Let us join our palms. Let us chant the name of our Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha.
Namo Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha (Three Times) May we cherish the chance, this rare chance of encountering the Dharma. A one in a million kalpas opportunity, so that we can truly understand and practice the teachings of the Buddha. Respectful fellow practitioners, good evening to you all. Amituofo! Today we will continue our practice, giving my speech to you on the topic of Understanding Buddhism. Originally it was supposed to happen yesterday, Wednesday, but because yesterday my body, my physical condition had a little bit of issues, I called in sick a bit. So today I would like to make up for yesterday to explain how we understand Buddhism. If during this speech, if I make any mistakes or mention anything that doesn't sound right please do not hesitate to give me feedback. Last week we briefly talked about the imageries of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and their purpose, their meaning. What are they trying to represent and to understand that there are vast meanings packed behind these images and names. In fact it is infinite and it's not too much to describe it as having infinite meanings. So to categorize everything there are two meanings. Last week, we talked about those two meanings but of all the meanings we must understand why we have so many names and so many images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There's only one purpose behind it. Be it Shakyamuni Buddha, Amituofo Buddha, Medicine Buddha, Avalokitesvara, Guan Yin Bodhisattva or Manjushri Bodhisattva, all these only have one purpose, it's to benefit all sentient beings, that's what they're trying to do. So from here we understand that all Buddhas from all directions, each Buddha when they become enlightened and attained full Buddhahood their methods are infinite, there's a lot of ways to gain (Buddhahood) but they never left the principle of filial piety, of love and respect. Last week we learned briefly about that, about the names and images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas but I would like to re-emphasize it and also later on I will add in anything left out last week. We talked about making offerings to the images of Buddha and Bodhisattvas. There are two main meanings, number one is to repay their kindness , being aware of the kindness we received and repaying it with gratitude. So we must know who we received this kindness from and who we are repaying with gratitude. In fact it's actually our teachers, not just Buddha as the teacher but all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and all teachers who have contributed to our wisdom and our knowledge. So we must be truly grateful to all of our teachers. Hence, the phrase: Reaffirm the roots and retrace the beginning of our lineage, our education and who gave us that foundation. So this is what we talked about last week. So as a student of Buddha, how do we repay his kindness? How do we repay all of them? In fact, the merits of our teachers, the kindness that we receive from our teachers and the benefits are vast. In the Sutras, Shakyamuni Buddha has categorized them into four kinds of kindnesses. We all know number one is to repay our parents kindness. We have heard of these four kinds of kindnesses above but what do they mean? Some of us might not have heard of it before so we need to get more in depth on it. So the first people we need to be grateful for are our parents, number two is the teacher's kindness, (the third is) the country's kindness and then (the fourth is) repaying all beings’ kindness. The beings are not just sentient beings but also non-sentient beings, for example, like sunlight, oxygen and our home. To repay our parents' kindness, how do we repay them? If our parents or grandparents are still with us, as children, grandchildren, how do we repay their kindness, how do we repay them? In fact we all know the best way to repay them is to advise them, to encourage them to recite the name of Namo Amitabha Buddha. Because you help them to plant the seeds for their full happiness in the future, to no longer suffer. So this is one of the best and most well-rounded ways to repay them because you help them to truly liberate themselves from the sufferings of life and death, aging and sickness. No more six realms for them. No more of these tortures. If they can chant Amituofo in this lifetime, all the way to their last breath and be born in the Pure Land, this is the biggest gift and the biggest gratitude we can repay. What about our teachers? How do we repay them? Buddha is not here anymore, right? Our teacher, our original teacher, but he left a lot of sutras, such a vast collection of teachings. How do we practice, how do we repay him in light of all the teachings he left behind? For example, if you can bring this Understanding of Buddhism to other people so that other people can truly understand Buddhism's essence, so that they can revert from the misunderstanding towards Buddhism and most importantly they can truly benefit in a practical way from these teachings not just to the individuals but also to their families, their communities, their countries and the world so that everyone can live happily with each other without doubt, without suspicions against each other. They can all live in true peace and prosperity, so that's the best way to repay Buddha's kindness. One way of reaching this noble goal is to explain it to other people whoever it is, no matter where you are. If you have this opportunity and if you can see they are interested in receiving this, just tell them, just say