So we'll continue
today's session with
where
do we begin
learning Buddhism?
The teachings that were given by
Shakyamuni Buddha can be categorized
into 84,000 methods of cultivation
and among so many methods that were
given by him, how do we choose
among so many choices?
Every method given by Buddha is correct
but which one is the one
suitable for us?
This is a very important point for us,
something we need to be concerned
about when we're learning.
So when we are learning Buddhism,
we go to a temple and burn incense
to offer to the Buddha
or offer flowers to the Triple Gem.
Some people might think
that's it for Buddhism,
that's all that Buddhism is about.
However, if you actually want
to learn Buddhism,
where do we start,
where do we begin?
We must be clear and we must be aware
of that, otherwise we will waste
our time when we learn,
otherwise we will spend years
reaping nothing in return,
learning nothing in return.
In the past, our patriarchs have said that
everyone who chants Amituofo,
practices this method,
will be able to
reach the Pure Land,
no one will be left behind.
But why, in reality,
are so many people who
chant Amituofo not getting there?
It is because
we have habits that stop us
from getting there. What is the cause?
What are the habits that stop
us from getting to the Pure Land?
That's what we need to discuss today.
If we're not clear
what obstacle lies in front of us,
how do we get blessings, actual blessings,
actual help
from Buddha and Bodhisattvas?
If we do not understand
how to begin learning Buddhism,
unfortunately, it becomes a religion instead.
So that's
what we will discuss today.
Where do we begin in learning Buddhism,
where do we enter? Which door do
we enter in this vast ocean?
In Chinese Mahayana Buddhism,
we usually use Four Great Bodhisattvas
as a method to educate everyone.
In China, there are four very famous
Buddhist mountains (that correspond
to these Four Great Bodhisattvas).
In Jiu Hua九華山(mountain)
there's Ksitigarbha
(DiZang) Bodhisattva,
in Pu Tuo普陀山(mountain)
there’s Guan Yin Bodhisattva
and in Er Mei峨眉山(mountain)
there’s Samantabhadra Bodhisattva
(Pu Xian)
and in WuTai五臺山(mountain)
there’s Manjushri Bodhisattva.
These are the Four Great Bodhisattvas
and mountains that are commonly used
in the education of Buddhism.
So what do they represent?
We must be clear
what they represent,
what do these
Four Great Bodhisattvas symbolize?
They show when we learn Buddhism,
we need to have an order of learning,
we need to have a sequence,
we need to follow certain steps,
a sequence when we learn Buddhism,
step one, step two, step three,
step four,
one by one, step by step.
Why? It is because
it depends on our capability, like
you're born with a certain capability.
Some people who are, what we call genius,
can immediately reach the highest
level in Buddhism,
but for us on the common level,
we need to follow the steps,
one by one, so that we can learn it,
we can actually learn them.
So of these Four Great Bodhisattvas,
among all four of them,
with whom do we start?
It's a very
important question.
What do they represent?
The spirit, as in what value
do they represent?
Each of them represents one of the four
core values when we're learning
Buddhism that we need to master,
we need to grasp.
As a Buddhist we need to master and
hold on to these values.
What are these Four Values
that we should
learn about from Bodhisattvas?
We will talk about that in detail later.
For example, what does Ksitigarbha
Bodhisattva or in Chinese Dizang which
translates to Earth Treasure represent?
What level of attainment? Other than order
of learning, the second one is the
level of attainment in Buddhism.
What is
the level of attainment?
That means the level of wisdom,
the scale, the depth,
the horizon of their wisdom,
which level do they represent?
Number three is to improve your capability,
your skills, your wisdom to see through
the delusions in this world,
we call it the Saha World or the world
that is messy, full of false views
and false thoughts.
How do you see through it,
knowing right from wrong?
How do you solve it?
It all relies on the level of your attainment.
If our level of attainment did not increase,
how do we have wisdom?
Higher wisdom means our level of attainment
is better and we can get better
at handling the world.
These Four Great
Bodhisattvas represent that
so we need to learn about that.
All of these Four Great Bodhisattvas represent
different aspects, different spirits,
stages of learning Buddhism.
What does Manjushri Bodhisattva or
the Universal Worthy Bodhisattva
represent?
They all represent different values but
their goal, their principle, all encompass
one another, we call it well-roundedness.
For example, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva,
whatever value he represents,
whatever virtues he has,
Guan Yin Bodhisattva has it,
Manjushri Bodhisattva has it,
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva has it.
Four is one, one is four.
Each one of them has
a very specialized virtue
but each of the others
have the same virtues, they are
just trying to stand out to help us.
Among the four of them, we do need
to know the order of learning,
where do we start
and then where do we end.
There's a reason
why there are four of them.
You cannot jump the queue.
you can't be like:
I like Guan Yin Bodhisattva,
I will just learn straight from her,
nothing's wrong with that.
Manjushri Bodhisattva
represents wisdom,
I will learn straight from him,
nothing's wrong with that.
However, why we have this order of learning
is we might waste our energy
if we skip steps.
Every Bodhisattva is actually
well-rounded and perfect.
That means they have everything,
they encompass everything but what
they represent is the order
of learning for us.
Each of them is trying to tell us,
trying to teach us to reach
the same perfection,
the same well-roundedness,
to get to the highest level of attainment,
if we follow, we will get there.
So today among the values that each of
the Four Great Bodhisattvas represent,
you cannot skip one,
if you lack one out of the four,
your attainment is not perfect, that
means you cannot reach Buddhahood.
You cannot
leave one behind
because people of the world,
what they lack the most are the values
these Four Great Bodhisattvas
represent.
Us Buddhists want to be wise,
so we chant Amituofo but without
Manjushri Bodhisattva, we cannot,
also if you want to be as wise as
Manjushri Bodhisattva, without the
foundation of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva,
you can't get to that level or if you
want to be as compassionate as
Guanyin Bodhisattva
or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva,
but without wisdom,
your compassion will not be perfect,
you will not use it in the right way.
Like when you walk, it requires
two legs to walk properly.
If you lack one leg,
you can't walk properly.
So, now we know
these Four Great Bodhisattvas
are equally important in our life.
They all represent something we
need to have a happy life,
they all have high wisdom.
Since we now understand
that they are well-rounded,
they are perfect, where do we begin?
The order of learning is: The first one is
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva or Dizang,
direct translation: Earth Treasure.
We begin with him.
When we learn Buddhism,
we start from there.
If you ask Buddha:
Where do I begin, Buddha,
in learning your Dharma?
He will point out:
Learn the spirit of
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Why?
It is because
this Bodhisattva has
infinite wisdom, merits and skills.
Of all the Buddhas
from all directions,
from the past, present and future,
why do we begin with him among
so many choices to learn from? Why
do we begin with him among everyone?
Like for us, Pure Land practitioners,
if we depart from Ksitigarbha
Bodhisattva’s spirit, value,
you cannot go to the Pure Land.
Without this foundation,
there's no Pure Land for us.
Buddha told us:
we begin with Him, from what
value he represents,
they are not
just there for us to
offer incense and flowers.
