joy in the Dharma. From the entrance came
an elderly voice … it was a very old man. Though he was already 200, he still
had fine eyebrows and long ears. His teeth gleamed like a shell and his hands
stretched below his knees. His appearance was remarkably dignified, like that
of a rich elder.
However, this old man lived in
poverty and hardship. His clothes did not cover his body fully, leaving his
limbs naked. He was also hungry all the time, as he hardly ever had a full
meal. He gasped for breath with every step he took.
When this poor old man heard that
the Buddha was in the world, he was extremely happy. Every day he vowed to see
the Buddha and hear him teach the Dharma. He spent ten years trudging step by
step, supporting himself with a walking stick. This day, he finally achieved
his wish and arrived at Jetavana Vihara.
Just as he was about to step into
the grounds of the monastery, a gatekeeper blocked him. Sorely disappointed, he
cried out, “I am a most unfortunate old man. I have had a harsh life plagued by
poverty. I suffer hunger and cold. I am unable to die, yet have no means to
sustain my own life. I have heard that the World-Honored One, in his great
compassion, treats all people equally. Since all beings receive the grace of
the Buddha, their hearts grow fond and they constantly long to see him. After
ten years, I have finally arrived where the Buddha is. I have travelled so far
for so long wishing only to hear the Buddha teach, so I can free myself from
suffering. By denying me access to him, you are not only destroying my last
shred of hope but also going against the compassionate nature of the Buddha. Is
this right?”
The Buddha was already aware of what
was happening. He deliberately asked Ananda, “Have
you ever seen an elderly, long-lived person with dignified features, but whose
negative karma has not been cleared?” Ananda knelt
before the Buddha, pressed his palms together and said, “World-Honored One, how
can there be a person who is long-lived, with dignified features, and yet has
not cleared his evil karma? How can someone who has bad karma have a long life?
I have never seen such a person. Where is he?” The Buddha told Ananda, “This person is now at our entryway, prevented from
coming in by the gatekeeper. Please go and bring him here.”
The poor old man made his way
forward by crawling on the ground, using his elbows. When he saw the Buddha, he
wept tears of both joy and sadness. With the greatest sincerity he prostrated
himself before the Buddha, knelt and press his palms together. Then he said, “I
have had a life of misfortune, living in poverty. I suffer hunger and cold. I
am unable to die, yet have no means to sustain my life. I have heard that the
World-Honored One, in his great compassion, treats all people equally, so I
have longed to see you. After ten years, I have finally arrived where you are,
but was prevented from entering the grounds. It crossed my mind to abandon my
quest, but I did not have the courage to do so. I didn’t know what to do.
“I was afraid that if I should
suddenly fall dead at the entrance, I would contaminate the holy ground and add
to my offenses. I felt very troubled. Who would have thought the World-Honored
One had already taken pity on this unfortunate soul and sent someone to bring
me in? Now that I have seen the revered one with my own eyes and paid my
respects, I can die without regrets! I only wish to know how I can purge my bad
karma and achieve liberation quickly, so I no longer have to suffer. I beg the
World-Honored One, in his great mercy, to instruct me with his peerless
wisdom.”
The Buddha compassionately told him,
“A person’s karma in this life results from a convergence of conditions. I will
now tell you the causes of your present circumstances … In a past life, you were a crown prince, son
of the rich and powerful King Bright Wisdom. You were extremely pampered, by
both your parents and honored by your ministers and subjects. As a result, you
became arrogant, doing as you pleased and abusing others with complacency. You
possessed great wealth and many valuables, unaware that they came from the
sweat of your subjects. You cared only about levying taxes to increase your
fortune and never thought to help others by giving. You did nothing as your people
suffered in poverty.
“One day, an impoverished monk named
Pure Resolve came from a faraway foreign land to see you. He didn’t ask for
much, only that you give him a monastic robe. You not only failed to receive
him properly, but displayed a disagreeable attitude. Not content with rejecting
his request for a robe, you didn’t even offer him food and drink, letting him
wait in the reception room for seven days and nights. Pure Resolve became very
weak; his life was like a flickering candle in the wind, on the verge of
extinction any moment. You were in fact pleased to see this. You considered it
entertainment and invited a group of people to watch.