it, on the spot, as much as they can take in. So for example, if what the person needs to know is how do I bring my family towards happiness, how do I achieve happiness not just myself for my family and you have heard of these teachings and then you tell them how you did this, how you achieved happiness with your family and this is what I learned from Buddha that enables me to achieve this result and then you show it to them and so they too will learn from the teachings of Buddha and so will their families and they can all live happily together. That's the best way to repay Shakyamuni Buddha's kindness or Buddha's kindness. In summary, be a role model of one who truly benefited and cultivated these teachings and show it to them and help them to achieve the same thing as you have, the same benefits, but even more, in the bigger way, is the benefit for the future. The biggest benefit is to go to the Pure Land and become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. Through yourself as an example they will see how powerful and how beneficial Buddhism is towards them, the world, this is something we need to know. So moving on to our country's kindness. How do we repay the kindness of our country and countrymen? The first thing is to build a nation, it's a very long and arduous process. How many people had to die, how many sacrifices had to be made, how much blood had to be shed to build your nation? So how do we repay all of these people, the people that fought and died for your nation or died in the process of building your nation? So how do we repay them? The first thing are the governors and the governed. If the people who govern are not being virtuous, if they use laws for their own selfish means then how can the people in this nation be happy? For the governed, start with the law, everyone needs to obey the law. So that everyone can live peacefully together, not in fear, and from there we use Buddhism to spread all the moral teachings and virtuous teachings, do not be greedy, do not be corrupted, put nations and people above yourself. So the last one is the beings, so not just sentient beings, not just living beings but also non-sentient beings, all of the environment that we are living in, we call it environmentalism. We all rely on it to have a proper life, right? We need sunlight, we need oxygen, we need shelter and of course, other living beings, without (other people performing) services how can we have a comfortable life? Without people picking up your garbage how can we have a clean environment? So those are all the beings whose kindness we need to repay. If you understand and are truly aware, if we all understand and are aware of these kindnesses, do we have the heart to harm them through our speech, through our thoughts and through our actions? Impossible, you can't, you just can't because once you see the world from this perspective, understanding the kindnesses that you have received are immeasurable. Then you will understand that no matter what happens to you, good or bad, favorable or adverse, you remind yourself of these four kinds of kindnesses, four types of kindnesses to be repaid, then we would not allow the hatred to grow, our compassion will be stronger. So this is what Shakyamuni Buddha's mission was in this world, to educate us through role modeling. What did he try to teach? What role did he model? Being a human, how to be a decent human being. For example, when we see an image of Buddha or Guan Yin Bodhisattva in front of us, they are there to teach us, to remind us of how to become a decent human being. The roots of a happy human existence, a happy human life is being grateful. For example, for a family, if you want a family to live harmoniously, coexist harmoniously, if we cannot be grateful and we cannot be thinking of the kindness from our family, how can we live with them every day? Expand this from family to society members and countries, if we can't think of each other's kindness, each other's contributions or the good side of them, how can we have a peaceful society? So for us, as Buddhist practitioners, if you want to be a Buddha or a Bodhisattva or as a Pure Land practitioner, you want to go to the Pure Land, if you can't even be a decent human being we need to ask: do we deserve it? I mean, do we have the guarantee to be reborn in the Pure Land? It's very hard, right? That's why it all starts from the roots, from being a decent human being and to build up a happy life, a happy family, a happy, harmonious society and a peaceful, prosperous country, we need to start with these four (types of kindnesses to be repaid) and this one word, gratefulness. If we see everything from the perspective of being grateful and looking back at the Buddha's image then we understand that Buddhism is truly not a superstition, it's not telling you to worship a sort of deity that grants you something, it's to ask you to be this role model. The reason we have a statue, an idol, in any era is because this is something we look up to, so this has the same meaning. If everyone is taught to be a decent human being and practice it through role modeling from parents, teachers and each other, it's very easy to achieve what we call World Peace that has been out of reach for so many years. With this education starting with gratitude toward each other only then can we not allow any hatred or any jealousy to overcome our rational mind, our kind heart. So this is Buddhism. Gratefulness is Buddhism. Number two, learn from the best role models. Let’s think about it, this phrase and then relate it to Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha in particular. As a prince, the crown prince to his