Table of Contents
Teachings of Master Man Sang: The Meaning of
Buddha-Bathing
Buddhism in China: Neo-Confucianism and the Chan
School
Changing With Circumstances: A Wondrous
Force
Reader’s Corner: Connecting With the Bodhisattvas
Chan Talk: The Chan of Perception
By Dharma Master Yin
Chi
When speaking at Dharma services or
before meals, I often advise the assembly to be aware of their blessings and to
cherish them, as well as to cultivate more of them. This should be a basic
practice for all Dharma-learners, as well as something people today should
know.
The material abundance of our
society is our common blessing. Living amid plenty, however, we often aren’t
aware of our own good fortune. We have so much by way of food, clothing,
shelter and travel that we don’t think much of it even when we waste them. Amid
material affluence, many people do not take seriously admonitions to use
resources sparingly.
We can see sturdy and usable
furniture at refuse-collection points, and the indiscriminate throwing away of
such office items as stationery and writing implements is commonplace. To put
in an extra word for conservation is to risk being labeled a busybody. I was
told that there is so much waste paper and recycled paper that it can never be
used. But it’s really a matter of attitude and habit. To waste things
habitually is to damage our blessings. We may be able to shoulder the economic
cost of wasting resources, but we cannot bear the karmic consequences in terms of
our fortunes.
It is normal for people today to
want to eat well, but wasteful eating dents our blessings. Reports indicate
that Hong Kong people are responsible for some 350 tonnes
of leftover food every day, accounting for a third of our landfill space. The
food abandoned on dining tables not only exceeds the amount that goes into our
stomachs, it might also feed hundreds of millions of people.
Today slogans about conservation are
everywhere, but the reality is that progress is very slow and difficult. The basic
reason is our excessive material abundance. With so much left over, how can we
cherish it? Even so, to be frugal and curb our wastefulness is not being
stingy, but appreciating our blessings. So I often ask people to be aware of,
and to cherish, their own good fortune. In particular, we should eat lots of
vegetables and little meat (of course, a complete vegetarian diet would be
best). Whether cooking or ordering food, we should have just enough and not be
wasteful. We should learn at source to cherish our good fortune and cultivate
meritorious blessings.
At Dharma centers we are especially
careful about food. We need to prepare enough so the assembly can enjoy its
meal, yet avoid cooking too much and wasting food. Fortunately, our kitchen
volunteers are able to handle the issue appropriately. Inevitably, though, the
cooking process generates leftovers from time to time.
To make the best use of materials
and boost conservancy, we recently set up a facility for leftovers at Lo Hon
Monastery. The goal is to launch a “Cherish Our Blessings” initiative at the
source of food and drink, transforming “value and nurture good fortune” from a
slogan into a habit through action. We hope to process the leftovers into
organic fertilizer that can improve soil quality, thereby making the best use
of raw materials.
An agricultural expert once said
that the soil of Lo Lon Monastery was barren and sandy, unsuited to planting
and cultivation. Even so, the Dharma teaches that everything arises from “a
combination of circumstances” and that “the mind creates all things.” Circumstances
were such that we had a volunteer last year who was knowledgeable and enthusiastic
about organic farming and led an effort to apply it at Lo Hon Monastery. The
hard work paid off, and the sparse land around the monastery has become
well-ordered farmland. After several months of manual fertilization, the soil quality
has been improved. The kitchen leftovers facility not only minimize our
garbage, but also resolved the problem of poor soil, which is now fit for
cultivation.
We have named our leftovers
initiative “Operation Cherish Our Blessings.” It is now at an experimental
stage. The first step is to attract the assembly’s attention and arouse its
interest. During our weekly Dharma activities at Tung Chung, we publicize the
operation of our leftovers facility. Participants can bring to the monastery
their leftovers, divided into categories, so they can be processed into organic
fertilizer.
Next we intend to share the success of
the experiment with the public. We will bring it to public attention through
our weekly community activities. We plan to hold seminars and “agricultural Chan”
farming sessions, turning spiritual activities into practical action. We hope
to raise people’s awareness and motivation in relation to their own mental and
physical ecology, and to boost the sustainable recycling of materials. We wish
to educate participants about appreciating, cherishing and fostering their
blessings, as well as strengthen their faith in the process.
