【Reviews total 1-12】 on Ven Master Xue Wu 《Introduction to Buddhism - How to Live a Happy and Fulfilling Life》20211110

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva’s Ten Great Vows

普賢菩薩十大願王

1.  Respect all Buddhas (禮敬諸佛)

2.  Praise Tathagata（稱讚如來）

3.  Make Abundant Offerings（廣修供養）

4.  Repent Misdeeds and Evil Karmas(actions)（懺悔業障）

5.  Rejoice in Others Merits and Virtues（隨喜功德）

6.  Request the Buddha to Teach（請轉法輪）

7.  Request the Buddha to Remain in the World（請佛住世）

8.  Follow the Buddha Teachings at all times（常隨佛學）

9.  Accomodate and Benefit All Living Beings（恆順眾生）

10. Transfer All Merits and Virtues Universally（普皆迴向）

Understanding Buddhism (12)

Today, I would like to get into the topic of how we fulfill our filial duty to our parents. In the previous sessions we learned how to be a decent human being because that is the starting point for our Buddhist cultivation. Shakyamuni Buddha gave Dharma talks for 49 years. Where do we start among these vast teachings? Buddha told us to start with Filial Piety. There's no beating around the bush about this. This is the foundation. When he said that it's actually very wise because it brings out all the afflictions, all the troubles, bad habits we have to the surface. Every one of us has bad habits and these bad habits have created a lot of obstacles in our life. If you want to list them out one by one, they are too numerous. So using Filial Piety (孝 in Chinese), he has summarized everything that is wrong with our current state as ordinary beings because if you want to overcome your own habits, everything, every single habit, that happens in your life, if you want to uproot them, resolve them, you have to start with Filial Piety. This is by far the best part of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings. So we will go in depth about Filial Piety and why Buddha started from there, told us to start from there, if you want to go more deeply into Buddhism. So why do we begin with Filial Piety? How do we do that? How do we do our best being filial? If you look at modern times, this concept of being loving and respectful towards your parents and elders is quite strange, foreign. Some people don’t even know because some people, a lot of people have this idea: As long as I have money, I earn a lot of money, I can support my parents with a lot of good food and good shelter. Let them live a luxurious, lavish life. I think that's Filial Piety. But, is it actually Filial Piety if we just do that? You can't say it's not, it's treating them well. You're treating your own parents well, but to be actually filial, you cannot measure it, it's not quantifiable. You can't use money, how much money you give your parents to measure how filial you are because what about those who are poor? Does it mean that only the rich people can be filial and the poor people cannot? No. So we need to have wisdom in regard to these teachings. So how do we do that? How do we actually fulfill our Filial responsibility towards our parents? What kind of attitude should we have? This is a very important question for youth, young people, because this idea is quite distant so we need to remind ourselves. Some people might say cook good food for parents, buy good clothes or gifts for them and that's what we call perfecting Filial Piety, but it's not there yet, because anyone can do that, there's no need to practice or cultivate at all. If so, anyone can, if they earn enough money to, just buy whatever gifts, whatever clothes, whatever food for their parents and consider that Filial Piety. If they want a TV, buy them a TV. Is that called fulfilling your filial responsibility? No. A lot of people do in this era, if you talk to them, I want to share with you the importance of being filial towards your elders or being loving and respectful to elders. A lot of people say: Are you out of your mind or are you outdated? Are you one of those people who are like statues made from 1,000 years ago and that would never change according to the era? Isn't Buddhism about following the era, adapting to the era? Why do we stick to such outdated concepts? What era are we in now?! This is a view that's shared by a lot of people nowadays. Some even say Buddhism itself is outdated, cannot follow, adapt to the time, to that era. Some even told me: Master, do you know what era this is?! It's the era of looking forward to wealth! Without money, without wealth, even though wealth cannot do everything but without wealth it's a lot of pain. Some people when they hear this, it might make sense, without money, how can you eat? Without money, how can you pay for your living expenses, for buying clothes or building a Dharma Center? Without funds, how do you make offerings? Right? It makes sense but we need to see it from a point of wisdom, we need to look at it wisely, instead of being dragged by it, being enslaved by the idea because it will push us towards extremes in hedonism and all that. Everything is about money. It has become extreme now. So back to Filial Piety, if you look at the West, in regards to this idea of Xiao孝, education is very common, very developed. It's everywhere. Everyone got educated but unfortunately, these kinds of human values, moral values about love and respect towards parents, about how you live with other people peacefully, harmoniously, are neglected, moral values are neglected. They don’t have a concept of Filial Piety. Most of them only retain the value of taking care of only your children. So only take care of your children, children are the only ones who need to be taken care of. Not just the West anymore, it's already commonplace throughout the world. The adults are only focusing on the youngest, neglecting their elders. So as a child, as a son or daughter of the parents, they focus their gaze towards the next generation and very few will look back at their older generations. So being an old man or old woman in this era is very lonely, the family tie is very loose. In the Dharma Place I host, there's a lot of elderly people. I asked them: Why do you like to come here? Usually they come by themself. A lot of these elderly practitioners, brothers and sisters, told me: There is no one with me at home, I feel lonely. When I come to the temple I have people to talk with. The temple is good because I have a social environment, at home everyone's busy with their own family and with their work. I can't find a chance to talk with them often. So this is a reality facing a lot of families nowadays and thinking about ourselves we'll be old one day. One type of suffering is loneliness. Loneliness itself is suffering. Why do I teach this from this perspective? I would like to give you an example so that you have a concept of why Filial Piety is important. Then, I will explain how you do it, how you fulfill Filial Piety towards your elders. For example, a new couple focuses on setting funds away for their youngest rather than the elders. Say, a married couple who have children or when they start having their own family, plan very well on giving their children funds, saving funds for their children's education and living expenses. They take great care to make sure their children are well taken care of. Some even do that before they have children because they need to think about funding for their children's education, universities, projects and all that. Like my sister, I asked her: Why do you work so hard making a living and earning your money? My sister would reply without thinking: Without money how can I support my children? So that's the framework. The emphasis is heavily on children and that's the part where parents are great because they all think about their own children at their own expense. It's correct to have this planning, but how many couples think about their own parents, say planning a retirement fund or giving them funds so that they are settled? Some are from a wealthy family and their parents are very rich. They don't even need to think about helping save for emergencies, in order to help their parents. So they don't think like that. There are good people that are not like this, but very few. As you can see from the news, most of the cases are like this. My parents are wealthy now, I will wait out my parents so that I can split the inheritance when they pass away. So they are looking at the money rather than their own parents. So their eyes are focused, their whole mental energy is focused on how to get the money rather than taking care of their parents. Some are even worse, they think about how my siblings got more than I have, that's not fair! So you plan for your own children but your children are looking after your inheritance rather than taking care of you. So we need to know about this. It sounds like we're sharing the inheritance from our parents, but most of the time, the reality is they are fighting in court or outside the court over the inheritance. Being a parent, sometimes it's a hard thing because without money you can’t support them and with too much money you have this problem, everyone is fighting for inheritance. So having a child who is not filial is a lot of pain waiting for you. I myself have witnessed this, a few years ago, this father had passed away not long ago, his children already argued for the money, the inheritance of their parents, of their father. With this kind of attitude, how can you let your parents pass in peace? How can their parents pass in peace? Some don't even wait until their parents pass away, they already do that while their parents are still alive. Some are even worse, as worse as they fought so much over the inheritance, they neglected the funds needed to help their parents in the hospital. When their parents got ill due to old age, they even neglected that part. So if we look at all these cases that actually happen in society, read the news, in each society, not just one part, you see that happening everywhere. So I have a friend, when he was rich, everyone liked to be his friend. When his company went bankrupt, everyone disappeared. People nowadays. That sort of human love among each other, the brotherhood, sisterhood is lost. Everything is about money, everything's about taking advantage over others. When they eat, they think about money, when they sleep, they think about money, when they wake up, they think about money. Everything is about money, enslaved by money, losing their humanity in the process and becoming a goblin basically. Sometimes among different religions. Some, their parents are Buddhists and the children are believing in a different faith. So they, the children, are even threatening their own parents, to believe, to follow their faith. Threaten them, say: When you pass away, I will not take care of your passing, take care of everything that happens during your passing including the grave and all that. The basic human respect isn’t there, it should be there, human decency, that’s what we call it. Is it because of the era? Is it very modern to be like that? Where did we go wrong with human society? So let's take a daily scenario rather than just inheritance. When they look at good food, good clothes, good gifts, daily provisions, how many people are thinking about their parents first, before they think about their children? Mostly they are like: Oh, my son likes this, my daughter likes this. How many people think about their parents? Hey, I think my Mom likes this, my Dad likes this, there are very few. Back then, I used to bring a lot of young people to visit another country and I observed them. Like other young couples, they usually think about their babies, their newborns or their own young children. Very few of them think about their own parents, but you can see the way it goes, when their children grow up, the same thing happens. This is the consequence of only thinking downwards without thinking about what comes before you. Downwards means children, upwards means parents. So I like to continue to say: Is it wrong to think about your own children? Being a parent, is it wrong for me to think about my children, plan for my children's well-being? No, it's not. There's nothing wrong with that. But respectful practitioners, we must know that there's a saying in Chinese goes like this: 【A tree has its roots, water has its sources】 Remember your roots, where your roots are. Who gave you a condition to have a life? Who gave you a condition so that you can live happily, be able to stand in society and be able to make a living? The things you wear, the things you eat, the things you achieved, who gave it to you? Who helped you to kickstart that? Your own parents, our own parents. So that's why when I look at some families who have their own parents nagging them, I feel very happy for them. It's also a joy in the world to be nagged by your own parents. I think this way, because in my case my Mom passed away when I was studying and my father passed away not long ago. So I became an orphan in a way. I am an orphan now. Appreciate the presence of your family, especially when you're hungry, someone's cooking for you. When you're sick, someone's taking care of you, finding the best medicine for you. When I'm sick, who takes care of me? No one, it's true. Sometimes, I think, I live by myself, when I pass away, no one will know. That's why I cannot be sick (said jokingly). Everyday, the Dharma Protectors, they call me and say: Master, please make sure your phone is on all the time, 24/7, because if anything happens to you, when we try to reach you, we will know if something's wrong. If you turn off your phone, you will not be able to communicate with us. It’s a blessing to have your parents with you, still with you. This is why in Chinese ancient wisdom, the sages kept saying you have to think about your roots to remind ourselves to be a decent human, to be a proper human. Once you become a decent human, only then are you able to actually achieve happiness. If you can't even be a good human, decent human, let's not talk about going to the Pure Land, the Three Upper Realms, the Three Good Realms, the human and heaven realms are not achievable at all. So being a decent human is the basic goal because our parents gave birth to us, nurtured us and educated us and because of them we can grow up as healthy adults, able to make a living in society, achieve great things in society. There's a saying as well in Chinese about our parents' kindness towards us. It's boundless, as boundless as the sky, as the universe. Buddha said in the sutra of Profound Kindness of Parents and Difficulties in Repaying Them, as it describes the parents’ kindness as like the heavens and the sky, there's no end to it. No matter how much you do, no matter what you do, it's very hard to repay them in full. In my case I can't even repay them anymore when I have the ability. This is to remind ourselves of the importance of Filial Piety. Also we need to learn to remember their kindness because if we don't remember their kindness towards us, how can we repay them? Also in return, we do our duties to take care of them and make them happy. So that's where the saying of Remember Your Roots came from. However we need to see in modern times, those who can be filial towards their parents, it's not like no one is good, no one is filial, no one loves their own parents or elders. There are people who love and respect their parents, but it's already considered a rare case. This human demographic is rare. Therefore, in Buddhism, when you practice, it will point out among the Four Great Bodhisattvas, you all have to start from Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. The sutra of the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva talks about Filial Piety, about roots and foundation of a human, of a Buddhist, is Filial Piety and repaying kindness because if you do that, you are a good example to the world. Everyone will feel the importance of being good, remembering the goodness, kindness and repaying the kindness of their dear parents. If a person can't even remember and repay the kindness of others, how can this person stand their ground in society? How can this person survive in this society and be able to develop in this society? How can you have a harmonious and prosperous life? This is why this sutra the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva《地藏菩薩本願經》 becomes a foundation of 49 years of Shakyamuni Buddha’s Dharma. It's the groundwork for Buddhism to grow and humanity to grow. It's a necessity for human beings to learn it. That's why although education is very good and highly developed in the western nations, this concept of repaying kindness, Filial Piety is non-existent or uncommon, not just in the West, right now, it's global, universal. If this world keeps going on like that, forgetting their roots, forgetting being kind, then being a human in this kind of world is a torture. It's a lot of suffering. It will get more and more torturous, more and more insufferable. We are not trying to be pessimistic or depressing but this is the trend we're going towards. For example, a lot of people who are raised or educated in the West or grown up in their society are very curious about the ritual of Ancestor Remembrance or what we call Ancestor Worship. They feel it’s very weird how some followed their own parents, Asian parents back in the East, do this worshiping to their ancestors. They feel it’s very weird because ancestors passed away centuries, millennia ago, like thousands of years ago, why do we remember these people who we never met? Why do we remember them at all? It is because of that kind of view, they treat it as superstitious. Say, in Chinese, there's a very important day, it's called Ching Ming清明 it's a day where we visit the graves of our ancestors, passed away family members. Many people join the family to sweep the graves. This is a common thing we do, we sweep the graves. They feel that it is weird and do not understand why we still visit those who have passed away. All of these traditions now stop at the elderly people because they still have the idea that I still need to remember my grandparents, my ancestors, but nowadays young people, you see, have stopped this practice. Some, even in the temple, one of the lay Buddhists said to me: Master, when I pass away, please spread my ashes after my cremation into the sea. I told him: You cannot say that because we never know who will go first. The world is impermanent, so you cannot say that. So we don’t know why a lot of people treat this kind of ancestor worship as superstitious, impractical. It’s normal. Why? No one's saying anything about why. That's why no one's talking about why you do that. Why should we have to remember our ancestors, worship our ancestors, like the act of worshiping ancestors, what does it mean? No one talks about that, they just follow. That's it. In Indonesia, myself, I promote Ancestor Remembrance so that they are remembering, know how to feel gratitude, experience the gratitude, the feeling of gratitude towards their parents and ancestors. That's the point. However, when Covid happened, it cut short our activities. I hope that in the future, Sydney could do that as well, celebrate Ancestor Remembrance. If it's not promoted that means no one is explaining why we do that and what's the core value behind this ancestor worshiping, the act of ancestor worshiping. Then humanity is, that's it, it's gone. Humanity's gone. That's why I felt like I was encouraging the Sydney temple to celebrate the spirit of remembrance towards our ancestors. So that they cultivate a sense of gratefulness, experience the gratefulness towards their own parents and their own ancestors. But in all honesty, people are not aware of it. That's why. Buddha told us that the Chinese word: Filial Piety孝 was very well made. This is one of the examples why Chinese characters could be regarded as the best, complete, is the best among many words made in the world. Why is it best? It is because it has been passed down for five thousand years without stopping. It is because Chinese characters are made of symbols. Every symbol has meanings, a lot of meanings. It can go everywhere, carrying wisdom inside. We must understand these Chinese characters were made according to the Six Principles, according to the Six Writings. Filial Piety is based on one of the Six Writings, one of them is called ideographs. What are ideographs? Ideographs, when you look at this word, immediately you experience the meaning it carries. So the word is supposed to show you the meaning straight away. Like, patience忍, in Chinese, the word is a combination of symbols, on top is a knife, at the bottom is a heart. That means even if the sword is on top of your heart, you must persevere and this is the feeling of patience. You need to let go of these agitations, things that agitate you. So in this society, it's even more important to be patient. So back to the word Filial Piety, we already mentioned the combination of two other Chinese characters into this one Filial Piety, it combines elder and the young. When two become one, then it is Filial Piety. A lot of people, they say Generation Gap. Oh I don't understand my parents, okay boomer and all that. Why does that happen? We could understand it as an absence of Filial Piety, absence of heart to heart, absence of oneness between the elders and the youngest because we must understand one reality, the younger generations will have their own younger generations, the elders have their own elder generations. They are one thing. The elder was once the younger. The younger will become the elder. So they are one. In Buddhism what do we learn about Filial Piety? In Mahayana Buddhism, Filial Piety, the whole of the universe is one with ourselves, like a body, not a family, a body and this is very profound, straight to the core of it. It is because when you expand Filial Piety, love and respect, when you expand it, you can go all the way to the end of the universe which is endless. Other than Buddhism, Buddhist sutras, there's no teachings of philosophies that can expand this to this level, that can’t talk about Filial Piety to this level, to this scale so without Buddhism we couldn't fully grasp the profoundness of Filial Piety beyond just your parents because it's about one with everyone else, everything. How can the left hand work against the right hand? What I mean is that they don't oppose each other. So understanding this, if you humiliate others, you are humiliating yourself. If you're hurting or harming others, it equals harming yourself. If you understand why we need to be compassionate and filial we will understand why Buddha told us to be filial, knowing this relationship we will understand why Buddha tells us to start from Filial Piety. In Buddhism, there is a sutra: The Brahma Net Sutra. … It's about precepts or conduct of a Bodhisattva. You have to expand your love and respect towards your parents i.e Filial Piety towards your parents, beyond them, to all beings and this is the standard set by Shakyamuni in this Brahma Net Sutra towards all the Bodhisattvas. To qualify as a Bodhisattva, you need to have this kind of heart, this kind of filial heart towards not just your parents but towards everyone, everyone's my parents, everyone's my father, everyone's my mother. This is because every single being, not just sentient beings only, but all beings, are future Buddhas and our parents in the past lives. This is the foundation of Buddhist Filial Piety, oneness with the whole universe, love all because everyone is one with you. This is a very deep, very, very profound understanding. So in daily life, how do we start with this? How do we achieve this perfection of Filial Piety? So the Buddha has already given us the foundation, the basis, the theoretical foundation of Filial Piety. If you can start from your parents, love and respect your parents and expand this love and respect towards all beings, then you are a Bodhisattva. This is why Amitabha Buddha is great because he treats everyone like he treats his own dear parents. His way to show his love to all beings is Pure Land. As a human, on our level, how do we do that? My Mom has passed away. Some people might say: I'm very old. I'm 80 already. How do I even be filial at this age, right? What should I do? There are three ways in total, how we perform Filial Piety in our daily life. First towards the people, towards any encounter, towards the material, our environment, we must be grateful. Like how we feel from our parents, their love, from them, we use that kind of love towards all beings. It is because in this life, it's very hard for us to fully repay our parents’ love, but the least we can do in our repayment of this kindness is to expand this love towards everything you interact with, the people, the encounters, the events and the actual material world. In Buddhism we categorize this into four targets of repayment of kindness. First is parents, then is the Triple Gem which are teachers. Starting from parents, by loving and respecting them, only then can we expand to our teachers. When you love your parents you will learn how to respect the teachers. Then towards the country that gives you a safe environment and then towards all beings because think about our position in this world, are we alone? Can you survive by only being with yourself, by being alone? No. This is why the Triple Gem is precious. Dharma teachings are precious because they teach you about this. They tell you to open up your mind towards all beings, be grateful towards them. Then we move on to the country. Without country stability, how can we prosper, how can we survive and continue to live happily? And finally, all beings who give all the services, all the material resources, without them, how can we have an environment like happiness right now? When someone scolds you, you also need to be grateful. When people criticize you, we need to practice gratefulness towards them. When we are defamed, slandered or humiliated, we all need to learn how to even be grateful towards these people. It is because no matter what happens to us in the future, no matter what happens, no matter who does what towards you or no matter who you are in future, doctors, teachers, leaders of your own field or public servants or being parents, no matter what you are doing, we must always remember that we cannot lose our moral compass and virtues, that means we cannot lose our ground. We cannot live without this bottom line because if you always cross the bottom line, which is against your conscience, the consequences are not only impacting your own family, you're impacting your own next generations and also your own past generations. Say, if you always do things against your conscience, doing something that's harmful towards others, how will society look at you, how will society look at your family and your own descendants? This is such a big transgression. The point is no matter how wealthy you will be in future or how powerful you will be in future, that's not the main point, it's just the fruit.The root is you must not lose your compass, you must not lose your virtues as a human. How can we be a virtuous person? Start from Buddhism, start from listening to the Dharma, listen often to them. Some examples are like Teacher Chai talks about starting with Di Zi Gui, Ven. Chin Kung’s talks on 太上感應篇, Cause and Effect and The Sutra of Ten Virtuous Deeds, all of these are good teachings. The last one, on the path to being a Bodhisattva, we need to guide our parents to liberate them from the sufferings of life and death, which is to help them to give rise to the vow to be reborn in the Pure Land. Only when they are born in the Pure Land will they no longer have to suffer life and death. When your parents go to the Pure Land is when your Filial Piety is completed. Same for us, when we chant Amituofo, even though I'm 90 years old, but if I chant Amituofo earnestly, when I manage to be born in the Pure Land, when my time's up, I will not fall into the Three Lower Realms. This is the best thing we can do for our parents because not only are you helping yourself when you go to the Pure Land, you're also able to know where your parents are and help them to increase their current standards. In Taiwan, there was a lady, a lay Buddhist, who accompanied her mother when chanting Amituofo, accompanied her Mom to pray to Amitabha Buddha, describing how good the Pure Land is and how there's no death, no aging, no illness. How good that place is! That's the only place where we can be together forever! This is how she encouraged her Mom to chant Amituofo, to be strong and to vow to be reborn there. That's how we fulfill our Filial Piety towards our parents. If we go to the Pure Land, if you go to the Pure land, you are considered as fully repaying your parents. If you're able to reach the Pure Land that means you are able to repay your parents in full. So how do we start this journey? We start from being grateful, being ready to repay their kindness at any time. Then move on to increasing our virtues, our moral conduct and then in the end we go to the Pure Land. So in summary, what's the best way to practice Filial Piety? Chanting Amituofo earnestly. This is the simple explanation on how we fulfill our duty of Filial Piety. If I want to go in detail, go in depth, you cannot finish the concept of Filial Piety in one day. What we need to know is how we practice it. We start with our attitude, with our conduct. Parents do not need you to worship them every day, like you worship Buddha. They don't need you to do that. They just want your attitude, a loving attitude, good attitude, harmonious attitude. That can establish a very beautiful, peaceful relationship between parents and children because if we have a very bad temper, very rebellious temper, that kind of attitude towards them, it causes them to worry. So to be filial, to be loving and respectful towards them, we need to use the best condition, best attitude we have towards them, offer them our best attitude, our most virtuous conduct. Filial Piety can be considered as hard but at the same time, easy to be achieved, because towards other people, we are virtuous. We can easily be patient and kind, but towards our family, our parents, we can't be as gentle and as loving as we are towards others. If we can't do that towards our parents, be kind to our parents, then whatever kindness we have towards others is false. It's not real. If our parents have a very bad temper or bad habits, we need to be patient, we need to use a very good attitude to melt their shell. So one day they will be touched by your change, by your kindness, by your gentleness. So this is how we, as children, as a son or daughter treat our parents. Only ask this question: Is my attitude good towards my parents? First, are my words kind towards my parents? This is something we need to know and keep asking ourselves every day. So that's it for today. Next Wednesday, I would like to continue Understanding Buddhism, other parts of it, because we still need about six or seven more courses to complete these teachings. If there's any misunderstanding from the way I expressed these teachings, please give me feedback, because the point is we know a lot of teachings, we know a lot of what is right, but when we implement it we need to practice how to implement it. How we practice being grateful, being aware of others' kindness and repaying the kindness towards them. That's the basics of being a decent human being. So I wish you all a healthy life, chant Amituofo earnestly and that everything accords to your wishes. Thank you! Amituofo! Let us dedicate our merits: May the merits and virtues accrued from this work, repay the karmic creditors of many lives, repay the sentient beings of all time May all the calamities turn from big to small, small to nothing. Repay the Four Kindnesses Above, relieve the suffering of those in the Three Paths Below May those who see or 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. Namo Amituofo!

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Understanding Buddhism (11)

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 **** 《Understanding Buddhism》（11） 2022 02 23 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

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Understanding Buddhism (10)