father's kingdom he could have had a very lavish life, he could have had a better life that anyone could dream of. Why would he leave all of that behind and go through this arduous journey of living under the trees every day, back in India? He didn't even have proper shelter every day and had to find food by seeking alms, basically begging for food in a frank manner. So his shelter was the trees. Let's not talk about 10 years, 20 years or decades like Buddha did, look at one day for us to bring it back to reality, to put it in perspective. If we try to do what he did for just one day, not outside, not other countries, not different cultures but in your own country, in your own backyard not outside of your property, under the trees let's go under the trees. Sleep under the trees for one night, exactly how Buddha did. Can you imagine that you can do that without any problem to your body, not even sickness, the comfort, can you imagine the lack of comfort, how uncomfortable it would be? Before he attained enlightenment, he was under the trees, not eating, not drinking, what was it for? Why did he go through all of this suffering? For himself? No. He was trying to find a way out of life and death, not just for himself, but for everyone, otherwise he wouldn't stay there and teach us this. All he thought about was how he could lead all beings from his era to the future, many many thousand years from his time towards the liberation of life and death, toward liberation of these fundamental sufferings. On the other hand, most of us, ordinary people mostly think about ourselves or our little groups, our families, we can't think big. We must understand the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas images, their statues are meant to ask us to reflect, to remind us to reflect. They didn't talk to you and tell you to reflect, they showed it to you to, let you decide to reflect on what kind of person do I want to be and that’s why we have image offerings, why we make offerings to the images, make offerings to the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. When we look at the image of the Buddha his peaceful face and serene (composure). What do we think of? Before I sleep, I pray to Buddha three times. Every time I think of Buddha and Bodhisattvas I always reflect back on myself, what do I reflect in relation to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas? I always ask myself: Have my thoughts turned kinder, purer, better, are my actions better, purer, kinder? Is the way I handle things thoughtful, considerate towards others? That's the whole point of making offerings to the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas. Because humans are not saints. We are not saints; humans make mistakes, we all make mistakes. We definitely have committed and will commit mistakes but just because we're making mistakes doesn't mean we don't have a chance to overcome them and change for the better or improve. Back in my childhood, my Mom told me all the time it's not a problem for humans to make mistakes, humans should not fear making mistakes, but do fear the unwillingness to change for the better. So every day when we look at images or statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas, we educate ourselves each time: I must change my speech, my thoughts and my actions from unwholesome, evil, lustful, greedy and hateful into something pure, kind, wholesome and beneficial to everyone. So that is why we have imagery, to sculpt ourselves into the best version of ourselves with a role model in front of us. It's not superstitious from this angle. Do not treat Buddha and Bodhisattvas as deities, as gods, it's wrong and it's disrespectful towards the Buddha if we do that. Because it defeats the purpose of them trying to educate us. Even though there are so many meanings behind their images, their names, it never departs from this goal to be grateful towards, not just towards them, towards their contributions, towards human beings and all beings. Their contribution is huge, humongous, vast. This is the brief introduction in this chapter on imagery of Buddhism. So knowing this, when we pray to the Buddha we must understand that we're actually praying to ourselves, the best version of ourselves! If you just pray to sculptured Buddha and Bodhisattvas images, it's superstition, because they're made of wood, they're made of clay, sand. The point of doing this prostration every day is to say I want to be the best version as shown in front of me, as shown by the images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There are so many Buddha names, Amitabha Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, Medicine Buddha and Bodhisattvas as well, when we look at their names we are reminded of their virtues and remind ourselves to cultivate these virtues. Let's continue to the next slide. So there are many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Last week, I mentioned that in the Tripitaka, the Collection of Buddhist Sutras, there are so many names, they even have a sutra dedicated to naming the names of Buddhas and it's tens of thousands in volume. If we truly dig deep into the merits and virtues represented by the name of Shakyamuni Buddha, there is no limit, it is infinite. A very important point is that the names of the Buddhas represent the infinitude of our virtues, capabilities, wisdom, good fortune and talent in you, your True Nature, that's the point. You have endless, there's no boundary to your wisdom, there is no boundary to your good fortune, there's no boundary to your capabilities, to your virtues or to your talents, that's the truth they're trying to bring across. However, why