This is not only a religious,
spiritual experience, it is also life education. Hopefully it will have a
subtle educational influence, helping develop proper attitudes towards food and
drink. Through the conversion of repugnant garbage into a positive resource via
our leftovers scheme, we can perhaps send a constructive, pro-active message. And
with the launch of “Operation Cherish Our Blessings,” we can effectively
promote the ecological recycling of life’s resources in a sustainable manner.
That will benefit humankind as well as our descendants.
May those who have such aspirations
join us in “Operation Cherish Our Blessings,” and inject positive energy and
new life into the cause of conservancy.
The Meaning of Buddha-Bathing
The Buddha-Bathing Festival is to
celebrate the birth of the Buddha. Shakyamuni Buddha, Buddhism’s founder, was
born in India. After his enlightenment his teachings spread to various
countries, largely along two routes. One fanned out from southern India to
Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Thailand, Cambodia, Java and other islands of Southeast
Asia. This is known as the Southern transmission. Another route went from
northern India to Tibet, Mongolia, China and Japan. This is the Northern
transmission.
On the full moon every May, Southern
Buddhism marks the Buddha’s Birthday, commonly known as the Buddha-Bathing
Festival. In China Buddha’s Birthday falls on the eighth day of the fourth
lunar month. According to the chapter on righteousness in the Book of Zhou, a multi-colored light
shone into the royal quarters on the eighth day of the fourth month, in the 24th
year of King Zhao’s reign. The monarch asked Su You, his grand historian, the
meaning of the event. Using divination, Su predicted that a great saint would
appear in the west, and that his teachings would spread to China a thousand
years later. Chinese Buddhists would cite this episode as they fixed the
Buddha-Bathing Festival on the eighth day of the fourth month.
The Sutra on Bathing the Buddha’s Image says that when the Buddha was
born, nine dragons spewed water to wash the crown prince. The Buddha was the
crown prince of India’s King Suddhodana. Celestial
beings knew that he would go on to achieve supreme enlightenment and become a
teacher of men and gods. So upon the prince’s birth, they fondly arranged for
nine dragons to spurt water and bathe him. The story was passed on and people
in later times used water to bathe Buddha images.
According to the Sutra on the Merit of Buddha-Bathing, the
Buddha practiced for countless kalpas
and manifested in this world to demonstrate the achievement of enlightenment.
During Buddha-bathing, it adds, we should recite this gatha: “As I now bathe the Tathagatas, the splendid merit of pure
wisdom accumulates, allowing sentient beings of the Five Turbidities to shed
their defilements and attain the pure Dharma body of the Buddhas.”
The Buddha is the pure Dharma body resulting
from the accumulation of the marvelous merit of pure wisdom. Bathing the Buddha
symbolizes the wish of sentient beings, through their respectful act, for the
Buddha’s help in ridding themselves of the impurities of our world of Five
Turbidities, so they can leave the defilements behind. For ours is a world of
Five Turbidities, with its conflicts, wars and crime as well as disasters
caused by water, fire and wind. Even if we find a momentarily peaceful spot, we
know that all around is warfare and conflict, creating a turbulent and insecure
environment.
Sentient beings are full of such
afflictions as greed, anger, ignorance, envy and pride. There is much cutthroat
competition, jealousy and deception, leading people to dissemble. Beings of the
Six Realms have four different modes of rebirth: they are egg-born, womb-born,
moisture-born and spontaneously born. The suffering of hell beings, hungry
ghosts and animals is great. As sentient beings, humans are subject to birth,
aging, sickness, death and suffering. Moreover, life is impermanent and we are
prey to fears of sudden death.
Sentient beings are much more prone
to suffering than happiness in this unclean, turbid world. So bathing a Buddha
image on Buddha’s birthday signifies pouring pure water on the world, washing
away the defilements of beings so they can attain the Dharma body of the
Tathagatas.