Fellow practitioners, fellow Dharma Protectors: Good evening to you all! Amituofo! Today, I would like to borrow this opportunity, time from you to explain, talk about how we understand Buddhism, actually the fact that we can gather here and learn together means that all of us have an affinity with Buddha. So, to learn about Understanding Buddhism, the first thing is we need to know our teacher, our teacher is Shakyamuni Buddha. What does Shakyamuni Buddha mean, what is his goal? What is his area of work or responsibility? What is his career or his achievements? Only when we are clear about this, only then do we have confidence, solid confidence in him. Like chanting Amitabha Buddha's name, we need to understand who Amitabha Buddha is, understanding why the Pure Land was built, only when we understand about him and his work, will we grow confidence to seek rebirth in his Pure Land. Therefore, I would like to borrow this opportunity to explain, simply, about Buddhism, because we have a very short time, half an hour to 45 minutes, because it's quite late. The first time I arrived in Taiwan to learn Buddhism, the first book I read about Buddhism was Understanding Buddhism. It helped me a lot. In what way? It helped me to build my confidence, to give me a sense of purpose, a goal of what I should do, work towards and how I should proceed on this path, how to guide myself going into the future where I would serve all sentient beings and what kind of attitude I should have when I'm doing this. So the content of this book, Understanding Buddhism, talks about Shakyamuni Buddha as well. I also read about Shakyamuni Buddha's chronicle, his biography. Every time I read his biography, my tears drop naturally. There were many times when I read it, tears came down from my face, because I felt the greatness from his biography. It is because as a successor to the throne, he could have enjoyed the wealth, the powers from his father and his family. He would succeed his father to not just rule over his kingdom but also there were a lot of Brahmin who prophesied he would have a huge influence over the whole India and the world. But as you can see, he did not choose the path to succeed his father but rather live under a tree every day, stay under the tree and get by by asking for alms from the common folks so that he could use all of his energy to focus on benefiting sentient beings, to contribute to all beings, to the society, to this country, to this world. That's where his greatness came from. That's why he's great in this sense, he didn't ask for anything in return. Therefore, from the Sutra of Original Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, DiZang Bodhisattva, he has made a vow that when you mentioned about Shakyamuni Buddha, the Buddha's of 10 directions always praised Buddha about one thing, what is it? He could be a Buddha in this era, in this world, the Saha World, it's not easy for a person to be a Buddha in this world, because a lot of Bodhisattvas know, it's common knowledge among them, because they've observed in this world, that it is very, very hard for ordinary people to be educated back to good and it's very easy for them to fall into committing bad deeds. But Buddha himself did not give up on us. He used all of his energy and wisdom to help us to return back to goodness so that we don't fall back into that suffering cycle. That is why he's so great because this is hard. This kind of teacher, this kind of person with such compassion is hard to find. Especially when we talk about the young people of current times, we should read the chronicles of Shakyamuni Buddha and his biography. If you read it in depth and you really understand who this person was and what he did, how much he gave up and for what, then you will naturally have tears flowing out, because we will understand how hard his work was, how thankless his work was. If we reflect back on ourselves, sometimes when we meet some obstacles in our life, when we try and do something good, or try to do something useful, we might meet some obstacles, issues and then we feel very sad, not being understood, but if you look at Buddha's time, he had to face a lot of humiliation as well. There was a person who swore at him actually, swore with all the words, dirty words. But he just sat there, not responding, not just not responding, he's smiling, when this proceeding, this swearing was going on, he didn't even have a sense of anger on his face. A lot of people when they get humiliated like that to their face in front of everyone, usually they would just go to the kitchen and get a knife in retaliation, trying to tell them to stop. So that is another aspect of Buddha, why he was the Buddha, why he was so great. So those are the examples we should know and I'm very interested in this as well, myself, when I started learning. I went back to Indonesia, this university to give talks, Dharma talks, and I always bring up this book Understanding Buddhism, because it introduces who Shakyamuni Buddha was, to understand who this person was, so that we can feel his work, how his work benefits us. So, if we want to learn from Shakyamuni Buddha today, what do we need to know: what is the biggest thing we should learn from him, what is the biggest trait we should inherit from Buddha's example? Tolerance, to be able to take in all things good and bad, just like an ocean, like an ocean he can take in all kinds of streams, water, be it rain, the mountain streams or sewage everything, he could take in everything, his heart is big. This is what Shakyamuni Buddha let us experience as a person of that scale in his heart. When you have this broad heart, big heart, able to take in anything, tolerate everything, more than tolerate, beyond tolerate, accept everything, then your life will be more positive, more active and you will not feel depressed because of a few issues or problems. It's impossible to have a 100% smooth path in your life, not even Buddha did, but how you treat these issues is important. You must remember, my work today, whatever situation you face today, if you have the right attitude, if you have an attitude of taking it all in with a big heart and understanding, you can convert this issue into your motivation, into energy so that you reflect and can fix where it goes wrong in yourself and others and then it becomes a positive outcome for you. So, that's what we should learn from Shakyamuni Buddha, to be able to take in everything with a big heart, to tolerate and to take in everything, all kinds of people. When I started, when I just became a novice monk, my biggest biggest problem that I had to face was, my biggest issue was: arrogance and temper. My temper was big, I had a very bad temper. If a person is arrogant and has a bad temper, who wants to be your friend? That's why I had so few friends, I didn't have many friends. True, it's true. Also, because of my bad temper, I also lost a good friend of mine. So after that, I reflected, if I don't change this bad temper and my arrogance, it will become the biggest obstacle in my life. Also, after all this transformation that I have, after learning from Buddha, all of my friends and family started to learn Buddhism, and a lot of them learned because of seeing my transformation from someone who was very angry into someone who's very calm, able to take in situations well. Even though I still have a temper, I have improved a lot since then. I have transformed from getting angry and reactive towards situations that are not to my liking into someone who felt more pity or more sympathetic rather than being angry, like this person has a lot of issues he has to face, that's why he's like that. So once you understand who your teacher is, the example that he has set, only then do you have confidence in learning from him. So let's continue into the main topic of today. When we're learning Buddhism, the first thing we need to know is that Shakyamuni Buddha has given a lot of methods of cultivation, but we need to learn how to choose the path that is suitable to us. All these have to be in accordance to our levels. So there are a few ways to choose the path that is suitable to you. Number one is it has to meet your current situation, your living environment, your capabilities, number one, if you're able to learn from it. If you are not able to learn and keep up with the teachings, then you will find everything's an uphill battle, and you lose a lot of motivation and have issues. So for example, the reason why we are choosing the Pure Land method is because it's simpler for us. Sometimes when we have issues, meet some problems, we put all our worries into this one Amituofo, Amitabha, seeking his help to give us strength to face these conflicts and issues and overcome them. So how? By increasing my wisdom, so it's easy, just have a central focus. But if you choose something like Zen Buddhism, we have to know that sampling is pretty good. It's not because it's bad, but the standard is very high, in order to master it you need to be able to see through all phenomena and be aware of its essence so that we do not get dragged away by the surface appearance. So you need to have a very sharp observation, so it's very hard to master it in one lifetime. Other than the capabilities, this method needs to be suitable to our current living environment. Also it has to fit into our current realities that we are living In, now, this era, sensibilities of this era. Right now we are living in a very big society, without societies, without communities, we cannot survive. Say if we want to eat today where did the food come from? Where did this food provision come from? If you want to wear clothes, where were the clothes made? The fact that you can live in this world and not just survive, you can live in peace with food, shelter and safety, it relies on everyone, societies. Without this society, we can't survive. So right now, since we are living in this setting, we need to choose a method that allows us to continue to live, that is suitable to our current realities. Otherwise, if we pick something that is not suitable to our current living environment, then it's just a waste of time. Because we can't get the results, like picking a major in University. If we choose something wrong, is not suitable to us, hence, it's wrong for us, then it becomes an obstacle rather than a path to success for us. Alright, if we choose something that is really suitable to us, then we will be achieving success relatively easy and quick and our life will get better and better. So if we expand this, a lot of parents, as well, always force their own children to learn what they want, rather than what the children want. They hardly communicate with their own children about what their aspirations are, right? Instead, they force their aspirations on them. Therefore, that's why it's hard to see a good relationship between children and parents because both sides do not communicate properly. Everyone is going their own way. There's no communication between us. For example, if a young person wants to build a family, one must first find a partner. To have a partner, you need to have love, romance and beyond that, you need to have an assessment on this person’s character. Is this person reliable? Is this person trustworthy? Only when you get more understanding towards each other, only then can you start to be able to live together and go on with this life together for a long, long time. Otherwise if one person just married on impulse for fun, or for one moment of impulse, it won't last, most of the time. There are cases where some of the lay Buddhists they talk to me: Oh my God, you know right now, I am married and I felt very hard, painful and a lot of issues. Before he married, I asked him if he wanted to be a monk. He refused. I don't really want to go to be a monk. Right now he's already having family conflict issues. Then when he married, he kind of, faced all the troubles, he talked to me and said: “I am thinking back to that choice I could have chosen, you know this path, but it's already too late.” So back to the point. Buddha talked about all these, you call it 84,000 methods, it’s really more than that. The whole thing is just to give you a choice. So that gives you more choices that you can pick something that's suitable to you, but you need to pick one. That's why today when we choose to learn from Pure Land Buddhism, that means chanting Amituofo. Why? because it's easier. First, the standard is: you don't have to sever all the afflictions. Other methods, other than the Pure Land, need to sever the afflictions in this lifetime. For our case, we only need to suppress the afflictions, problems. As long as you're able to suppress, not allowing a reaction to come up, you are progressing. First, how to suppress it by putting your focus on Amitabha Buddha and then seek rebirth in the Pure Land. Then you can sort out your afflictions. That’s why there are two stages rather than one. So that's why if you don't choose the right method, even when you choose this path that is relatively easy, we still have a lot of afflictions after learning for 10 years. Why? The more we learn, the more we chant, the more afflictions we have because we haven't mastered the method. So this one is already relatively easy, we still take a lot of energy to learn, let alone something that requires you to cut off all of your afflictions right now, in one lifetime. Therefore, we need to choose something in line with our capability and our era and our living environment. So only when we know what to choose, and why we learn this method and why we learn Buddhism, then we would no longer be superstitious towards it. We know why, because we know the methods, we know the theory which it is based on. We understand that Buddhism is meant to awaken us. After giving 49 years of sermon talks, what's the most important thing? What was Buddha talking about? Everything is about the truth of the universe and our life. The universe is vast. A lot of planets in the solar system, the milky way, why did that happen? Why is it so many? If you go down to the microscopic level, to our life, what does the universe mean? The universe means, in our sense, is our environment, our living environment. The universe includes your current living environment. Have you understood your own universe, your living environment? What kind of attitude should you have in face of your current environment? Not just the physical one, also when dealing with people, it's also part of the environment or things, events. So, the universe is the environment, life is our self, talking about ourselves, the individual, this path of birth to death. Some people from birth all the way to death when they get old and die are still not clear about their life, the purpose of life. If you look at the common majorities, how do they live their life? Eat, sleep, wake up and go to work. When you ask them: “What's your value? What's your principle in life? What's the most important principle and value you have in your life? What's your bottom line?” They're not clear about it. So we can summarize this kind of life as: You came into this world without a clue, you departed from this world without a clue. That's the fortune we have. No matter our cultivation level, the fortune part we have right now is that we understand we have a purpose. We have been given an option to have a purpose, beyond waking up, eating, earning money, coming back home, bathing, sleeping, and then repeating. Those are mechanical parts. But for us, we're fortunate in this regard. We have learned Buddhism, we have learned the meaning of Buddha, himself, what example he has set. If you look at young people nowadays, a common habit is a lot of time was wasted on something that is meaningless in the long run. Some even use their parents wealth, position and power, to commit atrocities or to commit killings, sexual misconduct or something that is pointless. For example, across the world people use very extreme drugs and the majority of them are the young people who are hooked on these drugs, intoxicants. If you have no guide, your life is gone just like that. When we understand, after learning Buddhism, that it takes a huge fortune, a lot of merits, to be able to be born into the human world, in the human body, therefore, we should not waste it. From this, we understand, when Buddha's talking about all the sutras, it's all about ourselves, it refers to yourself, the target of his speech is you and your environment. That means your life and your universe. If we do not get this point, after hearing all the sutras or reading all of the sutras, or Dharma Talks, then it becomes separated. Our life becomes separated from what was learned from the book, it's pointless then. So from something that's supposed to be related to our life, we treat it as something separate from us. It becomes like reading a novel. There's no benefit from it, it becomes a superstition. Today, if you ask one person who claims they learned Buddhism, why, how do you practice Buddhism? What is Buddhism? He might answer: today, I chanted using the beads, I chanted a sutra. When I ask: Why do you learn this? They reply: I think learning Buddhism is all about chanting and reading the sutras. Most of the people have the attitude of, looking at the statue and like I chant the sutra for him, so that he can bless me, but we must understand the sutra came from Buddha. He was the one who gave us the teaching. He doesn't need you to read it to him. The whole point is for you to use what you learn in your life. Generate it into something useful for you in your life. That's the point of chanting. So Buddha's Dharma, no matter its scale, its depth, its level, is all related to your life, not just related, intricately tied, because it teaches you how to deal with people and challenges. What kind of mentality do you have, in order to overcome hurdle after hurdle in everyday life? Especially when you're not happy, when you feel trapped, depressed, it can help you to transform this stuck situation into something actionable, movable. That's why Mr. Ou Yang Jing Wu, who was from the early nationalist era and he was a very famous Buddhist scholar said that Buddhism is a necessity for today's society because today if there's none of this teaching of wisdom, like Buddhism, let's not talk about others, myself, I couldn't change my habits without guidance. After learning, the only thing I realized is that I do have a problem called a bad temper. Or like after learning, I understood what Buddha said, words can bring calamities if not used wisely. If words are used unwisely, they can bring disasters to yourself. Also, they will take away your merits, all of your good fortune that may happen to you will be taken away because of your own backward doings and you plant a lot of seeds of enmity or make a lot of enemies and then beyond that, like virtue wise, if you are not being respectful and loving to your own parents, then your own children will do the same to you as you do to your own parents. So none of this is superstitious. Using what you get from the sutra, what you heard from the Dharma talk, you must use it every second, every moment, every minute to fix, to transform your weakness, to overcome your bad habits, to direct yourself using the teaching, to implement this teaching in your own life, that way you can guide yourself into a better life. It is like a lamp that lights up the path in front of us so that we can walk on the right one. So this is a simple introduction of how we choose correctly what to learn from Buddhism, because it has so many options, because a wrong choice will cause you to use all of your energy with no result at all, spent, wasted your energy, basically your life is your energy. Like in university, after learning all these years, have you used it ever, or be able to use what you have learned in your life. If you aren't able to use what you learn, then you have wasted your time. Many of us have had the experience after spending so many years in an educational institution. Therefore, in Buddhism, the same thing applies. We need to choose (our method) correctly. Correct to what? Correct to our capability, correct to our living environment and suitable to our current realities, our era. So once we understand what method to choose among the many methods of Buddhism, we also need to pick where we start when practicing Buddhism, right? How do we get real benefit from Buddhism? We must know about this as well. Like when I first arrived in Taiwan, a lot of people introduced many ways, this is good, this method is good. I was confused about where to start, because I was looking for somewhere to start. Everything has a start, only then could you learn when you know where to start, only then can you build up and become successful. So this is what we call a right understanding and the right answer in this context is choosing where to start our journey of cultivation in Buddhism. Otherwise, people will look at you and say: “After learning so many years, you know nothing about what you learned, or you are clueless about it.” It has become a superstition because you don't know what you're doing. There are people coming to the temple I reside in and say how they perceived Buddhism. They don't understand what Buddhism is from what they see on the outside, it feels like that, superstitious and all that. So, therefore, right now, we are talking about what all of these names and statues of Buddha mean. What does the name and statues and their post of Buddha and Bodhisattvas refer to? What are they trying to symbolize? Otherwise, every time we pray to Buddha and Bodhisattvas, we do not know why we are doing it, what we are trying to gain from it. If you ask one of the Buddhists: Why are you praying to the Buddhas? We need to be able to answer it. This is what we call, in Buddhism, we call it expedient means. Or using a modern word is using a highly sophisticated art to educate, an artful education. Buddhism since its inception, 2500 years ago, has developed into an art form, it talks about using art to educate the masses. Using technology, for now, we have movies, music and all that, to express the educational content of Buddhism. In the old days, I watched a movie about the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China, Master Hui Neng. I read his sutra, the Sixth Patriarch Sutra. I learned about him from this art format, from this media and I felt a sense of respect and reverence for it. Therefore, this is one example of how art was being used to educate, and this is necessary. It's necessary for us to know how they educate, and how we learn using these techniques. For example, Bodhisattva Guanyin, Bodhisattvas Ksitigarbha or Di Zang no matter their image, name or offering the ceremony, offering flowers, water, or fruits. What are they trying to symbolize? What are they trying to tell us by doing this? We are doing this, to remind us in our daily life, to cultivate the virtues, each of these actions or each of these Buddhas and Bodhisattvas represents. They all symbolize certain virtues we should learn. So, what kind of virtues? For example, to summarize them, it teaches us to be gentle, to be kind, to be respectful, to be frugal and also let others go first when it comes to our daily life. Beyond that, it is the precepts of No Killing, No Sexual Misconduct, No Stealing, No Lying, No Slandering Words and No Intoxicants. Those are all about the conduct of our daily lives, help us to regulate our conduct, restrain ourselves. Right now, in our daily life, we have to use these behaviors to live with other people. If everyone has no good manners and lack of conduct and lack of restraint, it becomes hard to deal with, life becomes harder for working, family, everything. So, if you look at the world, people nowadays, most people, how are they behaving? Lots of arrogance or lots of bias, lots of like tendency to control others, disrespect easily, to be disrespectful to others, not giving other people space, not just other people, strangers, but to their own family, parents, siblings and teachers. So, lacking this education, this is the consequence and one very solid example, a visual example is food in the canteen, school canteen, university canteen. Of all of the kids and young people that go to school, see how many of them waste the food given to them. If you look at society at large, how many people are actually cultivating the virtue of patience towards others instead of trying to get ahead of one another. So the basics of virtues is to let everyone be more kind towards one another and respectful towards one another. The elders who require care and love will be taken care of. So these symbols help us, remind us to bring our compassions, our pure mind, to cultivate a pure mind and also a joyful outlook of life and giving hearts in our daily life through daily practice, daily cultivations. By doing this every time, we get used to being kind, get used to being gentle and get used to being good. Otherwise, if you don't understand why they have this symbolized way of education, you will become superstitious, which is do it for the sake of doing it. We don't know why we are doing this. People will say you are superstitious and bring people down a wrong path. They know we are not productive towards society by just offering flowers, water and fruit because you want to idol worship some statues made of wood, clay or gold. Those are just materials. Why are you doing that? It is because we don't understand what it means, it looks like that, doesn't it? So, now, we are learning about understanding Buddhism. One of them is in offering incense, when we are making the offerings. What does offering incense mean? It has a meaning, everything has a meaning. It means, we are receiving the Dharma without giving any doubts. Right now, the biggest biggest problem of learning this path of enlightenment, what is the biggest obstacle for Buddhists? The biggest obstacle is not greed, hatred, ignorance, it is not about attachment to the senses, desires, power and fame. Those are not the biggest obstacle actually. The biggest obstacle is doubt, suspicion, the tendency to suspect easily. For example, you are chanting Amituofo and then the following thoughts arise: Did he actually mean it? Is it for real? Can I really be born in the Pure Land? Can I truly be blessed? If you don't even have a basic confidence in the teacher, how can you take in all of his teachings and how can you build up confidence? So learning from sages’ teachings, like Buddhism and Confucianism, they all start from confidence in the character of the teachers, confidence in the law of Cause and Effect: Do good will reap good, do bad will reap bad, that’s the iron law. If we doubt, (it) becomes like a foundation that you cannot stand on. “Oh, those are the techniques used by people to control the masses or are used by people to scare them from not doing bad. Even worse, some people think we only live once, there’s only one life and I am already here, so I can do anything I want without restraint. How can we live a happy life like that? So returning back to understanding why we offer incense? It's not to make Buddha happy or make a Bodhisattva happy. It's not to give fragrance to them. No. It's reminding ourselves, it’s all about you, it’s all for you. They are doing all this for you to understand, to learn, to be confident in his teachings, to strengthen confidence, to be kind and to be a fragrance towards people around you. When you light the incense, when you smell the aromatic smell of incense, you must remember that everything I say, everything I do, my character has to be as warm and as fragrant as incense. That means being kind, you always benefit other people, always care and be considerate for them. On the other hand, I do not want to be someone who harms or everything I say, everything I do is harmful or hurtful towards them. That's why we light the incense. So when you light the incense, the first thing you should think about is I must get my speech out of my mouth, to prevent it from becoming a sword that harms (most of the time is) people close to you. On the other hand, we need to remember when we smell this fragrance of incense, we must remind ourselves how much kindness you have received since you were born. In Buddhism, it is categorized into Four Kindnesses to repay. First are your parents which goes without saying. Second are the teachers who gave you wisdom and gave you the ability to see the truth. Third is your country. Countries that allow you to have a society that's peaceful to grow. The last one is the sentient beings who provide everything you need in your life. That's why we have the ceremony of offering incense. Second is the offering of flowers. What do flowers mean? Flowers mean cause, seeds. When you look at the flower, you think of the cause. The common conception of offering flowers is that it will make you look good or you will become beautiful later in this life or in your next life. Most ladies heard of this common saying that when you offer flowers, you offer Buddha the flowers, you will look more dignified but it's not the actual meaning, it's not the ultimate meaning of it. So, when you look at a lot of Dharma ceremonies, a lot of women are giving flowers because of this understanding, but the actual meaning of offering flowers, in depth, when we look deeper is to cultivate a good cause. Why? If you look at society, there are some people born into poverty while other people are born into wealth, into positions of high power, great power. It has everything to do with the cause they have cultivated. Some people fall into the realm of animals, into the realm of hell or hungry ghosts. It's also because of the cause they cultivated in the past. So, in simpler words, reminding yourself of Cause means preventing yourself from creating the cause of your sufferings or bad deeds which is the cause of suffering, your speech, your actions and your thoughts. So when you remind yourself through the offering of flowers, you remind yourself that your deeds, your attitude has to be the same as the Buddha that you offer the flowers to. My cause must be the same as Amitabha or any Buddhas or Bodhisattvas that you are offering to. That's the point. To remind ourselves, in our living environment, everything is also impermanent, flowers are impermanent, they wilt very quickly. Flowers should also remind us that everything in our life, everything we have, the relationships that we have and all that, will change, as time goes on. This is the impermanence of life, one of the facts. We should not get too attached to it from this understanding. From here, this small example, we can see how Buddhism overtakes all forms of education in the world. Other than flowers and incense, we offer water. The offering of water is not mentioned on this slide but it means that calm, clean water is when it's not moved, it's pure and it's equal. Equal or flat means do not be tainted by greed or hatred, that means having a pure heart, do not be discriminative, which is being equal in your heart. So from this example, we understand that all these offerings of flowers, incense, water, or names of Buddhas, statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas, they're all to remind us. Bodhisattva statues represent the virtue you cultivate. When you complete the virtues, this is what Buddha accomplished of virtue looks like through the image of Buddha. So now I have talked too long, I was supposed to talk for half an hour, till 9 o'clock, but we have extended beyond that. I hope that our Dylan should remind me of the time, it should be 45 minutes instead of one hour. So next week, next Wednesday, we'll continue with: where do we start when learning Buddhism. Which door do we enter in Buddhism so that we can achieve success? So now I would like to wish you all a good evening and good health. I also wish that you be happy every day, be positive and be optimistic no matter what happens, be able to see through, see through as much as you can, because life is impermanent. It changes everyday, so there's no need for clinging to it and having a burdened or heavy heart. No matter how unhappy the situation is, you should always, always remind yourself to keep going with your chin up! Do not be burdened by it. Looking at my life, I don't have a very smooth and happy situation. You think I'm just relaxed? No, I have a lot of problems and all of them are not always according to my wishes, most of them are not, but what I can do is change my attitude in face of them so that I can keep going, alright? Be positive! Thank you so much. I hope to meet you all again next week about learning Buddhism. Next week, we will continue to learn Understanding Buddhism together, your participation also gives other people confidence in learning this. So thank you, good night. Amituofo. Let's dedicate our merits. I'd like to take this opportunity to dedicate the merits. I will read it, you guys can follow. I hope that we can receive the blessings from the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. May the merits and virtues accrued from this work. I, use your own name, would like to dedicate the merits of listening to the Dharma to all the karmic creditors of our lives so that they can all be received by Amitabha Buddha into the Pure Land. I would also like to dedicate the merits to beings from all directions, everywhere, so that they can be liberated from suffering and achieve ultimate happiness. Repay the Four Kindnesses above, and Relieve the Sufferings of those in the Three Paths below. May those who see or hear of this, Aspired 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. Namo Amituofo.

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Understanding Buddhism (9)