are we stuck in our current predicaments, trapped from achieving our full potential? There's a saying in the Thrice Yearning Ceremony: I am Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha is me. That is the truth, the ultimate reality and that's the point of why there are so many names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas because they are asked to tell you that you have such a vast range of, an endless range of meritorious deeds and meritorious qualities, in the truest sense of words, there are no limits. For example, nowadays in this society when we want to introduce ourselves as a person with a high position, with great capabilities, with great wealth and talents, we will give out our business card that says: I am the CEO of this company, I'm the director of that board and I hold many positions, important roles in these companies. Why doesn’t it just say I am a CEO of many companies? It doesn’t, right? The business card brings up so many titles of this person to show that he has a lot of capabilities, doesn’t it? It is the same for the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in multitudes. So back in Indonesia, we also had the same thing like this, you know Business Cards in the Dharma Place, they also tried to do that for my name: You have this many Dharma Centers and are the president of whatever associations. I asked: Is that important? It's not important. It's good to keep a low profile. It's good advice, the best advice says we should keep a low profile otherwise you will attract a lot of obstacles if you have a high profile, if everyone knows you, that means you lose your freedom in many ways. So back to the point. Take Shakyamuni Buddha for example, Shakyamuni Buddha is only one of his titles, it's not just one Shakyamuni Buddha, there’s tens of thousands of names behind it, there are so many names to describe (him) and all of them are to remind us that our true heart, our True Nature, our Buddha Nature, our Awakened Nature has infinite virtues, capabilities, infinite wisdom, infinite good fortunes and infinite talents. That's it, that's the point. When you chant Amituofo every day, it is to remind yourself that your capability is the same, equal to Buddha, which are all of the above-mentioned qualities. If we use the modern terms to describe the names of Buddhas they are all talking about yourself, all the sutras in the Tripitaka are talking about yourself. When you chant Amitabha Buddha, you are actually chanting the names of the Amitabha Buddha’s qualities in yourself, when you chant Shakyamuni Buddha’s name, you are chanting his qualities in yourself, when you chant Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva’s name, you are chanting his qualities in yourself, same with Manjushri or Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, etc. So in short, it's all about how you reflect and how you change your life. It has nothing to do with other people. Why do you have such an afflicted life, why do you have such a stressful life or a depressed life? It has nothing to do with anyone else, it's all about yourself. The key to change is all in yourself, we must believe that. Do you understand? Have you heard it clearly? When someone asks you: who are you? You must answer: I am Amitabha. Who are you? I am Guan Yin Bodhisattva. Don't say: I'm Mr. Chai or I'm Joe or John or something. No! You must be clear about your True Nature! What does it mean? If you can answer, I am Amitabha, that means you have transcended the “me”, you know the ego, the shell that we are living in now, the illusion that we are in now. So if I am asked: Who are you? I answer: I am Venerable Xue Wu. I'm still not there yet. It's all about yourself. We can talk about it in relation to others but ultimately everything is surrounding this True Nature, yourself, as in your True Nature, not the illusionary shell. So by saying the names, by reciting the names, by recognizing the names of these awakened people (you realize that) you can do that, you are like that, you are able to achieve that. The most important thing Buddhas and Bodhisattvas names represent is to educate us to cultivate our virtues. When we chant Avalokitesvara, Guan Yin, Manjushri, Ksitigarba, they're all telling us to cultivate the virtues they represent. Each of these bodhisattvas have virtues that they have mastered and tried to represent. Buddha represents your True Nature, your potential, your full rounded qualities. Bodhisattvas represent the cultivation of virtues, to shine the light upon this True Nature, that means the True Nature appears when you cultivate these virtues. Bodhisattvas represent the merit of cultivating our virtues. One name of a Bodhisattva represents one virtue that we should cultivate. If we don't cultivate these particular virtues we can't be shown the light of our True Nature. Our True Nature cannot come out. If we do not cultivate our capabilities of good fortune, wisdom, and your special gifts (talents) properly, you cannot break through this threshold and you will be stuck in your illusory shell. That's why we need to cultivate our virtues. If you want to go to the Pure Land, we must cultivate our infinite qualities. If we don't cultivate properly, if we don't chant his name properly to the depth of our heart, you can't achieve the happiness of the Pure Land. A lot of people say I want to live a long life, I want to be healthy, I want to be wealthy and prestigious. Some people say I want to have a good death. If one achieves these, especially a good death they'll have a good life beyond that. So where do all of these good qualities come from? How do we cultivate them? How do we achieve