The fundamental intent of the Buddha
in appearing in this world is to enable all sentient beings to achieve
Buddhahood and recover their original nature, which is as pure as a Buddha’s. This
is the meaning of Buddha-bathing. Moreover, the ceremony has unfathomable
merit.
Some people believe that their eyes
can see more clearly if they dabbed them with water from Buddha-bathing, or
that they would have better luck at the mahjong table by after rubbing their
hands with it. These are just manifestations of their greed.
To sum up, the real meaning of
Buddha-bathing is two-fold:
1) Expression of gratitude: The Buddha brought prodigious benefits to
sentient beings. His birth was like a great light illuminating the world. The
Buddha told beings about the truths he realized, providing directions to the
lost and a ship for beings to steer through the sea of suffering. If the Buddha
had not been born, where would the suffering multitudes find harbor? They could
only bob up and down within the Six Realms, endlessly trapped in the cycle of
rebirth. With his great mercy and compassion, the Buddha delivers sentient
beings on an equal basis, enabling them to achieve Buddhahood.
2) Reflection: As we bathe the Buddha, we should reflect thus: Soiled
objects can be washed and dirty bodies can be bathed, but defiled minds can
only be cleansed with the Dharma. Sentient beings have original nature as clean
and pure as that of Buddhas. Impeded by countless kalpas of delusion and afflictions, however, their minds have
accumulated such defilements as greed, anger, ignorance, pride, envy and mistaken
views. They need to be cleansed through the practices of precepts, meditation
and wisdom.
So the Buddha taught beings to
practice diligently the precepts, meditation and wisdom to eliminate greed,
anger and ignorance. In terms of deeds, we should not kill, steal or engage in
sexual misconduct. In speech, we should not lie, slander, speak harshly or
engage in idle talk. And in our consciousness we should avoid thoughts laced with
greed, anger and ignorance, ridding ourselves of the three poisons so our minds
and bodies can regain their purity.
To cleanse our thoughts, words and
deeds is the chief significance of commemorating the Buddha’s birth. On that
day, we should practice in order to purify our minds and bodies. We should also
help spread the Buddha’s teachings, so everyone can understand their marvelous
uses and benefit from them. We should let people know the workings of karma, so
they will avoid evil and do good, as well as reflect and awaken. In the spirit
of the Four Immeasurable Minds, they would then act to benefit themselves and
others, allowing the water of the Dharma to wash over the world and bring it peace.
This is the true meaning of Buddha-bathing.
-
Excerpted from Buddha’s Birthday Address, by Master Man
Sang
(Note: Discourse on the Sutra of the Eight Realizations of Great
Beings
continues next issue)
Neo-Confucianism
and the Chan School
By Master Yin Chi
The Buddhist-persecution campaigns
of the Tang period and the subsequent Five Dynasties inflicted severe damage on
Buddhism. It became a pale image of its former self as numerous scriptures were
lost. Many schools, missing their core texts, gradually declined and even
disappeared.
Fortunately,
the spread of the Chan school allowed Buddhism to be transmitted in a new form.
Because it did not rely on written texts, Chan wasn’t grounded in sutras and
commentaries. Chan practice aimed straight at the mind and was relatively
unaffected by limitations of the environment. Thus the Chan school flourished
especially amid times of turmoil and came to have a profound influence on
Chinese culture.
From the
Five Dynasties to the Song period, Master Huineng, the 6th Chan
patriarch, had many disciples. Forty-three of them inherited his teaching, the
best known being Huairang of Nanyue
and Xingsi of Qingyuan. They
both branched out. After receiving the teachings, disciples would be sent to
various places. As transportation was underdeveloped in those days, different
regions had divergent customs. The teaching methods of the Chan school also
varied, gradually generating different attributes.
Because the
main aim of Chan instruction was to awaken a practitioner’s true nature, its
specific methods could be very flexible. The lineage masters would adopt
different styles of teaching in various regions, so that the Chan school was
divided into many sub-sects. This was not a division of authority, but a
divergence in teaching methods. So there emerged the northern and southern Chan
schools and with their sub-divisions. The “five leaves from a single flower”
refer to five of the sub-schools.