Today, we will continue to learn how to understand Buddhism and how to live a happy and fulfilling life. Why do we want to learn Buddhism, to understand Buddhism? No matter what race you are or what country you come from, we must understand why. I believe every one of us has a sense of hope, especially the young people. The time for young people to practice is now. They all hope that they can be successful in their career , not just the professional side but also their personal life, to be happy, without pain, without worries. That's what we call living a happy life. A lot of people want to seek this kind of treasure, called a perfect, beautiful life. However, this treasure already exists in us and also this treasure is found in Buddhism, or pointed out by Buddhism. However, we are not aware of it. This treasure is very clearly stated in Buddhism. As long as you learn seriously, you will get it, you will get the treasure. We must understand that, we must understand this point. Everyone has this treasure, but you need to work hard to find it. In the past, back in the nationalist China era in the early 1900s, Buddhism was required not just a choice, but was a necessity for the people living in this time, the 20th century and the 21st century is no exception, because as humans, we have a lot of issues that need to be resolved and seek help to be solved. So this is the use of Buddhism to us. So we have talked about the terminology and we have talked about enlightenment. So we have learned about the first level of Right Awakening, so we're moving on to the second level called 正覺, Equally Perfect Enlightenment (Samyak Sambodhi). Why do we need to learn an enlightenment that is equally perfect to Buddha? Why do we need to achieve this level? It is because a person who has Equally Perfect Enlightenment has selflessness. If using a very shallow way to describe “me”, like, who am I, the self, the easiest way to understand it, the shallowest way to see it is selfishness and self interest. Today, why do we practice Buddhism for a long amount of time, but there is no effect or the effect is minimal, very small is because of our selfishness. Some people even have more afflictions, after learning Buddhism, the more they learn, the more burden they feel, the more unhappy they are, because deep inside their heart, there is still an “I”, this false self is still there. Deep inside, it’s still me, me, me, and because of “I”, because if there is still “I”, an illusion of self, we have all the afflictions, because I’m happy, because I'm sad, because I don't get, I need, I don't need, I love, I don't love, I love, I hate, there's a lot coming from this “I”. That's why Buddha told us that the first step to gain enlightenment, which is true freedom, is to break through this illusion of “I”. When you are sick, you go to the doctor, right? So the same thing, if your view is wrong, or if you are lost spiritually in all respects, you need a doctor like Buddha to solve it, to help you by pointing out the solution. We need to know that every one of us has a disease, not just our body, our heart as well. Not just mental, like our heart, because of the false view of self, illusion of self, because there is self, then if self cannot be satisfied, if self cannot reach anything, then it's not happy. Therefore, the afflictions begin. Only a person who is selfless can see things clearly. They will be able to discern the truth from the falsehood, good from evil, right from wrong and benefit from harm. It's a bit deep now, because we're talking about Equally Perfect Enlightenment. We need to savor it, to pay attention to it. What is real and false? We use happiness as a standard. You must see the actual reality behind our speech, thoughts and actions. What kind of thing should I avoid, to avoid falling into the cycle of suffering? What are the things I need to face? What is the right thing I need to do, no matter how hard it is, in order to face my issues? Also, we need to see things clearly, in order to see what is actually evil, what is actually good, or what is actually twisted, or what is actually pure. Is the path that I'm walking on right? This is just a metaphor. The mindset that I have, the attitude, everything we speak is that on the right path? In the Five Precepts, one of them is No Sexual Misconduct. If we can learn about Buddhism in depth, especially the Sexual Misconduct Precept, if we break it, we not only break our marriage, we cause harm to the people around us not just husband and wife, your children, your own parents and your society in general. So, this is one of the cases where we need to have a very clear mind in order to resolve it, in order to avoid it. Another case, about right and wrong. Say today, my actions, my speech, my decisions, are they right or wrong? Are they benefiting people or harming other people? People who have that level of selflessness are able to see through the pros and cons, the benefits and the harms, the rights and wrongs of everything, because in a lot of cases, we do something without knowing we're harming them or hurting them, intentionally or unintentionally. Sometimes our actions, our speech might harm people without us knowing it. Shakyamuni Buddha has told us as soon as your heart is empty, void of selfishness, that means you let go of selfishness, this false sense of self, only then will your life start to change, everything you do, the way you eat, the way you think, the way you see things, view things will be different, 180 degrees opposite from the worldly people. As long as there's this “I”, self still there, you (your speech, actions and thoughts) will cause diseases at both the physical and mental levels. It needs to be solved, otherwise your suffering will continue. Therefore, today Buddha taught us that if we have not broken through the false sense of self, we have not let go of the false sense of self, there is no way we are able to see things unbiased and clearly. Not just Buddhism, in society, whatever career you're doing, whatever position you're in, as long as you have a heavy ego or self in there, a lot of self in there, then you can't get happiness. A lot of people thought they did good deeds in society. They thought: I have done so many good things, I donated money and much more like picking up the rubbish. Am I accumulating merits? Is that actually accumulating merits? Not necessarily. There are cases where people are doing meritorious deeds, look like they are doing meritorious deeds, however, they ended up in the Three Lower Realms. Why? Why did that happen? It is because they don't know what is actually meritorious. They thought what they are doing is meritorious, but it's not. It's not harmful now, but it gets worse as it accumulates and you keep doing the false things that you bring with you into the next life, because all of the elements of selfishness are still there, mixed in there. It’s like poison inside a beautiful dew. Some people are very good at speaking very nicely, looking very nice, and acting like a very nice person, and so they look like they are doing good things. But we must understand the heart behind it, is it pure? In the past, have you seen this Chinese drama? I always watched it when I was young. Mr. Bao, you know the Bao Qingtian包青天, Judge Bao lived during the Song Dynasty was a very fair judge, who had a very dark complexion and was very righteous. Everyone trusted him, because he was very unbiased; there were a lot of case studies in the stories. The reason he was called unbiased was because he dared to challenge the authorities that were abusing their roles because in the eyes of the law everyone is equal. He was then able to oversee the power and able to capture these corrupted people into the law. So why did Mr. Bao capture all of these seemingly good people? A lot of them looked like good people, everyone praised them, but Mr. Bao exposed their actual intentions and their deeds behind the scenes, they were not actually good people. There were a lot of elements of greed and hatred inside as well as revenge, like, trying to get back at someone. So, we need wisdom to see through this, something that is hidden very deep and the point is so that we are able to do good, actual good things. In Buddhism, there is a standard for being good, you want to be a good person right? There are standards for being a good person. To be a true good person, a person deserving to be called good, what is it? How do we define it, how does Buddha define it? Buddha taught us in the Three Pure Meritorious Deeds. If you fulfill these three big categories of meritorious deeds, then you're considered qualified as being a good person. What is the first meritorious deed? The first one is to be filial to your parents, which is to love and respect your parents, only then will you be considered as an entry level good person. Then you also need to be respectful to your teachers. So love your parents and respect your teachers. Buddha is our teacher. So, when he teaches you something that you understand, you should follow it. When you move up to that level, uphold the precepts of No Killing, No Harming sentient beings, verbally or physically. Other than that, every kind deed you do, if you divert away from the standards, then it's not considered as good. It's true. Other than these standards, if you divert from them, then all the good deeds are not considered as good without this foundation, without this guide. A lot of people ask me: Master, I want to be a good person. I want to do good things. So what are the good things for me to do? I say: They are right in front of you, every time, everywhere, wherever you are, you can do good (deeds). So therefore, a lot of people say: Master, in the Buddhist Dharma Center, for example, our Dharma Center, should we do charity? Is it good? It's good, right? People say it's good. If we come here, to the temple, and I want to start by doing charity, charitable deeds, I would say not necessarily. Making offerings to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is a big thing and is a good merit. Yes, it is. But what kind of heart do you have? What kind of attitude do you bring with you when you offer it? It's very important, actually the most important, because a lot of people bring a lot of elements of self, which is my fame, my position, my faith, my wealth. They are using that kind of intention to offer. If people would bring this kind of attitude and still keep it in their heart, then we didn't really learn Buddhism, we didn't really use the Buddha's Dharma to wash it away. We are not considered as true Buddhists. Therefore, when you see things, people doing charitable (work), it's good, right? People recognize you, the country will even give you a plaque saying that this group of people are very good, and will put you on a pedestal and praise you on national television, because you have contributed a lot to society. Is it a good thing? It looks good. But it's not right. Why? Where do you go wrong? Didn't Shakyamuni Buddha (teach us) to be a good person, to do good deeds, speak good words? Yeah, we should come to the Buddha temple and protect the Dharma by helping out the temple. Also give offerings to the Venerables so that you can accumulate merits. Yes, it's good. However, we must know the core value, the core foundation, the core purpose of a Dharma Center, what's the point of a Dharma Center? What's the 本分? What's the first responsibility of a Dharma Center? It's not to seek recognition. It's not to seek fame or praise. We are not here to accumulate wealth or to want a big temple, with all the beautiful buildings and architecture so that I can control a lot of people in this place. Is that an actual Dharma Center? During Shakyamuni Buddha's time, through his whole life, he only had three clothes. And he lived under a tree, slept under a tree, he didn't have a place actually, owned by him. No, he didn't have it. He sat under trees most of the day. If he wanted to have a Dharma place, a good one, or a really luxurious one, he just needed to say: I want a Dharma place. The 16 countries would flock to him and build one in every single place he walked by. It was easy, because all of his Dharma protectors are Kings, but he did not accept it. He did not ask for it. So the point of Buddhism and the point of building a Dharma place that we see now is to educate. If the fundamental responsibility is not clear, then what's the point of coming here and learning Buddhism? There's no benefit from Buddhism, if we do not understand why we are learning Buddhism and then Buddhism's most important role, for the Dharma Center is to educate us how to be a human. This is the first step and the most fundamental step. How to be a good human, how to be a decent human being. If we can’t even be a decent human being and we say we want to be born in the Pure Land, do you have guarantees to do it? It’s the guarantee I'm talking about. Can you be happy in this life, if you can't be a decent human? Can you be healthy, can you live carefreely, if you are not a decent person? Today, to learn Buddhism, we must understand and be able to break through, see through what is actually harmful and what is actually beneficial, what is right and what is wrong. So at that point of understanding this, only then do we know that attaining enlightenment is the permanent way. It's a long term way to actually bring us to that state of happiness or to liberate ourselves from suffering, to avoid sufferings. So every type of Dharma Center must have a goal when they are established. So we're talking about a grand plan like a shared objective, but every Dharma Center must have a goal. Remember, if we are coming to a Dharma Center, we must ask the first question: Today, I come here to learn Buddhism, what's my goal? Today, I chant Amituofo. I came to this Dharma place to chant Amituofo. Have I started to understand and am I truly confident in Buddhist teachings? Because in this era, there are many denominations and offshoots or schools and branches of Buddhism that exist. Every single denomination and every single offshoot from the denomination have their own specific cultivation goal, like our family, each family has different objectives. Everyone is different, they have different ambitions and goals and so do Dharma Centers. Today if we wish to be successful in cultivating Buddhism in these lessons, we must not mix them up, mix all the denominations and offshoots up. It is because if we mix up different methods of learning Buddhism, in the end, you'll learn nothing, master of none, because we're a jack of all trades. You can’t get into any depth in anything. For example, one of the current branches is Pure Land Buddhism. If I want to chant Amituofo, I would go to a Pure Land Dharma Center. If I like to meditate, I can go to a Zen Dharma Center. If you want to learn tantric or mantra based learning, then you can go to a Tibetan Buddhism Center, or if you like to do good deeds, really like to help vulnerable people and connect with people then go to (Tzu Chi Foundation). You can’t mix them up together. Suddenly, on Monday I wanted to go to Pure Land (Dharma Center). On Tuesday, I go to a Zen Temple. On Thursday, I will go to a Tibetan (Buddhist Temple). On Friday, I go to Tzu Chi (Foundation.) It’s mixed up, it’s too much. You will get confused because everyone has a different goal, they say different things and you hear them all the time, all of them are right, so nothing is right in a way and get nowhere in your practice. Just like when we learn painting, if you want to focus on one path, you need to understand the painting itself, the techniques and all that. You need time to get into it. You can't just on Monday learn painting, on Tuesday, learn piano, on Thursday, learn dancing, mix them up. You need to set aside time for you to focus on getting in depth into what you want to learn. So be specific and focus on one goal and one path at a time. For a beginner of Buddhism, we must have a goal. We don't do that because we don't like other branches or temples, no. It's not because we're excluding people who are narrow minded. The whole point is to get something in the end, to learn something in the end, because especially this denomination is actually meant for the beginners, helping the beginners so that when they come in, they only have one path, one clear path, everyone's following that one path. You have a very clear guideline and you have peers, you have a teacher, they're all following one path, you will easily achieve success because you will move forward quickly. Especially in this era, it is not easy for a Dharma Center to be certified as authentic, because an authentic Dharma Center will be protected, literally protected by Buddhas and heavenly beings, like they will be a bodyguard of this Dharma Center. For a Dharma Center to reach this authenticity, first they must have Saddharma正法 which is the Dharma of the Buddha, who does the teaching. Secondly, the people who follow it must be genuine, actually practice it, not just talk about it but actually practice it. Thirdly, it truly benefits all beings. Every one of these merits are reliant on our own cultivation, it's all earned from our practice. If you want to be happy, want to achieve happiness, achieve that perfect goal we can’t just ask others to give it to us. For example, a husband and wife that argue everyday, why do they argue? My wife always demands a lot from me, she says: I have a lot of expectations for you, but in the end, all I get is disappointment. In the end, what's left is pain. The more you expect, the more you suffer. So for the ladies here, think about your husband, do you have expectations of your husband? Some form of expectations? Everyone has expectations of something, not just of someone, something, but we must understand that if you want to truly have merits that are worthy of protection by the heavenly beings, we have to start from ourselves, change from ourselves, be good ourselves, rely on ourselves and improve our own quality. To attain Equally Perfect Enlightenment, we must break through one grade, there are many grades of ignorance you must break through at least first grade of ignorance, only then can you earn enlightenment to one grade of Dharmakaya法身 which is the "body" of truth or true self and that kind of attainment is what Buddha has attained. So you're actually on the same platform as Buddha, a long way to go but you are there. So hence, it’s called正等正覺 Equally Perfect Enlightenment, when we attain Equally Perfect Enlightenment, one’s perception of the universe and life is very close to that of a Buddha but we are not Buddha yet. So this level is called Bodhisattva. It's called Equally Perfect Enlightenment and there's no selfishness at all. We will discuss with everyone, who can be considered an actual Buddha, like at the same level of Buddha. And when you keep going down this path of breaking ignorance, and keep bringing back your true self, your Buddha nature or the Dharmakaya, then you'll reach a certain level where everything is clear and eventually you will achieve Unsurpassed Equally Perfect Enlightenment. It's complete. It's perfect. You no longer have flaws and deficiencies. It's what we call perfection in the literal sense. In Buddhism, this person is called a Buddha. If you attain Equally Perfect Enlightenment you'll be called a Bodhisattva. So this is level two, the first level is Arhat or Right Awakening and then this one is Equally Perfect Enlightenment, Bodhisattva, and then, Buddha, which is the highest level. So all these names in Buddhism have a purpose. If you attain Right Awakening, (this is) the first step, Right Awakening, you are called an Arhat. As you can see in the first sentence of the slide, Arhat, Bodhisattva and Buddha are common titles and there are procedures in gaining these titles. They are all humans, their attainments were accomplished in the state of the human realm. They are not like spirit beings or something, they're humans. So, where do Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Arhats currently reside? It's a way to describe someone who has reached the other shore, has crossed this shore of sufferings, of pains, of complications, all of the pain, then that person is called an Arhat, Bodhisattva or Buddha, depending on how far they reach. Only when you achieve one of these three levels, can your life be considered as a successful (one). These three terms we must be familiar with, no matter what traditions or anything as long as it's Buddhism, we must be very aware of these three terms. It's not meant to be one person, it is not an individual. You say: Oh this Bodhisattva helped me! Which Bodhisattva? Which Buddha? So it's like a Professor, Master, or Bachelor in university. There are common titles, conferred to someone who earned it. For example, our historical Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, is that title only reserved to him, this Prince Siddhartha? No, there are many Shakyamuni Buddhas. If you recall the name, what’s the meaning of Shakyamuni? Compassion and purity. So there's a lot of Buddhas that are compassionate and pure, across the Dharma Realms. isn't Shakyamuni Buddha only meant to the one, the Prince Siddhartha, it is, in case, but in its most deepest sense of meaning, it's not just one person, it goes beyond one person. In the Tang Dynasty, Precept Master Dao Xuan道宣律師 was the first patriarch of the School of Precepts in China. Just for information, the School of Precepts is shared by both Theravada and Mahayana. Do you have any impressions of this Master? I think a lot of us know of him , but there are many young people who don't know. Venerable Master Dao Xuan道宣律師 was the patriarch of the School of Precepts in China. He was very famous when he cultivated on the mountain, you know who gives the offering to Him? He actually cultivated in the mountains, the heavenly beings were the ones who cooked for him, and offered it to Venerable Master Dao Xuan道宣律師. He didn't even need to ask for alms among the folks. He didn't need to worry about food, cooking, washing, heavenly beings just offered this to him. You know why Heavenly being thought he was deserving of receiving alms because he actually held precepts, he actually followed precepts, his behavior was right. A lot of people say: Shakyamuni Buddha was the one from India, right? The sage from India. No, it’s not just (referring to) him. He is everywhere, Shakyamuni Buddha is everywhere, not just on this earth, in many, many universes. Another famous example, Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Avolakiteshvara is Guan Yin. Is this one person? No. It is also a title. There are many Guan Yin Bodhisattvas. Like, is there only one professor in the world? No, right? There are many Professors, Professor Lee, Professor Alex, Professor Malcomb, there are an infinite number of them, which one are you referring to if you call their name? Even with medical doctors, there are many doctors in hospitals, which doctor do you want to refer to? If we think they are one person then we are wrong. Bodhisattva Guan Yin, what does Bodhisattva Guan Yin mean? Compassion, a person who is really compassionate is Guan Yin Bodhisattva. There are alot of Bodhisattvas or the practitioners who have attained Equally Perfect Enlightenment Bodhisattva level that are very compassionate, that have boundless compassion. That means there are a lot of Guan Yin Bodhisattvas. Then there is also another Bodhisattva Di Zang, Di Zang means earth treasure. Maitreya means happiness, there are endless Maitreya Buddhas. They're all compassionate. So which one are you referring to? For example, Guan Yin Bodhisattva, if you are actually as compassionate as Guan Yin then you are Guan Yin. If you have a strong vow of saving all the beings and being respectful and filial to your parents and all beings, then you are Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Buddhists get this mixed up, confused with the names of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Arhats. They get confused with it. If you ask people around, your parents, your friends, your peers what's a Bodhisattva or in Chinese Pusa, they can’t explain it, it’s hard. They don't understand, they have no concept of it. In our Youth Group, if you ask what a Bodhisattva is, are we clear what a Bodhisattva is? Before we learned this, we were confused. We did not learn it in depth, so we didn't know. We always thought this name was an individual, we didn't know that there is infinite meaning inside this name. Have you all read the Infinite Life Sutra? Yes, we have. It's actually very good. It’s just that we need to find an English version. And what is Amitabha Sutra? What is Amituofo? We are also not clear. What is Shakyamuni Buddha? We also don't know, we should learn. If we don't learn how can we cultivate? If we don't know who is my teacher and what is the profile of my teacher then how do I attain anything under him? If I say Amituofo and I don't know who Amituofo is, how can I have a connection with this teacher and actually learn? Same goes for Guan Yin Bodhisattva and DiZang Bodhisattva, we need to learn, there is only benefit and no harm at all. Buddha in the Infinite Life Sutra, so in the sutra, people in the Pure Land, every one of them practice Samantabhadra Bodhisattva’s vows so they all act like Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. People who are born there, they are all Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas, which means they all practice the 10 Great Vows. And the number of Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas are infinite, there is no way you can calculate them. Where is Samantabhadra Bodhisattva? We should ask, Which Samantabhadra Bodhisattva? As a Buddhist we should understand. In this way of learning Buddhism, we will not fall into superstition or get lost when we are learning it. So I would like to continue in depth next time so that we are no longer treated as a superstitious group because we know what we are learning, we have a clear objective of what we are learning. For example, I believe in Buddha, I have taken the precepts, I have taken refuge and precepts. Some will ask: what is Buddha? They cannot provide a satisfactory answer. What is refuge? You don't know. What is a Bodhisattva? I don’t know. That statue? I am not sure. There is a lot of this happening inside the temple among the Buddhist community. It's very unfortunate. I hope that as the Youth Group, we need to take it seriously, take the Buddha's teaching and understanding of Buddhism seriously, only then can we understand what we have learned and how to lead ourselves and others to learn. In Buddhism, what do we learn? If I ask you this question, what do we seek in Buddhism and all of us should be clear of what we are looking for. Let’s continue. We are looking for wisdom. I would like to repeat myself, seeking wisdom is the first thing we need to seek. How do we seek wisdom? Let’s think about it. In Zen Buddhism, it is to seek enlightenment. Pure Land Buddhism talks about one mindedness, one heartedness, not moving. In Pure Land Buddhism, if you have achieved that single mindedness of Amituofo, translated into Zen, you have gained full enlightenment. In Pure Land Buddhism chanting Amituofo everyone has qualifications to attain that level, going to the Pure Land and once you deepen your learning, then you have broken through the doubt, you no longer have doubt, and then you know why we need to go into this single mindedness of chanting Amituofo. So, going back to the big question, why are we learning Buddhism? To seek wisdom! So we will go in depth on this next week. So now I would like to just give you a brief overview of what is Right Awakening, Equal Perfect Enlightenment and Unsurpassed Equally Perfect Enlightenment. Unsurpassed Equally Perfect Enlightenment is Buddha, Bodhisattva and then Arhat,and knowing these three main titles in Buddhism. Why do we take refuge? Why are we learning Buddhism? These will be explained next week as well. We have also explained this in the previous class. Today, we also talked about denominations and schools of Buddhism, but we also talked about what the point of, the goal of Buddhism is and why we choose this Pure Land School out of all of them, so we will talk about that next week. Next week, Wednesday. I would like to invite you all to learn again. If today I have said anything not right or inappropriate, then please give me some feedback. Thank you so much. Amituofo, may you all be healthy. Amituofo. Let’s dedicate our merits. May the Merits and Virtues accrued from this work Merits accrued from the Dharma Talks dedicate to all beings in the universe and dedicate to our karma creditors so that they all may be born in the Pure Land. Repay the Four Kindnesses above, and relieve the Sufferings of those in the Three Paths below. May those who see or 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. **** Master Xue Wu’s《認識佛教》 Respectful fellow practitioners and Dharma protectors: Good evening! Amituofo. Today, we will continue to learn how to understand Buddhism and how to live a happy and fulfilling life. Why do we want to learn Buddhism, to understand Buddhism? No matter what race you are or what country you come from, we must understand why. I believe every one of us has a sense of hope, especially the young people. The time for young people to practice is now. They all hope that they can be successful in their career , not just the professional side but also their personal life, to be happy, without pain, without worries. That's what we call living a happy life. A lot of people want to seek this kind of treasure, called a perfect, beautiful life. However, this treasure already exists in us and also this treasure is found in Buddhism, or pointed out by Buddhism. However, we are not aware of it. This treasure is very clearly stated in Buddhism. As long as you learn seriously, you will get it, you will get the treasure. We must understand that, we must understand this point. Everyone has this treasure, but you need to work hard to find it. In the past, back in the nationalist China era in the early 1900s, Buddhism was required not just a choice, but was a necessity for the people living in this time, the 20th century and the 21st century is no exception, because as humans, we have a lot of issues that need to be resolved and seek help to be solved. So this is the use of Buddhism to us. So we have talked about the terminology and we have talked about enlightenment. So we have learned about the first level of Right Awakening, so we're moving on to the second level called 正覺, Equally Perfect Enlightenment (Samyak Sambodhi). Why do we need to learn an enlightenment that is equally perfect to Buddha? Why do we need to achieve this level? It is because a person who has Equally Perfect Enlightenment has selflessness. If using a very shallow way to describe “me”, like, who am I, the self, the easiest way to understand it, the shallowest way to see it is selfishness and self interest. Today, why do we practice Buddhism for a long amount of time, but there is no effect or the effect is minimal, very small is because of our selfishness. Some people even have more afflictions, after learning Buddhism, the more they learn, the more burden they feel, the more unhappy they are, because deep inside their heart, there is still an “I”, this false self is still there. Deep inside, it’s still me, me, me, and because of “I”, because if there is still “I”, an illusion of self, we have all the afflictions, because I’m happy, because I'm sad, because I don't get, I need, I don't need, I love, I don't love, I love, I hate, there's a lot coming from this “I”. That's why Buddha told us that the first step to gain enlightenment, which is true freedom, is to break through this illusion of “I”. When you are sick, you go to the doctor, right? So the same thing, if your view is wrong, or if you are lost spiritually in all respects, you need a doctor like Buddha to solve it, to help you by pointing out the solution. We need to know that every one of us has a disease, not just our body, our heart as well. Not just mental, like our heart, because of the false view of self, illusion of self, because there is self, then if self cannot be satisfied, if self cannot reach anything, then it's not happy. Therefore, the afflictions begin. Only a person who is selfless can see things clearly. They will be able to discern the truth from the falsehood, good from evil, right from wrong and benefit from harm. It's a bit deep now, because we're talking about Equally Perfect Enlightenment. We need to savor it, to pay attention to it. What is real and false? We use happiness as a standard. You must see the actual reality behind our speech, thoughts and actions. What kind of thing should I avoid, to avoid falling into the cycle of suffering? What are the things I need to face? What is the right thing I need to do, no matter how hard it is, in order to face my issues? Also, we need to see things clearly, in order to see what is actually evil, what is actually good, or what is actually twisted, or what is actually pure. Is the path that I'm walking on right? This is just a metaphor. The mindset that I have, the attitude, everything we speak is that on the right path? In the Five Precepts, one of them is No Sexual Misconduct. If we can learn about Buddhism in depth, especially the Sexual Misconduct Precept, if we break it, we not only break our marriage, we cause harm to the people around us not just husband and wife, your children, your own parents and your society in general. So, this is one of the cases where we need to have a very clear mind in order to resolve it, in order to avoid it. 705Another case, about right and wrong. Say today, my actions, my speech, my decisions, are they right or wrong? Are they benefiting people or harming other people? People who have that level of selflessness are able to see through the pros and cons, the benefits and the harms, the rights and wrongs of everything, because in a lot of cases, we do something without knowing we're harming them or hurting them, intentionally or unintentionally. Sometimes our actions, our speech might harm people without us knowing it. Shakyamuni Buddha has told us as soon as your heart is empty, void of selfishness, that means you let go of selfishness, this false sense of self, only then will your life start to change, everything you do, the way you eat, the way you think, the way you see things, view things will be different, 180 degrees opposite from the worldly people. As long as there's this “I”, self still there, you(your speech, actions and thoughts) will cause diseases at both the physical and mental levels. It needs to be solved, otherwise your suffering will continue. Therefore, today Buddha taught us that if we have not broken through the false sense of self, we have not let go of the false sense of self, there is no way we are able to see things unbiased and clearly. Not just Buddhism, in society, whatever career you're doing, whatever position you're in, as long as you have a heavy ego or self in there, a lot of self in there, then you can't get happiness. A lot of people thought they did good deeds in society. They thought: I have done so many good things, I donated money and much more like picking up the rubbish. Am I accumulating merits? Is that actually accumulating merits? Not necessarily. 929 There are cases where people are doing meritorious deeds, look like they are doing meritorious deeds, however, they ended up in the Three Lower Realms. Why? Why did that happen? It is because they don't know what is actually meritorious. They thought what they are doing is meritorious, but it's not. It's not harmful now, but it gets worse as it accumulates and you keep doing the false things that you bring with you into the next life, because all of the elements of selfishness are still there, mixed in there. It’s like poison inside a beautiful dew. Some people are very good at speaking very nicely, looking very nice, and acting like a very nice person, and so they look like they are doing good things. 1425 But we must understand the heart behind it, is it pure? In the past, have you seen this Chinese drama? I always watched it when I was young. Mr. Bao, you know the Bao Qingtian包青天, Judge Bao lived during the Song Dynasty was a very fair judge, who had a very dark complexion and was very righteous. Everyone trusted him, because he was very unbiased; there were a lot of case studies in the stories. The reason he was called unbiased was because he dared to challenge the authorities that were abusing their roles because in the eyes of the law everyone is equal, right? He was then able to oversee the power and able to capture these corrupted people into the law. 1124 So why did Mr. Bao capture all of these seemingly good people? A lot of them looked like good people, everyone praised them, but Mr. Bao exposed their actual intentions and their deeds behind the scenes, they were not actually good people. There were a lot of elements of greed and hatred inside as well as revenge, like, trying to get back at someone. So, we need wisdom to see through this, something that is hidden very deep and the point is so that we are able to do good, actual good things. In Buddhism, there is a standard for being good, you want to be a good person right? There are standards for being a good person. To be a true good person, a person deserving to be called good, what is it? How do we define it, how does Buddha define it? Buddha taught us in the Three Pure Meritorious Deeds. If you fulfill these three big categories of meritorious deeds, then you're considered qualified as being a good person. What is the first meritorious deed? The first one is to be filial to your parents, which is to love and respect your parents, only then will you be considered as an entry level good person. Then you also need to be respectful to your teachers. So love your parents and respect your teachers. Buddha is our teacher. So, when he teaches you something that you understand, you should follow it. When you move up to that level, uphold the precepts of No Killing, No Harming sentient beings, verbally or physically. Other than that, every kind deed you do, if you divert away from the standards, then it's not considered as good. It's true. Other than these standards, if you divert from them, then all the good deeds are not considered as good without this foundation, without this guide. A lot of people ask me: Master, I want to be a good person. I want to do good things. So what are the good things for me to do? I say “they are right in front of you, every time, everywhere, wherever you are, you can do good (deeds). ” So therefore, a lot of people say: Master, in the Buddhist Dharma Center, for example, our Dharma Center, should we do charity? Is it good? It's good, right? People say it's good. If we come here, to the temple, and I want to start by doing charity, charitable deeds, I would say not necessarily. Making offerings to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is a big thing and is a good merit. Yes, it is. But what kind of heart do you have? What kind of attitude do you bring with you when you offer it? It's very important, actually the most important, because a lot of people bring a lot of elements of self, which is my fame, my position, my faith, my wealth. They are using that kind of intention to offer. If people would bring this kind of attitude and still keep it in their heart, then we didn't really learn Buddhism, we didn't really use the Buddha's Dharma to wash it away. We are not considered as true Buddhists. Therefore, when you see things, people doing charitable (work), it's good, right? People recognize you, the country will even give you a plaque saying that this group of people are very good, and will put you on a pedestal and praise you on national television, because you have contributed a lot to the society, is it a good thing? It looks good. But it's not right. Why? Where do you go wrong? Didn't Shakyamuni Buddha (teach us) to be a good person, to do good deeds, speak good words? Yeah, we should come to the Buddha temple and protect the Dharma by helping out the temple. Also give offerings to the Venerables so that you can accumulate merits. Yes, it's good. However, we must know the core value, the core foundation, the core purpose of a Dharma Center, what's the point of a Dharma Center? What's the 本分? What's the first responsibility of a Dharma Center? It's not to seek recognition. It's not to seek fame or praise. We are not here to accumulate wealth or to want a big temple, with all the beautiful buildings and architecture so that I can control a lot of people in this place. Is that an actual Dharma Center? During Shakyamuni Buddha's time, through his whole life, he only had three clothes. And he lived under a tree, slept under a tree, he didn't have a place actually, owned by him. No, he didn't have it. He sat under trees most of the day. If he wanted to have a Dharma place, a good one, or a really luxurious one, he just needed to say: I want a Dharma place. The 16 countries would flock to him and build one in every single place he walked by. It was easy, because all of his Dharma protectors are Kings, but he did not accept it. He did not ask for it. So the point of Buddhism and the point of building a Dharma place that we see now is to educate. If the fundamental responsibility is not clear, then what's the point of coming here and learning Buddhism? There's no benefit from Buddhism, if we do not understand why we are learning Buddhism and then Buddhism's most important role, for the Dharma Center is to educate us how to be a human. This is the first step and the most fundamental step. How to be a good human, how to be a decent human being. If we can’t even be a decent human being and we say we want to be born in the Pure Land, do you have guarantees to do it? It’s the guarantee I'm talking about. Can you be happy in this life, if you can't be a decent human? Can you be healthy, can you live carefreely, if you are not a decent person? Today, to learn Buddhism, we must understand and be able to break through, see through what is actually harmful and what is actually beneficial, what is right and what is wrong. So at that point of understanding this, only then do we know that attaining enlightenment is the permanent way. It's a long term way to actually bring us to that state of happiness or to liberate ourselves from suffering, to avoid sufferings. So every type of Dharma Center must have a goal when they are established. So we're talking about a grand plan like a shared objective, but every Dharma Center must have a goal. Remember, if we are coming to a Dharma Center, we must ask the first question: Today, I come here to learn Buddhism, what's my goal? Today, I chant Amituofo. I came to this Dharma place to chant Amituofo. Have I started to understand and am I truly confident in Buddhist teachings? Because in this era, there are many denominations and offshoots or schools and branches of Buddhism that exist. Every single denomination and every single offshoot from the denomination have their own specific cultivation goal, like our family, each family has different objectives. Everyone is different, they have different ambitions and goals and so do Dharma Centers. Today if we wish to be successful in cultivating Buddhism in these lessons, we must not mix them up, mix all the denominations and offshoots up. It is because if we mix up different methods of learning Buddhism, in the end, you'll learn nothing, master of none, because we're a jack of all trades. You can’t get into any depth in anything. For example, one of the current branches is Pure Land Buddhism. If I want to chant Amituofo, I would go to a Pure Land Dharma Center. If I like to meditate, I can go to a Zen Dharma Center. If you want to learn tantric or mantra based learning, then you can go to a Tibetan Buddhism Center, or if you like to do good deeds, really like to help vulnerable people and connect with people then go to (Tzu Chi Foundation). You can’t mix them up together. Suddenly, on Monday I wanted to go to Pure Land (Dharma Center). On Tuesday, I go to a Zen Temple. On Thursday, I will go to a Tibetan (Buddhist place). And on Friday, I go to Tzu Chi (Foundation.) It’s mixed up, it’s too much. You will get confused because everyone has a different goal, they say different things and you hear them all the time, all of them are right, so nothing is right in a way and get nowhere in your practice. Just like when we learn painting, if you want to focus on one path, you need to understand the painting itself, the techniques and all that. You need time to get into it. You can't just on Monday learn painting, on Tuesday, learn piano, on Thursday, learn dancing, mix them up. You need to set aside time for you to focus on getting in depth into what you want to learn. So be specific and focus on one goal and one path at a time. For a beginner of Buddhism, we must have a goal, we don't do that because we don't like other branches or temples, no. It's not because we're excluding people who are narrow minded. The whole point is to get something in the end, to learn something in the end, because especially this denomination is actually meant for the beginners, helping the beginners so that when they come in, they only have one path, one clear path, everyone's following that one path. You have a very clear guideline and you have peers, you have a teacher, they're all following one path, you will easily achieve success because you will move forward quickly. Especially in this era, it is not easy for a Dharma Center to be certified as authentic, because an authentic Dharma Center will be protected, literally protected by Buddhas and heavenly beings, like they will be a bodyguard of this Dharma Center. For a Dharma Center to reach this authenticity, first they must have Saddharma正法 which is the Dharma of the Buddha, who does the teaching. Secondly, the people who follow it must be genuine, actually practice it, not just talk about it but actually practice it. Thirdly, it truly benefits all beings. Every one of these merits are reliant on our own cultivation, it's all earned from our practice. If you want to be happy, want to achieve happiness, achieve that perfect goal we can’t just ask others to give it to us. For example, a husband and wife that argue everyday, why do they argue? My wife always demands a lot from me, she says: “I have a lot of expectations for you, but in the end, all I get is disappointment.” In the end, what's left is pain. The more you expect, the more you suffer. So for the ladies here, think about your husband, do you have expectations of your husband? Some form of expectations? Everyone has expectations of something, not just of someone, something, but we must understand that if you want to truly have merits that are worthy of protection by the heavenly beings, we have to start from ourselves, change from ourselves, be good ourselves, rely on ourselves and improve our own quality. To attain Equally Perfect Enlightenment, we must break through one grade, there are many grades of ignorance you must break through at least first grade of ignorance, only then can you earn enlightenment to one grade of Dharmakaya法身 which is the ‘body’ of truth or true self and that kind of attainment is what Buddha has attained. So you're actually on the same platform as Buddha, a long way to go but you are there. So hence, it’s called正等正覺 Equally Perfect Enlightenment, when we attain Equally Perfect Enlightenment, one’s perception of the universe and life is very close to that of a Buddha but we are not a Buddha yet. So this level is called Bodhisattva. It's called Equally Perfect Enlightenment and there's no selfishness at all. We will discuss with everyone, who can be considered an actual Buddha, like at the same level of Buddha. 3452 And when you keep going down this path of breaking ignorance, and keep bringing back your true self, your Buddha nature or the Dharmakaya, then you'll reach a certain level where everything is clear and eventually you will achieve Unsurpassed Equally Perfect Enlightenment. It's complete. It's perfect. You no longer have flaws and deficiencies. It's what we call perfection in the literal sense. In Buddhism, this person is called a Buddha. If you attain Equally Perfect Enlightenment you'll be called a Bodhisattva. So this is level two, the first level is Arhat or Right Awakening and then this one is Equally Perfect Enlightenment, Bodhisattva, and then, Buddha, which is the highest level. So all these names in Buddhism have a purpose. If you attain Right Awakening, (this is) the first step, Right Awakening, you are called an Arhat. As you can see in the first sentence of the slide, Arhat, Bodhisattva and Buddha are common titles and there are procedures in gaining these titles. They are all humans, their attainments were accomplished in the state of the human realm. They are not like spirit beings or something, they're humans. So, where do Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Arhats currently reside? It's a way to describe someone who has reached the other shore, has crossed this shore of sufferings, of pains, of complications, all of the pain, then that person is called an Arhat, Bodhisattva or Buddha, depending on how far they reach. Only when you achieve one of these three levels, can your life be considered as a successful (one). These three terms we must be familiar with, no matter what traditions or anything as long as it's Buddhism, we must be very aware of these three terms. It's not meant to be one person, it is not an individual. You say: Oh this Bodhisattva helped me! Which Bodhisattva? Which Buddha? So it's like a Professor, Master, or Bachelor in university. There are common titles, conferred to someone who earned it. For example, our historical Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, is that title only reserved to him, this Prince Siddhartha? No, there are many Shakyamuni Buddhas. If you recall the name, what’s the meaning of Shakyamuni? Compassion and purity. So there's a lot of Buddhas that are compassionate and pure, across the Dharma Realms. isn't Shakyamuni Buddha only meant to the one, the Prince Siddhartha, it is, in case, but in its most deepest sense of meaning, it's not just one person, it goes beyond one person. In the Tang Dynasty, Precept Master Dao Xuan道宣律師 was the first patriarch of the School of Precepts in China. Just for information, the School of Precepts is shared by both Theravada and Mahayana. Do you have any impressions of this Master? I think a lot of us know of him , but there are many young people who don't know. Venerable Master Dao Xuan道宣律師 was the patriarch of the School of Precepts in China. He was very famous when he cultivated on the mountain, you know who gives the offering to Him? He actually cultivated in the mountains, the heavenly beings were the ones who cooked for him, and offered it to Venerable Master Dao Xuan道宣律師. He didn't even need to ask for alms among the folks. He didn't need to worry about food, cooking, washing, heavenly beings just offered this to him. You know why Heavenly being thought he was deserving of receiving alms because he actually held precepts, he actually followed precepts, his behavior was right. A lot of people say: Shakyamuni Buddha was the one from India, right? The sage from India. No, it’s not just (referring to) him. He is everywhere, Shakyamuni Buddha is everywhere, not just on this earth, in many, many universes. Another famous example, Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Avolakiteshvara is Guan Yin. Is this one person? No. It is also a title. There are many Guan Yin Bodhisattvas. Like, is there only one professor in the world? No, right. There are many Professors, Professor Lee, Professor Alex, Professor Malcomb, there are an infinite number of them, which one are you referring to if you call their name? Even with medical doctors, there are many doctors in hospitals, which doctor do you want to refer to? If we think they are one person then we are wrong. Bodhisattva Guan Yin, what does Bodhisattva Guan Yin mean? Compassion, a person who is really compassionate is Bodhisattva Guan Yin. There are alot of Bodhisattvas or the practitioners who have attained Equally Perfect Enlightenment Bodhisattva level that are very compassionate, that have boundless compassion. That means there are a lot of Guan Yin Bodhisattvas.Then there is also another Bodhisattva Di Zang, Di Zang means earth treasure. Maitreya means happiness, there are endless Maitreya Buddhas. They're all compassionate. So which one are you referring to? For example, Guan Yin Bodhisattva, if you are actually as compassionate as Guan Yin then you are Guan Yin. If you have a strong vow of saving all the beings and being respectful and filial to your parents and all beings, then you are Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. Buddhists get this mixed up, confused with the names of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Arhats. They get confused with it. If you ask people around, your parents, your friends, your peers what's a Bodhisattva or in Chinese Pusa, they can’t explain it, it’s hard. They don't understand, they have no concept of it. In our Youth Group, if you ask what a Bodhisattva is, are we clear what a Bodhisattva is? Before we learned this, we were confused. We did not learn it in depth, so we didn't know. We always thought this name was an individual, we didn't know that there is infinite meaning inside this name. Have you all read the Infinite Life Sutra? Yes, we have. It's actually very good. It’s just that we need to find an English version. And what is Amitabha Sutra? What is Amituofo? We are also not clear. What is Shakyamuni Buddha? We also don't know, we should learn. If we don't learn how can we cultivate? If we don't know who is my teacher and what is the profile of my teacher then how do I attain anything under him? If I say Amituofo and I don't know who Amituofo is, how can I have a connection with this teacher and actually learn? Same goes for Guan Yin Bodhisattva and DiZang Bodhisattva, we need to learn, there is only benefit and no harm at all. Buddha in the Infinite Life Sutra, so in the sutra, people in the Pure Land, every one of them practice Samantabhadra Bodhisattva’s vows so they all act like Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. People who are born there, they are all Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas, which means they all practice the 10 Great Vows. And the number of Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas are infinite, there is no way you can calculate them. Where is Samantabhadra Bodhisattva? We should ask, Which Samantabhadra Bodhisattva? As a Buddhist we should understand. In this way of learning Buddhism, we will not fall into superstition or get lost when we are learning it. So I would like to continue in depth next time so that we are no longer treated as a superstitious group because we know what we are learning, we have a clear objective of what we are learning. For example, I believe in Buddha, I have taken the precepts, I have taken refuge and precepts. Some will ask: what is Buddha? They cannot provide a satisfactory answer. What is refuge? You don't know. What is a Bodhisattva? I don’t know. That statue? I am not sure. There is a lot of this happening inside the temple among the Buddhist community. It's very unfortunate. I hope that as the Youth Group, we need to take it seriously, take the Buddha's teaching and understanding of Buddhism seriously, only then can we understand what we have learned and how to lead ourselves and others to learn. In Buddhism, what do we learn? If I ask you this question, what do we seek in Buddhism and all of us should be clear of what we are looking for. Let’s continue. We are looking for wisdom. I would like to repeat myself, seeking wisdom is the first thing we need to seek. How do we seek wisdom? Let’s think about it. In Zen Buddhism, it is to seek enlightenment. Pure Land Buddhism talks about one mindedness, one heartedness, not moving. In Pure Land Buddhism, if you have achieved that single mindedness of Amituofo, translated into Zen (Buddhism), you have gained full enlightenment. In Pure Land Buddhism chanting Amituofo everyone has qualifications to attain that level, going to the Pure Land and once you deepen your learning, then you have broken through the doubt, you no longer have doubt, and then you know why we need to go into this single mindedness of chanting Amituofo. So, going back to the big question, why are we learning Buddhism? To seek wisdom! So we will go in depth on this next week. So now I would like to just give you a brief overview of what is Right Awakening, Equal Perfect Enlightenment and Unsurpassed Equally Perfect Enlightenment. Unsurpassed Equally Perfect Enlightenment is Buddha, Bodhisattva and then Arhat, and knowing these three main titles in Buddhism. Why do we take refuge? Why are we learning Buddhism? These will be explained next week as well. We have also explained this in the previous class. Today, we also talked about denominations and schools of Buddhism, but we also talked about what the point of, the goal of Buddhism is and why we choose this Pure Land School out of all of them, so we will talk about that next week. Next week, Wednesday. I would like to invite you all to learn again. If today I have said anything not right or inappropriate, then please give me some feedback. Thank you so much. Amituofo, may you all be healthy. Amituofo. Let’s dedicate our merits. May the Merits and Virtues accrued from this work Merits accrued from the Dharma Talks dedicate to all beings in the universe and dedicate to our karma creditors so that they all may be born in the Pure Land Repay the Four Kindnesses above, and Relieve the Sufferings of those in the Three Paths below. May those who see or 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.