What do they represent? Ksitigarbha
Bodhisattva represents our root,
our heart, the ground that we stand on,
no matter what method you practice,
without Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s
value in you,
the basic (value) that he represents,
like the character, if your character
doesn't have that value as a basis,
you could not reach the highest
attainment which is Buddhahood:
Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi,
(Unsurpassed)
Equally Perfect Enlightenment.
It is because without his foundation,
you cannot achieve anything
in Buddhism.
No matter how well you chant Amituofo,
how frequently you chant Amituofo
or any other methods of Buddhism,
without his value
imbued in your character,
your action, speech, thought,
you can't have a guarantee (to be reborn in)
the Pure Land. That's why he
represents the root.
Without a root, how can a tree have fruits?
Without roots, where are the stems?
Where are the branches?
Where
are the fruits?
Where are the flowers?
How do we
live in this world without
our parents, how do we survive?
They gave us this (life), like our parents
provide us with everything: food,
shelter, love, family love and all that.
Without these,
how do we grow properly?
So they are like the roots.
The case is when we are very, very
successful in our business
with a lot of money,
with a lot of results, however (if you)
compare your achievements in this society
to your own parents towards you,
it is not comparable.
Their spirit and kindness
is immeasurable.
So this is why
we say Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva
represents the root.
If you want
to learn Buddhism,
you need to begin with filial piety,
how to (show our) love
and respect towards
our parents.
That's the first step and
that's what he's trying to
tell us through his example.
Being human, we also need to learn
how to be respectful towards
our teachers.
These are
very important factors
and we will explain them in detail.
The 49 years
of Buddha’s teachings all
follow this core value.
49 years of his speeches
were all about this foundation.
You can say it is an annotation
of the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha
Bodhisattva Sutra《地藏菩薩本願經》.
Look at the era nowadays,
if we look at our friends,
people around us,
observe carefully, friends, relatives,
people in this era, especially right now,
in this time, including ourselves,
why is our affliction so heavy?
Why do we find trouble
in chanting Amituofo?
Have we grown our wisdom?
So number one
is we are severely afflicted.
After chanting for so many years,
we still feel restless in the face of all of
the turbulent times in society
and our family as well.
The cause of
all these problems is that
we have forgotten our roots.
We've forgotten our foundation to
our correct well-being and character,
this is another way to say:
you forgot your roots.
It's a way to remind you.
This is very easy to do,
people
easily forget
where they came from.
I'd like to share a story from 10 years ago.
There was a young person who came
to my temple to find me.
He wanted to debate me.
Do I have to respond to him?
No.
I don't have to,
because it's a waste of time.
He told me,
after telling me so many things,
one of them was:
Buddhism,
it's all about filial piety,
because you guys talk a lot about that!
What era is this?!
What time is this?!
This is an era of technology!
Why do we need filial piety?
If you don't follow the flow of the era,
change according to the era,
we’ll be rejected.
What he meant was
that Buddhism is outdated,
the values are outdated,
so this is a very severe view.
It’s quite common.
What he meant was that in the future
you won't even need to have parents,
you can use In vitro fertilization.
But I didn't respond.
When I heard that,
I had a thought
upon hearing his view.
I knew why
society had gotten messy,
chaotic and turbulent.
It is because
when there is interaction
between parents and children,
there's a lot of young people who are
not patient with their parents
and they easily get angry
and talk back in a very rude way.
Why do we have such a turbulent society?
It is because of people like this.
A lot of these kinds of people
forget where they come from,
that why they are here today
is because of
people who gave everything
they have for them, they forgot them.
Everyone forgets about their roots,
the society is a mess,
in a mess.
So that's why I advise all the elder
people, those who are parents,
to take care of yourself,
you can't rely on your children anymore
because if you have too much hope
(you might be disappointed).
There's a common Chinese saying that
you have children to help you to
overcome the pain of aging.
So right now, in this era, it's hard,
you can't rely on them because
of these false views.
The first thing is society,
everything is busier,
everything is on a more tight schedule.
They don't have time to
take care of their
own (parents),
not even
their own children,
let alone their own parents.
This is
one of the pathetic
parts about people nowadays.
This is why
there is such a
booming industry in retirement,
because of this reality.
So young people,
I urge all of you, all of us,
no matter how successful, how high,
what peak you have achieved in your field,
never forget the love your
parents gave to you,
never forget those who give everything
they have to you, their love to you,
their care to you.
That's what matters, truly,
because if we can't even get
this point correct,
there's no point
to come to Buddhism
and learn from Buddha.
You have
no roots, no land,
you can’t build anything.
This is why we need to start from
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
This is why.
If you want to be
successful in cultivating Buddhism,
achieving Buddhahood, begin from here.
Number one
is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva
represents filial piety,
love and respect towards our elders.
The first thing that defines humanity
is repaying kindness.
The second thing is being aware,
appreciating the kindness we actually
receive from people around us,
starting from our parents and
from everyone else.
It's not given from God,
it's not from a heavenly being up above,
it's by people, your society that gives
you everything you have.
So repay
the kindness for those
who actually give it to you.
So number one,
among
the Four Kindnesses above
when we
do the Dedication of Merits,
the first one is parents,
the second is
the teacher or the Triple Gem,
Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
The third is the country,
the fourth is the society,
all the sentient beings.
Number three
is promoting virtues,
the merits of cultivating virtues.
If you look at modern people,
when you look at society nowadays,
you can see a common problem:
people lacking virtues,
lacking decency.
We use a simple word, decency.
If you
look around them,
no matter what they do,
there's a lot of those
driven purely by self-interest,
purely driven by desires
because of that they're willing to let go of
any semblance of dignity as a human and
do something that is basically disgusting.
So I have another story.
I have a movie given to me
by my friend, my classmate.
This movie is about observations about
current society and the story is
about a good doctor.
Why is he
addressed as a good doctor?
It is because in this hospital,
a lot of other doctors are
lacking virtues, lacking ethics.
I think it's a documentary.
It's showing behind
the scenes,
what actually happens in the hospital
and those doctors not following
their ethics.
Knowing this reality, not just in one field,
in many fields, we understand that
this is truly the end,
like the world that Buddha
described for a Dharma Ending Age.
So back to the point,
we need to understand the
worldly goodness of all goodness,
all kinds (of goodness), all things that are
good in the world, do not depart from
the foundation of filial piety,
from being
respectful and loving
towards your parents and elders.
Without this foundation,
whatever good you did towards anyone else,
it's not sincere.
A lot of people like to give, for example,
to offer to a temple,
I like this temple,
I give a lot of money
to help them to build it up.
If this Dharma Center
likes to build something,
they will help.
However, if you look at their character,
their character in private,
behind the scenes,
to those who
give everything to them,
to those who are kind to this person,
he's not
being very kind
towards his own loved ones.
So this person might look like a good person,
donating all these things,
but behind the scenes,
when treating their own parents,
they are lacking a basic
virtue of respect.
Shakyamuni Buddha
gave Dharma talks
for 49 years.
All of them, every detail, every sutra,
actually all center around
the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra,
the sutra about filial piety.