As Chan
expanded in China, it not only affected the development of Chinese Buddhism but
also influenced the thinking of scholars. Previously the intelligentsia were
preoccupied with Confucianism. Having long had the greatest influence on
Chinese culture, Confucian thought held learning to be the loftiest pursuit and
assigned it a much higher status than anything else.
Like their
forebears, the post-Song intelligentsia considered themselves Confucianists. But they were affected by Chan Buddhism too.
Thus neo-Confucianism emerged, emphasizing the nature of the mind. The most
prominent neo-Confucianists included Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming. Neo-Confucianism was also known as the Song
school of thought, and because it stressed rational thinking it was also called
rationalism.
Like their
predecessors, the neo-Confucianists could be haughty.
They were influenced by Chan Buddhism but refused to acknowledge it, believing
that would tarnish the halo of
Confucianism. As a result they called themselves neo-Confucianists.
And because of their refusal to admit to Chan influence, they deliberately adopted
anti-Chan postures. In later times people would describe the neo-Confucianists as “bad-mouthing Chan while lying in a bed of
Chan.”
Whatever the attitude of the neo-Confucianists, it is an established fact that Chan thought long ago seeped into Chinese culture and exerted a substantial influence on it.
A Wondrous Force
By Ru Zang
Recently I
was busy with the work of scanning past issues of Light of Wisdom into computer files. The purpose is to make these
files available for browsing by visitors to our website. During the process, I
repeatedly stopped to read interesting accounts from the various editions, as
well as review pieces I had written at different times. I am grateful to Master
Yin Chi for a platform to express my feelings. Besides forging Dharma links with
readers, the articles bore testimony to the path I travelled during these dozen
or so years learning the Buddha’s teachings. It was indeed a marvelous,
unfathomable journey.
I have long
known that I am not a particularly clever person. I always had to work harder
than others in my learning and other efforts, with only so-so results. That’s
one reason I never tried or joined activities and work I’m not familiar with. Since
becoming a volunteer worker for Lo Hon Monastery and the Dharma hall, I was
fortunate to have the guidance of Master Yin Chi and chances to work in
different areas and positions. I had many learning opportunities and experiences.
A particularly significant realization was that, in each event or Dharma
service, the key point was not whether we preformed correctly or efficiently,
but whether we approached our tasks earnestly.
In the early
days, I felt great pressure while helping organize Dharma services and other
activities. I would worry about the grounds, the weather, the food, the
transportation and even the size of the attendance. Later I realized that all
issues resulted from the convergence of karmic factors, and that no single
person’s effort could decide everything. So long as we tried our best to do our
part, we should be able to bring about a successful event. From then on, I
learned to plan activities with greater emotional detachment. Besides
constantly observing my own work, I tried as much as possible to cooperate with
and help those responsible for other tasks, ensuring that the event went
smoothly.
Many think
that volunteer work is only a kind of giving, something done after work or
after classes. Others say that while they would like to volunteer, they were
too busy with their jobs and would wait until after retirement to serve. From
my perspective, voluntary endeavors are a form of learning and practice. They
have been central to my life these past ten or so years, and I expect they will
remain so the rest of my life. My personal affairs are all arranged around my
volunteer work, which takes priority.
I remember
how the start of my voluntary service coincided with the peak of my career. It
was also a crucial period in my daughter’s growth. Faced with heavy work
pressures, I devoted all my spare time and relaxation moments to my volunteer
activities. Fortunately, I had the understanding and assistance of my family,
siblings and colleagues. That enabled me to strike a balance among family, work
and voluntary service.
Remarkably, the experiences I gained
from my volunteer activities helped me develop a more responsible attitude
towards my work at school, resulting in greater success. At home I enjoyed increased
understanding and harmony among my family members. I am most grateful that my
daughter has an independent character and achieved strong results at school,
freeing me from the need to divide my attention and take care of her. All
along, my fellow practitioners were there to advise and encourage me, so I was
able to make steady progress along the bodhi path.
