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 It's inconceivable condition and blessings that we
can encounter Buddha Dharma, and become Buddha friends to
investigate Buddha Dharma together. I would like to ask all Dharma
friends—How much did you benefit from Buddha Dharma? Did you apply
it to your daily life? After you encountered Buddha Dharma, have
you changed a bit or a great deal in daily life, while walking,
standing, sitting and lying down? If yes, then you should continue
making efforts in cultivation. If not, it's like entering a
mountain with lots of treasures; you just went in, looked around
and returned without getting any of the treasures. Isn't it a
pity? Since we got the chance to enter the great mountain with
treasures, why don't we dig for it? That is to say, since we have
the blessings to be at a way place and encounter the Buddha
Dharma, we should vow to cultivate according to the Dharma
treasures bestowed by the Buddha. Thus, we can definitely benefit
from it, and not just in this very life.
I remembered I had sent two sutra books to my Buddhist friend
though my relative. What did others think of me sending two sutra
books to China all the way from America? Not long after, my friend
sent me a letter and said—the two sutra books that you sent me is
more precious than anything else, even precious than money. At
that time, I was thinking in my mind—it's so inconceivable. There
are still people consider Buddha Dharma treasures. If everybody
considers Buddha Dharma treasures, then there won't be Dharma
Ending Age.
Now that we encountered Buddha Dharma, then we should respect
sutra books with reverence. We should wash our hands clean before
we read the sutras. Read it with respect, serenity, and not with
any false thinking. We should arrange sutra books in a clean
place, and in good order. We had better separate them from the
worldly books. While the Buddha was in the world, all people
respect the Buddha sincerely. The sutras was actually spoken by
the Buddha, and then recorded and published by his disciples. Now
that the Buddha was in Nirvana and we only have the sutra books,
we should reverend the sutra books like we are respecting the
Buddha in person.
While we are at the way place, we are not just here reciting the
sutras, attending the Dharma lectures; we should also apply the
Buddha Dharma in daily life. Apply Buddha Dharma as our teacher,
as our guideline in life. I have been thinking—Life is inconstant.
I would try to apply every minute to investigate Buddha Dharma.
Buddha Dharma is so complete, why would people not to adopt Buddha
Dharma, but in the contrary, apply bitterness as bliss? And waste
the valuable time in daze? Sometimes the people, the matters and the worldly things around us
make our life unbearable, or thus caused afflictions. Some people
even think that they don't have a good fortune and suffer a great
deal. As a matter of fact, bitterness and bliss, blessings and
disasters only exist when our mind distinguish them. There is no
fine line in between bitterness and bliss, blessings and
disasters. Why do I say that? While we feel happy, the bitterness
is actually also there at the same time. Just because there is
bitterness, we can practically feel what happiness is. So is
blessing and disaster. If there is no bitterness and disasters,
how can you tell what happiness and blessings are? It is also like
the back and palm of our hand. If there is no palm, can the back
of our hand work alone?
Just because of the opposite sides of things, the lives of this
universe go on continuously. People then suffer the retribution in
the six paths. I trust everybody had read the stories about Yuan,
LiaoFan (you can check out books or videos from GMM library if you
hadn't read about it yet). You learn about blessings vs. disasters
and fate through simple stories. Therefore, we should identify our
surroundings with wisdom. Why do we have afflictions? Because we
are caught in the net knitted by the desire of being rich and
famous, love and desire. Constantly suffer like in the hell, like
our heart being cut by a knife. While at the states, if we can
face the problems with the wisdom of Buddha Dharma, broaden our
eyesight, and consider them superficial, then we can solve them in
no time. Besides, what we have seen is only as tiny as what the
ants see. Why should we have afflictions and be attached to it?
Hope we can all consider Buddha Dharma our most valuable resources
in our life. Buddha Dharma can lengthen our life of wisdom. Buddha
Dharma can help us to finally experience the happiness of the four
virtues of Nirvana —permanence, bliss, true self and purity. Even
though the path may be really far away from us, however, it may be
really close as well. As long as we apply the effort, I'm sure we
can eventually reach it. Although we are in the Saha World, we can
be as pure as a lotus growing out of mud without any stain. Let's
all be mindful of it. |