They do not depart from this,
you can call it
an annotation of this sutra.
So we cannot just
read through this sutra
and treat it like anything (insignificant).
We need to
appreciate the importance of this
in our cultivation.
Talking about filial piety,
what does it look like in Chinese?
In Chinese characters filial piety
or Xiao(孝) in pronunciation,
is a symbol.
So every
Chinese character is a symbol.
What does this symbol comprise of?
The symbol of
elder on the top and
symbol of young on the bottom,
elder and young when you combine them,
means elder generation and
younger generation are one.
It's what we call filial piety.
The elder is above, on top.
We're not talking about Laozi in Taoism.
We're talking about
a combination of these two words.
It's called filial piety
and this is where this word
Xiao孝 in Chinese
came from.
If we want to go further with the meaning:
Elder generations and younger generations,
together they are one, one entity.
They cannot be separated.
You cannot be separated from
your own parents,
you cannot separate yourself
from your own ancestors.
This is the original meaning
of filial piety, Xiao孝.
That's why the patriarchs of Buddhism told us
that the elder generations have their
own elder generations,
that means the past has no beginning,
there's no origin,
there's endless beginnings;
the younger generations
have their own younger generations,
there is no end for the next generation,
it will be infinite.
So how can it be separated?
The beginning and end are one.
So no matter what the situation is,
the relationship between
you and your elders, your parents,
the relationship is there,
you cannot be separated
no matter good or bad.
For example,
when I met someone in the past,
he told me he hated his father.
But I told him:
No matter how much you hate him,
the fact is: he is your father.
For example, on the other hand,
your children, no matter
how much you dislike your children
because maybe they are not being good,
they are still your children.
This relationship cannot be separated.
In Buddhism,
filial piety has another word for it,
if you perfect filial piety,
it becomes Dharmakaya
or the Body of the Truth.
What does it mean for us?
You want to be
born in the Pure Land,
you want to be liberated from sufferings,
you want to sever
the cause of life, reincarnation.
Anything that happens in the world
born from DharmaKaya,
arises from this Body of the Truth.
What does this Dharmakaya
break down to?
It’s called filial piety.
For example,
Buddhas of the past, present
and future, of the ten directions,
have attained Buddhahood
that means perfection of virtues.
Some haven't reached it yet,
future Buddhas, but each of them,
no matter where they are,
when they want to begin
this journey towards Buddhahood,
they begin with filial piety.
Why?
It is because Buddhas
always want to help all beings,
just like being filial towards all beings,
treating everyone like their parents,
this is the heart of Buddha.
If you are not filial,
could you even get anywhere
in Buddhism?
Say Amitabha Buddha,
he is now already a Buddha,
even when he's a Buddha,
he is still continuing
the practice of filial piety.
To whom? To all of us, to all beings.
He keeps giving and helping and taking
care of all beings, that's filial piety,
love and respect.
So we need to
know filial piety is the ship
that carries Buddha to Buddhahood.
If you're born into this world with fortunes,
into a fortunate family, where did this
merit come from? Filial piety.
So if you go back to
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra,
what is the special part about his symbol?
In the sutra,
the most unique part about him,
the excellent part about him,
is that
he started his act
of filial piety with his mother.
For example, nowadays,
we always have Mother's Day.
No matter what
country you are from,
you always have Mother's day.
Father's day is
relatively not as popular
as Mother's day, right? Why?
It is because of mother's virtue towards
us, the kindness they gave to us is
immeasurable, always immeasurable.
First thing is
the kindness of giving birth
to us, carrying us into this world,
so if you read the sutra of
How Hard It is to Repay the Kindness
of the Parents《父母恩重難報經》,
Buddha has a description: No matter
how you repay their kindness, you still
cannot reach full repayment to them
and that means:
a parent, a mother especially,
how respected they should be,
like how we should be respectful to
them because of their kindness,
(it will never be enough).
In the Ksitigarbha Sutra,
there are two famous stories,
tales that represent this value.
The first one is Brahman Woman,
the second one is Bright Eyes,
the woman with bright eyes.
These are all about his past life,
where he saved his Mom, her Mom,
back then he was a lady,
her Mom, both of these ladies,
their Moms committed negative karma
and were born in the Three Lower Realms
and when they knew, when this past life
of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva knew that
his mother was suffering,
she immediately used a lot of energy
trying to get them back to the
Three Higher Realms.
It was very touching and very sincere.
Like Brahman Woman,
in order to save her Mom
to be reborn
into the better realms,
she was willing to sacrifice her life.
Other than that,
she also helped the Triple Gem,
built the Buddha tower and helped the poor.
All of these merits were dedicated to
her Mom so that her Mom could be
reborn into a better realm.
All she could think about was to repay
the kindness of her Mom and knowing
that her Mom fell into the lower realms,
was feeling urgent,
like very, very desperate
to help her.
Same goes for the Bright Eyes.
To find people like that right now,
in our society, is rare, it's very rare.
Therefore,
we need to rely on ourselves.
It's very rare to find people like this.
In the end,
the lesson we need to bring home
is that we need to rely on ourselves.
Break all the evil deeds
and do all the good deeds,
so that at the very least,
even if you do not
manage to go to the Pure Land,
you're not falling into the three lower realms.
Who wants to go there,
who wants to be an animal,
a ghost or a hell being?
Let's not talk about the Three Lower Realms,
even now, here, who wants to go and who
wants to take suffering upon themselves?
So in order to repay the
kindness of our mother, not only
do we need to refrain from wrongdoing,
we also need to
prevent any wrong thoughts
from arising in our mind,
that your mind has to be
right, righteous, clear, only then
are you able to repay their kindness.
With this
filial piety in our mind,
we have restraint in our conduct,
we do not dare do something
that hurts their heart and
causes them to be sad.
So what Buddha is trying to teach us in this
is the power of filial piety, the power
of love towards your parents.
It stops you from doing something extreme,
something bad. It helps you
to have restraint.
If we go beyond that,
how powerful is
the virtue of filial piety?
Buddha has mentioned once in the sutra:
the drawing falls behind one's
diligent pursuit of Bodhi.
That means
if you want to get full enlightenment,
it's filial piety.
This is how powerful it is.
It usually takes a long time
for normal people to be Buddha,
but if you look at Amitabha Buddha,
it only took him five kalpas,
instead of infinite or three Big Kalpas
that means it shortened the time,
because Amitabha always
thinks about all beings,
he wants to build a Pure Land so that
everyone can suffer less and quickly go
to the Pure Land and this filial piety,
this heart of love and respect towards
all beings drives him to speed up
his enlightenment.
Also as you perfect this virtue
towards your parents,
towards every being,
so does it drive your progression
towards the perfection of Bodhi
which is Buddhahood.
For example,
why do normal people nowadays
all work so hard to make more money?
Why?
It is because
they were driven by incentives,
monetary incentives or other forms
of incentives, without incentives
they would not work so hard
to want money
in the form of prestige,
especially money.
Like, if
I want to do business,
my goal is to earn money.