When I was serving as instructor of
a children’s Dharma class, one youngster said to me earnestly: “Teacher Chan,
when I grow up I want to become an outstanding volunteer worker like you.” Thenceforth
I realized I had to be careful in word and deed. I began to apply stricter
standards in order to do my part well. On the one hand, I could increase my
knowledge, on the other I hoped to set an example for others through my actions
and my practice. I mustn’t allow my own shortcomings to give others a negative
impression of Buddhism; even more must I not thus induce others to lose their
faith in the Dharma, severing their meritorious roots.
At different times and in various roles,
each person has his or her responsibilities. As a voluntary worker, I learned
to perform to the best of my ability every task at hand. I felt the energy of
interaction among people. I grew confident that if we performed each task in a
calm, centered manner, we would be able to give our Dharma center a splendid
atmosphere and appearance, and help guide sentient beings by following Master
Yin Chi. This wondrous force which allows us to influence one another’s lives,
also gives me the strongest motivation to forge boldly ahead on the path of
voluntary service.
Connecting With the
Bodhisattvas
By Wing Fun
After a painful illness of several
months, my mother finally passed away. From the start, when she entered
hospital because of a shortness of breath and was diagnosed as having terminal
lung cancer, she received the standard treatment. My family members had faith
in the Western medical style of targeting symptoms – prescribing painkillers to
stop headaches, laxatives to relieve constipation, and various medicines to
stop diarrhea. They did not believe that the use of Chinese medicine and
acupuncture points could improve bodily functions and minimize side effects.
Amid the divergent views of
treatment, I could only focus on helping Mother plant extra-worldly seeds by
reciting sutras and the name of Amitabha Buddha, as well as undertaking
penitence rites. I hoped to lighten her suffering and help her gain rebirth in
the Pure Land.
As she went in and out of hospital,
Mother had the worldly fortune of being able to return home, where a maid could
care for her. She was also able to enjoy the company of her children and
grandchildren, which made her feel more at ease. Even so, the road to the Pure
Land was full of obstacles.
Mother had a niece in the United
States who was a devout Christian. Every day she would telephone Mother and ask
her to say earnestly, “I love Jesus, and Jesus loves me.” My siblings did not
think much of it, even believing that an extra source of blessings for Mother
shouldn’t pose any problems.
Lacking in meritorious roots, they
were unaware of the importance of reciting Amitabha’s name single-mindedly,
without deviation. They even asked me not to say negative things in front of
Mother – for example, that she should prepare to recite Amitabha’s name
diligently so as to be reborn in the Pure Land – to avoid alarming her. If she
became anxious, they reasoned, her blood vessels would tighten and her
shortness of breath would worsen. They hoped to make use of worldly means, such
as family gatherings to foster calm, as they accompanied Mother. They thought
that would fortify her will to live. Actually, it would only make her reluctant
to depart, and she would be living with an inner struggle.
My heart sank as I watched Mother
grow gradually weaker, swallowing with difficulty and struggling to breathe.
All I could do was resolve to ask the Bodhisattvas for help, so that Mother’s
negative karma could be reduced, and that a “special personage” might help her
gain rebirth in the Pure Land.
The Bodhisattvas responded and the
special person appeared, though we weren’t aware of the fact. As it happened,
the Indonesian helper caring for Mother frowned upon my cousin calling her to discuss
Jesus. As Mother normally performed Amitabha-recitation and was not acquainted
with Jesus, the domestic thought, she should not be pressed at this time to
covert to Jesus, as that would only confuse her. In the end, even without my
prodding, the maid used her own ways to allow Mother to avoid my cousin. If she
wasn’t too busy to answer the phone, she would pick it up only to put it down
again; later, she would say Mother had fallen asleep. She indeed was the
“special person.”
Mother was also visited by a
physiotherapist who handled cancer cases. He noticed the Buddha images, sutras
and recitation beads in her home. When he learned that Mother habitually recited
the scriptures, he suggested that my elder sister recite along with her so she
wouldn’t have to change her routine, providing her comfort as well as exercise
for her lungs.