“One of your attendants stepped up
and said, ‘Your Highness, monks are ethical people. They can withstand both
cold and hunger. So this one has come to beg from you. In fact, he is providing
you a chance to accumulate good fortune. If you don’t want to make an offering,
just let him go. Why treat him like this?’
“You replied, ‘Who is this monk, who
is pretending to have morals? I’m only holding him up, not harming him. All
right, let him go. It’ll save me troubling myself about him.’ So you banished
him from the land.
“But when the monk was still about
10 miles from the border, he ran into a group of starving bandits who wanted to
kill and eat him. Pure Resolve told the bandits, ‘I’m just a poor monk. I’m so
thin that I am just skin and bones. My flesh is smelly and hardly edible. You’d
be wasting your energy by killing me.’
“But the hungry robbers replied, ‘We’ve
gone hungry for days, to the point that we’re eating earth. You may be skinny
and small, but flesh is still flesh. We aren’t going to let you off. You’d
better accept your fate!’ The monk and the bandits held fast to their
positions; neither would yield.
“When you heard about this, you
said, ‘I’ve already denied the monk any offerings of clothing, food and drink.
But how can I allow bandits to kill him?’ So you set out at once to save him.
When the robbers saw you coming, they prostrated themselves before you and
admitted their wrongdoing.
“The monk Pure Resolve was a
previous incarnation of Bodhisattva Maitreya, and the arrogant prince was you.
That you are so impoverished in this life is the karmic result of your previous
parsimony. And your longevity is the positive effect from your rescue of a
monk. Negative and positive karma are like the shadow that follows a form, the
echo that trails a sound. They cannot cancel each other out.”
The poor old man told the Buddha,
“What is past, is past; may bygones be bygones. I wish to spend the remainder
of my life as a monk and serve the Buddha from lifetime to lifetime.”
The Buddha granted the old man’s
wish. “Very good, very good,” said the Buddha. As soon as he’d spoken, the old
man’s hair fell to the ground and a monk’s robe covered his body. He became
strong, and his vision turned clear and his hearing acute. He attained great
wisdom and entered a state of perfect concentration.
The old man, now a monk, happily
paid his respects to the Buddha. At this point, the Buddha told Ananda, “Those who read this sutra will encounter a
thousand Buddhas over countless kalpas. Those who circulate it, or cause others
in later times to do so, will gain deliverance when Maitreya becomes a Buddha.
The Dharma spoken by the Buddha’s long, broad tongue is the highest truth,
which will never change.”
All in the assembly who heard the
Buddha’s words happily accepted and carried them out. They paid their sincerest
respects to the World-Honored One.
“The cause of the past is visible in
the effect of the present, while the fruit of the future can be found in the
doings of the present.” Whatever happens leaves a trace. Everything that we do,
say and even think, good or evil, becomes a part of our karma. Positive and
negative deeds cannot nullify each other’s effects.
So we should bear adversity with
equanimity and accept happiness without getting carried away. We should always
work hard on what we sow, avoiding evil, doing good and purifying our minds.
Then we would certainly make progress on the road to Buddhahood.
Life Is
Valuable, Not Cheap
He was black,
born in 1963 in an impoverished neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He had four
siblings, and his father’s meager wages were not enough to sustain the family.
Growing up amid poverty and prejudice, he held out little hope for the future.
When he was 13 his father gave him
an old shirt and asked, “How much is this worth?” “About a dollar,” he replied.
“Think you can sell it for two dollars? If so, you’d be helping your Mom and
I.” The boy nodded and said, “ I can try, though I can’t be sure I can sell
it.”
He carefully washed the shirt, so it
was clean. Since he had no iron, he brushed the shirt until it was flat and
laid it on a board to dry in the sun.
The next day he took the shirt to a
crowded subway station. He managed to sell it after six hours of hawking.
Holding the two dollars tightly, he ran home.
After that he became keen to dig
used clothing out of waste dumps; he
would refurbish and then sell the items downtown.