Same for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,
but the target of their incentive
is filial piety,
because the urge to relieve the sufferings
of all beings is driven to speed up
their enlightenment
so that
they can quickly help them,
that's the intention.
Buddha told us that the driving force
behind our diligent pursuit of Bodhi
(enlightenment) is filial piety,
it nurtures us
towards achieving the
excellence of our Bodhi path.
In other words, as we are perfecting
the virtue of filial piety
towards our parents,
so does our progression
towards the perfection
of Bodhi.
Amitabha Buddha
is the best example.
Why does the Western Pure Land
outshine all other Buddha’s Pure
Lands in 10 directions?
All Buddhas from
10 directions are praising
this (Amitabha Buddha’s) Pure Land.
They all praise it to a level where they
say that he's the Supreme among
the enlightened,
a Supreme King among the Buddhas
to that level according to
the Infinite Life Sutra
because of these achievements,
because of his heart.
At our level, if we want to live a better life
in the next life, next existence, we need
to have huge merits, huge fortunes.
How do we have a huge fortune?
In Chinese, there are five
categories of fortunes:
1)Longevity長夀
2)wealth and high position 富貴,
3)health and a peaceful mind康寧,
4)virtues好德 and
5)a Good Death善終 and all
these fortunes come from filial piety,
from a heart of love and respect
towards your parents.
This is true! Filial piety,
the love and respect towards elders,
is the root of fortune.
A historical example,
in the Han Dynasty, 1500 years ago,
it was a very long era,
about 300 to 400 years of the Dynasty's lifespan.
It began when a Han Emperor wanted to
fill the role of the Minister,
he began by
looking at the reputation of
this person towards their parents,
if they were being good
towards their own parents,
because if he or she could be loving
towards people who have
been kind to them, then obviously
he knows how to repay kindness.
They would be very loyal and
very honest officials in the nation.
There are very few Chinese Dynasties
prior to unification that lasted
longer than the Han Dynasty
because the Han Dynasty
built its empire on the
basis of filial piety.
In Buddhism, this is why we have
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva
as the first step,
it's the first
example we should learn
when practicing Buddhism.
It's trying to tell us Buddhism
starts from filial piety
and respect.
Buddhism starts from appreciating
the kindness shown by others,
by paying them in return.
Buddhism
starts from respecting
the teacher and their teachings.
Buddhism starts from broadening the heart
and mind and because of this we are able
to liberate ourselves from suffering.
From here we start to appreciate
the compassion of Buddha.
He taught us the root,
the first important thing
we should grasp.
The spirit of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva,
is like what we mentioned just now,
is like a big tree.
Without roots,
how can there be stems,
branches, leaves, flowers and fruits?
That's the root of our cultivation,
basics of our cultivation,
perfection of our practice.
So the education system represented
by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is
perfect, well-rounded.
No matter the content of the teaching
or the methods of teaching,
the way they teach
and the content they teach,
it's perfect, it's well-rounded.
We should know that.
Of the Four Great Bodhisattvas,
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva
is the first in line,
because this is what Buddhism is founded
upon and the name is already telling
us this, Earth Treasure.
Buddhism
is built on discipleship,
we all know that.
Teacher and student relationships are
educational relationships,
rather than religious relationships,
because
we must be aware:
if it becomes a religion,
it is superstitious
by nature because it is
all based on blind worshiping.
If you look at the worldly religions,
if they're not using education,
it becomes superstitious.
When we
become superstitious in a sense,
we are blind.
Well, look at our current situation,
we are already lost in our
wandering thoughts,
because we have so many wandering thoughts.
We got confused with so many things
happening around us.
Are we
going to add
another layer of confusion to us,
another layer of superstition to
confuse ourselves further?
There's no need for that.
The purpose of Shakyamuni Buddha's Dharma
is to help us to break through delusions
and be awakened to the truth,
because only when you're awake,
knowing what is the Cause and Effect,
what to prevent, when to do it,
can you have real happiness,
preventing yourself from
falling into sufferings.
Having a peaceful mind
and a fulfilling life
is the discipleship of Buddhism.
Now that we know the foundation of
Buddhist education is built
on discipleship,
but discipleship,
Buddha also told us is built
on filial piety,
without love and respect towards your
parents, how can you be respectful
towards your teacher?
Without this as a call, we can’t grow.
For a person who disrespects
the ones we should love the most,
which is our parents, how can they be
respectful towards the teacher?
Impossible!
Basic logic,
when you look at students
in the school nowadays,
the way
their disrespectful attitude
shows towards teachers,
then
you understand that
there is something lacking at home.
It's not easy for a teacher
because parents' home education
has issues,
teachers can only do so much.
If they can't even respect their teacher,
how can they learn anything?
That means
how can they be awakened
to the truth?
Say, if you are disrespectful towards
Amitabha, your teacher, how can
you gain enlightenment?
How can you be liberated,
without this awakening,
how can you be liberated from suffering
because
you're not listening
to anything he says?
Like Shakyamuni Buddha,
everything he taught us, every single
word is not there just for the sake of it,
everything is coming out from the True Nature.
Buddhism relies on your respect in order
to dig up the treasure of our True Nature,
without that,
how can we be awakened?
If there is a lack of discipleship,
it represents a lack of respect in general
towards your own teacher
and that means you lack love
and respect towards your
own parents.
That means if you're not listening to anything
because of a lack of respect,
you just let it be,
you don't even take in what they said,
how can we achieve anything,
how can we learn anything?
That's why Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva,
everyone knows him already at this stage,
represents filial piety.
The sutra about him,
Ksitigarbha Sutra, is like
Buddhism's doctrine of filial piety.
A person who is filial to his parents and
respectful to his teacher is given
the title Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
It's a title given if you are being respectful
and loving towards your parents
and teacher,
if you treat your parents with a loving heart,
if you treat your teachers with reverence
and respect towards the teaching,
then you are Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
This is the way you enter,
this is how you begin your journey.
Not just the parents of this life,
the parents of past lives,
many many past lives,
that means all beginnings in general.
You need to expand this loving heart
from the people close to you
towards everyone else, expand.
With this foundation in your character,
if you are like that, truly like that,
then when you want to learn further and
get better and more sophisticated
in your learning,
you progress very quickly.
That's why all the
Bodhisattvas or the Buddhas,
when they try to turn the Dharma Wheel,
are all born
into the family of Emperors
and Kings.
You can imagine how big their merit
and fortune is because they all
cultivate this filial piety.
In our case,
if you want to have a good
family or be born into a happy family
or you want to
have your children to be
loving and respect towards you,
then you
need to start doing it
towards your own parents.
If we can't even be respectful and loving
towards our elders, how can you expect,
when you become an elder,
to be respected by your youngest?
So as young people,
we must understand that.
No matter how smart we are,
how capable we are,
never fall into the trap of arrogance,
always remember your roots,
only then can you grow
very far.
As a Buddhist,
we need to learn how to love people,
how to respect people.
Especially in modern times, we need to learn,
because it is unfamiliar and
even unknown to people,
how to be loving people.
Next week, we'll talk about that in detail:
How do we be filial?