My sister complied. Since she wasn’t
familiar with the texts, she would pause occasionally. At such times Mother
would fill in the missing parts, which surprised my sister. Despite her mental
deterioration, Mother was able to remember the scripture and recite
automatically. She was evidently receiving “special” assistance. My sister was
deeply touched, as she chanted the sutras and Amitabha’s name with her.
Normally, Mother would recite the Diamond Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra diligently. She couldn’t
avoid a debilitating illness, but even in her last moments she was blessed by
positive karma and was delivered that same day.
The night before her passing, Mother
told my daughter, “Let me die!” She got her wish the next day. It was around
noon when my sister and daughter called on her. In the final hour my sister
reminded her to recite Amitabha Buddha’s name. With her remaining strength she
did so, breath by breath, a remarkable display of her sincerity.
I was rushing back from a service
dedicated to Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) and
world peace. Before leaving, I wrote a deliverance dedication for Mother. When
I go home Mother had stopped breathing. Her brows were tensed and she had a
pained expression; her mouth was half-open.
I immediately joined the
Amitabha-recitation, sitting down in a lotus position beside Mother, palms
pressed together. After several hours of single-minded recitation, my eyes
still closed, I suddenly detected the fragrance of incense. I was deeply moved
and my tears flowed. Amitabha Buddha and the Bodhisattvas, I felt, had arrived
to guide Mother to the Pure Land.
The fragrance remained for some
time; I was immensely grateful. When it dissipated, I opened my eyes and saw
that it was 6:30. Later I was told by a fellow practitioner that the
deliverance service had lasted more than two hours and ended at 6:20. Mother’s
tablet was in the front row and she was delivered along with many ancestors.
Mother’s face became relaxed, her
brows no longer tense. Her mouth closed, the skin of her forehead and face was
full, and her expression was no longer anguished.
My family members were comforted
upon seeing this. My brothers agreed to send Mother off with a Buddhist
ceremony, but they did not help her along by eating vegetarian, reciting
Amitabha’s name or performing good deeds. Instead, they mourned mother by
holding a banquet and paying mahjong. But my sister connected with the
Bodhisattvas. She heard Mother’s reprimands in a dream and was impelled, on her
behalf, to recite scriptures and Amitabha’s name.
In this account of my mother’s
passing, we again witness the marvelous workings of karma and the imponderable
power of the Buddhas. Our connections with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas lie not
in physical manifestations alone, but in all sorts of positive karmic
assistance rendered in the course of our daily lives. Perhaps even a peaceful,
uneventful life could be the fortunate result of help from the sacred beings.
A story from the scriptures tells
how the survivor of a flood had called on Amitabha Buddha to save him, but saw
no sign of the Buddha. So he complained to Shakyamuni Buddha, who told him that
he had in fact rejected several attempts to save him. Villagers in rubber
vessels, then an oarsman in a small wooden boat, had approached him. Being an
ordinary being, though, he refused to board because he had not seen Amitabha
Buddha appear.
As we ordinary beings learn the
Dharma, the Buddha has already given us the prescription for our ailments and
afflictions. By relying on the help and guidance of the Three Gems – Buddha,
Dharma and Sangha – we can learn how to gain liberation from the cycle of
rebirth. The problem is that sentient beings are unfocused and calculating.
Constantly seeking, they remain undecided and waste time.
Amitabha’s Pure Land is a teaching
and practice that Shakyamuni Buddha spoke without being prompted. It is
convenient and highly suited to the capabilities of beings in this Age of
Dharma Decline. So long as we deeply and consistently believe, stay firm in our
faith, aspiration for rebirth and practice, and broadly plant meritorious
roots, our efforts will not be in vain. We will be reborn in the Pure Land,
where we will see Amitabha Buddha.
May all sentient beings nurture deep
roots of virtue, grow their wisdom and transform their afflictions into
awakening. May the Pure Land appear before us. Amitabha Buddha!
The Chan
of Perception
People’s
perception of things can be divided into three levels. If we wish to raise the
level of our lives, we must first lift the quality of our perceptions.
Chan Master Guichen went to call on Chan Master Xuansha.