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Understanding Buddhism (8)

So, I would like to use this opportunity to continue introducing how to understand Buddhism. Towards Buddhism, we must have the right understanding, only then will our lessons, our trip on this journey not be wrong. We will not think wrongly and everything we do will not be diverted in the wrong direction. Of this, I would like to remind everyone. Today, we can understand Buddhism and are able to listen to Buddha's Dharma. That means our merits, our roots to accept the Dharma are very deep. The condition for a Buddha to appear in this world is not by accident, is not accidental and also in our case, it is for a very short time. In Shakyamuni Buddha's case, he propagated the Dharma for only 49 years before he went into Parinirvana. So we must be very appreciative of that. And speaking of the Dharma, what are the benefits? We should understand the benefits are really big. In this big era, there will be 1000 Buddhas appearing. In our Saha world, we will have about 1000 Buddhas lining up to appear. Shakyamuni Buddha was number four out of the 1000. The next one will be Maitreya Buddha, Maitreya Buddha will appear in 570 billion years, which is a very long time gap. And when he comes, everyone who has affinity with him in the past will be able to be liberated from their sufferings. So, the benefits of Buddhism are definitely there, they definitely exist. Because they help us to attain true happiness, it is something that we cannot skip in this life. Why is Buddhism so good? Why should we learn it? Because it helps you to achieve what you want, to live a happy life free from suffering. So from this, we can start to appreciate Buddhism. So the fact that you are here means that you have affinity with Buddha and his Dharma, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. So in the last lesson we talked about what Buddhism is. Buddhism is about discipleship. What is discipleship? In Buddhism, it is the relationship between a master and a disciple and it is more than just a teacher and a student. It's very close, very tight. It's a bond. As a disciple, whether or not you can succeed relies on, what? That's the question we need to answer today, figure out today. I will give a brief overview on this topic. As a student, as a disciple of Buddha, what kind of attitude should we be equipped with to learn Buddhism? What is discipleship? There is a saying about discipleship in Buddhism: There are only disciples who seek answers from the Master, you will never hear of a master who asks for a student to teach. What does this mean? If you look at the stories of Buddha, all students go to Buddha to ask for help, seek for answers, and their attitude is very respectful in their deeds, speech and ethics. In comparison, current students, current disciples level of seriousness, their level of sincerity in seeking teachings varies too much. It sometimes even appears as a joke rather than really wanting to learn. So, if you have heard Buddha's story, you have never heard of Buddha going to someone's house and say: Come and join my Sangha, or walk up to a person or go to their house and say: This Buddhism is good, you should follow me. It doesn't work like that. The reason why only students go to the teacher and not the teacher going to the student to teach is because the respect is different. The attitude is different. If the teacher is the one who comes to you and teaches, for example, if I, Venerable Xue Wu, come to your house to share the Dharma with you. What would people say if I did that every day? They would be like: Oh, I'm too busy, I cannot entertain you, reasons like that. If we're using that kind of mentality to learn, we can't absorb very much, we can’t take in as much as those who really want to learn and seek the answers by themselves. For example, the first patriarch of Chinese Zen Buddhism was BodhiDharma from India. The second patriarch, before he was a patriarch, displayed such a high level of sincerity because he wanted to seek the Dharma to achieve inner peace. He knelt in front of BodhiDharma's cave, where he sat in meditation for nine months, and stayed three days and three nights in the snow to seek this teacher's guidance, and BodhiDharma turned to him after three days and said: What do you seek for my student? The second Patriarch of Zen Buddhism, who was still a student said: Please settle my heart. My heart isn’t at peace. BodhiDharma replied : Give me your heart and I'll settle it for you. So this Second Patriarch cut off one of his arms to show his sincerity. So this is just to show how serious and sincere he and people were back then in seeking Dharma. And you can see the benefit they reaped from it. As long as the students are willing to learn, teachers will not reject them. However, the teacher does not seek respect for themselves. That's not the point of why students seek the teacher or why you need to show respect and bow. It is not because the teacher wants you to respect them. I am your teacher, I'm your boss, I’m your parent, you must respect me. No, that's not the mark of a good teacher. If a teacher has this kind of mindset, this is not a good teacher, not worth following. Shakyamuni Buddha was not like that. As long as you were willing to learn, you showed a willingness to learn, he would teach you everything you could understand and know. He would teach you without hesitation, without reservation. It is like Master Yin Guang印光大師 said: One with an ounce of respect will reap an ounce of benefit, one with 10 ounces of respect will reap 10 ounces of benefits. The whole point is your attitude when you seek help and teachings. If we get it too easily, like nowadays, sutras can be easily printed from the internet, that level of respect is not there, the level of appreciation is not there and that correlates to our ability to absorb the Dharma. Recently, I saw someone open a YouTube video of Master Chin Kung’s speech and then while listening to it, they had their phone out scrolling through other stuff. So it's hard to achieve anything like that. For example, if there are 10 students learning from a teacher, everyone is listening to the same lessons. However, when you look at the results after they were tested, you can observe that in most cases they are at different levels of achievement. Some will have mastered the lessons, while some will have failed. So, in the Buddhist’s case, some people who listen to Buddha immediately attain enlightenment while some people who have been with Buddha for many, many years still haven’t attained anything. If you observe this beyond Buddhism, in worldly matters, it’s the same thing. Those who achieve will definitely have that level of respect towards the teacher. So, if you think from that perspective, for example, in my case, every time I listen to the Dharma, I always prostrate to Buddha for 10 or 15 minutes, seeking Buddha's blessings, so that I can have enough sincerity to accept the Dharma, because in this Dharma Ending Age, in this life, in this current era, without Buddha Dharma, we would definitely, almost certainly be diverted from the right path. So knowing this theory and principle, the point of success for students in learning what was taught is not intelligence, it relies more on the ability to learn, willingness to learn, willingness to listen, the sincerity to learn, the sincerity to listen because students who are respectful towards their teacher will take every single word to heart and learn it earnestly, because if a student refuses to listen, no matter how good the teacher is, even if Buddha himself teaches you, you cannot learn anything at all. So you cannot blame the teachers for the journey of your learning. In the past, there have been a lot of lay practitioners who asked me: Why after listening to so much Dharma, can't I understand much or improve much? I mentioned this in last Friday’s Dharma talk. This is a common problem. A lot of people cannot hear the core of the Dharma, even though they hear it a lot of times, they can't get it, because they are not truly listening to it. That means their hearts are not in it. Therefore, this is why Master Yin Guang told us: A person with 100% of respect towards the teacher will receive 100% of the benefits from the lessons. The same lessons were given to everyone, but there are different levels of reception, based on different levels of sincerity. This is a common principle of education, regardless if it is of a spiritual or secular nature. Whatever you learn, whether it is Buddhism or any techniques, or any degrees or anything you pursue, without a heart of respect towards the lessons, towards the teacher, we can't achieve anything. As long as we are going against this principle of sincerity towards learning , if we go against that, we will not achieve anything. In the history records, most of Shakyamuni Buddha's students who followed him around, when he was walking around India, attained enlightenment, at least attained Arhathood. None of them were left without achievements. All of the 1,255 students that followed him were not just common people, they all had achievements. They all had a common trait, they all listened and took the lessons from Buddha to heart. Looking at our case, chanting Amitabha Buddha, the merits of Amitabha Buddha, of his name is equal, equal, it is not discriminatory, whoever is willing to chant will get all the benefits by being reborn in the Pure Land. However, people who practice the recitation of his name do not seem to get a lot of benefits, as said in the Buddha’s sutra, because of their sincerity. Therefore, it's not easy to be a teacher, especially nowadays. At school or in the Dharma Center, it’s the same everywhere, it's getting harder to be a teacher. That's why we have Di Zi Gui《弟子規》 The Guideline of Being a Good Person in this temple because we realize the importance of having good roots, good beginnings for the students, for the kids. The main reason why it's so hard to teach is because the students nowadays are off track by a lot. The level of sincerity, the level of their attitude towards the teachings is not there. In Indonesia, we have this example, it is common for a teacher to be invited to the household to teach. I asked a lot of these teachers: what was the hardest thing you had to face when teaching at students' homes? They almost unanimously answered that the students are not listening to the instructions. A lot of parents have this misconception that if their children are not gaining anything despite having paid a lot of money to hire a private tutor, they will commonly blame the teachers and do not reflect on how they raised their kids, how they imparted that level of attitude and sincerity inside their children's mind, it was not thought of in that way. For example, today if we find a good Dharma teacher who has the right view, the right virtues and then you ask him: Could you teach me how to be successful in my cultivation? And if you take seeking guidance seriously, you don't need to take three years, you only need three months to achieve whatever you want to achieve. Master Chin Kung has mentioned that whether we can succeed in anything depends on two things, number one is our sincerity, our attitude and number two is choosing a noble teacher善知識. For example, pick one teacher that you really like, Teacher Chai or anyone who you really admire, who you respect from the depths of your heart, you like how this teacher carries himself, what he/she does, their virtue is very good and you truly respect that person, then stick to them. Do not change the target of your learning. Do not change the examples of your learning, stick to that person until the very end, because you will achieve not just small achievements, but great achievements in the end. There's an example of historical precedent, Mencius. Do you know who Mencius learned from? He learned from Confucius, who lived 200 years prior to his time, but even though they did not even live in the same era, Mencius was able to achieve second only to his example, which was Confucius and became the second sage of the Confucius school. There is a more contemporary example, there was a kid who really liked Michael Jackson. He listened to Michael Jackson songs and watched his performances every time he danced, he learned every single detail and mimicked every single feature of Michael Jackson and when this kid performed, he looked almost like Michael Jackson. Same thing. Like if I talk about Dharma, I always listen to Master Chin Kung, I mimic him as well. Having a noble teacher is good, and we should learn. But we must stick to one because if we have too many, we will be distracted. If we follow too many examples our hearts are not settled, they might all be good examples but if we follow all of them we'll be in a mess, we'll be distracted. If you want to learn you must focus on and deepen our studies on one approach. So that's the principle we're trying to bring out from these examples, especially in the Dharma Ending Age, where there are so many options and so many selections, avoid that and solidify your studies, your Buddhist cultivation, do not mix and match because our time is so short and everything's changing so fast. Of the Four Great Vows, Number three is: May I vow to learn all of the Dharma approaches towards enlightenment. However, this vow is not for our current situation. It's meant for after you go to the Pure Land. In our time, everything is pushing us, so we can only focus on one, we only have the energy for one. Our Pure Land patriarchs were all enlightened people. But they let go of all the teachings and all of the sutras that they learned and mastered and focused only on chanting Amituofo in the end. So therefore, you only need one teacher if you want to learn. In your heart, who is your teacher? It has to be someone who you admire, who actually is virtuous and has profound knowledge, wisdom. So, for many of us, we choose Master Chin Kung. We come to this Dharma place to learn from him or his teachings. So, one teacher is enough, if you already selected this person, stick to him/her, stick to his/her teachings, because if you have two masters, it is like pointing at branching paths in your learning. Three masters is like pointing to a T Junction in your learning. Four masters ends up as a Cross Junction in your learning. So which way do you want to go? Because everyone is good, right? He's good, she's good, everyone's good. So you end up doing nothing at all and getting confused Like back when I was being ordained as a monk, some people told me I should learn from Zen禪宗, some said I should learn from Tibetan Zhonya which is Aiyana and Tian Tai天台宗, some said I should learn from the sutra point of view. There are so many points of view and all of them are good. As you see in the picture, one person who stands in the middle of four directions, which way should you go? Everyone says every direction is good. You get confused, right? Therefore, you should pinpoint in one direction and stick to it. Otherwise, we learn nothing in the end, we achieve nothing. We can't achieve anything if we get distracted. You have to start from what your current situation is, your current circumstance. Look at the people who are successful, they put all of their effort and energy on one thing. So it also applies to worldly pursuits, not only spiritual pursuits in Buddhism. You can succeed as long as you are willing to focus, concentrate on one path. If you want to be a teacher, you focus on the skills and the demeanors and the virtues of being a teacher. If you want to be a dancing instructor, you focus on dance techniques and everything about dancing. If you want to be a Dharma teacher, you must focus on all the conditions that make a good Dharma teacher, specialize in it. There are a lot of people who like to study. Why are they not successful? If you're learning from more than one master at a time, you are done for. Why? No matter how accomplished the teacher is, if our attention is diverted, left and right, up and down, if our heart is not settled in one direction then we can't achieve anything. So, hence, this is what we call discipleship. One teacher, one path. 一師一道 From now on, after hearing this Dharma talk, we should constantly reflect on this phrase: Focus on one approach. Not only do we need to follow only one teacher, we must also only focus on one approach to cultivation. All Buddhist cultivation methods, given by Buddha, will help you achieve a pure heart. You just need to focus on one path to get there, you will not go wrong and if you find a good teacher, stick to him/her. Because the problem we have nowadays is, we are not listening with our heart. There are many people, no matter what you say, no matter what you try to explain or prove, that will always try to go against what is being taught because they keep thinking about a lot of things, they get distracted. Everyone's trying to learn everything because we think if we learn a lot of knowledge then I can help solve society's problems. However, I ask them: Have you solved your own problem first? Have you solved your own problem that is facing you right now? If you can't even fix yourselves, how can you fix others’? That's why Buddhism is high wisdom because it gets to the root of the matter. And this is why it's different from religions as well. Religions are focused on Gods, they're not focused on attaining a pure heart, only Buddhism keeps bringing up the attainment of a pure heart, which is non-attachment. Only Buddhism puts so much emphasis on this. What is the appearance of a person who has attained a pure heart? First, less affliction and vexation. Second, they have more wisdom. These two are enough to handle everything you encounter. It's enough to liberate you from all of your troubles, in everything you face. Purity of heart comes from the heart of respect, the heart of sincerity. All of the worldly problems, all of your problems, how do you solve them? Only wisdom can solve them. Only wisdom can solve all of these societal problems or any kind of problems. There are no alternatives beyond that. That's why Buddha Dharma focuses so much on wisdom and awakening from delusion because we are lacking in both of these. Especially in this era, especially nowadays, if you want to be happy and have a fulfilling life, the ingredients we lack in achieving this beautiful ending picture are wisdom and awakening. So in the past, in my Dharma Center that I host, after Sunday’s chanting service, we always gathered together to talk about Buddhism, and sip some tea along the way. Tea and Dharma. We can't do it now in Sydney unfortunately. After the chanting service, a few people would stay behind, especially business people, I asked them: You do not lack things because you are wealthy. But do you know what you guys lack? They were like: I don't know. They could not answer this question. So let me ask you guys the same question: What do you guys lack in this life? You can’t answer it. Can you chant the sutras? Yes. Can you chant Amituofo? Yes. What do you lack in this world? I answer: a heart of peace, a heart of joy, a peaceful heart, a peaceful state of mind, a joyful state of mind all the time. To learn, to start on this journey, we need to start with the most everyday problems that we face. Only common people, only ordinary people have afflictions, issues, problems, depressions and all that. A sage does not have problems at all. So we have to start from something close to us, something we need to solve right away. I don't even need to ask, by looking at your face, by looking at your expression I already know there are a lot of problems, because what we think appears on our face. So if you want to truly liberate yourself from all of your affections, to be happy and to be fulfilled, what do we rely on? Wisdom and awakening, with this right combination it becomes Right Awakening. Only when you have Right Awakening wisdom, will you be able to navigate out of these problems. Because it's safe, it's a solid, safe path. It's a path that will definitely lead you to liberation from your suffering. If you look at society today, if you look at issues, a lot of people think: I would be happy if I had more money, I can live in a good home, have a good car and have a good quality of life. But when we actually look at those people who made it, even though they're wealthy, it's common that these people’s hearts are not at peace, they are still agitated and still depressed. So, in my Indonesian temple, there are young Buddhists who go to the temple to be married and during the ceremony, most of them take the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts. So, the ceremony goes like this, they ask for the Dharma and as a Dharma teacher, I give them the Five Precepts and the Three Refuges before they marry. So, beyond that, I also ask them: Why do you marry? To be happy. If you want to be happy, what is the condition for that? They say: Having cars, a house and the basic securities, then we will be happy. However, when we look at the actual statistics of divorce, a lot of these people have good incomes, most people who get divorced are good income earners, they have all of these conditions mentioned, but they still end up with a broken family. So these things are not the cause of happiness. So, this warrants our rethinking, our reflection. All of the problems, from our personal level, our livelihood, our lifestyle to society, family and workplace, they all rely on wisdom to be resolved. We must not neglect the importance of wisdom, the role of wisdom, because other stuff is not reliable. All of these things like possessions, status and prestige, appear because the condition is right, but they will go away as well and they will not give you what you are looking for. You can’t find happiness outside, no matter how hard you work or how much OT you perform, it will only bring you more and more (worries), as you own more, you worry more. The person who truly made it, made it to the happy place, is the one who has a very rich inner world, they will not be moved by outside phenomena. However, remember that we do not lack wisdom, but wisdom is pure. Good fortune is untainted, it is a pure heart, because our wisdom, our good fortunes are there but it's mixed up with our afflictions. Smart people are everywhere as well. We are not lacking smart people in our country, in our world. In Chinese, there's a saying: People who are too smart end up toppling themselves, end up making a fool out of themselves, trying to be smart. For example, you can look at the politicians nowadays, they're all smart people. But how do they use their smarts? What is the effect of their smartness? They have to be smart to make it to the top of the chain right? However, what's the effect of their policies, what is the effect of their actions and deeds? They cause more harm than good to the stability of society on almost every matter. They cause more misery to the people and the people go through worse and worse times. So why is that the case? Because the wisdom they have is polluted or mixed with afflictions. What afflictions? Wandering thoughts, discriminations, prejudice, attachment to things, selfishness, pursuit of fame, prestige, greed, hatred and ignorance. None of them is clear from their heart. And this is why, with this kind of tainted heart, we face the external world and end up making it worse. Very smart, but not wise. That's a common problem, a common affliction nowadays. All of these smart people were born with desires and other afflictions. For example, the first World War and the Second World War were pushed by desires such as the desire to expand, the desire to own and the desire to inflate the ego. If there was a First and Second World War, there is a guarantee for a Third World War but I don't know when. All we can do is chant Amituofo and really seek to be reborn in the Pure Land. If everyone purified their heart, this world would become the Pure Land. Because these two wars happened without people thinking about it, they didn't plan for them. WWI happened because some people got assassinated, and then a chain of events caused the war. WWII was caused by some madman who wanted to expand his territory and it ended up causing conflicts. The third world war will happen in the same way, it's not illogical. Two days ago, there was a lay person who told me: I regret (not traveling around before Covid, and now I am) not able to walk around. I told him: The world is illusionary, there's no need to be regretful in this illusory bubble. Because when we go to the Pure Land, everything is real. I mean, everything comes from the True Nature. So you can go anywhere at any time. So moving back to our current world, why is the world not at peace? Because everyone starts with thinking from their own self-interest at the expense of others. If everyone thinks like that, self-interest as number one, how can we have a peaceful world, have a world of harmony? Because of self attachment, we have hatred, because you do not follow me or follow my desires, or you have greed, I want, I wish, I love. So the attachment to self is the cause of all this misery. If it goes against me, I hate it. Something I like, it's great. And ego brings out that arrogance as well. I am above others, stuff like that. Everything's I. So Buddha starts with open heart surgery on the ego. This is how Buddha treats this problem. We have to break through the illusion of self. Without true wisdom, without true effort, even if you learn Mahayana Buddhism, it will have no effect on us. There's no achievement in our cultivation because the pollution is there. The ego is still there. Everything you do is tainted by that perspective. So no matter what we do, we will be tainted by the ego and end up creating bad karma. So our life becomes miserable. A person who is full of ego, cannot be at peace. A person who is full of ego cannot have a united family or a united nation. Even in an organization like a Dharma place, you will not be brought up to the good point if everyone's egotistical. So Buddha advised us if we can take our “I” out of the way when we are doing stuff, thinking stuff, speaking stuff, planning stuff, and instead we always think about others, then eventually, everything gets better. If we think more about benefiting others, less about ourselves, then we get closer to that happy life. I met a householder, a lay Buddhist and I said to her: You seem to have a very good material life, everything you need is there. This was an elderly lady who served the community every day in the temple. I asked her: Do you feel tired, fatigued? This elderly lady said, No, I don't feel fatigued at all, I feel more energetic. The more I do, the more energy I have. I feel the world is bigger. On the other hand, when people who have everything, but only think of themselves rather than to benefit others, experience any little triggers, any little wrong tone, or being brushed the wrong way, begin bickering, ranting and whining. Everything comes from hatred, because it touches the ego. Therefore, if we remove selfishness, we will gain true benefits. With that, we will attain Right Awakening. So we understand that Right Awakening has its own standard to measure against, it's not a title you can give to anyone. Why do we start from Right Awakening? A person with this level of cultivation, has let go of ego and selfishness, the idea that “I” comes first. Do you understand? If so, we should take it seriously and start aiming for Right Awakening. So how do we attain Right Awakening? We need to let go of our selfishness, purify our heart from all this selfishness, narrowness. On one side you're letting go of this, and on the other side recovering your compassion, the broad mindedness. So, this is a brief introduction on the first level of Buddhist cultivation. The definition of Right Awakening is the absence of selfishness, the absence of ego. So, using that standard, if we look at ourselves, if we have a desire for fame, prestige, lust and all that, still have those desires, then we have not attained Right Awakening. Now we move into the second level. Because when we learn Buddhism, we need to go to the highest level gradually. So, number two is Samyak-Sambodi. So, Equally Perfect Enlightenment. This is like a Master level in university qualifications. So from a Bachelor degree to a Masters Degree, a Masters Degree in Buddhism is Equally Perfect Enlightenment. Equal to what? At this level, we are equal to Buddha in terms of if we achieve this level, your level of enlightenment, awakening, is the same as Buddha. You have not attained Buddhahood but your understanding and your awakening is already at the same level as Buddha. So you see what Buddha sees. So,what does it mean? We should continue next week, because our time has passed. I would like to summarize it. There's a lot more actually, that follows about this Equally Perfect Enlightenment. Not only do you need to attain Right Awakening, which is Sambodhi, you need to attain Equally Perfect Enlightenment, which is Samyak-Sambodhi. How do you get Samyak-Sambodhi? Do you believe in yourself? Do you have confidence in achieving it? Don't be stuck being an Arhat. You want to be a Buddha, don't stop at the first level, you want to be equal to Amitabha Buddha, to Shakyamuni Buddha. You should have this, Buddha encouraged that you should. This is what differentiates Buddhism from religions. In Buddhism, everyone is encouraged to become a Buddha. First you need to believe in yourself (have faith), as long as you have the will and the persistence, you will achieve that. Obviously, during the process, you need to pay the price equivalent to the level of attainment you achieve. What price? The price of your ego, that means you need to be patient, you need to take the test in everyday life. Because without tests, the tribulations of life, you never know how far you have reached, how much you can take in, how much you can resolve. No matter what you see, what you hear, what you touch, what you eat, what you think, you must be patient, let it go. If you have done it to a level where you do not give rise to a single thought, congratulations! You have attained the level of Buddhahood! So now we will stop here. We'll continue next week explaining what Equally Perfect Enlightenment is. Why it is not a normal level of attainment and why it is so good. So we'll stop here. If there were any errors, please give me a bit of feedback. I would like to wish everyone a good, beautiful evening. Amituofo, thank you!