So that's it for today.
So to recap,
this was a basic introduction on
where to start in learning Buddhism,
explaining why we need to be respectful
towards our elders, our parents and
not just parents of this life,
parents of many,
many lives in the past.
If your understanding
is clear about these teachings,
this principle,
you will understand that all beings
are your parents at one point in time
and how can you harm your own parents,
knowing that
they are your parents.
Even if they harm you,
you will not have the heart to retaliate,
because you are one.
It's like the left hand harming the right hand.
You can't. If you have this foundation
of filial piety in your character,
your cultivation, say, chanting Amituofo,
the speed of your progress is very quick.
Every day you improve.
So this is the basic introduction we learned
today: Where do we start in learning
Buddhism? Filial piety.
Where do we start from filial piety?
How do we perform filial piety or love
and respect towards our parents?
We'll talk about it next week.
So today we stop here.
I hope that everyone could honestly
chant Amituofo and be healthy
so that you all can
be peaceful and prosperous.
Okay? Also, let's go to the Pure Land.
Amituofo!
Let's dedicate our merits:
May
the merits and virtues
accrued from this work,
repay to the karma creditors of all times
and also be born in the Pure Land,
repay to the beings from all directions
so that
they may be liberated
from the sufferings.
Repay the Four Kindnesses above,
relieve the sufferings of those
in the three paths below.
May those
who see or hear of this,
aspired to invoke the Bodhi heart
cultivate the teachings
for the rest of this life,
Then be born together
in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Amituofo
So we'll continue today's session with “where do we begin learning Buddhism?”
The teachings that were given by Shakyamuni Buddha can be categorized into 84,000 methods of cultivation and among so many methods that were given by him, how do we choose among so many choices? Every method given by Buddha is correct but which one is the one suitable for us?
This is a very important point for us, something we need to be concerned about when we're learning.
So when we are learning Buddhism, we go to a temple and burn incense to offer to the Buddha or offer flowers to the Triple Gem. Some people might think that's it for Buddhism, that's all that Buddhism is about. However, if you actually want to learn Buddhism, where do we start, where do we begin?
We must be clear and we must be aware of that, otherwise we will waste our time when we learn, otherwise we will spend years reaping nothing in return, learning nothing in return.
In the past, our patriarchs have said that everyone who chants Amituofo, practices this method, will be able to reach the Pure Land, no one will be left behind. But why, in reality, are so many people who chant Amituofo not getting there? It is because we have habits that stop us from getting there. What is the cause? What are the habits that stop us from getting to the Pure Land? That's what we need to discuss today. If we're not clear what obstacle lies in front of us, how do we get blessings, actual blessings, actual help from Buddha and Bodhisattvas?
If we do not understand how to begin learning Buddhism, unfortunately, it becomes a religion instead.
So that's what we will discuss today.
Where do we begin in learning Buddhism, where do we enter? Which door do we enter in this vast ocean?
In Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, we usually use Four Great Bodhisattvas as a method to educate everyone. In China, there are four very famous Buddhist mountains (that correspond to these Four Great Bodhisattvas). In Jiu Hua九華山(mountain) there's Ksitigarbha (DiZang) Bodhisattva, in Pu Tuo普陀山(mountain) there’s Guan Yin and in E Mei峨眉山(mountain) there’s Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Pu Xian) and in WuTai五臺山(mountain) there’s Manjushri Bodhisattva. These are the Four Great Bodhisattvas and mountains that are commonly used in the education of Buddhism. So what do they represent? We must be clear what they represent, what do these Four Great Bodhisattvas symbolize?
They show when we learn Buddhism, we need to have an order of learning, we need to have a sequence, we need to follow certain steps, a sequence when we learn Buddhism, step one, step two, step three, step four, one by one, step by step.
Why? It is because it depends on our capability, like you're born with a certain capability. Some people who are, what we call genius, can immediately reach the highest level in Buddhism, but for us on the common level, we need to follow the steps, one by one, so that we can learn it, we can actually learn them. So of these Four Great Bodhisattvas, among all four of them, with whom do we start? It's a very important question.
What do they represent? The spirit, as in what value do they represent? Each of them represents one of the four core values when we're learning Buddhism that we need to master, we need to grasp. As a Buddhist we need to master and hold on to these values. What are these Four Values that we should learn from Bodhisattvas? We will talk about that in detail later. For example, what does Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva or in Chinese Dizang which translates to Earth Treasure represent? What level of attainment? Other than order of learning, the second one is the level of attainment in Buddhism. What is the level of attainment? That means the level of wisdom, the scale, the depth, the horizon of their wisdom, which level do they represent?
Number three is to improve your capability, your skills, your wisdom to see through the delusions in this world, we call it the Saha World or the world that is messy, full of false views and false thoughts. How do you see through it, knowing right from wrong? How do you solve it? It all relies on the level of your attainment. If our level of attainment did not increase, how do we have wisdom?
Higher wisdom means our level of attainment is better and we can get better at handling the world. These Four Great Bodhisattvas represent that so we need to learn about that.
All of these Four Great Bodhisattvas represent different aspects, different spirits, stages of learning Buddhism. What does Manjushri Bodhisattva or the Universal Worthy Bodhisattva represent?
They all represent different values but their goal, their principle, all encompass one another, we call it well-roundedness.
For example, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, whatever value he represents, whatever virtues he has, Guan Yin Bodhisattva has it, Manjushri Bodhisattva has it, Universal Worthy Bodhisattva has it. Four is one, one is four. Each one of them has a very specialized virtue but each of the others have the same virtues, they are just trying to stand out to help us.
Among the four of them, we do need to know the order of learning, where do we start and then where do we end. There's a reason why there are four of them. You cannot jump the queue. you can't be like: “I like Guan Yin Bodhisattva, I will just learn straight from her, nothing's wrong with that. Manjushri Bodhisattva represents wisdom, I will learn straight from him, nothing's wrong with that.”
However, why we have this order of learning is we might waste our energy if we skip steps. Every Bodhisattva is actually well-rounded and perfect. That means they have everything, they encompass everything but what they represent is the order of learning for us. Each of them is trying to tell us, trying to teach us to reach the same perfection, the same well-roundedness, to get to the highest level of attainment, if we follow, we will get there.
So today among the values that each of the Four Great Bodhisattvas represent, you cannot skip one, if you lack one out of the four, your attainment is not perfect, that means you cannot reach Buddhahood. You cannot leave one behind because people of the world, what they lack the most are the values these Four Great Bodhisattvas represent.
Us Buddhists want to be wise, so we chant Amituofo but without Manjushri Bodhisattva, we cannot, also if you want to be as wise as Manjushri Bodhisattva, without the foundation of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, you can't get to that level or if you want to be as compassionate as Guanyin Bodhisattva or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, but without wisdom, your compassion will not be perfect, you will not use it in the right way. Like when you walk, it requires two legs to walk properly. If you lack one leg, you can't walk properly.
So, now we know these Four Great Bodhisattvas are equally important in our life. They all represent something we need to have a happy life, they all have high wisdom.
Since we now understand that they are well-rounded, they are perfect, where do we begin?