Xuansha asked, “What is your experience of ‘the Three
Realms are all in the mind’?” Pointing to a chair, Master Guichen
asked, “What do you call this?” Xuansha answered, “A
chair.” Said Guichen, “You have yet to grasp the true
meaning of ‘the Three Realms are all in the mind’.” Xuansha
changed his tune, saying, “I call that bamboo. What do you call it?” Said Guichen, “I call it bamboo too.”
Our
perception of things is initially confined to their appearance or names. For
example, we say “chair” or “bed.” That is the first level. But while a chair
and a bed differ in terms of their shape and function, they are both fashioned
from the wood of bamboo. To be able to perceive the common substance underlying
the appearance of things is to be at the second level.
When the 6th
Chan patriarch Huineng arrived at Fasheng Monastery,
dusk had just fallen. The evening breeze made a banner in the temple flutter.
He heard two monks debating. One said “the banner is moving,” while the other
insisted that “the wind is moving.” Each held his ground. Huineng said, “Will
you allow this common person to join your lofty discussion? I think what’s
moving is neither the flag nor the wind, but your minds.”
To say “the
banner is moving” as the breeze flaps the flag is to see only the appearance of
things. That is the first level of perception. But it’s not just the banner
that’s moving; so are the branches of the willows nearby. To say “the wind is
moving” is to note a common element or cause. That is the second level of
perception. Yet ultimately, to see that the flag and the willow branches are
moving, and to know that the wind is moving – all stem from the observations of
the mind. Thus “the mind is moving,” which constitutes the third level of
perception. It is to recognize the fundamental nature of things, showing that
“the Three Realms are all in the mind.”
The different levels of perception
influence the way we explain things, as well as how we respond to and handle
them. When we feel something isn’t right and wish to change it, we would change
the flag if we think “the banner is moving.” If we believe “the wind is
moving,” we would try to alter the wind direction. If we consider “our minds”
to be moving, we would attempt to transform our minds.
Chan points straight to our minds.
It tells us what we should recognize and know.
By Ven. Yin Chi
QUESTION: Many of my friends are Christians. When they
find out that I am a Buddhist, they say I am superstitious. How can I convince
them of the merits of Buddhism?
ANSWER: Friends who belong to different
religious faiths should respect one another’s beliefs. Regarding religion,
words alone aren’t enough to persuade people. Besides, everyone thinks his or
her religion is the best. Therefore you need not engage in pointless debates
with them.
Personal
example is more effective than what we say. If we wish to persuade others of
the merits of our faith, we should convince them by our positive actions. When
they call you superstitious, it is because they either do not understand
Buddhism or are disrespectful of other religions.
However you
explain, they will not be persuaded of Buddhism’s merits. You should convince
them through personal example. If you treat people and things with the compassion
and wisdom of the Dharma, others will in time appreciate and praise your
behavior and respect your religion.
QUESTION: I make reverences to
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin) daily and have
stopped eating beef. But recently I heard a fellow practitioner say that if I
truly believe in Avalokitesvara, I shouldn’t eat any cattle-related products,
including butter, milk and even certain biscuits and chocolate. Is this true?
What must I do as a believer in Avalokitesvara?
ANSWER: I think what your fellow
practitioner said is mistaken hearsay. Cattle must be killed to produce beef. While
butter and milk are cattle products, they do not require taking the lives of
oxen. So the two cannot be compared.
It is good
that you have stopped eating beef. But I suggest that you emulate Avalokitesvara’s compassion and go on a vegetarian diet on ceremonial
days related to the Bodhisattva, on the 1st and 15th of each
lunar month, or every week. And if you can regularly consume less meat and more
fruits and vegetables, not only could you nurture compassion but your health
would benefit greatly as well.
True believers in Avalokitesvara should learn from the spirit of the Bodhisattva and cultivate their compassion. They should focus their abilities and their intentions on helping others. I recommend that you go to a proper Dharma center regularly to hear the Buddha’s teachings or participate in collective practice. When you have doubts or difficulties in life, you can also discuss them with Dharma masters with whom you are familiar.