**** Understanding Buddhism (7)

Dear respectful fellow practitioners, Amituofo! Today, I would like to continue to practice, to learn how to understand Buddhism. Usually for the beginners, as a teacher we always encourage them to start understanding Buddhism with the basic stuff. Although it's basic for Buddhist practitioners, we cannot look down on the basics. We must know Buddhism has very profound and deep observations and truths in it. It's different from religion commonly known in the world. This is the first thing we must understand. Buddhism is what we call an education, not a religion. What Buddha teaches is wisdom, high level wisdom, profound wisdom. What does it mean by profound wisdom? What was Shakyamuni Buddha’s goal? It was to help all beings liberate themselves from suffering, not just a simple normal relief from suffering but relief from the ultimate suffering to achieve full happiness. That means you no longer have to suffer. It's not just for a temporary moment, but forever. Today, if you're able to understand and accept Buddhism, and if you practice Buddhism, you're not a common person because only a person with wisdom will select this path. Why we can't fully comprehend the teaching is because we all have illness, we all have troubles, therefore our wisdom cannot be realized. There are very deep conditions that we have planted from many lives in the past that kept us from even hearing of the word “Buddha”, let alone understand it. It's not easy to practice Buddhism, it has high wisdom. But do not think everything is high wisdom, all the major sutras like the Avatamsaka Sutra or the Diamond Sutra start from the basics even though their content is profound. So today we will learn about a couple of very important lessons. Today, we Buddhists, we want to learn from Shakyamuni Buddha, our teacher. So if we want to learn from our teacher, our master, what is the most important thing to learn from him? The first lesson is Right Awakening. First, we need to have a goal. First, we need to learn how to be awakened. This is very important. Awakening means you're aware, you understand, but this awareness is not just simple awareness because there is one condition before that, it's called Right Awakening, it's different. If you add this word ‘Right’, the whole meaning is different. So what does Right Awakening mean? We must take our time to understand this. Nowadays there are a lot of smart and talented people. Especially, in this modern world, we have a lot of genius level scientists, we have talented scientists, talented engineers who devise a lot of innovations and discoveries in the tech sector and the scientific sector because we are in the era of technology. This is what defines our era. If you do not follow along in this era you will get kicked out of the queue, you'll be left behind. So that is why it is a struggle for a lot of older people, because technology has been developed at a speed that is very fast, astoundingly fast. For example, even just two years ago we never thought we would do this online and now can you imagine we conduct the Dharma Ceremony and stuff without these technologies, without the internet, without computers? We're forced to use it, including myself. I'm forced to use it every day. So sometimes when I meet young kids, when I come across young kids, when they see me struggling with phones they laugh at me. They say: Even a kid knows how to operate a smartphone, so how can you be so clueless about it? I am always being laughed at in this regard. If you look at the Japanese news, a lot of their temples and Sanghas have robots. Obviously they dress them as a monk and they even sculpted one robot after Buddha and they are like service robots, they can also talk about sutras. It's kind of like a Q&A. They allow you to ask questions and answer you. So for example, if you have any issues, you can ask this Buddhist Alexa about your issues, ask for their guidance as long as you call the number you will be linked to the system and that system is like a call center. So this is the level of development in our technological era. In the future, even the role of monks will be replaced by robots and AI. If you do not believe me, look it up, it’s true. However, no matter how developed technology is, if it's not wisely used, it will always cause more harm than good and very big trouble can be caused by technology. Mostly, because it is destructive. It's exploitative and destructive towards nature. Let's talk about humans, we say the husband and wife are the closest group of family, unit of family. Nowadays, if you look at couples, do you think husbands and wives are closer or husbands and iPhones or wives and iPhones? I saw a case where a lay Buddhist, he's a guy and he has a family and if his wife is not home, maybe she has gone out shopping or somewhere else, it doesn't even matter if she's late returning home, but when he lost his phone, he threw a fit. It's like: Where's my phone? So this is a not so normal thing which I have observed. These technologists, philosophers, scientists and religious workers are very smart, they should be, they are leaders of their communities, they are innovators. However, even though they are very intelligent and their IQ is way above average, Buddha will not give them the title, the qualification of having Right Awakening. So their intelligence is not considered, not qualified as Right Awakening. We must understand why these people, who are in the top percentile of human intelligence, are not considered Rightly Awakened. In Buddhism, the word “right”, right view, Right Awakening, right thought, right speech is not easy to obtain. Even if you want to actually achieve this level, it's not easily obtained by anyone. So how come their intelligence is not considered as Right Awakening? Very simply, it is because their heart has not been freed from afflictions, their heart is bound by their habits and desires. They are smart but they have not severed their afflictions, they have not purified their heart, their mind, they are still entangled with things and people, like you're right, I'm wrong, all of the (worldly) conflicts. They still have hatred, greed, ignorance and arrogance, especially arrogance. On top of that they have wandering thoughts, discriminations or prejudice and attachments to things or people. They have selfishness and they are attached with desires of amassing profits and prestige. No matter how capable their mental faculties are, they're not rightly awakened. That's why, from this, we understand how important Right Awakening is. The number of people who chant Amituofo, to be honest, is a lot, but how many actually made it to the Pure Land from this earth because they haven't achieved the level of Right Awakening? A lot of people think that Amitabha Buddha will bestow a lot of fortunes on them. They come for that, but they have not seen the awakening side of it, and the whole core of Right Awakening is about a pure heart; it's about your heart instead of your mind. Is your state of mind pure, clear of afflictions from clouded judgments? Is your heart pure? If your heart is pure, if your wisdom is crystal clear, that means you have pierced through things very clearly without clouded judgment, only then is it called Right Awakening. Because a pure heart nurtures this kind of wisdom that is able to awaken you to the reality of everything. This wisdom, the use of this wisdom is called Right Awakening. The standard of Right Awakening is only available in Buddhism and the teachings of Buddha. Because as long as we are in the six realms, everything we see, everything we understand is not considered Right Awakening because of the reasons mentioned, the afflictions. Today you chant Amituofo, the same thing happens. It all relies on a pure heart, a chant of Amituofo that comes from a pure heart is very powerful. So what are we trying to learn from Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, our original teacher? The first step is to achieve Right Awakening. Only when we are rightly awakened can we truly understand how to navigate out of this suffering. Without Right Awakening, we can't get out of this puzzle. Even if we want to go to the Pure Land, which is liberation from the puzzle of suffering, we can't go there because we are not letting go of the afflictions that bind us here, of the attachments. Only when you have attained the level of Right Awakening are you qualified to be liberated from the cycle of life and death, liberated from the sufferings to happiness. Otherwise, departing from this principle, even though we're chanting Amituofo, worshiping the Buddha or listening to the Dharma, it's all about fortune rather than the true merits that are able to bring you to liberation, so it's all about a (pure) heart. This is a very concise summary of Right Awakening. When you hear Right Awakening it means having a pure heart, Right Awakening equals to having a pure heart, having a pure heart means that you are unmoved by the phenomena that happens to you outside, whether it be people or things or calamities or anything, you're unmoved, only then are you considered as having a pure heart. If one achieves the pure heart or Right Awakening in Buddhism, what is the title we confer to these people? If you have achieved Right Awakening in Buddhism, in this educational system, what is the status that would be conferred upon you? We must be clear on this very important terminology used. There are titles, like university degrees, that are conferred upon people reaching Right Awakening and this title is called Arhat. So if you have achieved Right Awakening you will be called an Arhat. Just like today, when you graduate from the first level of University study, it's called a Bachelor’s Degree. So Arhat is the same in Buddhist education. Arhat, Bodhisattva and Buddha are the common titles that we confer to people upon achieving different degrees of awakening. If you achieve the first step of Right Awakening, you are called an Arhat. Why is one called an Arhat? Because you are no longer twisted in views and ideas, you see things clearly, your greed, hatred and ignorance does not exist, it will not come up, it's cleared. An Arhat does not have entanglements with people and matters, because Arhats do not attach to the notion of the body as themselves, that means no more ego, they are no longer attached to their bodies. So what does Bodhisattva mean? We will talk about this next time. So Arhat is the first level title in Buddhist education. I hope it's clear for you guys. The best way to define Arhat is one having a pure heart, pure heart means Right Awakening. Why is it pure? Because they no longer have erroneous views and ideas, that means it's no longer twisted, no longer biased, they have no hatred, they have no greed, they have no ignorance, they have no afflictions and they do not entangle with people and matters because they no longer attach with the self. From here we hopefully learn and experience that the Buddhist education system is actually different from the worldly religious and secular education that we are going through right now. So what do we actually learn from Buddha? We must be clear in this regard. Buddha taught us to cultivate the realization of truth, to cultivate ‘Right Awakening’. Only when we achieve Right Awakening, can we solve the fundamental problem and be truly liberated from the pain that has plagued us forever and no longer go through all of this again and again and again. Because only when you learn, truly learn, truly listen to Buddha's words and truly use your ability to learn, will you achieve liberation. That's the first lesson. If we look at the worldly joy and sufferings, starting from the obvious: ourselves, we have to go through the Eight Sufferings of life. These are sufferings that we have to live through everyday, without a way out. For example, if you look at our world of pain and pleasure. If there is pain, there's always pleasure, if there's pleasure, it is always followed by pain. In the Pure Land, they call it ultimately bliss for a reason because they only have real bliss, instead of having pain following it around. But over here, we have a lot of pain that follows the pleasure. From the perspective of pain and pleasure, the most obvious, the most easily observed part of suffering that we have to go through, is that no one can avoid birth, age, illness and death. Can you avoid it? No, right? And on top of these four, we have the suffering of not getting what we wish for, what we love, we can't get it. What we like, we can't get. And then the sixth one is our loved ones leaving us. There was a case where, in this form of suffering when a loved one’s leaving us: there was an old lady who laid on the bed dying and when she died, she left her eyes open. So she did not go in peace. When she passed away, her eyes kept looking in one direction, one place, because she could not let go of her most beloved granddaughter. So this is another type of suffering even until death. Then we have the suffering of encountering someone (or something) you dislike. So all of these combined with the suffering of the five Skandhas compose the Eight Sufferings of Life, no one can escape them from here. These are the Eight Sufferings that we all have to go through every day. So does Buddha have any way to help us to get out of this? Buddha told us if we practice Buddhism, if we practice the path he gave to us, which is Right Awakening, just with the first step, Right Awakening, we can be free from these Eight Sufferings. For example, today in the cultivation group, some of us are seniors, like 60 or 70 and above, we think about: does Buddhism help us to relieve or liberate us from this phenomena of age, of illness? To be honest, if we truly cultivate the teaching, if we truly understand the teaching and use it, you would not need doctors or medicine. You can recover from your ailments as well as prevent them. There are cases like that. Why? What's the reason? Including myself, we should think about it and reflect on this. What are the reasons? Because they have realized the truth, before we realize the truth, we keep asking: how did the illness come about, right? Beyond the medical, the physical observable part, I'm talking about how it arised, how it came into being and what were the conditions that led to this illness to develop and spread and what are the consequences and effects from this illness in general. Buddha told us: we can avoid illness, humans can actually avoid illness, people can avoid illness, but we need to know why. Why do we have illness and old age? Why do we have these sufferings? Because the root of these sufferings is our wandering thoughts that keep generating and regenerating the same conditions that lead us to suffering. So if you use a more common term, we're thinking everywhere, we're thinking left, right, up and down, we are always thinking, we never stop, we never rest, we're not honest in a sense, our mind is not honest. It's like the monkey in our mind keeps jumping and jumping and jumping, one thought after another. Therefore, Buddha told us as long as you have wandering thoughts even a sage Doctor, some cultivated person like Hua Tuo(華佗) in China who was a very, very good doctor who healed a lot of ailments can't treat your problem, this kind of problem, this illness. Talking about Mr. Hua Tuo, talking about ancient China, the medical history, before the Qin Dynasty united China, there was a person behind the engineering of unification, he was called Mr. Ching who was treated as such an important figure in Chinese history, Mr. Hua Tuo華佗, Doctor Hua Tuo華佗. Maybe not him, I think, sorry. He was in the Three Kingdoms era, sorry. There was another very good doctor but he could not treat this illness. Because he kept thinking, because of wandering thoughts, he kept thinking about illness, his mind kept generating the condition of illness. If our wandering thoughts are blocking us from returning to the pure state of mind, it will always beat you in the current condition of six realms or in our realm, life and death, life and death, life and death, it all comes from wandering thoughts. The six realms arise from wandering thoughts. So Buddha, in the Avatamsaka Sutra said: All beings have the wisdom and virtues of the Thus Come One. That's another title for the Buddha. However, due to wandering thoughts and discrimination , they cannot realize it. So the point is he has pointed out the roots of our illness in the grand scheme of life and death, in this one sentence. Using a recent example that just happened in this decade, Venerable Master Hai Xian(海賢老和尚) who just passed away in 2013. He lived to 112 years old, being born in the Qing Dynasty. He could climb the trees at the age of 112. The year he went to the Pure Land, he could still climb the trees and he could do all of the rough work on the farm. Even a 40-year-old could not do that, but he did all this by himself, at the age of 112. Even if you ask some of the young people nowadays to do all this in one day, the volume of the chores that he had to do on his farm, near the temple is a lot, yet he could do it. How did he achieve this level of health? His heart was pure, that's why he could do that. How come his heart was pure? Because he always used Amituofo阿彌陀佛 as the object of his thoughts, no longer allowing any other thoughts to mix in. So his heart was pure. His heart only has Amituofo阿彌陀佛. Hence it was pure, because of this one thing. As long as your heart is pure, illness will not have an effect on you. It is a way to reflect for us, especially myself. It's true. Therefore, today we always say: I'm ill, I caught a cold and stuff like that. To be honest, beyond the physical body, it is actually our thoughts as well, our mind. Because if we put our energy and mind not on our illness but on cultivation and in terms of us, Amituofo 阿彌陀佛, if we focus on Amituofo 阿彌陀佛, our mind will be pure and focused, then we no longer fall ill, truly as long as you have a pure heart. If we look into the Tripitaka, if we look into all of the records of Buddha himself, did they mention anything about Buddha falling ill or sick in his original state? Did he appear ill and aged in his original state? No. Have you read of Bodhisattvas, the students of Buddha, the chief students of Buddha, also fall ill? No. Have you heard of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Guan Yin falling ill in the middle of his Dharma talk? Did he ever take time off from his Dharma talks because he caught a cold or had a headache or fever? No. Have you seen anywhere in any of the sutras that says: Bodhisattva Guan Yin, Ksitigarbha, Manjushri fell ill? No. Even Arhats do not fall ill or age. To be honest, they are no longer bound by this, what we call the worldly law of life and death. They have been liberated, they have liberated themselves, to be honest, it's not fake, it happens, but how do we do that? What's the reason for them achieving that? Buddha and Bodhisattvas thoroughly realize the truth of this universe, how it came to be in all these conditions. So once they understood that, they immediately followed their true nature, they no longer used thoughts, because they had no wandering thoughts, everything they did flowed naturally from their Buddha nature, their true heart, their pure heart. So everything they did was without pretensions because being natural is the healthiest thing. So nowadays the technology is very advanced however the cause of this advancement is the destruction of nature, of the environment. If we look at this earth right now that we live in, it's already sick, gravely sick, gravely ill, because we keep destroying it. If we look nowadays at these Covid pandemic times, it gets more and more serious and more contagious. It keeps evolving, mutating because our hearts are not pure. All this Covid, all this pandemic, why does it mutate? It mutates in accordance with our heart, in accordance with our thoughts. If our thoughts and our heart turns pure, focuses on pure stuff, I can tell you, you will no longer be affected by it if our hearts are pure and clean. If you look at the Pure Land, is there any sutra that says any pandemic happened in the Pure Land or in the land of the Buddha? No. Because the Pure Land is comprised of people who have an environmentalist heart. All the residents of the Pure Land are environmentalists. Why? Because their hearts are pure, so they purify their environment. So why is our world in such a state? Because we are polluting it with our wandering thoughts. The root cause of our illness is because of our wandering thoughts, discriminations and attachments. It comes from that. If you want to be healthy, you must cultivate a pure heart. To start cultivating a pure heart for Right Awakening we need to start letting go of attachments that we have strongly adhered to, let go of any situation, adverse or favorable. In case of adverse conditions, something that causes us to be unhappy, we let go and chant Amituofo to replace it. Once you do that as a habit, your heart gets purified further and further hence your health gets better. If we practice Buddhist teachings, we must listen to Buddha’s advice to let go of these afflictions because only a pure heart can nurture true wisdom and Right Awakening. The problem of us practitioners of Buddhist teachings is that we are not listening to the Buddha's advice, we're not putting in our heart. Yes, we come here to attend the sessions, but a lot of people say I'm busy, I have a lot of work, I have a lot of chores or family business to tend to, a lot of excuses sometimes, to be honest. In this world other than cultivating Amitabha's name in our heart nothing else you do can be brought to the next one. Very few people in this world can live to be 100 years old, even if you reach 100 years old it is nothing compared to eternity. In this tiny speck of our existence in this universe, why aren't we doing something that we can exchange for something bigger and infinite instead of clinging to something that cannot last? True, it is like that. We must listen to Buddha’s teachings because he's been there. If we do not listen we'll still cling to this entanglement, get entangled in these afflictions. Only from a pure heart, a heart free from all this selfishness and afflictions, entanglement can we nurture true wisdom that leads you to Right Awakening. However on the other hand if our heart is not pure, if our mind is not pure even though we are wise and smart, Buddha and Bodhisattvas will not recognize our wisdom and smarts as Right Awakening. They will not. Because the person who attains Right Awakening, an Arhat, does not get bound by life and death, let's call it the state of cessation of life and death or Nirvana. If you transcend the six realms, if you achieve Right Awakening through having a pure heart, birth, aging, sickness and death are no longer a problem. All of our afflictions come from a polluted heart. If we get through these issues by achieving Right Awakening, they no longer matter. What about the rest? Nothing else can trouble you anymore. If we have solved the problem of life and death, that means we're no longer bound by it, everything else is not a problem. Our lives will be truly happy and fulfilling in this way. This is what we should seek from Buddhism. Only then can we be happy. To do that, to achieve that we need to start following Buddha’s teachings, his education. However, if we treat Buddhism as a religion, a dogmatic approach, we can never achieve Right Awakening which brings us towards the ultimate happiness and that means we cannot stop suffering because we are still lost. Religion itself, the nature of religious worshiping is being lost, call it superstitious in a way. Why is it superstitious? Emotion is the basis of religion. In English there are two words: emotion and sensibility. Emotion, in other words, is called blind faith. Buddhism does not encourage blind faith, it encourages rational, clear, precise thinking. Some religions use blind faith as a tight leash on its worshippers and the more devoted you are to that emotion, we call them, the more truly devoted, sincere worshipers. The more lost you are, the better it is. They are labeled as devoted and there is a leash so that you can’t escape. If you look at some religions, there are a lot of evangelists that try to woo disciples into their congregation, as part of that religion that uses this evangelist approach. They use that mindset to get students and then there are cases where it's very well known: “If you don't believe in me, you go to hell.” There are religions that always use this kind of an approach, using a leash on the people. They feel obligated to pray and worship everyday and to give donations to them. This is a common problem among religions nowadays. “I'm real, you're fake, holier than thou.” But to be honest, at the end of the day, none of them knows what is happening, none of them solve the real problems, hence it's fake. Buddhism is never like that. Buddhism is not about followers, how many people come and follow me. Why? Because it's all about education. Education is about teachers and students, disciples and masters. There's a very important phrase: There's only disciples who seek answers from the master, never heard of a master who asks for a student to teach. What does it mean? We'll talk about it in the next session. Only students seek answers from masters, so seek teachings from the teacher, a teacher should not come to you and tell you to learn from him. Going back to the point, we need to start with Right Awakening. To be rightly awakened we need to have a pure heart, we need to learn the practice of purifying our heart, without a pure heart everything you learn in Buddhism is just planting a seed of Buddhism for the future, it does not have an immediate effect on your current condition, it will not be used to help you elevate your current condition. Therefore Shakyamuni Buddha's appearance in this world is just to help you to liberate from suffering and the first level you have to go through is life and death and to liberate from life and death you need to start with Right Awakening, to start from Right Awakening you use your pure heart. In our terms we use Amitabha Buddha's name to cultivate our pure heart. This is a very simple overview on what we should seek in Buddhism. Next session I look forward to learning more with you, about Buddhism, understanding Buddhism. I would also like to announce that this Friday I will also practice talking about the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Di Zang. In the evening, around 8 pm, we will have a session on this sutra, and will dedicate our merits (together after that). So now back to understanding Buddhism, that's it for today. I hope everyone can cultivate their pure heart. Put in the effort because the only person who benefits from doing this is yourself. I hope that you can have something to carry home with you. So a good evening to everyone, to you, and may you be prosperous and healthy. Thank you so much. Amituofo! Let's dedicate our merits. Let's join our palms. Use your own name and repeat after me. May I use the merits accrued from now, me, a student of Buddha, (your name) would like to dedicate the merits of listening to this Dharma talk to all of my karmic creditors so that they may be born in the Pure Land. Also dedicate the merits to all beings in the 10 directions and also dedicate them toward world peace. May the calamities be turned from big to small, small to none. Repay the four kindnesses above and 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. Amituofo.