The order of learning is: The first one is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva or Dizang, direct translation: Earth Treasure. We begin with him. When we learn Buddhism, we start from there.
If you ask Buddha: Where do I begin, Buddha, in learning your Dharma? He will point out: Learn the spirit of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Why? It is because this Bodhisattva has infinite wisdom, merits and skills. Of all the Buddhas from all directions, from the past, present and future, why do we begin with him among so many choices to learn from? Why do we begin with him among everyone?
Like for us, Pure Land practitioners, if we depart from Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s spirit, value, you cannot go to the Pure Land. Without this foundation, there's no Pure Land for us. Buddha told us: we begin with Him, from what value he represents, they are not just there for us to offer incense and flowers.
What do they represent? Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva represents our root, our heart, the ground that we stand on, no matter what method you practice, without Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s value in you, the basic (value) that he represents, like the character, if your character doesn't have that value as a basis, you could not reach the highest attainment which is Buddhahood: Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi, (Unsurpassed) Equally Perfect Enlightenment.
It is because without his foundation, you cannot achieve anything in Buddhism. No matter how well you chant Amituofo, how frequently you chant Amituofo or any other methods of Buddhism, without his value imbued in your character, your action, speech, thought, you can't have a guarantee (to be reborn in) the Pure Land. That's why he represents the root. Without a root, how can a tree have fruits? Without roots, where are the stems? Where are the branches? Where are the fruits? Where are the flowers?
How do we live in this world without our parents, how do we survive? They gave us this (life), like our parents provide us with everything: food, shelter, love, family love and all that. Without these, how do we grow properly? So they are like the roots. The case is when we are very, very successful in our business with a lot of money, with a lot of results, however (if you) compare your achievements in this society to your own parents towards you, it is not comparable.
1643 Their spirit and kindness is immeasurable. So this is why we say Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva represents the root.
If you want to learn Buddhism, you need to begin with filial piety, how to (show our) love and respect towards our parents. That's the first step and that's what he's trying to tell us through his example.
Being human, we also need to learn how to be respectful towards our teachers. These are very important factors and we will explain them in detail.
The 49 years of Buddha’s teachings all follow this core value. 49 years of his speeches were all about this foundation. You can say it is an annotation of the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra《地藏菩薩本願經》.
1806 Look at the era nowadays, if we look at our friends, people around us, observe carefully, friends, relatives, people in this era, especially right now, in this time, including ourselves, why is our affliction so heavy? Why do we find trouble in chanting Amituofo? Have we grown our wisdom?
So number one is we are severely afflicted. After chanting for so many years, we still feel restless in the face of all of the turbulent times in society and our family as well.
The cause of all these problems is that we have forgotten our roots. We've forgotten our foundation to our correct well-being and character, this is another way to say: you forgot your roots. It's a way to remind you. This is very easy to do, people easily forget where they came from.
1940 I'd like to share a story from 10 years ago. There was a young person who came to my temple to find me. He wanted to debate me. Do I have to respond to him? No. I don't have to, because it's a waste of time. He told me, after telling me so many things, one of them was: Buddhism, it's all about filial piety, because you guys talk a lot about that. What era is this?! What time is this?! This is an era of technology! Why do we need filial piety? If you don't follow the flow of the era, change according to the era, we’ll be rejected. What he meant was that Buddhism is outdated, the values are outdated, so this is a very severe view. It’s quite common. What he meant was that in the future you won't even need to have parents, you can use In vitro fertilization.
2108 But I didn't respond. When I heard that, I had a thought upon hearing his view. I knew why society had gotten messy, chaotic and turbulent. It is because when there is interaction between parents and children, there's a lot of young people who are not patient with their parents and they easily get angry and talk back in a very rude way. Why do we have such a turbulent society? It is because of people like this.
2151 A lot of these kinds of people forget where they come from, that why they are here today is because of people who gave everything they have for them, they forgot them.
Everyone forgets about their roots, the society is a mess, in a mess. So that's why I advise all the elder people, those who are parents, to take care of yourself, you can't rely on your children anymore because if you have too much hope (you might be disappointed). There's a common Chinese saying that you have children to help you to overcome the pain of aging. So right now, in this era, it's hard, you can't rely on them because of these false views. The first thing is society, everything is busier, everything is on a more tight schedule. They don't have time to take care of their own (parents), not even their own children, let alone their own parents.
2253 This is one of the pathetic parts about people nowadays. This is why there is such a booming industry in retirement, because of this reality. So young people, I urge all of you, all of us, no matter how successful, how high, what peak you have achieved in your field, never forget the love your parents gave to you, never forget those who give everything they have to you, their love to you, their care to you. That's what matters, truly, because if we can't even get this point correct, there's no point to come to Buddhism and learn from Buddha. You have no roots, no land, you can’t build anything. This is why we need to start from Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. This is why.
2352 If you want to be successful in cultivating Buddhism, achieving Buddhahood, begin from here. Number one is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva represents filial piety, love and respect towards our elders. The first thing that defines humanity is repaying kindness.
The second thing is being aware, appreciating the kindness we actually receive from people around us, starting from our parents and from everyone else. It's not given from God, it's not from a heavenly being up above, it's by people, your society that gives you everything you have. So repay the kindness for those who actually give it to you.
2456 So number one, among the Four Kindnesses above when we do the Dedication of Merits, the first one is parents, the second is the teacher or the Triple Gem, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The third is the country, the fourth is the society, all the sentient beings.
Number three is promoting virtues, the merits of cultivating virtues. If you look at modern people, when you look at society nowadays, you can see a common problem: people lacking virtues, lacking decency. We use a simple word, decency.
2536 If you look around them, no matter what they do, there's a lot of those driven purely by self-interest, purely driven by desires because of that they're willing to let go of any semblance of dignity as a human and do something that is basically disgusting.
2607 So I have another story. I have a movie given to me by my friend, my classmate. This movie is about observations about current society and the story is about a good doctor.
Why is he addressed as a good doctor? It is because in this hospital, a lot of other doctors are lacking virtues, lacking ethics.
I think it's a documentary. It's showing behind the scenes, what actually happens in the hospital and those doctors not following their ethics.
Knowing this reality, not just in one field, in many fields, we understand that this is truly the end, like the world that Buddha described for a Dharma Ending Age. So back to the point, we need to understand the worldly goodness of all goodness, all kinds (of goodness), all things that are good in the world, do not depart from the foundation of filial piety, from being respectful and loving towards your parents and elders.
2735 Without this foundation, whatever good you did towards anyone else, it's not sincere. A lot of people like to give, for example, to offer to a temple, I like this temple, I give a lot of money to help them to build it up. If this Dharma Center likes to build something, they will help. However, if you look at their character, their character in private, behind the scenes, to those who give everything to them, to those who are kind to this person, he's not being very kind towards his own loved ones. So this person might look like a good person, donating all these things, but behind the scenes, when treating their own parents, they are lacking a basic virtue of respect.