After a couple of weeks, he father
handed him another piece of used clothing and asked, “What do we have to do to
sell this for $20?”
How was that possible, the boy
thought? The item was worth a couple of dollars, at best. “Why don’t you give
it a try?” his father urged. “You’ll find a way to sell it.”
In the end, the boy found a way. He
asked his cousin, who was taking drawing lessons, to sketch a lovable Donald
Duck and a pesky Mickey Mouse on the item of clothing. He chose to do his
hawking outside the gates of a school for wealthy children. Before long, a
housekeeper who had come to pick up his young master after school paid the
money for the merchandise. The well-to-do little boy, who was about 10, happily
gave him a five-dollar tip.
The 25 dollars was a small fortune,
equaling a month’s pay for his father.
When he got home, his father gave
him another item of clothing, a used sweatshirt. “Think you can sell this for
$200?” asked his father with a twinkle in his eye.
This time the boy took the
sweatshirt without hesitating. Two months later, when Charlie’s Angels star Farrah Fawcett came to New York to do some publicity, he
attended her press conference. When it was over he pushed his way past the
security men to Fawcett’s side and asked her to autograph his sweatshirt.
Faced with such eagerness and
sincerity from the boy, Fawcett gladly signed her name.
He announced excitedly, “I’m now
selling this sweatshirt, personally autographed by Miss Fawcett, for $200!”
Following an on-the-spot bidding
contest, the shirt was bought by a businessman for $1,200.
The boy’s family was overjoyed when
he got home. Tears of joy flowing down his cheeks, his father said, “So you
really did it! My boy, you are really great!”
That night father and son slept side
by side. “Son, what did you learn from selling these three pieces of clothing?”
the father asked.
“That there’s always a way, if I use
my brain,” replied his son.
The father both nodded and shook his
head. “You’re right,” he said. “But that hadn’t been my intention. I only
wanted to show you that if even an old piece of clothing worth a dollar an rise
in value, how much more so can living, breathing people like ourselves? Our
skin may be a little dark, and we may be poor, but what does it matter?”
That very moment, a brilliant sun
seemed to light up the boy’s mind. If even an old sweatshirt could be worth
much more, what reason was there for him to undervalue himself?
From then on, the boy studied hard
and subjected himself to disciplined training. He became full of hope about the
future. Twenty years later his name was known in every corner of the world. He
is Michael Jordan, basketball legend.
Editor’s
note: Successful people can always think nimbly; quick thinking helps people
overcome their difficulties. There is a pre-condition, though: the person must
have correct thoughts. Someone with correct thoughts who is willing to work
hard and apply his thinking in the right direction, will always be able to
influence others and bring benefits to them.
Ties That Bind
By Ru Zang
The sea-land
Dharma service was over in what seemed like the blinking of an eye. During the
grand ceremony, 200 monastics solemnly ascended the stage as the 5,000-strong
assembly chanted the sacred name of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. Warm tears
flowed down my cheeks. On the one hand, I was touched by the splendor of the
occasion. But a bigger reason was regret that my poor karma did not allow me to
be one of the monastics.
When
I started learning the Dharma, I had taken temporary monastic vows. As soon as
I arrived at the Dharma center I felt very much at home, familiar with the
place; I felt like a prodigal returning home. The thought took root in my mind
and lingered all day long. Late that night I made up my mind: I wouldn’t return
to Hong Kong, but would take this as my home! Only then did I drift off to
sleep.
During
breakfast next morning, images of my daughter kept appearing in my mind. It was
like doing a quick rewind on a video-camera; the scenes covered her birth and
her growing up to the present, when she was in her early teens. The images
unfolded one after another before my eyes. They didn’t feel like recollections,
but more like scenes in a movie. They were clear and followed one another
quickly.
I
sat straight up during lunch, listening to
the talk by the presiding master. Touched by the scenes of my daughter
growing up, I couldn’t help shedding tears. It wasn’t that I was overcome by
powerful emotions, just that my tears fell as though from a faucet that hadn’t
been properly shut.