this? All these things we trust, all this knowledge we learn, they are just a way, they’re a method. A few days ago someone asked me: How do I achieve longevity? I told him as long as you hold the precept of No Killing then you will achieve longevity. Back in Shakyamuni Buddha’s time, there was a Venerable who lived to be 160 years old. How did he achieve this longevity, this merit? Because in his past life he held the precept of No Killing. The Bodhisattva's name represents the merits of cultivating the virtues. Buddha represents our True Nature, the inherent qualities of our True Nature. Bodhisattvas are asking you to cultivate and to improve. Buddha represents and reminds us of our inherent qualities which are well-rounded, there's no imperfection in them. However you must go through what the Bodhisattvas did which is cultivating virtues to shed away the darkness that shrouds this True Nature and the person they're trying to talk to is yourself, no one else, yourself, just you, there's no second person in this. You must remember that. It's a very clear point they're trying to bring across in the sutras, all the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are used to describe your True Nature. So right now, on knowing that when we cultivate Buddhism, what's the point? To be enlightened, enlightened of our qualities and the need to cultivate them. Once we understand this meaning, we understand the way of Buddha teachings, we use the modern terms, sophisticated art, the way they teach is sophisticated, they don't just blab and talk all the time, it’s sophisticated art. We must understand that. The pedagogy (the method and practice of teaching) which you will see in the slides when we get there is high level wisdom pedagogy as in the way they educate, the method used to educate is sophisticated, it’s high level wisdom. Once we understand, have achieved the correct understanding of Buddhism, only then are we benefited from Buddha's teachings. This is a simple introduction so that we can all understand, really get in depth, everything goes back to education truly. Is it easy to understand if I explain it in this way? Is it okay or is it too fast? Because what I'm trying to achieve here is just a simple overview because we all make offerings to the image of Buddha. Don't just pray every day without knowing why. Don't always think about: I want to be rich and wealthy in front of them. Trust me, the more you ask, the less you get. Don't ask (Buddha), ask yourself, have I achieved the qualities, have I paid the cost needed, the Cause and Effect, have I achieved the qualities required to (gain and) retain the wealth, position, and longevity? That's the point of offering to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. So in Buddhism there are, like Buddha and Bodhisattva, there are titles in Buddhism conferred upon the Sangha members like Acarya and Upadhyaya. In Chinese Buddhism, we say He Shang和尚, which is Sanskrit for upadhyaya. Another title used in Chinese Buddhism is Dharma-bhanaka, or Dharma-Master, an Instructor of Buddha Dharma. Especially when we take the precepts or the Eight Precepts, when a Venerable chants the rites, they start with Acarya, (they say:) May Acarya know my meaning, May Acarya witness this. In Buddhism, the titles of Acarya, Upadhyaya or He Shang和尚 are reserved for education, not religion. These names are not used in religions. So what does Acarya and Upadhyaya mean? They are the most commonly used titles. Number 1 is Upadyaya, it is Sanskrit for mentors who personally mentors us or takes charge in mentoring our educational development. In modern society, in modern educational terms, it’s a mentor. So we call these people, Upadhyaya, personal mentors. For myself, every time I go back to Indonesia I always go and see my teacher in the mountains. I call him Upadhyaya, Elder Upadhyaya. He is 90 years old and very healthy. He's my teacher, he's my mentor. like Master Chin Kung is also our Upadhyaya, He Shong和尚, our personal mentor. So what's the difference between this teacher and the common teacher? This teacher is the one who affects you, who influences your educational development, and personally takes charge of your educational development. So the meaning of Upadhyaya is very deep. In everyday life, do you have a teacher? Yeah, I have a teacher even though he is not a monk, he is a lay person you can also call him Upadhyaya, they are also your He Shang和尚 even though they are not monks, because they are your teachers, they take care of your educational development. In a school, the person who's in charge of educating or implementing the curriculum and administration is called the Principle. The Principal is the Upadhyaya. All of the teachers are only performing educational tasks under his direction. Therefore an Upadhyaya is actually a Principle put in a modern way. So the Principle is very important because he is responsible for the success of the education program. So if you put the Principle of modern day in Buddhism terms they are an Upadhyaya, a He Shang和尚. Again, He Shang和尚 and Upadhyaya are not exclusive to monks. Everyone thinks He Shang和尚 must be a monk, no, it doesn't have to be a monk, it's not necessarily a monk. Upadhyaya and He Shang和尚 are also called Koshan in different geographical regions. There was a case where an Upadhyaya was not doing his job and as a result Buddhism was being misunderstood by the society as superstitious, religious and as the Koshan, as the Upadhyaya, they are the same words, as the Upadhyaya, if this educational group, we call it the temple members, are not achieving positive results in educating themselves and societies, especially in Buddhism, the Upadhyaya’s karmic repercussion is very heavy as they are responsible for the failure of the education and as a result they will go to Avici hell, so this is very serious. So Upadhyaya is not even exclusive to Buddhism, it's just like saying