Shakyamuni Buddha gave Dharma talks for 49 years. All of them, every detail, every sutra, actually all center around the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra, the sutra about filial piety. They do not depart from this, you can call it an annotation of this sutra. So we cannot just read through this sutra and treat it like anything (insignificant). We need to appreciate the importance of this in our cultivation.
Talking about filial piety, what does it look like in Chinese? In Chinese characters filial piety or Xiao(孝) in pronunciation, is a symbol. So every Chinese character is a symbol. What does this symbol comprise of? The symbol of elder on the top and symbol of young on the bottom, elder and young when you combine them, means elder generation and younger generation are one. It's what we call filial piety. The elder is above, on top. We're not talking about Laozi in Taoism. We're talking about a combination of these two words. It's called filial piety and this is where this word Xiao孝 in Chinese came from. If we want to go further with the meaning: Elder generations and younger generations, together they are one, one entity. They cannot be separated. You cannot be separated from your own parents, you cannot separate yourself from your own ancestors. This is the original meaning of filial piety, Xiao孝.
That's why the patriarchs of Buddhism told us that the elder generations have their own elder generations, that means the past has no beginning, there's no origin, there's endless beginnings; the younger generations have their own younger generations, there is no end for the next generation, it will be infinite. So how can it be separated? The beginning and end are one.
So no matter what the situation is, the relationship between you and your elders, your parents, the relationship is there, you cannot be separated no matter good or bad.
For example, when I met someone in the past, he told me he hated his father. But I told him: “No matter how much you hate him, the fact is: he is your father.”
For example, on the other hand, your children, no matter how much you dislike your children or because maybe they are not being good, they are still your children. This relationship cannot be separated.
3211 In Buddhism, filial piety has another word for it, if you perfect filial piety, it becomes Dharmakaya or the Body of the Truth. What does it mean for us? You want to be born in the Pure Land, you want to be liberated from sufferings, you want to sever the cause of life, reincarnation. Anything that happens in the world born from DharmaKaya, arises from this Body of the Truth. What does this Dharmakaya break down to? It’s called filial piety.
For example, Buddhas of the past, present and future, of the ten directions, have attained Buddhahood that means perfection of virtues. Some haven't reached it yet, future Buddhas, but each of them, no matter where they are, when they want to begin this journey towards Buddhahood, they begin with filial piety.
Why? It is because Buddhas always want to help all beings, just like being filial towards all beings, treating everyone like their parents, this is the heart of Buddha. If you are not filial, could you even get anywhere in Buddhism?
Say Amitabha Buddha, he is now already a Buddha, even when he's a Buddha, he is still continuing the practice of filial piety. To whom? To all of us, to all beings. He keeps giving and helping and taking care of all beings, that's filial piety, love and respect.
So we need to know filial piety is the ship that carries Buddha to Buddhahood.
If you're born into this world with fortunes, into a fortunate family, where did this merit come from? Filial piety.
So if you go back to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra, what is the special part about his symbol? In the sutra, the most unique part about him, the excellent part about him, is that he started his act of filial piety with his mother.
For example, nowadays, we always have Mother's Day. No matter what country you are from, you always have Mother's day. Father's day is relatively not as popular as Mother's day, right? Why? It is because of mother's virtue towards us, the kindness they gave to us is immeasurable, always immeasurable. First thing is the kindness of giving birth to us, carrying us into this world, so if you read the sutra of How Hard It is to Repay the Kindness of the Parents, Buddha has a description: No matter how you repay their kindness, you still cannot reach full repayment to them and that means: a parent, a mother especially, how respected they should be, like how we should be respectful to them because of their kindness, (it will never be enough).
In the Ksitigarbha Sutra, there are two famous stories, tales that represent this value. The first one is Brahman Woman, the second one is Bright Eyes, the woman with bright eyes. These are all about his past life, where he saved his Mom, her Mom, back then he was a lady, her Mom, both of these ladies, their Moms committed negative karma and were born in the Three Lower Realms and when they knew, when this past life of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva knew that his mother was suffering, she immediately used a lot of energy trying to get them back to the Three higher Realms.
It was very touching and very sincere. Like Brahman Woman, in order to save her Mom to be reborn into the better realms, she was willing to sacrifice her life.
Other than that, she also helped the Triple Gem, built the Buddha tower and helped the poor.
All of these merits were dedicated to her Mom so that her Mom could be reborn into a better realm.
All she could think about was to repay the kindness of her Mom and knowing that her Mom fell into the lower realms, was feeling urgent, like very very desperate to help her.
Same goes for the Bright Eyes. To find people like that right now, in our society, is rare, it's very rare. Therefore, we need to rely on ourselves. It's very rare to find people like this.
In the end, the lesson we need to bring home is that we need to rely on ourselves. Break all the evil deeds and do all the good deeds, so that at the very least, even if you do not manage to go to the Pure Land, you're not falling into the three lower realms. Who wants to go there, who wants to be an animal, a ghost or a hell being?
Let's not talk about the three lower realms, even now, here, who wants to go and who wants to take suffering upon themselves?
So in order to repay the kindness of our mother, not only do we need to refrain from wrongdoing, we also need to prevent any wrong thoughts from arising in our mind, that your mind has to be right, righteous, clear, only then are you able to repay their kindness.
With this filial piety in our mind, we have restraint in our conduct, we do not dare do something that hurts their heart and causes them to be sad.
So what Buddha is trying to teach us in this is the power of filial piety, the power of love towards your parents. It stops you from doing something extreme, something bad. It helps you to have restraint.
If we go beyond that, how powerful is the virtue of filial piety? Buddha has mentioned once in the sutra: the drawing falls behind one's diligent pursuit of Bodhi. That means if you want to get full enlightenment, it's filial piety. This is how powerful it is. It usually takes a long time for normal people to be Buddha, but if you look at Amitabha Buddha, it only took him five kalpas, instead of infinite or three Big Kalpas that means it shortened the time, because Amitabha always thinks about all beings, he wants to build a Pure Land so that everyone can suffer less and quickly go to the Pure Land and this filial piety, this heart of love and respect towards all beings drives him to speed up his enlightenment.
Also as you perfect this virtue towards your parents, towards every being, so does it drive your progression towards the perfection of Bodhi which is Buddhahood. For example, why do normal people nowadays all work so hard to make more money? Why? It is because they were driven by incentives, monetary incentives or other forms of incentives, without incentives they would not work so hard to want money in the form of prestige, especially money. Like, if I want to do business, my goal is to earn money. Same for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but the target of their incentive is filial piety, because the urge to relieve the sufferings of all beings is driven to speed up their enlightenment so that they can quickly help them, that's the intention.
Buddha told us that the driving force behind our diligent pursuit of Bodhi (enlightenment) is filial piety, it nurtures us towards achieving the excellence of our Bodhi path. In other words, as we are perfecting the virtue of filial piety towards our parents, so does our progression towards the perfection of Bodhi.
Amitabha Buddha is the best example. Why does the Western Pure Land outshine all other Buddha’s Pure Lands in 10 directions? All Buddhas from 10 directions are praising this (Amitabha Buddha’s) Pure Land. They all praise it to a level where they say that he's the supreme among the enlightened, a Supreme King among the Buddhas to that level according to the Infinite Life Sutra because of these achievements, because of his heart.