After
three days, my mental imaging began to focus on my elderly mother. Everyday
tasks began to intrude on my thoughts … The school’s recently launched plans,
for example. If I did not return, who would see them through? Then I thought
about all the issues that remain unresolved back in Hong Kong. Finally, it
occurred to me that if I were to stay where I was, getting up early and eating
the food there would become a part of my life.
I
knew then that I was still attached to worldly matters and that the time wasn’t
yet right for me to stay. As soon as this thought popped up, my emotions
calmed. I returned to Hong Kong when the period of temporary monasticism was
over – and returned to my worldly preoccupations. Fifteen years have since
passed.
More
than once, I have been asked whether it is unfilial
and unjst to abandon one’s family and loved ones for
a monastic life. In the great flow of life, sentient beings are mired in the
cycle of rebirth within the Six Realms. The circumstances we find ourselves in
are the result of our individual karma. The same decision will not necessarily
produce the same result; it all depends on a person’s karma.
Leading
monks and historical figures from the past were also bound by worldly
sentiments, yet that did not prevent them from resolutely taking monastic vows
or sacrificing their lives. Master Danxu (Tan Shu) was one of the four great monks of the early
Republican period. Before taking vows, he had practiced medicine to feed his
family. He was 43 when he first thought about becoming a monk. If he did so, it
occurred to him, his wife would lose her means of support and be forced to
remarry, and his son would have to beg in the streets for a living. But he
concluded that every person had his or her own karma, and finally left home
without a word. He worked to revive Buddhism in northeast, leaving a remarkable
legacy of teaching the correct Dharma to both monastics and lay practitioners
in that region of China.
Travelling
south to escape the turmoil of war, Master Danxu
founded the Southern China Buddhist Academy at Wang Fat Ching
She in Hong Kong. He laid an important foundation stone for the continuation of
Buddhism in Hong Kong. He also managed to influence his former wife to take
monastic vows and recite the name of Amitabha Buddha. And his fourth son, Wang Weihan, joined the monkhood as well, becoming Master Daguang, later the abbot of Jile
Monastery in Beijing.
During
the late Qing Dynasty, the young revolutionary Lin Jueyi
wrote a litter titled “Bidding My Wife Farewell,” as he left his spouse behind
to join the revolution. He was raising his love for his family to a loftier
level – love of country and his compatriots. When his upraising failed, he went
to his execution with equanimity. He was 25 when he died.
To
accomplish great things, be they of a worldly or sacred nature, one must make
sacrifices. They include forfeiture of oneself as well as one’s loved ones. We
would not have been born in this world, if we didn’t bear deep affection. It is
that kind of link which makes us meet again in this world. When a person with
the right karmic conditions encounters the Dharma, he or she can deliver both
self and others by becoming a monastic.
Those
who cannot free themselves from everyday ties should make use of the
opportunity to hear the Dharma often and practice actively. They would then be
sowing the seeds to leave the worldly life. “Longtime cultivators must practice
hard; beginners can turn what they learn into a seed.” This saying indicates
why sentient beings in our world, as they respond to circumstances, achieve
different outcomes by making different choices. Whether veteran practitioners
or beginners, we must be diligent. Then we won’t have wasted this life.
Master
Mengcan on Making Offerings
Those who have read the Chapter on Samantabhadra’s Practices and
Vows know that to rely on respectfully, to praise and to make offerings are
three of the Bodhisattva’s Ten Great Vows. To rely on respectfully doesn’t mean
do so only with Ksitigarbha or any single other Bodhisattva, but with countless
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout the infinite reaches of space. This is how
we should rely on respectfully, praise and make offerings. Even regarding
things of this world, we should make offerings too whatever we can think of.
In this spirit, when you visit a
flower shop you might think about making an offering of flowers to the Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas. That would be in keeping with an offering by Samantabhadra.
If you take this further, it would involve not merely trillions of kalpas but
endless, countless kalpas, and you yourself would become Bodhisattva Bhaisajyaguru. To make an offering in this manner would
benefit not only yourself but innumerable others.
So it all
depends on our attitude, what we ordinary being have in mind from moment to
moment. What do we think of all day long – what do we do, what do we have in
mind? We have no need of divination or fortune-telling; the sutras have already
told us that. All we need is a single thought; a moment’s reliance is enough to
lift us out of the Three Wretched Realms.