the Principle of a school. It can be used in common societies which was the case back in Buddha's time, as long as this person is in charge of your educational development they are your Upadhyaya, they are your He Shang和尚. When people call you He Shang和尚, or ceremoniously call you He Shang和尚, you are responsible, even for that ceremony to go well. Do you have the merits, qualities to be revered as an Upadhyaya? That's very important. We always remind ourselves when we are called this name, He Shang和尚. It's not a monk exclusive term, as long as this teacher is involved in teaching you or of developing your educational skill or developing you, educating you so that you can be beneficial to the society, then they are your Upadhyaya. Is this explanation easily understood? So from now on we understand what He Shang和尚 or Upadhyaya means. Let’s continue to the next one, Acarya. In modern terms Acarya is the Sanskrit equivalent of Professor. It is a professor of a discipline however in Buddhism it goes beyond just simply professor because Acarya has an even more well-rounded meaning. Why? Why does it have a different meaning? Because it's not a normal professor who transmits just the knowledge or technical skills. What distinguishes an Acarya from a professor, is an Acarya must have manners of speech, of deeds, of virtues deserving of a role model, they deserve to be our role model. Everything they say, everything they do is virtuous, you can follow them. They go beyond just knowledge, they are teachers but this teacher has virtues, real virtues, from their speech, from their thoughts, from their actions, they are worthy to be emulated, worthy to be exemplified. A common professor does not necessarily have these qualities, these virtues, they may be smart but they may not have virtues. But as an Acarya, one must have that level, that quality. He or she can be an example to you, the student or to society, making a contribution to society. Do you understand? When we receive the Eight Precepts: May Acarya witness this, or may we be in Acarya's thoughts. That means my action and speech must be in accordance with the precepts, hence an Acarya. May I be an Acarya. So today, Shakyamuni’s Buddhism has been transmitting for 3000 years according to the Chinese calendar. Are there a lot of Buddhists who follow his teaching? Yes. Why is it still acceptable in modern society? It is because of his virtues, if he just only talked and did not walk the walk, could anyone accept his teachings? No way, because he's not real, right? If he didn't practice what he preached no one would follow him. A person who was well loved, well cared for, well respected, to be honest it's not all about money, it's not all about positions, if that person is worthy to be respected, to be loved, to be respected by the nation, it's because of his virtues, it's because of his contributions to society, his virtues, his role modeling towards the society. If a person is worthy of respect, they must be a self-respecting person, you must be a role model. If you don't want to anger other people, we must have virtues especially in this society nowadays where people get easily angered, we must have good virtues. It's not because I am number one and you're number two or because I'm the boss and you're my subordinate, no, it's because you have achieved the quality of Buddha or anyone of virtuous nature and people naturally respect you, flock to you and revere you as a role model. So from all these titles, Acarya, Upadhyaya or He Shang和尚 we understand Buddhism is an education, not a theism (deity-worshipping). It is not about worshiping a certain god. A blunt way of putting it, religions are superstitious. Why do I say that? I will explain it in the next session. This is a simple way of understanding Buddhism, explaining it simply so that we understand all the terminologies used in Buddhist Communities. From today's lesson, we learned that Acarya means to be an Acarya, my speech, my thoughts, my actions have to be up to standard, have to be a role model, only then can I be an Acarya. People called Acarya need to reflect that, same for Upadhyaya or He Shang和尚. So this was a simple introduction to the terms. So in the next session we will learn about why religion is superstitious. There is a very big reason, a big meaning behind why religion has become superstitious. So we'll continue that in the next session because next week we have the seven day retreat, the Amitabha-Name-Chanting Retreat. So we would like to take a break during the seven day recitation, so next week we'll take a break. I will continue after, which is a fortnight, two weeks after. If I have mentioned anything not right, please give me criticism and feedback, point it out to me. Thank you! Amituofo! So let us dedicate our merits. I, the student of Buddha, would like to dedicate these merits towards my karmic creditors to be born in the Pure Land. Dedicate the merits to all beings, sentient beings, to liberate from sufferings. Repay the four kinds of kindnesses above, relieve the suffering of those in the three paths below. May those who see and hear of this, aspire to invoke the Bodhi heart and cultivate the teachings for the rest of this life, then be born together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Thank you! Amituofo! Let us all pay respect to Buddha and the teacher by three prostrations and the Venerable says it is okay. Thank you.