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Understanding Buddhism (6)

Let us join our palms. Namo Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha Dear fellow practitioners, fellow Dharma Protectors: I wish you all an auspicious evening! Amituofo! Today, I will continue the sermon on Understanding Buddhism. It is very crucial for Buddhist practitioners. It’s a very important lesson and also Buddhism is a high level wisdom because it can lead all beings to attain true happiness and liberate them from their sufferings. Also it helps all beings to attain a life of happiness so that we can live a meaningful life; that is what Buddha taught us through the wisdom of his teachings. It helps us (learn that) in any place, any time, any environment, the inner world in our heart is always beautiful. It also helps us (learn how) to overcome any circumstances so that we are not attached or dragged away by the circumstances that cause us to bring out the afflictions and lead us into creating unwholesome deeds. So it has that ability to prevent this from happening. So this requires wisdom. All of (these circumstances) are to help us, no matter if they are good or bad, whether they happen in adversity or in a very favorable condition, they all can help us to improve our wisdom. The value of the wisdom in our heart is to help us to transform these conditions. That's why it's important. It teaches us how to change our environment. It can (help us) break through a lot of obstacles. Where did the wisdom of this caliber come from? So that's why we're here. We need to understand what he taught so that we can appreciate and actually use the wisdom he imparted on us. That is the true goal of the Buddha’s teachings. So this is a summary, a brief introduction to everyone so that we all can learn and practice. If you think I have made any mistakes in my speech, please don't hesitate to give me some feedback so that we can all improve together, so that we can go in depth on the true meanings of Buddhism. Last time, we briefly talked about how Buddhism is an education, it’s about discipleships. So it is an education. That means the relationship between ourselves and Shakyamuni Buddha is one of a Master and a disciple, a teacher and a student. Just like Amitabha Buddha that we chant every day, what's the relationship between us and Amitabha Buddha? It is one of a teacher and a student, it is actually beyond that. It's one of a Master and a disciple, because it's like parents and children, they cannot be separated. So it is with a Master and a disciple, they are one. Buddhism is not about gods, or worshiping gods or deities. It's about education. It's about discipleships. So one day, if someone asks you: What is Buddhism? You can answer that Buddhism is an education. (There are) a lot of wise men (intellectuals) in the west, they are not ordinary people, these wise people, after observing all of the recent phenomena in society, in the environment and in religions, made a conclusion especially on religion: Religions are all about gods, that means it's just about worshiping a deity. To put it even more bluntly, religions have become superstitious. So hence the word “areligious” because it has turned into something superstitious, including Buddhism and other religions. You can see that all these religions have diverted too far from its founder's purpose. It has become a form rather than substance. Hence it becomes superstitious because people attach to the form. They no longer understand the essence. So the question is: Is that too much, if we put this statement like that? To be honest, it's not, it's not an overstatement It's exactly what happened. Let's not talk about others, even ourselves as a person who chants Amitabha Buddha's name even though I call myself a reciter of Amitabha Buddha's name. Have I truly chanted his name in my heart, or do I just do it with the mouth? Do I just do it all without or from my heart? So is it just form or substance? Let's put the example closer to us: How many humans populate the earth? We have about seven billion right now. Where is everyone in this room? Everyone is gone from my sight. When I was a kid, we used to play hide-and-seek. We all hid in the house. Same thing is going on now. So right now if we look at the global human population, how many are there? There are approximately seven billion , around seven billion. Is that a lot? There are around 1 billion atheists. About one billion people who do not practice any form of religion. 1 billion people are atheist and the rest practice some form of religion or faith. So it's about 80 percent of the human population who practices a faith. So in Buddhism, we have two types, two main branches, in the entire world there are about 15 types of faith practiced throughout this human population. So we have about 80% of people who practice faith in one form or another. The question is: Since we have so many people who practice religion(faith), who are supposed to teach kindness and goodness in this world, why is the world still messy? Why is it still very turbulent? If you look at our environment, look at the natural disasters that happen again and again, one wave after another it gets worse and worse. Let's not talk about something far away in the past or future, let's look at the Covid cases in Australia, in New South Wales especially, it has already reached ten thousand. Obviously we are still far behind the United States and Europe, especially the UK. So Australians are considered lucky, not being affected by it so much, but still a lot. Sydney has already reached ten thousand, a Covid milestone today. A lot of people have called me and said: Try to stay at home. Don't go out, take care of yourself. Not including other stuff, this infectious disease alone has already affected us so much. Not to mention other stuff, like the bushfires and man-made disasters. So back to this question: there are 80% of the human population right now who practice faiths or religions so why is the world still messed up? And it will continue. Why is religion helpless in teaching and educating humans? Because we only stay on the form, on the rituals, on the appearance of practicing faith, instead of doing what was taught to us. Did we put it in action? Did we actually accumulate the merits, the real merits, the real virtues? No. Everything stays on the surface appearance. In one word: superficial. So in reality, we keep permitting unwholesome karma every single day, every single second. No matter where they are, people keep committing the killing, the sexual misconduct and the stealing, the lying, breaking the precepts. Hence, that's the cause, the effect is: Disaster is happening every day. In our case, we have not applied Buddha’s teaching in our life, hence, we are not able to prevent ourselves from committing it. Therefore we need to understand the teaching, so that we can actually do it from our heart. These wise men, great intellects of the west, also observed that religions of nowadays have this one issue (superstition). Therefore, that’s the issue. So that’s why, my respectful practitioners, we must understand the purpose of Buddhist education. What's the highest goal in Buddhist teaching? What is the ultimate goal of going through this education? Because if you don't have a purpose and goal, we cannot get any benefits. For example, chanting Amituofo, if we don't understand why we're doing that, how can we reap the real benefit from it and how can we break through the delusion and be enlightened? So the goal is to break through the delusion and be aware of the truth. Therefore, I keep advising my dear fellow university students in Indonesia and even professors. I always tell them, people who actually practice Buddhism are great people. Because their goal is to break through the delusions, cut to the heart of the matter, to be enlightened to the reality of everything. People who truly invoke the vow to practice Buddhism will be able to truly get the benefits of it. People who truly practice it are high level wise people. Their wisdom is very high. Only then will they be able to practice it properly. This is not a normal religion, worshiping a deity. So back to our reality, why do all beings suffer? Why do we have one form or another of ailment and suffering? Because we are all diluted in some way, to some degree and then it gets worse and worse. All these delusions and ignorance have clouded our wisdom, our clarity of thoughts, our capabilities, our virtues. And because of that, we are committing wrong stuff as in our ideas, our views, our speech, our deeds, towards the life that we're living in, towards the universe we are living in, that is erroneous and unwholesome. We are not aware of the standards. We are not aware of the path. We commit it (wrongdoings) on a daily basis. Some of us understand that we have to change our ways but they still walk on the wrong path. If you extend it further, to the people around us, so do most human beings, including ourselves, do we also create a form of unwholesome deeds in karma? Yes. Do you have these kinds of errors in ideas and views and speech and deeds? We must acknowledge it. By acknowledging it, we are doing repentance, especially in front of a Venerable. We all have these shortcomings. Not only do we not change it, sometimes we don't even realize it. We just leave it be. Let it fester, like a wound festers and do not change our ways, not repenting. Hence, that's the cause, the effect is: Our life is getting harder and harder. If we understand this truth, get to the bottom of the matter, and do something about it. Let me tell you: Your life will change at that point. Because you will truly live a guilt-free, happy life, a very balanced life in your heart, emotions and everything will be very calm, at peace. Because you will have understood how you got to where you are and where you're going. I also knew a couple that were very kind and helped me a lot to propagate the Dharma. The wife was always going after the sensory desires, was always pursuing something, luxurious goods, something better, to eat better, sleep better. All the comforts need to be better. Her attitude towards her family was always nitpicky. So this wife was always consumed by her desires and when dealing with people in her own family, she always nitpicks. She does live a life of luxury. She has a luxurious life. However, she's always unhappy. She's always not balanced inside. She's always seeking something more, more, more. So that was her state before she actually practiced Buddhism. So once she understood and got in contact with Buddhism, she started to reflect inside. She understood why she was always unhappy and always making a mess in the relationship with her family. She has changed 180 degrees. Once she learned the teachings, she kept practicing in her daily life. One of her practices is showing gratitude. No matter what kind of condition she met, be it favorable or adverse, she would always keep a grateful heart and that helped her to get through it and retain her balance. So we also have pursuits in Buddhism, but we pursue inner peace, we pursue inner wisdom, instead of going outside and satisfying our sensory desires. The true treasure is in your heart, the true wealth bank is in your heart. The true wealth lies inside your heart. If she has anything extra, she will give it to other people, to people in need. She lives carefree, happily, she does not nitpick anymore. That's the look of a person who truly practices Buddhism. Are we like that? Not necessarily. When we look at people or when we look at how people handle things or look at (other people’s) stuff, we might actually fall into the trap of holding a grudge, nitpicking and pursuing more desires. We are deluded in that way. That’s why we have these teachings telling us we can awaken from that as long as you're not fully awakened you will definitely commit a certain degree of faults. So now the point is I have done something wrong. The problem is if I'm not aware of it and do not repent and do not attempt to change it. Every day allowing it to fester, that means allowing it to grow every day. Then I must understand that there are consequences behind that. So if you keep committing negative karma, then the consequences are: You will continue to suffer in this life and the next life. Because we keep doing the cause that leads us there, committing wrong views, wrong ideas, wrong deeds, wrong speech and wrong actions. We are all accumulating negative karmas and are bound not just to any of the six realms: the lower three paths, hungry ghost, animal and even worse, the hell realm. Trust me, it’s hard to get out, it’s easy to go in, but very hard to get out (of the three bad realms). We must understand that. We will confirm that later, with a sutra called: the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. This Bodhisattva, in Chinese, is called Di Zang. He is very compassionate, trying to help the beings in hell to liberate them from there and so he explained why hell happens. Buddha asked him: How does hell happen to appear? So Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said: Because everything we do, everything we think, everything we say commits the negative karma that creates hell. That is why our life is full of suffering. Because we are not aware, because we are not aware of the real realities. We are not aware of the truth of these matters. Therefore we have no compass in our actions. Once we are aware of it, we'll learn how to let it go. Because we don't attach to the good or the bad. No matter what things we're doing, we don't attach to it. We are suffering because we are strongly attached, hence the six realms. My respectful fellow practitioners, last time I saw the news recently there was a story about a very famous star. Because of the work stress and competition from his peers, his body has weakened and he couldn't accept that he has weakened in health. Because that's the truth of human life, we always have deteriorating health. He couldn't accept it because it hurt his profile as a star in the film industry. His current life is something like a very intense and action-packed one. So he's willing to pay whatever cost it takes to repair his health. It doesn’t matter what deeds he had to do. He's trying to get himself back in shape. It doesn't matter how long it takes or whatever the cost is. A lot of people asked this star: Is your life hard? And then this star says: Yes, it's very hard. It's full of suffering. He is suffering. So if he understood the truth that life itself is suffering, then, he won't do that. As long as you are deluded, you cannot stop yourself from committing negative karmas. People who commit negative karma obviously will reap what they sow. So they will obviously reap the negative effect, which is suffering. In Korea, it is very famous. A lot of people go there for surgeries trying to make themselves look beautiful. Anyone interested? Being a woman is very hard as well, they even have these norms. As a male member of society, we should understand and be empathetic towards our female counterparts. It’s not asking too much. There's a lot of this thing hidden from our sight. Doing these kinds of surgeries, facial surgeries, you know cosmetically, not because of medical reasons, is really disrespectful to your parents who gave you your body. And there is also karma inflicted there. People who are wise, they will not do things like this. Therefore the goal of Buddhist education is, we must be clear on this, is to help us, to help all beings liberate from the sufferings of Samsara, and attain ultimate happiness. That's the effect. The cause is to break through the delusion and be enlightened. If you want to be happy, really happy and ultimately happy then you must cultivate the cause. There's no effect without cause. There's no fruit without seeds. So what's the seed? What is the cause? We need to let go of the delusion. That's why we're learning Buddhism right now. It helps us to break through these layers and layers and layers of delusions, only then can you improve. So where does our suffering come from? Delusion. Because we are not aware of the actual reality underneath the phenomena in your environment, in your life and the things that happen in your life. Why does this happen? We're not aware of the truth. That's it. However, if you are awakened to the truth of your life, if you are aware, understand, you know why, you know the Cause and Effect, then you will be a very happy person. Why? Because all you think, all you see, you know your ideas and views and all of your actions and thoughts that you generate are correct and wise naturally. So just change your compass a little bit to the right direction. Everything will be in the right place. Everything will come together. So in summary, being awakened from the delusion is the cause that will liberate yourself and others from sufferings and attain (ultimate) happiness which is the effect. What should we be aware of, awakened to? If you want to be aware, what are you going to be aware of? Because you need to get the cause right, only then you can get the effect you desire. So during the time of Buddha, he kept repeating four characters(快快覺悟). In English, it's called: Get awakened quickly, as soon as possible. Be awakened as soon as possible. The first thing to be aware of is the impermanence in our life. That is the first part, the first step. If you understand the essence of this teaching then your whole life will change. The way that you view your life will be different. Because knowing that everything is impermanent, would you be nitpicking this little stuff that doesn't matter in the long run? Sometimes we may meet some situations that teach us that everything (life) is impermanent. No matter what you pursue at the moment, when you pursue it, how much you pursue it, how much you own, it will always change and the only constant is the change. Your body for example, something very close to you, your body, I'm 23 years old, I'm 25 years old, I'm very handsome and all that, very young, but remember that it's impermanent it will become old, it will age, (get sick and die). That's the iron rule. Not long after (our birth), the human world compared to the universe is very small, we will pass away, long or short, it is still very short in the long run. Whatever you own, obviously, we cannot even keep ourselves young forever, let alone the things around us, our properties, our families or anything, they all change as time passes. That is the truth in everything. Once we can see through that reality, our life would be very peaceful, very happy, because we won't fear losing anything. That thing (fear) does not happen anymore. Because you accept, once you're aware of the truth, you accept whatever comes to you. You change your attitudes. You will no longer attach like you did before for something that does not matter in the long run. Because in your heart, you have this word, this word is: Impermanence無常. That's the way Buddha helped us to get awakened. He kept He kept saying to us: Have you got enlightened? Buddha kept repeating these four sentences: Are you enlightened? Have you been enlightened? Some people might say: It's okay. Take your time. One by one. Step by step. Buddha is very, very compassionate and Amitabha Buddha as well. Because you take it slowly, Buddha is very compassionate, he won't force you. He will follow you slowly. If you're awakened to this a little bit, he will help you a little bit. If you're not urgent, then Buddha won’t be urgent. Buddha always wants us to be awakened as soon as possible. This process of turning from an ordinary person to a sage, it has to be done as soon as possible. How did he show his commitment to this goal of helping everyone enlighten as soon as possible? He gave Dharma sermons ever since he got enlightened under the Bodhi tree. Every single day, until the very end of his life that he appeared on this earth, to the age of 80, he gave Dharma talks, basically every single day, until his parinirvana. He did not even take a day off from the sermons. The best example was on the very last day of his existence in this world, he even managed to help an old man to attain Arhathood. Basically he got to the first stage of enlightenment, being liberated from the six realms. So this man was especially very wise, but he had not fully awakened. He has been hearing of the Buddha during Buddha's time. But he heard Buddha’s going to nirvana soon, that means he's going to pass away in our terms. He immediately ran to Buddha and seeked guidance before (Buddha) passes away and he's the last one to attain Arhathood from (Buddha). Shakyamuni Buddha contributed a lot during his time to his society and the world. Back then his students came from different kingdoms. After he passed away, he was cremated . So Buddha, being very compassionate, saw that this might happen because everyone respected him so much, that they might even go to war over his remains. People who cultivate, when they get cremated, they have remains of crystals. This last student of Buddha who attained Arhathood, he helped to resolve this conflict that was about to happen over the Buddha’s crystal remains. It's very beautiful. So this last student has helped to divert the war away, so very good. So what did he do to prevent this from happening? That's your homework. So you can search for the last student of Buddha before his nirvana. So in short, holding all these talks that Buddha gave was to help us to break the fetters and attachments. Because these things are why we are paying for (suffering) every single day. These attachments and fetters. If you ask young people for example: Do you feel pain and suffering during your romantic relationships? He says yes, yes. But why are you going through this? Because it's enjoyable, they're enjoying the pain and suffering and that is the delusion, the ignorance of the beings. That's why I would like to encourage our translator here to become a monk! If you become a monk we will have a lot of fortune, because going through relationships, those romantic relationships, is not real. Because most of the time, not all, but most of the time love might turn into hate. That's the spirit of Buddha’s teachings. This is what the teacher taught us. How to get through the delusions and get enlightened. Buddhist education is not about divinity, not about religion and definitely not about superstition. It's about discipleship, emphasis on master and disciple, passing down the teachings, learning all the examples from role models not just knowledge. So we must understand that. Teachers do not have any conditions for us. Shakyamuni Buddha does not ask anything from us. They do not ask any favors in return. Obviously includes all Buddhas, Amitabha Buddha is not exempted from that. He does not ask for anything in return for all these benefits he bestowed on us. What makes these great teachers happy is you're successfully liberated from the sufferings and attain the ultimate happiness. That's the happiest person. That's the happiest news that Buddha could receive. Truly, if you attain enlightenment they will come and congratulate you and welcome you to the Buddha club for real. Because you are free. You are truly free. The thing that he enjoys the most is that you are awakened. You understand the realities of life and death. Congratulations! Therefore, being able to see his students liberate from the Six Realms, the sufferings, to live a happy and fulfilling life in the present and be able to liberate from the sufferings of the Six Realms. How? By being reborn in the Pure Land. That's the best thing, that's the only thing that he'll ask, he wants to see from us. So he didn't ask for anything else. He doesn't say: Oh you have to offer me a lot of incense, offer me a lot of water, juice or wealth or anything or you need to give me your most precious thing. He doesn't need that. This is not what Buddha would ask for. One thing that he hopes is everyone to be awakened, to be like him, free and awakened. Once you are awakened, you are happy. You will never be truly happy if you are fully deluded. Every day he gives you the sermon but we are still attached to the things that are impermanent, so how can we be happy? He already told you: These things are dragging you down and not making you free, just like a wing being clipped, how can you be happy if you got clipped, how can you be free? He tells you to let it go so that you can be free. That's why you need to listen to his teachings. That’s the whole point of giving sermons, Dharma talks. That is the mission for doing that. It's not for others. People who give Dharma talks, to be honest, are talking to themselves rather than talking to others. Talking to yourself is the first point of giving sermons, encouraging yourself to be liberated, to be awakened. So as a student of the Buddha, as a disciple of the Buddha, in Buddhism, what's the biggest show of gratitude that we can repay our teachers? How do we repay our teachers? Live happily, live decently, live righteously, do right by the people, your loved ones, pay love and respect to your family, your parents, that’s how you repay them. That's whyBuddhism cannot depart from filial piety, cannot depart from respect towards teachers. If you can be filial to your parents and be respectful to your teacher, then you are the number one happiest person in the world. Because you're repaying someone who gives you the most. This is very important. That’s the root of all virtues. If you don't even know how to repay the person who gives you the most unconditionally, for now it is your parents and your teachers who are the masters, people who help you along, then how can you be real if you treat someone else outside respectfully, right? That means to be a decent human being we need to repay our gratitude. At least it's to start with a person who actually gave us a lot of (kindness), that is the person that we have a lot of gratitude for, are grateful for. So it all starts with family and to start with family, how do you educate your family? Filial piety, which means love and respect. So saying this, upon touching these subjects, any masters, good masters, they will always treat disciples like parents looking after their children. Just like the parents that always want to see their children be successful in whatever they do in society, so do the teachers. Same meaning, same sentiment, same relationship, that's the relationship Buddha has with us, like parents to children. Is that easier to understand if I explain it like that? So this is a brief summary of the first part of the class today about the goal of practicing Buddhism. So what is the goal of practicing Buddhism? Liberated from suffering, to attain ultimate happiness. That is the fruit. What is the seed, the cause, is to break through the delusions and attain enlightenment. Enlightenment means being aware of the realities and not being deluded by it. So that you don't create the cause of your suffering. And hence because of these teachings, it proves that Buddhism is no longer a superstition, it's not a religion in the sense of divine worshiping, it's just a very down-to-earth education of helping us to get through sufferings. That is the highest goal, to get liberation from the pain that we face now. So what is the second lesson? Just now, in the first part of the talk, I analyzed a lot of times that the goal of learning Buddhism is to attain happiness, to be awakened. Now we must understand: What are we seeking for in Buddhism? What are we looking for in Buddhism? What do we ask for in Buddhism? This is also very important so that our goal is not misaligned. So first is purpose, second is what do you look for in Buddhism. Otherwise why would you come here, right? We must be looking for something. So now we need to be clear about what we are looking for in Buddhism. If we do not believe it, you can ask people around you, people you know, your acquaintances, your family, your relatives, including the people around us in this club. Today you learn Buddhism, you say you practice Buddhism, what is the main thing a Buddhist practitioner should seek for, the reason for being, raison d’etre, of Buddhism? A lot of people wouldn't be able to answer. A lot of people are not aware of it. A lot of people say: It's just to ask for peace, prosperity, safety and wealth. A lot of people have this one idea of Buddhism, seeking for wealth, securing promotions, safety and security and prosperity in business. Really, they all look for that. If you look in the Buddhist temple, a lot of people contribute flowers and incense. What do they look for? Worldly stuff. However we must understand: Asking for this wealth, promotion, safety, security, prosperity, you can't seek it like that. If that's what we understand Buddhism is and this is how we ask Buddha to help us. Then we can't get it, not even just Buddhism, other churches, Christianity, Islam or any religions, it doesn't work like that. What do we call this phenomenon? It's what we call being superstitious and acting blindly without guidance. That's what happens when you don't understand the reason for being, of a religion, of a teaching. In Singapore, there’s a temple, it is called the Temple of Guan Yin Miao(觀音廟). This temple is focused on the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who is Guan Yin, very famous. A lot of people (go) there, giving incense and wishing they will be able to attain wealth, high positions and promotions, just by touching the statue, the idol of Guan Yin. Some people say: Oh yeah I just touched the statue of Guan Yin, because by doing that it will give good luck to my hand so that I can earn a lot of money using this hand. So you can see that the majority of people who say that they practice this faith and they go to the temples. What are they looking for? All of these things! Before we learn Buddhism in depth, we always perform these kinds of actions. For example, my Mom went to the temple. What did she look for? So that my children can grow up, live a happy life, a peaceful life so that whatever they do, it'd be successful. It's common. It's very common. I believe it's very common when people look at Buddha (or Bodhisattvas), they just pray for peace, pray for good luck, prosperity and change of luck for the better. Including my own temple, the temple that I preside over, they open at 5: 00 am, very early. We open the door at 5 a.m to receive the... A lot of people come to the temple because our temple is very close to a supermarket. A lot of people say: Hey, the temple is next door. I might as well go there before I shop for groceries. They come here, they ask for this. If you ask them: Do you want to listen to the Dharma talk to understand the Buddhism in truth, the actual Buddhism? No. They're not interested. They're only there asking for wealth, asking for a promotion. That’s why we label religion as superstition. In Buddhism, what are we looking for? What should we look for in Buddhism? Buddha calls it in very special terms. Buddha has given a lot of talks, the term is called Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodi. That's the thing we're looking for in Buddhism阿耨多羅三藐三菩提. It's a Sanskrit word. This is what Shakyamuni Buddha never fails to mention in every single sutra that he taught during his time. When you open the book, there will always be this word appearing in the sutra that recorded his teachings. This is a Sanskrit word. If we translate it into Chinese or English, it's called: Unsurpassed Equal Enlightenment. A (pronounced ‘ah’) in Sanskrit means Without. Nuttara is Surpassed, Excelled Sam is Right, Correct, Complete. Yak is Equally, Identical Bodhi is Awakening, enlightenment. Combining all these words together, Unsurpassed, Equally Perfect Enlightenment This is the ultimate goal of Buddhism: Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodi. And that's what we all should seek for. What Buddhas and Bodhisattvas seek for in the end, work so hard for this one thing. This enlightenment is pure, perfect and unsurpassed. If you look for this, then you are truly a hero! Because this enlightenment is real, put it in any circumstances you will generate a lot of good stuff. But if you look for this wealth, we call it the phenomena, the form, those things are conditional. They will appear when the condition is met and cease to appear when the condition is not met. So they are fake in that sense. They are not permanent. But this enlightenment means the awakening to it. It's unsurpassed. We'll leave it to next week to understand why it is called Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodi. What does it mean? Every single sutra has it, because I would like to get in depth, in better depth, so that we can understand. The first step in learning Buddhism is to set a goal and the first goal is to liberate yourself from sufferings and attain happiness. And the second goal we set in Buddhism which is what we look for in Buddhism is this Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodi. Why do we go to the Pure Land? Why do we pay so much hard work to do that? It gives so much hard work to chant and join because you want to attain Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodi in the Pure Land. No matter what method you're learning under Buddha's teaching, the whole thing is to lead you to Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodi. So next week, I wish to see you all again to share the content of this word. Today I would like to be grateful to everyone else to give me a chance to explain how we understand Buddhism better. I am thankful to the Youth Group, our Uncle James and Auntie Cynthia, for giving us a chance, a place, people and the conditions to enable this to happen so that we can better understand Buddhism because it's very important to us in our life. Next week, next Wednesday, I look forward to your attendance, your participation, your appearance, gives me the energy to keep going, gives me the encouragement to keep going. Without you guys, how can I improve myself? I'm the student, you are the teachers. The person who gives the Dharma talk is the student. The people who sit and watch me do the Dharma talks are the teachers. I am not trying to flatter anyone. This is what happens. This is the right attitude we should have if you're giving a Dharma talk. Everyone is a teacher, I'm the only student. So I hope that we can all learn from each other better. Also I would like to take this chance to wish you all a Happy New Year in advance. Saying goodbye to 2021, to welcome 2022. In the past, before I arrived in Australia, I always saw the news on our Sydney Harbour Bridge. They always have a very nice firework display, a beautiful firework display. Every year Australia is the first country that spends the most in celebrating the New Year in terms of the fireworks. Your nation’s coffers are very deep in Australia. If you can use the money to donate to the poor people, to the people in need, to impoverished people, that would be very good. You guys will get even more merits. People ask me: Since you are in Sydney, why don't you go and watch the fireworks? I say: Is that important? So in these Covid times, if you have nothing important, try to stay at home, prevent contact. Now the most important priority is to protect your life. Because you need to borrow this life that you have to cultivate, to leap forward, leap higher, to the Pure Land. So take care of yourself and earnestly chant, recite the name of Amitabha Buddha. I also would like to advise all of you young people to care for your parents, no matter their temperaments or what they did in the past. So be kind to them, loving to them and also cultivating good relationships with everyone. This is an important attitude to have. So next week, we will continue to learn Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodi. Thank you so much! I wish you a good night! Thank you! Amituofo! Let us all dedicate our merits. Let us join our palms. Disciple (your name) would like to dedicate the merits today to all beings so that they are liberated from sufferings, to dedicate all merits to all of the karma creditors to be born in the Pure Land. Repay the four kindnesses above, relieve the sufferings 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. Amituofo! Thank you so much!

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Understanding Buddhism (5)

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.