At our level, if we want to live a better life in the next life, next existence, we need to have huge merits, huge fortunes. How do we have a huge fortune? In Chinese, there are five categories of fortunes五福: 1)Longevity長夀 2)wealth and high position富貴, 3)health and a peaceful mind康寧, 4)virtues好德 and 5)a Good Death善終 and all these fortunes come from filial piety, from a heart of love and respect towards your parents. This is true! Filial piety, the love and respect towards elders, is the root of fortune.
A historical example, in the Han Dynasty, 1500 years ago, it was a very long era, about 300 to 400 years of the Dynasty's lifespan. It began when a Han Emperor wanted to fill the role of the Minister, he began by looking at the reputation of this person towards their parents, if they were being good towards their own parents, because if he or she could be loving towards people who have been kind to them. then obviously he knows how to repay kindness. They would be very loyal and very honest officials in the nation. There are very few Chinese dynasties prior to unification that lasted longer than the Han Dynasty because the Han Dynasty built its empire on the basis of filial piety.
In Buddhism, this is why we have Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva as the first step, it's the first example we should learn when practicing Buddhism. It's trying to tell us Buddhism starts from filial piety and respect. Buddhism starts from appreciating the kindness shown by others, by paying them in return. Buddhism starts from respecting the teacher and their teachings. Buddhism starts from broadening the heart and mind and because of this we are able to liberate ourselves from suffering. From here we start to appreciate the compassion of Buddha. He taught us the root, the first important thing we should grasp.
The spirit of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, is like what we mentioned just now, is like a big tree. Without roots, how can there be stems, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit? That's the root of our cultivation, basics of our cultivation, perfection of our practice.
So the education system represented by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is perfect, well-rounded. No matter the content of the teaching or the methods of teaching, the way they teach and the content they teach, it's perfect, it's well-rounded. We should know that.
Of the Four Great Bodhisattvas, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is the first in line, because this is what Buddhism is founded upon and the name is already telling us this, Earth Treasure.
Buddhism is built on discipleship, we all know that. Teacher and student relationships are educational relationships, rather than religious relationships, because we must be aware: if it becomes a religion, it is superstitious by nature because it is all based on blind worshiping. If you look at the worldly religions, if they're not using education, it becomes superstitious.
When we become superstitious in a sense, we are blind. Well, look at our current situation, we are already lost in our wandering thoughts, because we have so many wandering thoughts. We got confused with so many things happening around us. Are we going to add another layer of confusion to us, another layer of superstition to confuse ourselves further? There's no need for that.
The purpose of Shakyamuni Buddha's Dharma is to help us to break through delusions and be awakened to the truth, because only when you're awake, knowing what is the Cause and Effect, what to prevent, when to do it, can you have real happiness, preventing yourself from falling into sufferings. Having a peaceful mind and a fulfilling life is the discipleship of Buddhism.
Now that we know the foundation of Buddhist education is built on discipleship, but discipleship, Buddha also told us is built on filial piety, without love and respect towards your parents, how can you be respectful towards your teacher?
Without this as a call, we can’t grow. For a person who disrespects the ones we should love the most, which is our parents, how can they be respectful towards the teacher? Impossible!
Basic logic, when you look at students in the school nowadays, the way their disrespectful attitude shows towards teachers, then you understand that there is something lacking at home.
It's not easy for a teacher because parents' home education has issues, teachers can only do so much. If they can't even respect their teacher, how can they learn anything? That means how can they be awakened to the truth?
Say, if you are disrespectful towards Amitabha, your teacher, how can you gain enlightenment?
How can you be liberated, without this awakening, how can you be liberated from suffering because you're not listening to anything he says?
Like Shakyamuni Buddha, everything he taught us, every single word is not there just for the sake of it, everything is coming out from the True Nature. Buddhism relies on your respect in order to dig up the treasure of our True Nature, without that, how can we be awakened?
If there is a lack of discipleship, it represents a lack of respect in general towards your own teacher and that means you lack love and respect towards your own parents.
That means if you're not listening to anything because of a lack of respect, you just let it be, you don't even take in what they said, how can we achieve anything, how can we learn anything? That's why Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, everyone knows him already at this stage, represents filial piety. The sutra about him, Ksitigarbha Sutra, is like Buddhism's doctrine of filial piety.
A person who is filial to his parents and respectful to his teacher is given the title Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
It's a title given if you are being respectful and loving towards your parents and teacher, if you treat your parents with a loving heart, if you treat your teachers with reverence and respect towards the teaching, then you are Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. This is the way you enter, this is how you begin your journey.
Not just the parents of this life, the parents of past lives, many many past lives, that means all beginnings in general. You need to expand this loving heart from the people close to you towards everyone else, expand. With this foundation in your character, if you are like that, truly like that, then when you want to learn further and get better and more sophisticated in your learning, you progress very quickly.
That's why all the Bodhisattvas or the Buddhas, when they try to turn the Dharma Wheel, are all born into the family of Emperors and Kings. You can imagine how big their merit and fortune is because they all cultivate this filial piety. In our case, if you want to have a good family or be born into a happy family or you want to have your children to be loving and respect towards you, then you need to start doing it towards your own parents. If we can't even be respectful and loving towards our elders, how can you expect, when you become an elder, to be respected by your youngest?
So as young people, we must understand that. No matter how smart we are, how capable we are, never fall into the trap of arrogance, always remember your roots, only then can you grow very far. As a Buddhist, we need to learn how to love people, how to respect people. Especially in modern times, we need to learn, because it is unfamiliar and even unknown to people, how to be loving people.
Next week, we'll talk about that in detail: How do we be filial? So that's it for today.
So to recap, this was a basic introduction on where to start in learning Buddhism, explaining why we need to be respectful towards our elders, our parents and not just parents of this life, parents of many, many lives in the past.
If your understanding is clear about these teachings, this principle, you will understand that all beings are your parents at one point in time and how can you harm your own parents, knowing that they are your parents.
Even if they harm you, you will not have the heart to retaliate, because you are one. It's like the left hand harming the right hand. You can't. If you have this foundation of filial piety in your character, your cultivation, say, chanting Amituofo, the speed of your progress is very quick. Every day you improve. So this is the basic introduction we learned today: Where do we start in learning Buddhism? Filial piety. Where do we start from filial piety? How do we perform filial piety or love and respect towards our parents? We'll talk about it next week.
So today we stop here. I hope that everyone could honestly chant Amituofo and be healthy so that you all can be peaceful and prosperous. Okay? Also, let's go to the Pure Land. Amituofo!
Let's dedicate our merits:
May the merits and virtues accrued from this work,
repay to the karma creditors of all times and also be born in the Pure Land, repay to the beings from all directions so that they may be liberated from the sufferings.
Repay the Four Kindnesses above,
relieve the sufferings of those
in the three paths below.
May those who see or hear of this,
aspired to invoke the Bodhi heart
cultivate the teachings
for the rest of this life,
Then be born together
in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Amituofo