If we sincerely recite the Ksitigarbha Sutra, we would be connected
with all sutras. So it is, too, with the Chapter
on the Universal Gateway, the Chapter
on Samantabhadra’s Practices and Vows and the Diamond Sutra. All sutras are inter-linked. It depends on the
attitude that a practitioner or reciter brings to the
task at hand. He or she can visualize their children or parents as Bodhisattva
Ksitigarbha. Being of service to them would be the same as serving Bodhisattva
Ksitigarbha (“Ground-Storehouse”).
“Ground” means basic nature, or
character, and “storehouse” refers to an ability to contain. Everyone has his
or her own character, and ability to harbor things. So it’s the same, whomever
you make your offerings to. It’s not easy to attain this level, however, or to
accomplish such visualization. You can think this way for a moment, or quietly
for 10 minutes. And you can offer praises to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas –
Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Avalokitesvara, Maitreya.
I am speaking very broadly, though
the scriptural passage in question is quite limited. If we speak of karma this
way, the effect of this cause would be truly unfathomable, with the attainment
of Buddhahood being the ultimate consequence. If you do household chores every
day, feed yourself with some of your monthly earnings and only do a little
Amitabha-recitation when you have time, your merit would be small indeed.
You should make some changes and try
to make recitation a part of your daily life. Since you are always thinking,
why not think a bit better and more broadly? To open your mind wide is always
better than to focus on your own troubles. If you do so, your vexations will
transform into wisdom. That is the underlying meaning of the saying,
“Afflictions (vexations) are the same as Bodhi (wisdom).”
If you think all day long about what
vexes you, even your little bit of experience and merit from relying on
Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha would turn into afflictions. For example, you are
reciting a sutra but your family members are doing something else, which upsets
you. Just as you pick up the sutra, they start. Will vexation dominate your
thoughts? You should let wisdom do so. Your family can benefit too, if you
dedicate the merit from your recitation to them. Do not become agitated; it all
depends on how you use your mind.
If you can bring your mind to rely
on respectfully, to praise
and to make offerings, you will naturally gain merit. Do not seek worldly or
celestial merit, but rather wisdom and the virtues of a Buddha. If you then make
an offering of this immeasurable virtue, that would be true giving.
- Excerpted from the
Concentrated Mind Forum
By Ven. Yin
Chi
QUESTION: I hadn’t intended to buy anything. But when
I was strolling the streets, I received a gift coupon of $50 and bought two
items of clothing, one for my son and one for myself. I only had to pay $50 for
my article, which was originally priced at $100. Was I behaving greedily?
ANSWER:
People are always seeking small advantages. Merchants distribute gift vouchers
in the streets to boost their business by tapping into this mentality. To buy
what you need by using such coupons is not a bad thing by itself. The question
is whether there really is a “need,” and whether the items are suitable. Yet it
is good that you have shown an awareness after the fact, and an ability to
reflect on your action. In future, you should consider carefully whether you
ought to buy something before actually doing so. Do not lose something bigger
because of a hankering after something small. That would be wasteful as well.
QUESTION:
I am a Buddhist. On my son’s birthday this year, I made a donation in his name
to a charitable organization, hoping to accumulate some merit for him. When he
found out, he laughed and said I was only doing good for myself and the matter
had nothing to do with him. He caught me off guard, and I was unable to explain
why a donation on his behalf would help him gain merit. Can you please explain
in detail, so as to still my doubts?
ANSWER:
The main receiver of merit from your intention to do something charitable in
your son’s name is in fact yourself. Even so, because it was he who motivated
your donation to the organization, he
was the auxiliary cause of this good deed. He therefore shares the merit
engendered by your action.
If you are doing a good deed on your
son’s behalf, just do it; there is no need to tell him. But since you have
already informed him, that’s all right too. As he doesn’t understand the subtle
karmic factors behind your act, there’s no need to oblige him to do so, or to
mind his reaction, whatever it may be. Just respond to it all with a smile.