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Understanding Buddhism (4)

Today we will continue a simple introduction on how we can better understand Buddhism. Shakyamuni Buddha gave Dharma talks for 49 years. He taught as many as 84,000 methods of practicing Buddhism. So where do we start practicing Buddhism? That's a very important point. Where do we start with all these vast teachings for us as Pure Land cultivators? Whether or not we can go to the Pure Land, we need to understand where do we find the roots? Where do we start to get our foundation steady? Once our foundation is strong, we can grow and develop the goal that we want to attain. As a Buddhist, our first step is to learn about Buddha. If we don't understand Buddha himself, his teachings and his intentions, we will not only be confused but will also have a strong misunderstanding that will affect the progress of our learning. It may look simple, sound simple, but to act on it is not an easy feat. So hopefully, we can use this short period of time that we have here to talk about this. So what's our duty as a Buddhist? So how did our teacher Shakyamuni Buddha teach 2500 years ago? How did he teach his students, his disciples so that, at that moment, all of his students attained the higher levels of Arhat and Bodhisattva? Last week, we talked about how to understand Buddha like what Buddha represents through his name and through his actions. This had to be clarified because there are strong misunderstandings towards the Buddhist community and Buddhism in general. We also learned how Buddha has attained enlightenment after all the trials that he had gone through, all the seeking he had gone through. Buddha summed up everything that he experienced and observed by saying: You have an innate wisdom, one that is perfect and well rounded, but unfortunately, you have lost it. So last week, we left off here. Why from a person, from a being who has the ability to overcome life and death, ability to be free from the bonds of this suffering, Samsara in Sanskrit, did we fall into this current state bound by external circumstances and not able to overcome life and death? For example, closer to us, as a human, we are not always guaranteed to be a human, because it's easier to fall into the lower three realms then going to the higher three realms, human, heaven and asura, it is harder to get there. It is easier to go to the Naraka, which is the hell realm, the hungry ghost and the animal realms. So, Buddha told us: we lost our potential, we lost our capabilities, we lost our wisdom. And because we have lost it, today we have become like this, ordinary beings. We are Buddhas; however, we lost it, how did we lose it? Because we are bound to the outside environment, our five stimuli and our six senses. Buddha, after his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree said this statement : All things, not just sentient beings, all things have Buddha Nature, just like the Buddha, with full fortune and full wisdom. So, the current situation that befalls us is that we are temporarily lost. It is a long temporary, but it's still temporary. We didn't lose it forever but we kind of, like dropped it somewhere and forgot where it was. Because we are lost, we commit a lot of Karma, that is not wholesome, hence all the effects come back to us in this form that we feel today. Looking at Shakyamuni Buddha’s life through the sutras, through the Master’s talks, he lived everyday without a shelter over his head, he lived under the trees in India and he only ate one meal per day before noon, but he lived a much happier life than the rest of the world combined, where the riches and desires did not move him. Why? Because he was not moved by the outside circumstances. He was in control of his life, his destiny. His spiritual life was full. So what should we do if we want to return to our full wisdom, our full fortune? What kind of wisdom is that? The kind of wisdom that can get us through our current circumstances and in the future will get us through life and death and even better get us through to the Pure Land. So now we have the great fortune to encounter Buddhism. We all have encountered it now. Right? There's no doubt about that. The question is how do we make use of this opportunity? We know we are lost but we are not lost forever. There are two terms, one is lost, one is destroyed. It's not destroyed, it is lost. It is like Lost and Found. Right? So how do we find it back? By saying lost, we must clarify that lost means you temporarily dropped it somewhere. That means you have all of this wisdom, all of this great fortune like Buddha, you have that, but you're not tapping into it, it is hidden underneath. So, under what? Under delusions, only when we break through these delusions that cloud and cover up our wisdom, only then will we fully tap into our full potential. So the question for today is how do we find it back? How do we break through this cloud of delusions? Remember, the reason we have afflictions, we call it suffering, we call it unpleasantness and unhappiness are these delusions. It's like a drunk person, right? He's drunk. She's drunk. Have you seen someone who's drunk? What happens when they're drunk? What's their behavior? When I was a young boy, I had a neighbor, an old man who was often drunk. He scolded and hit people when he was drunk. So he lost control of himself. When you asked him after he woke up, he knew nothing of what he did during his drunken state. Just like this drunken man, we are drunk by all of these delusions. It doesn't mean that you lost yourself, you just covered it up, it’s just hidden. So, Buddha Nature, which is our true self, we are Buddha, is lost, it’s temporarily covered up, because we are drunk. So by removing these delusions, we go back, go back to our own home, back to our true self. To go back from delusion to fully awakened is a journey that we must discuss to (re)discover ourselves. Buddha did not teach anything else but this one thing, he only taught this one thing, all the methods he taught were all aimed at this one lesson, removing the delusion and returning back to our Buddha Nature, which is our true self. The Sutras in Mahayana Buddhism have a saying like this: Buddha does not transcend any beings to enlightenment. If that is the case, how do beings become a Buddha? By themselves. We have to be willing to remove delusions by ourselves. When someone asks me: How do I have a happy life, live a happy life, attain a happy life? I say: You can't find it from the outside. That's the first step. Look within. Only when you look inside yourself, deep into yourself, can you understand the factors you need to know , to become happy, to attain Buddhahood. So what role did Buddha play in this? How did Buddha help us in this? He told us the truth. He gave us the tools. He told us 2500 years ago about the universe, how it came into being but more importantly Buddha’s role was to help sentient beings to uncover the truth of life for us, so that we are aware of it. Everyone has birth, aging, sickness and death. When there's birth, there's death. When there's life, there's death. Hence, impermanence is established. How do we overcome this? Are we fully aware of this in the first place? How do we become fully aware? By letting go of our delusions, we attain Buddhahood! If we go through this process, with all of the temptations and all the confusions (delusions). We need to go through this and truly uncover it and let it go, only then can we become a Buddha. That means back to nirvana. However, it's not easy to do it straight away. On paper, it's easy. That is true. There's just one thing, you let go of delusions, that's it, done. But in practice, are we willing to let it go? In theory, in its essence, there's only this one thing, are we willing to let go? Are we willing to let go of our delusions? Because once we have delusions, attachments, discriminations and wandering thoughts, we start to have afflictions and become slaves to our desires, why? What does becoming a slave mean? A lot of people wonder why they are suffering. It is because all of them become slaves to their desires, slaves to fame, slaves to wealth, slaves to relationships, romantic relationships. They get all tied up, bound by these temptations. They can't control themselves. Once you understand this, a person who can truly see through all of this phenomena, to its bottom, to its reality, will they be willing to be born to this, put themselves in the slavery situation? No. One who's aware of this, they not only will not jump into it and become bounded, they will also help to transform the environment back to its original nature. For example, if someone gossips behind your back or in front of you, or criticizes you to your face most of us will get angry and allow our temper to flare. That's the common case. A person who is awakened, who has let go of the delusion, is not moved by these things. So if you want to benefit from practicing Buddhism, if you want to get the benefit of living a happy life, you must pay a price for it. What is the price? There's always a price, it is that you must put in the effort, you must put in your patience, you must put in your time, this is the price in order to cultivate what you want. Someone asked me: Why do I have a life of misery? Why do I have a miserable life? I told him: Because you're not allowing yourself to live a happy life. Because you're making yourself miserable. For example, there was a couple, a husband and wife, they had been married for four years and his wife kept nagging him. Before they were married, they loved each other so much, they made a lot of effort to build their family and after marriage, because of many little things, they argued and argued and argued, all of their hard work was gone, for nothing. As a practitioner of Buddhism, we know that to let go is to complete things, our family, our goal. The first thing is to communicate, a lot of things go wrong because we can’t be patient with a word that doesn't sound right or for a look that does not look right. We just need to communicate, build a bridge. So this is an act of awakening. As long as you're willing, it's not impossible. It's just your will. Are you willing to do it? For example, Shakyamuni Buddha himself, after finding so many teachers, attempted to fast, and searching for so long, he couldn’t find it. But he had the will to find a way to transcend life and death and he sat under the Bodhi tree for 30 days and he attained it (Buddhahood). Buddhism is a path of mentorship. Mentor refers to a teacher who can guide us. So in summary, Buddhism is an education and Buddhism is about mentorship, Master and disciples. The teacher only teaches the way, the student has to put in the effort to walk the way that was pointed out. No one can do it for you. Buddha made it very clear in his sutras how you can overcome suffering, minor sufferings, major sufferings and how you can become successful, that means become awakened. To use ourselves as an example, as a Pure Land practitioner, whether we can go to Pure Land does not rely on Buddha, as in Shakyamuni Buddha or even Amitabha Buddha, even though they already laid out the groundwork for us. Amitabha Buddha already said as soon as you chant my name wholeheartedly in your very last breath, you will go there. So it's up to you now. The problem is not on the outside, not on the Buddhas, it is on us. The success of a disciple relies on themselves. A mentor cannot help the disciple to put in the effort to master the lessons learnt. That's true, the teacher cannot help beyond clarifying, telling you how to go. We must understand how mentors can help is to clarify the theories, the methods, the truth behind (the events in) your life, the truth of your life and how we overcome it. They also use their own experience as a point of reference, so that you have something to compare to and say, okay, I can do this. The goal is to correct our delusions and erroneous viewpoints and to put our navigation, our GPS in the right direction because he has been there. Right? We're walking in his path towards enlightenment. Our job is to walk. So there's no superstition in Buddhism. All that was taught by Buddha must be verified and it must be practiced in our life. The goal is to correct our delusions or erroneous viewpoints. We all know this. To be honest, we all know this. It's just are we willing to walk the walk? Are we willing to do it and go through the failures and successes of the process? Just like Buddha’s mother asked Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha: Why do humans go to hell? Why does hell exist at all? No one's constructing it, the people who go there, they are deluded, with heavy delusion. The one with a clear mind will not go there. The reason they were there is because they created that place for themselves, through delusion. Hence, Buddhism is about mentorship, it is about guiding people towards enlightenment, towards liberation from life and death, from suffering to bliss and we must believe these teachings so that we can use them. As a Buddhist, we also need to have the right view regarding the Buddha. Who is Buddha in relation to us? He is our teacher, our mentor. As a Buddhist, we must regard Buddha as our Teacher, our Mentor. When a mentor, like Buddha, has told us what to do and what not to do, it is out of experience, it is out of observation. We must avoid the things that he said to avoid, and do the things he said to do. How did all of the great Venerables, including Master Ching Kung, improve so quickly? How did they achieve this level of cultivation? Because they are honest and they follow the teachings. Why are we slow? Why are we still lagging behind? Because we are not honest. Because we are slacking a little bit, a lot. So, also, at home, we have an image of the Buddha and we make offerings to the image of the Buddha. I have the image of Shakyamuni Buddha in my room, and everyday before I sleep, I look at this image of Amitabha Buddha and all of the Bodhisattvas and Arhats around him in the Pure Land and I always think about how do I get there, how to be a part of them. So in your home, chances are, you have a Buddha image or a statue, right? How do you view the statue? What do you regard the statue as? There are cases where people think of it, like a god, like a God of fortune, God of Fertility, God of Wealth, or God of Protectors, protecting my family from evil spirits. Sometimes, there are cases where lay Buddhists come to me and invite me to a temple. Some ask me: Do you have any Buddha images and can I have one of these images? I say: I have some, but why do you need it? The answer is I want to put it in my car. Why, I ask? They say it is because it can protect us, keep us safe. They then ask: Could you bless this Buddha Image card? Could you give it some blessings? I do that, but when I asked them, what's the purpose? What's the real purpose of having a Buddha's image? They can't answer it. Most people will answer every Chu Yi, the first day of the lunar calendar or the 15th day of the lunar calendar, we just put some offerings, like fruit and incense as a ritual. There was another lay Buddhist who just bought a house. They invited a statue of Buddha there and then they asked me: What should I offer to the Buddha statue? I told him you don't need to do much, don't need to offer much, just a glass of clean water. Why, he asked? I said: pure heart, remind yourself to have a pure heart like this glass of water. There was a case where on Buddha's birthday or an event in the temple where we offered water to the Buddha. So what did they think of that? They said you must leave the cup open because Buddha wants to drink it during the event, during the ceremony. So this happens a lot, this is very common among the Buddhist community. Buddhism has became a religion, Buddha became a deity, a God to worship which is not the point of Buddhism. Some people are even worse, they treat it like, you know, a bribery, bribing Buddha into giving me more fortune. So, nowadays, we hear people say Buddhism is a religion, even worse it is a superstition. We cannot deny it. We truly cannot deny it. Why? Because Buddhism of today has become a religion, in that sense, it's very unfortunate. It has become a superstitious practice. It's very unfortunate to the Buddhist community and to the founder, Shakyamuni Buddha. If you observe modern society, how many people practice Buddhism? A lot, right? But how many people truly treat Buddha and Bodhisattvas as teachers rather than gods? Very few. Most treat Buddha as a deity to be worshipped and this way has departed too far, too far away from the original intent of Buddhism. Just like my neighbors, there's a lot of them who pray to Guan Yu(關羽) he's deified as Guan Gong(關公), Master Guan, a very famous historical figure from the Three Kingdoms in China. So a lot of people pray to Him, for protection from the evils, from misfortunes. There was a case where an old lady kept asking: I offer you so much wine, so much good stuff, why do you not protect my children, my grandchildren? This is also very common. I have also encountered a lot of Buddhists who brought many fruits to the Buddhist temple in front of Bodhisattva Guan Yin, Avalokitesvara. They are not just purely offering out of respect, they are like trading, negotiating, like a business. If I give you this much fruit, you must protect me from evil or anything (bad). So, my mom was very sharp in this regard. Once, there was a lottery for a racing car. A lot of people participated and they prayed to Guan Gong, Master Guan, to bless them to win the jackpot. My mom told them the horse only runs with 80 horsepower, but the car has 500 horsepower, so Guan Gong cannot bless you in this regard, it’s a satire. The problem is, we haven't done the job ourselves, Cause and Effect, Cause and Effect. If we understand the spirit of Buddhism, the most core Buddhism, the core meaning and if we act it out, live the teaching in every breath of our existence, people will truly understand what Buddhism is really about. Why? Because it will truly bring you safety, not just safety, happiness. True happiness from inside, a life of stability, good relationships, including our practice of chanting Amitabha Buddha's name. How do we make our family and people around us truly understand the meaning of practicing Pure Land Buddhism? We need to do it ourselves and show them. We need to live by example, what Amitabha Buddha is in our life. So this is why we make offerings to Buddha. There are two meanings of why we place offerings to the image of Buddha, why we still continue this practice, there are two of them. Number one is to repay our gratitude. It doesn't matter which Buddha or Bodhisattva the whole point of us putting the image in the most respectful corner of our house is to remind ourselves of their teachings, of what they have contributed to us, to society, to all of us, all beings. But throughout 49 years of education by Buddha towards the world, what has he left to us? What's his contribution, what has he gone through? What did he have to face and encounter to provide us these teachings that enlighten us, that allow us to enlighten ourselves and our families, to give us the truth, so that we can awaken and no longer live confusingly in blindness, in darkness? So such meaningful teachings that transcend time, race and religion, can help you not only in this life but many lives, not only you, but many of your family members. This is why we need to remind ourselves all the time. The first one is to remind ourselves of his teaching, to show gratitude towards his teaching. And it is, of course, so rare, guys, it is so rare amongst 7 billion how many people have encountered this? The fact that we have the chance to encounter and accept such comprehensive and well-rounded education in this lifetime is rare and fortunate indeed! And the chance of encountering Buddha’s Dharma is so hard as seen in this slide, is one in a million kalpas or 1,300 billion years. It's a long time, guys, it's very hard. So we keep it in our memory just like the Chinese and the East Asian people who offer a plaque to their ancestors. Like our great great great grandfather, we do the same for Buddha. This form of expression is called Reaffirming our roots and retracing the beginnings of our lineage. In this case of our teachings and this activity, this ritual is important because it helps to express our deep feeling of gratitude. Just like you hug your good friends, right? Same thing. Every April, every Chinese community and I think in many East Asian communities, celebrate Ching Ming. We all sweep the Tombs of our ancestors. What does Ching Ming mean? What's the meaning of doing this? Why do we sweep the tombs and clean the tombs of our ancestors? To reaffirm the roots and retrace our beginnings. Where did my lineage come from? What have they gone through to put me here, in this condition? To think of your roots, to go back to your roots. So when I was young, my parents would always bring me every April to celebrate Chin Ming, to sweep the tombs. I always asked my mom, why do we have to do this? Why do we have to sweep the tombs? Because I was young, I didn't know much. I just knew that we had to repay our gratitude. My mom gave me a very simple explanation, she told me that without your grandparents, without your great great great grandparents, there's no Mom and Dad today and without them, where are you? So we need to be respectful and grateful towards them. So who do we pay our gratitude to? Our loved ones, our parents, our teachers who gave us wisdom and knowledge, right? Also our country, if there's no stability in our country, how can we have a good life? Also all the sentient beings, without different professions providing services, how do we have all the services available to us and give us such convenience? This is the point of paying gratitude. All of that is within one image or statue of Buddha. The whole point is to do that. The question now is, have you walked the walk? How do we pay our gratitude? We do it by walking the walk. Do as much as you know how to, as much as you have learned from these teachings. This is the biggest form of gratitude. So what is number two? Learn from the best role models. When you look at a role model, you want to act like them, walk like them and talk like them. Think about our role model, Shakyamuni Buddha. He was an ordinary being like us at one point. He achieved Buddhahood by attaining full enlightenment, why can't we do the same? Why can't we too become a Buddha? Like Amitabha Buddha as well, he has become a Buddha. So can we. That's the point of the Pure Land, otherwise the Pure Land cannot be. Everyone is a Buddha, hence he can invite you to become Buddha in the Pure Land, all of this is to remind us that you can become as great as he is, as well-rounded as he is, equal to him, equal. Every day, we give offerings to the image of the Buddha, and the point is to remind ourselves. Have you enlightened yourself? Have you shown your temper? Have you become jealous today? Are you being honest today? Are you being truly honest to yourself? Because Buddhas did not lie to themselves right? They are true to themselves. Are you more compassionate? What if someone prostrates to Buddha every single day, but once they're outside that chanting hall or their own Buddha offering place, they gossip behind people's back or they lose their temper. So, we see the irony in that, right? That's the point of having this image, to remind us we are not like that and we need to return to our true nature, our full potential. It is not to promote superstitions, nor to worship an image of a God. Because if we treat him as a God, then we already twisted the meaning. Like Bodhisattva Guan Yin is very famous right? Why do we make offerings to Guan Yin Bodhisattva? We need to learn from her, from him. What’s the most important example learned from the best role model, what is the model set by Bodhisattva Guan Yin? Compassion, selflessness, right? No jealousy, no divisions, full of love, full of kindness, embracing all beings regardless of their situation, their status, because a person with compassion will not prevent other people from achieving success, they would help them to achieve success. We do not gossip behind people's back, we help them to improve the best version of themselves. We are all very clear of our own faults, right? So, by looking at Guan Yin Bodhisattva we learn that we need to improve ourselves. We can be better than this, better than yesterday’s version. The unfortunate part of Buddhism nowadays is that it is regarded as polytheism, practicing polytheism, worshiping many gods, commonly regarded as a primitive religion or a lower religion. In contrast, what is regarded as a sophisticated religion or a higher religion has only one God, monotheism. Take a look at the slide shown here. There are a lot of images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They are misunderstood. They are not Gods, we're not praying to many gods, right? Why do we have so many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appear in the image, in the murals? Because Buddha has employed many terminologies in his teachings, including his own name, Shakyamuni Buddha According to the Tripitaka there's a sutra called The Buddha Proclaims the Names of Buddhas Sutra. In this sutra, there are around 12,000 names of Buddha's, even more for the Bodhisattvas. Usually every year in the Dharma place where we celebrate the new year, we always have praying for the names of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and the meanings behind them, like Bodhisattva Guan Yin and Bodhisattva Di Zang. A lot of people love to prostrate to the image of Bodhisattva DiZang, right? Ksitigarbha. I asked them why do you do that? Why do you prostrate? What's the meaning behind it? A lot of them answered, because in the underworld, in hell, there's a Yama King. Yama King is a person who reigns over the underworld, right? or Hades. So the Yama King always had deep respect for Bodhisattva Di Zang. So if I pray to Bodhisattva Di Zang, King Yama won't treat me badly when I die. But the point is, what does Bodhisattva Di Zang represent? Why is he a role model? He represents filial piety, love and respect towards your elders and your parents. That's what it means, by praying to Him we learn to be more loving and respectful towards our parents, our loved ones. Buddha names such as Shakyamuni Buddha, or the Medicine Buddha, or the Pure Land Amitabha Buddha, their names have substance in them. And that substance must be known to us for our practice to continue in the proper direction. Why are there so many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas? We must understand the meaning behind this: What is the meaning behind the naming of 1000’s of Buddhas? We will talk about it next week. So, today, we had a very brief introduction of the two meanings of making offerings to the Buddha image. The first one is to repay our gratitude, and then to know what they have done for us and how we repay their kindness, in memory of them. The second one is to learn from the best role models. We discussed how we learn by making offerings towards a certain Buddha, how we learn from the merits of the best role models. Also how I can change myself to be a better version like them, because as ordinary beings, as humans, we always have faults, we definitely have faults, it is inevitable. The key is how much have we changed and how have we changed everyday to be a better version of ourselves. So that's the point of having an image in front of you. It's an error, a deep error, if we treat Buddha as a god to be worshiped. If we are still stuck in that idea of Buddha as a deity to be worshiped, to get something in return, then no matter how many years we call ourselves Buddhists, practice Buddhism, we will never get the true benefit of Buddhism. So one day, since today's lesson, when people ask you, what does Buddhism mean? Why do you pray to Buddha? How will you answer? You must give me the answer. I will give you some homework so you guys can think about it. By engaging with our lessons, it's a better way for us to learn, right? Back in my Dharma Place in Indonesia, I always had a Q & A afterwards. What level of competency does one need to have to go to the Pure Land? I usually had a study group where students raised questions and then I answered them. The point is to get a clearer, fuller picture of Buddhism and of Buddha’s teachings. Once we understand Buddha's teachings, we can use them in our life and benefit from them. So today, we learned about the meaning of role models of Buddha, through his image, through his action and through his sutras. So after today's lesson, you should know the meaning behind making offerings to the statue or image of Buddha. This is a simple explanation for this part. If I have any mistaken words or meanings that you guy's got from me, hopefully you can give me some feedback so we can all improve together. I hope that next week we can continue to learn as well, to research, to get more in depth on the great benefits brought by the teachings of Buddha. Your presence here today is already a great encouragement to me. Thank you very much. Good night. Amituofo! Let us dedicate our merits. Repentance All the harm I have ever done, since time immemorial, Are caused by greed, anger, and ignorance, And produced through my body, speech, and will, Now I confess and amend all. Dedication May the Merits and Virtues accrued from this work Adorn the Buddha’s Pure Land, Repay the Four Kindnesses above, and Relieve the Sufferings of those in the Three Paths below. May those who see or hear of this, Aspired 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.

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Understanding Buddhism (3)

Past, present, future, ... Buddha is one with perfect clarity, perfect understanding of everything that happens in the past, present and future and they understand it accurately, and well-rounded and there is no leak in the knowledge. It's correct. It's not twisted. It's not biased. Hence we call it perfect clarity. The phenomena of the infinitudes of the universe, how did it come into being? Where did it come from? Where does it go? As you see in the slide, how did the universe come into being? What's the origin or lack thereof, the process that took place? How was the universe formed and what's the fate of the universe? How did it come into being and ( how will it) end? None of them he doesn't know. He knows everything about this. 3000 years ago, Buddha already predicted(envisioned), talked about the universe, how many layers of it and how many multitudes of it, long before the scientific advancement in cosmological studies. Back then, you already had that system… milky-way, solar system in the milky-way, and then it goes to the infinite, ... The fact that he can say that 3000 years ago without any (scientific) tools like telescopes, Buddha already mentioned(knew) everything (down to the) very detail of all living beings in there. If we bring it down to our earth, he also knew how the earth is going, what is the process the earth has to go through. How does the earth go through formation, existence, which is now, deterioration and void(成住壞空). Only people with supreme wisdom are able to do that. Normal people cannot do this. Just like some of us read the Infinite Life Sutra, 2500 years ago, Buddha already said in the sutra, in this era, food are no longer safe, full of chemicals basically, they call it "food" which is filled with poisons that are harmful to their health and all the soil are infertile, so, it is hard to get healthy food. He talked about this obviously extending to polluted air, polluted land and polluted sound. All this has been mentioned in the sutra that was recorded 3000 years ago. From this hard evidence we can see that without supreme wisdom, a person without full wisdom, a full picture of the whole thing could not even fathom this kind of thing, let alone say it out in a very consistent, structured manner. The point of saying this is to complete our life. The first thing is: It goes beyond that, it goes beyond just having a happy life. It's also a full understanding of the whole Cause and Effect, the whole cycles, particles, elements that cause this to happen. What's the result of it? So this is the greatness of Buddha. This is where the Buddha’s greatness lies. He does not have any bias, error or delusions, only a person who has attained this level of understanding and knowing is called a Buddha. There are many (wise people), but if you put the wisdom to the highest standards, to the strictest standards of no bias, no error, no delusions, then (one) is called a Buddha. This is something like what other religions call their deities or deity, God(s), as all-knowing, omnipresent, but this is actually inherent in all of us, not just deities. Everyone has this ability. All of us have that ability. That means we have the right and potential to reach that level of being all-knowing, omnipresent. This is just a brief overview on Buddha and his wisdom. We will go into depth on why we can't reach that level. Before we go on, I would like to clarify one thing. Now we’re talking about the truth of the universe, we are talking about the truth. Before I came here, I was giving Dharma Talks at universities. I always had a lot of students from different religions or traditions say to me: Our religion tells us: The creations of the world, no matter if it's sentient or non-sentient, are all created by God. They asked me: What does the Buddha create? What can Buddha create? If one day you have friends, colleagues or people asking you this kind of question: What can Buddha create because our God can create everything? Could you answer that kind of question? Because, in this world, there are people who might try to find solace(comfort) in showing off, maybe because of the lack of exposure to other traditions that they're thinking in a very narrow way, it happens and it will happen. But back to the point, talking about the word “truth”, Buddha, 3000 years ago, already talked about it. Buddha can not create the truth, only discover it. Just like scientists, they don't create gravity, they can only discover gravity. These things are already there. If you call it “truth”, it should have already been there. It is just that we are not aware (of it). It's a common conception in Christian or Abrahamic religions, Catholics etc. They are at this level of understanding. When they talk about truth, they always refer to creation by God, every human, every animal, every rock. They call it the genesis: Everything you wear, everything you eat, is all created by God. But talking about Buddhist teachings, we do not say "creation", because the truth is already there. You don't need to create the truth. If it's created, then it is no longer the truth. The problem is the person who observes it, it's not the truth itself, it is the person who observed the truth is not fully aware of it(its presence). The universe has always been like that, has always been working in this way. We are not aware (of it), we are living in it for many generations, many lives. But we are not aware of it. In the Mahayana Sutras, Buddha already told us a lot of times. Because Buddha has supreme wisdom, hence he understands. Understanding this level of knowing， what we call ontology, hence the truth cannot be monopolized by any masters or any teachers or any gurus. It cannot be monopolized by authorities, whether it be religious authorities or secular authorities, nor is it like science, they always like to debate and refute. It is not debatable or refutable if it is the truth. It's a question of the egg or the chicken. Does the egg come first, or does the chicken come first? There is a question of whether Buddha comes first before Dharma or Sangha, because Buddha talked about Dharma and then formed the Sangha. But without Dharma how can there be Buddha, without Sangha how can there be Buddha? All these are correct! There is no fixed one way. They are around, they are not one way. Buddha has talked to us about life, it consists of birth, age, sickness and death, right? Everyone knows, Buddha has talked to us about that. No one can change the fact, even nowadays. This is the truth. This is an example of the truth. Everyone will be born, age, (get) ill, and die. These things still happen today, right? Buddha has taught us that life in this (world) consists mostly of sufferings, very few pleasures, very little happiness. If we talk about the ratio, look at us in 365 days, which portion is more, suffering or happiness? This thing is ongoing forever, as long as we are here. There's no need to think about who created this or us being created from where. The point is this thing is already ongoing, we need to be aware of it and how do we get out of it. A lot of people say God created the world. It's very common people might say, if God can create the world, why can't He create something that (makes us) all equal. Everyone has the same resources. Everyone has the same access to resources. Why are there bad people, why are there murders, why are there bad guys? It just does not work like that. It's pointless to argue like this. What Buddha taught was how to look at the truth that you are facing right now and how to solve the problem at hand. That's more important than the egg or the chicken debate, the half full or half empty. The point is, more importantly, can you find the meaning of your life in this lifetime? Can you find your purpose, your mission in this lifetime? That's more important than anything. The point of practicing, learning from Buddha, being a student of Buddha is to become awakened, to become wise. That means to open up, to return back to your full perfect clarity, to recover your wisdom. So let’s continue. Buddha told us that all beings, including ourselves, you and I and everyone else, we have such a level of discerning ability, such a level of wisdom. We all (have the capability of) knowing the past, present and future, knowing the Cause and Effect and knowing the formation of the universe. We have this capability as well. Let's look at Amitabha Buddha. He has been the Buddha for ten Kalpas, a very long time. Buddha can create such a world called (the) Pure Land with such a capability of lifting ordinary people into the level of Bodhisattva of No Return, level, very high. You too have the (same) ability as Amitabha Buddha to do that. If we talk about potential, even now, right here in Australia, (as you sit here,) in this seat, you can (become) a Buddha as well at this (very) instant! Why Buddha mentions this is to remind us that we all already have this ability. We don't need to seek or gain anything. We just need to recover it. In the sutra, Buddha said “All beings are equal to the Buddha in every aspect, without any difference at all”. He didn't say that I am Buddha, you must be lower than me. No! He said all beings are equal to the Buddha in every (way). You and Shakyamuni Buddha are the same. You and Amitabha Buddha are the same. You are Amitabha Buddha. A lot of times, while practicing the Thrice Yearning Ceremony, there is a phrase: Amitabha’s heart is my heart, my heart is Amitabha's heart. However, so what's the however, what's the but? However, when we look at the reality, our current reality, why is it so different? Didn’t Buddha say we are all equal? We used to have well-rounded wisdom, well-rounded fortunes, good fortunes. Why are we so far behind Buddha? Let's take the example closest to us. In this society, we have smart people, we have ignorant people, foolish people. Do you want to be ignorant or do you want to be smart? We all have a preference in our heart. No one wants to be ignorant. Everyone wants to be smart and intelligent, right? Also (there are) people with strong capability and also some people who are incapable. Also, some people are born into a wealthy family, (while) some people (are born) impoverished. These are (some of) the very real inequalities that happen in our face. Some people, once they are born, can immediately enjoy the luxuries of life akin to an emperor. Some people are born into this impoverished neighborhood, they are sick and their life is hard. For example, some people who are born directly in Australia have everything prepared for them, everything is good. Some people are born into a war torn country. Some people if they want something, they just need to utter it and they get it. Some people, no matter how hard they work, can't reach that level. Some people are born tall with good looking features while some people are not. What is the cause of these differences? How did these differences come about? Why is this gap so big? A lot of times we might even (hold a) grudge, whine to our parents: Look at the neighbor kids, they have better toys, they have nicer looking clothes compared to me! There are a lot of (people like this). It is quite common to compare ourselves with others, (thus) this inequality. Also some people have been in business for 10 or 20 years, they worked so hard but they still can't get financial security. Some people are born into it. What they want to have, immediately, they can just spend millions of millions with no problem. Buddha told us why there are these differences because we lost our capability. We temporarily lost our wisdom. Our good fortune and our wisdom is originally well-rounded; it's perfect. However, we lost it. We lost sight of it. So today's second part of this talk, we will talk about this loss. What does Buddha mean by lost? Lost what? How did we lose it? In Buddhism, this is a very keyword. In Chinese, it's called “Mi(迷)”. Because this word “Mi(迷)” lost, we are living a hard life mentally, as well as physically. (So Buddha talked about) “Lost”, in this context. It's very rare to have the (opportunity) to study with you guys and to revise(review) and understand this together. Loss refers to our delusions in the form of wandering thoughts, discriminations and attachments. Because of these delusions: wandering thoughts, discriminations, attachments, we commit negative karmas every day, repeating the faults, that means things that we should not be doing, we do it, unwholesome actions, unwholesome speech, and unwholesome thoughts. Do we have these kinds of issues? Let's think about it in the most honest way, especially (unwholesome) thoughts, speech and actions. How many of these deeds, that harm other people, (do we do) in one day alone? Mostly, to the people who are closest to us For example, thoughts of hatred, lust or greed lead us to all these (unwholesome) actions that, we can see nowadays, harm the earth and pollute the world. From (this example), something very close that we can see everyday, is why Buddha kept saying that we need to put a stop to our unwholesome deeds, wrong actions. We call it repent, more like reflect and repent. Without reflecting on our faults and changing(correcting) them, we can't improve and we can't return back to the wisdom that we used to have. Another example is the deeds that you do that are not good, not beneficial to others. The effects of these actions will harm you in the back(long run). For instance, you make a sneering remark. A sneering remark might hurt other people, and in the future, some people might do the same back to you in a different form. That's why we all have an infinite level or amount of karma creditor because of these three (delusions). We do it wrong. We say something wrong. We think something wrong. So the current homework is to breakthrough the cause of our sufferings and miseries. If we do not change ourselves, reform ourselves from the base level, from the deepest level in our heart, then we can't improve our life. You can't get good fortune, or well-rounded fortune. I believe everyone feels that in their life. Something is missing, something is lacking, something needs to be done, improved. It's a very honest question. If you think that your life is good, well-rounded, why would you want to come here and listen to this (Dharma Talk), chant Amituofo, or want to go to the Pure Land, a Land of Ultimate Bliss? Because you want to get out of this misery. If there's no misery why would you want to go, seek (rebirth in the) Land of Ultimate Bliss? If you are enjoying your life right now, if everything is 100% (good) for you, you would not want to learn Buddhism. But it's not, right? For example, a few days ago, my Dharma Center has a young person who just started a relationship. He talked to me about the afflictions in his relationship. He said: I thought when I started this relationship, we were looking for happiness in each other. However the result is (the opposite). The deeper we went into the relationship, the more pain we felt. (We are) supposed to be happy, why is it so sad and miserable? When you look at someone who just (got) married or maybe after one week or one month or two months, they divorce. Why? Because if we just rely on the emotion we call "love" alone, it has been polluted with lust, with control over others, owning others, those kinds of thoughts. It’s all based on the ego: me me me. If that other half of you, that partner, does not fulfil that vision, that desire that you have set in your heart, then you feel painful and hence afflictions. However if you look at Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, those sages, their love, we call it "compassion", we don't call it "love". Their compassion, their love is real, because they have no self-interest in it. Even when you say something harmful, hurtful to them, or even inflict harm on them, they will not retaliate. They will not have hatred. This worldly love, if it can't, if it doesn’t satisfy each other's needs in the relationships in any form, (be it) monetary loss, or anything, becomes hate. Love becomes hate. Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and all the sages, their love is like parents towards children, unconditional. Respectful brothers and sisters, this is the very key point we need to be awakened to, be aware of. Why do we learn Buddhism? Because if we practice it, we become wiser and wiser in handling people, in handling our emotions when facing people, when facing all sorts of conditions. No matter if it's a good or favorable or bad miserable encounter, our hearts will not be moved. Our minds will remain still. That's the goal. However the reality right now is that we all get swayed by anything that happens around us and the worst thing is you get deeper and deeper into this love and hate, love and hate, this kind of downward spiral. That's the cost of our downfall. That's a cost of losing our full wisdom, full fortune. What should we do now? How do I go back? Buddha told us: You have an innate wisdom, one that is perfect and well-rounded, but unfortunately you lost it. From the level of Shakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, from the level of a Buddha, that means a person who lives freely, because they are wise, they don't get entangled, becomes, someone we are now today, an ordinary being with a lot of entanglements. Let me ask you a question: Are you actually an ordinary being in essence? No! No one is always an ordinary being. It's temporary. It's quite a long (time), but it's a temporary condition. It's a temporary disease. You are a Buddha, that is who you are, that's your original identity but you lost sight of it. Because you lost sight of it, you get into that delusion, becoming an ordinary being bound by all things. For example someone who is drunk. When they are drunk, they lose rational thoughts, they act irrationally. But can we dictate that this person in that drunken state is him or her in essence? No! When they wake up, they come back to their original self, the normal self. It is the same for us. (Getting) back to the topic of “lost”. We are lost because of the delusion of wandering thoughts, discriminations and attachments. If we break through these three layers of obstacles back to our home, back to our enlightenment, back to our Buddha self, then we become Buddha, that means we are free. We are truly free. A freedom, right? This is real freedom. The key is to let go, let go of our attachment to everything. Yes, it is a sound path to walk, but it's so hard (to do). I chant Amituofo everyday, or I meditate everyday, or whatever homework I do, I still have a lot of affliction. I chant Amituofo, I pray to Buddha, I read the sutra, I listen to the Dharma, but yet my affliction remains heavy, my delusion remains deep. What can I do? In fact, the benefit is subtle. What is the benefit, when you hear sutras or Master Chin Kung's speeches or this Dharma speech right now? You were reminded, you were washed once again. Someone like Buddha, his word is born out of one with a pure heart, wisdom. It has a level to wake you up. We just need to be immersed more in there. Next Wednesday I will continue this topic with you guys. Today, being together with everyone here, first, we learned the core goal of learning Buddhism is to learn about ourselves, to learn more about ourselves, to know more about ourselves. Also, why am I learning Buddhism? In this environment, what can Buddhism bring to the table, to help me to go through this life? Then we talked about lost, how do we find our way back? What is the method? What's the cause of the loss and how do we find it back? What's the method? What ways can we use to break through the delusions, the wandering thoughts, the discriminations and attachments which caused us to do bad deeds, to have bad speech and bad thoughts. How do we transform it around, turn it around? Next week, we will talk more in depth on this topic, how do we find (our way) back. Now it's quite late. It's 9:30. Usually, we use one hour to give a brief talk about how we recognize Buddhism. What is Buddha? What is the meaning of Buddha? Why do we not translate (the word)"Buddha"? That's what we learned today. What's the meaning of Buddha? How do we get back our Buddha-Nature? Hopefully, next Wednesday from 8:30 to 9:30, we can gather again to continue these topics. If today I've mentioned anything that is not right, wholesome, I hope everyone can give me some feedback. I also hope next Wednesday, we can all participate and learn together. Because of your participation, it encourages me to settle down and learn about myself, learn about Buddhism, which is about myself. Then we will all be able to improve together. That's the biggest benefit of coming together and learning. I hope next week we can learn together, and also encourage our dear Youth Group and also myself, because of you, we will have this condition to be together. I hope next week, you open up your camera. Don't hide behind the screen. Open it up, so we can see each other. Don't hide behind the camera and leave me alone here drifting. Open up your camera next time. It's also a sign of respect to whoever's speaking, towards a monk. If you keep your camera closed, it feels like there's a gap between us, we cannot connect. Back to this topic, it gets more and more interesting in the upcoming speech, it gets better actually. Especially all these great masters, including our teacher Master Chin Kung. He has given very interesting content. I can't (repeat) everything, but I can (go over) the main points with you. Okay that's it for today. I hope everyone has a good, healthy life. All right, see you again next Wednesday. Amituofo!

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Understanding Buddhism (2) Today we will begin learning how to understand Buddhism in the hope that through our practice we will understand what Shakyamuni Buddha taught all of those years. To have a better understanding of Buddhism, we must know about the founder of Buddhism. We all know the founder of Buddhism is Shakyamuni Buddha. For him to become our teacher in this life, we must first understand what his goal is. His goal of coming to this world from the Tushita Heaven to India 2500 years ago was to lay out the Dharma that we hear now. Why did Buddha come to this world? If we do not understand Buddhism properly, then we would not be interested. It's hard to have confidence in Buddhism if you don't understand it, because in this world, there are many religions that are very complex. So we must have a proper understanding, only then can we have confidence and interest in Buddhism. This is a very important lesson. Otherwise we would bring a heavy misunderstanding to ourselves or the world, like thinking Buddhism is superstitious. This is the first thing we need to know. Shakyamuni Buddha gave Dharma Talks for 49 years. He taught for 49 years. Buddha actually is also referred to as the teacher of heaven and the human realms. However, if you look at his life, he only had one attitude toward all beings, one attitude. He served all beings without asking for anything in return and it's not just about the earthly beings like us, it's also about the beings from the whole universe. Not just our little earth, but everywhere, every species. No matter what your religion was, no matter what your faith was, as long as you were willing to learn from Shakyamuni Buddha then he was very happy to share (his teachings) with you. If you look at his history, his life, no matter if the circumstances were favorable or adverse, he persisted in sharing the Dharma. No matter what happened, no matter whether people treated him with respect or disdain, he treated them equally. He held no grudges, he had no regrets. 539 Sometimes we bear quite a lot of burden, mentally and physically, compared to what Buddha has shown to us how to be. No matter what we're facing, we will feel pain to some degree, in some form. Whatever Buddha did, his attitude towards life was always full of bliss, peace, and joy. There was no pain in his demeanor, in his state of mind. That's the difference between Shakyamuni Buddha and us. 623 So what is Buddhism? Buddhism is Shakyamuni Buddha's most well-rounded and encompassing education towards all beings. We must understand this phrase. Besides Buddha teaching us about morality, what's right and wrong, what we should do, Karma and cause and effect, he also taught us how to live a happy life, a fulfilling life. He also taught us the truth of the universe. For example, how did the universe come into being? How did life begin in this universe? Where did I come from? He didn't just perfectly answer everything logically in all aspects but he also helped show us how to become like him with all that knowledge, all that wisdom and not in a future lifetime but in this lifetime. This is the contribution of Buddha and Buddhism to this world. He made it clear to us why things are happening to us, where we come from and where we are going. A lot of sutras in Buddhism go beyond teaching material for science and philosophy. There's no other, what we call, religion that has been able to explain it in so much detail, so systematically, so encompassing from all dimensions of existence. So what is Buddhism?837 Just now we were actually reminding everyone what we have learned (This is just a revisiting of what we learned previously.) Buddhism, as you can see in the quote, is not a religion, it's not confined to philosophy, it's not confined to science, but it encompasses all of these and more. So what does Buddhism teach us? Where do we start? If we do not master this basic understanding of the nature of Buddhist education then we can't get interested (in it) and we can't use it in our life, nor can we understand what makes it unique and be respectful to it. This is most important.945 (Moral) Education is what we need in this life. Dr. Arnold Toynbee, Master Chin Kung has mentioned him a lot, said we can not live without Buddhism and prosper in the modern world, in this complex, multi-dimensional world. Who said these words, who gave this bold statement? Dr. Toynbee, his full name is Arnold Joseph Toynbee. He was British. His statement was quite bold for the time, quite visionary. In order to solve the social problems of the 21st century, modern times, there's only two teachings that can help: Mahayana Buddhism and Confucianism. He didn't mention any religions. He only talked about these two schools of teachings. Kong is Confucius, Meng is Mensius who learned from Confucius through his books. Confucianism is the core of the Chinese civilization as well as the East Asian civilization.1120 So now we are currently facing a crisis on a scale that we have never faced before in the history of mankind because it's a globalized world. Mr Toynbee’s background was that he went through World War II and because he had witnessed such a deadly conflict of human history, wanted to know what caused such a huge conflict in the human world. He researched the physical side of it like science, he looked at philosophies and humanities which are like history and throughout his lifetime he put all of his work into investigating and studying history and human civilizations such as Greek, Chinese, Egyptian etc. I wish I could speak English because I wish I could read his original work because he had a lot of very interesting (ideas). I hope, especially the Youth Group, those young people who can comprehend English, have a look at his work. One of his books is about the history of civilizations.1247 We can not survive or function without a proper society. We can't run away from it, we have to solve it. In the future, you might build a nice family or have your own way of living your life but reading his work will help put it in perspective. His insight is not ordinary, but quite in-depth. He also made the statement, “A moral education is needed for today's world”. Why? Why did he say this sentence? If it's not serious, he wouldn’t make a statement like this in his most successful work. He said that Confucius Teachings and Mahayana Buddhism Teaching can solve our problems and then he added that moral education is also important for today's world. He didn't mention any religion. He's been studying religions, he's been studying civilizations throughout his life but why did he choose Mahayana Buddhism? Because throughout his study and his own experience in World War II, he has seen that society has gone down a very misleading path. Where did it go wrong? We must understand. Why did we walk down the wrong path? If a person walks down the wrong path, what kind of dangers would it cause? If a system of education's goal of educating is aiming in the wrong direction that misleads people, what are the consequences of it? Why is it misleading? It teaches about fame and financial incentives, that's number one. Education is aimed at getting these things. 1555 It's very common to have the mindset of I will only be your friend if I can gain something from it. Master Chin Kung often talked about maximizing self-interest. How do I gain the most from this education for myself? It's always me, me, me. It's all about me. That kind of mindset is very prevalent in modern society and it causes harm towards people around us. As we have mentioned, self-centered thinking consists of maximizing greed, anger and ignorance of reality. It also indulges all of our senses (the five desires and the six stimuli). It's a misleading path, because we are just chasing the outside world. (The consequences are the increasing instability and chaos in society.) 17:42 A more common example is our environment. The environmental scientists have mentioned that if we keep exhausting the resources of the earth and creating trash because of our consumption, what's going to happen to the world? More trash. A warmer climate because of the emissions in order to produce the goods that we consume. The world will be destroyed eventually, because it will rise to a very warm temperature. We can't live, we can't survive, it will get to a stage where humanity can no longer stay on earth. If the earth is sick, that means no food or less food, less nutrition. It won't be able to operate normally because the balance is upset. 18:48 Can humans live in this kind of environment? No! Everything will be gone, mankind as well other than nature. If we do not change our patterns of thinking and behaviors as a whole, how can we ever hope for a better outcome in the world? 19:14 How many humans are there in the world today? 7.8 billion, by the end of the decade, we will reach 8 billion people. Among this population of humankind, how many people among us practice religion, practice faith? There are lots of religions in the world. How many of humankind are actually practicing it? 95% practice faith. With this amount of people who have faith in religions, why do we have this chaos still happening? So people should wonder what religion is trying to teach? Is it really working? It's supposed to bring a universal brotherhood, it is supposed to purify us and at least give us a moral upbringing, but why is the world still going down this dangerous path of destruction, environmentally and humanity as well. 21:30 This is what Dr. Toynbee mentioned in one of his works, that religion has diverted away from its core purpose. Everyone focuses on the exteriors of religions, on the ceremonial part of it, on the flashy part of it. 22:01 (When people are questioned,) what do you believe in? (They might say:) “I believe in God, I believe in Christianity, I believe in Buddhism” But when you ask them, why do you believe it? Some people can't even answer. Why do you believe in Catholicism? It’s like as long as I believe in God, I will go to heaven. That's it? Is it just that? In our case, why do you believe in Buddhism? I chant Amituofo, I will go to the Pure Land. Is it that simple? 22:49 But think about it, if we chant Amituofo with that mindset, do we actually have Amituofo in our heart or do we chant just for the sake of chanting? Or reading a sutra, if we just simply read a sutra, do we learn the spirit, do we get something out of the sutra, did we learn something from the sutra. It's the attitude. 23:16 That's the reason why the modern world has such a strong antipathy or even opposing view of religion because everything is becoming superficial including chanting Amituofo. If we chant without our heart being sincere and pure, no matter how long we chant Amituofo, it's not going to work, it's not fulfilled with Amituofo Buddha's (spirit). 24:03 Let's not talk about the big picture but just among individuals and communities, is the world safer? Do we feel safe living in modern society? Back in my childhood, I had a very safe neighborhood where one did not have to lock the door. One could just leave it open, no one would come in and steal stuff. Humans had that warmth amongst them, everything was more simple and happier back then, less guarded, less fear. 24:43 On the other hand, in modern day Australia, you lock your door before you go out. There are cases where they protect the thieves rather than the victims. There's a law that when a thief breaks into your house and even if they steal your stuff you are not supposed to hit them, you are not supposed to commit violence against them or defend yourself. There is a joke about a Dharma friend who had a thief come to their home and steal things and then say: if the old doesn't go, the new doesn't come. What else can we do? 25:53 In summary, people are getting more fearful, more guarded against one another and more suspicious of one another. Even within families there are those that doubt each other's integrity. So even families have this happen, much less the country or the world. There is no reason why the world is not unstable, the world is not in chaos. There's no reason because everyone's guarded against each other, not trusting each other. What is the world made of, what are countries made of? They are made of families. What is the core of the family? The husband and wife, father and mother. If the family moral education is not there, it passes down to the children. If they live in a very unstable family that includes arguing, divorce and even domestic violence, how can they be a good person? This is happening more and more these days. Is that not strong enough proof that modern day education has already gone down a misleading path. 27:20 If you want to learn how to be a good human being, how do we do it, where do we get started? This is a good question to ask ourselves. Since we desperately need (moral) education and Buddhism is an education, we start with Buddhism. 27:52 Buddha told us we start with yourself, begin with yourself, not others, nothing else but yourself. Do we start by asking others to conform to the teaching? No, we start by asking ourselves to conform to the teaching. Only when we ask ourselves, change ourselves, reform ourselves, will we be able to influence the people around us, our dear family, friends and colleagues. If you can influence the people around you, that's a community and a community with a good influence towards other communities becomes a nation, a whole nation that influences another nation, then the world will be a better place. 28:42 So this is why the ancient Chinese Confucius scholars always say: "If you want to have world peace or peace in a nation, then you start with your family”. The family unit has to be solid, tight, trusting and warm. That is why it is so important that we start with ourselves. 29:23Today I am very happy to see people from our Amituofo Chanting Group attending this Dharma talk. It's good to gain this understanding to improve our confidence in Buddhism. Shakyamuni Buddha showed us how to start. We start with self-education. If he could not do it, how could he influence everyone? Think about it, why are we still chanting his name as our original teacher, 2500 years later? Because he has set a very good example. Only when you are stable, only when you are steady in accordance with the teaching, the path, only then can you have the wisdom, the confidence to help others. Buddha taught for 49 years. He expounded 84,000 methods of gaining enlightenment. It's a figure of speech, actually it was an infinite number of methods. Everything he taught about is about our heart.// 3106 31:11 We sentient beings have issues with our minds, not just with our bodies, but also with our hearts, that is why we live in such a painful, afflictive world environment. So we do not only get sick in physical form, but in a sense mentally ill as well. Buddha did not beat around the bush, he directly said the reason, the cause, is that we all have this mental illness. The question is: Do you agree? Do you agree that you have afflictions other than physical ones? I'm talking about the mental ones, your attitude. This is the most interesting part of practicing Buddhism. 3256A lot of times, it's all about asking ourselves: Have I done it right or am I doing it wrong? Am I afflicted with a disease of the mind? So that's the point, right? But a lot of people do not acknowledge it. "I'm not sick. I'm healthy!" Why did Buddha say that we all have mental afflictions? What kind of affliction? What kind of sickness? How serious is this sickness? For example if we get the flu, we should rest. If you have some soreness or any body parts that are not healthy, take a seat and rest, or go to see your doctor and get a prescription so that you can buy the medicine from the pharmacy, so that you get better as you rest. It is the same with Buddha, he's a doctor, he knows what is happening to us, what kind of afflictions (we have), (and what kind of medicine we need). 34:12 Are you greedy? A lot of young people are like this: I want to live a comfortable life with little effort and maximum satisfaction, I want to buy a good car, I want to find someone that I can live with for the rest of my life, someone I like or I want someone handsome, I want a beautiful woman, things like this. There are always these desires; There's always this form of greed there. Buddha taught us, with a lot of metaphors, about greed. If we don't let go of our greed, our life will be very hard and full of burdens. For example, I had a teacher when I became a monk, my first teacher, who always told me: What sentient beings need is not a lot, what they want is a lot! 35:35 Therefore that's why we live such a burdensome life. If we can reduce our desires for things or people, then our life will be much more free, more content, more blissful. If not, if it is like: today I want something like this, tomorrow I want something like that, the day after I want something even more, it will never end, Buddha said. This is an illness, my friend. Endless desires, in this world, are common. However, if we think about it, this greed has been used to the wrong end. The consequences will lead us down the wrong path. Therefore when people say: what's the consequence of greed? Birth in the three bad realms is the consequence.3644 Affliction No.2: hatred and anger, the second disease Buddha pointed out are common in everyone, anger, if not anger, then hatred and grudges. For example, we currently have an event where we all chant Amituofo and then dedicate our merits together to Master Chin Kung. But think about this, if you get angry or even have a thought of anger, you will burn away all of the merits you accumulated during your cultivation. 3739 Think about this, there was a historical figure Emperor Liang Wu, who was one of the biggest, most famous Buddha Dharma Protectors in the human realm. He helped a lot of monks propagate Buddhism. He was supposed to have very good fortune but he died in a very sad way, because of his Karma. What was his Karma? He was very arrogant, angry and had a very bad temper. Arrogantly, he asked Boddhidharma, the first teacher of the Zen School in Chinese Buddhism, "Master Bodhidharma, I have donated millions and millions to all of the temples, I have helped a lot of people to become monastics and propagate Buddhism, do I have fortunes? How big are my fortunes? How big are my merits?" Bodhidharma replied with one sentence: "You have no merits." The Emperor got very angry. So think about what he actually did, he actually helped build Buddha statues and to propagate Buddhism and should actually have had a lot of fortune. By doing those things, according to the sutras, he should actually enjoy the pleasures of the Desire Heaven, in the Desire Heaven Realm, the first lower realm of the Heavens, in the sense that he had (acquired) huge fortune, however Bodhidharma said that he had no merits (due to his arrogance.) He then became unhappy (angry) (digging his hole even deeper), because he did so many things (for Buddhism) but was told he had no merits. 3953 Then he followed with a question, he asked: "Is there a Buddha in this world?" Bodhidharma, a master of Zen Buddhism, spoke in a way beyond his comprehension saying: "There is a Buddha but there is no Buddha." The Emperor got furious, stopped caring about him, treated him coldly and did not help him propagate (Buddhism). This was one of his weaknesses, one of his afflictions. 40:27 So, we also have ignorance, so many afflictions that we don't recognize, most importantly, we are selfish, we have a degree of self-interest, everyone of us. So because of this affliction, we are helpless in our emotions, in our behavior. We get dragged away and then, when it explodes, it diverts us from the path of the Middle Way. Because of our emotional behavior going up and down, we are no longer in equilibrium, we don’t live in equilibrium any more. Confucius called this the Doctrine of Mean. 4122 Put in simple words, very few people can settle (their mind) down to see themselves clearly, away from all of the busyness, all of the desires. Very few can see the beauty of their own inner world in comparison to the external world, thinking everything I want is outside. No, in fact the most beautiful part about you is inside, inner beauty, the inner world, your heart. What should we do? Knowing this, if you want to explore your inner world, you need to have a path to go into it, you need to have a proper teaching to guide you to explore the power, the beauty of your inner world. Without the proper Dharma, the proper teachings, you can't get into that (inner world). For a modern Buddhist practitioner, we must have a clear understanding of this. 4300 Think about what Buddha is. Anyone know? (Does anyone know)? What does the word Buddha mean? Buddha is a person who discovered the truth of the universe. He is not a creator. He did not create the truth. The truth is there, you don't need to create it. This is one thing we need to know, that it is unlike most religions. Most religions are defined by having a God, an Allah, someone who created everything, a creator of all. Even in Chinese folk religion, traditional religion, they always use the term God as well to describe it. In all of human history, in all of civilization, we always had a very strong connection with God-based, God-centered teachings like Christianity that arrived in China in the late 1800’s. They have always had the Doctrine of monotheism, that there's only one God. . They attribute everything, all the difficult questions to that one God, that one person without proper logic. What Buddha said was that he did not create anything, he only discovered how the universe came into being, an observation. It's just that it's too deep and we can't see it. We can't see the beings of the universe and how all this Karma, cause and effect, happens. So this is where the truth of his teachings, we call Buddhism, came from. It's just we can't access it. It raises a lot of questions like: Does Buddha come first or does the Dharma come before the Buddha, or does the Sangha come before the Buddha? It's just like the chicken or the egg question. The chicken comes from the egg, but where does the egg come from? From the chicken. So which one is number one, which one is number two? What's the origin point? If you ask all of these very difficult questions, it does not depart from this point, where did it come from, what's number one? What is the truth? This is a very Zen session. 4638 Today, a lay Buddhist called me to tell me about his cousin who passed away. It invoked him to ask these questions: Why do human beings have to die? Why do we have to separate from our loved ones? Why do we have to get sick? Why do we have to die? Why do we have to separate from each other? These questions are very close to our heart. Buddha explained this thoroughly in his teachings, if we can comprehend it, permeate all the clouds of doubt, then we will let go of that tension. We would not be attached. 2,500 years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha told us: humans will have sickness, age, death as they have birth. No one can change that. That's the irony of human existence. This was the truth 2,500 years ago and 2,500 years later it remains the same, no one can change these rules. Because of this truth, this reality, is why when Amitabha Buddha started practicing, he had this strong vow to create something that surpasses these four realities, slights of our human life, which is called the Pure Land. So when Buddha taught us all of this, were we awakened to (by) his teachings? Have we learned his insight? Therefore, my respectful dear practitioners, this is Buddha's teachings. All he taught about was this: First, we must become enlightened, fully awakened about our life, about human life, this hard and fast truth. If we can overcome these four realities and if you cultivate and attain this level we call nirvana then you have solved the first part of the problem. 4942 All of his teachings are about this. What's Buddha’s view on the cosmology of the world (the science of the origin and development of the universe)? How did he explain the truth to us, such a vast truth? How did he get started? You will be told in the next episode, stay tuned for the next episode. 50:18 Today I have given you a very basic, simple introduction to Buddha, his goals, his visions, the direction that he wanted to lead us and wanted us to lead ourselves (in). What is the essence of Buddhist education? Where did Buddha get started? Where does Buddhist education start? We know that we start with ourselves. The benefits to a person who truly comprehends Buddhism, Buddha's teachings, is hard to describe. Just to ourselves, our family, our life, it improves a lot if we truly put in the effort to learn it, live it. Next week, I will explain in depth how the Buddha explained this universal truth to the world, what are the concepts he used to explain it to us, especially to the scholars like us, people who like to think like us. This will be very helpful for us to get better at walking this path. Hopefully I can see you again next week, explore this together, analyze this together, and learn how to understand Buddhism.5232 That's it for tonight. If anything I mentioned sounds wrong, please be kind and give me some feedback. Thank you very much for attending this Dharma Talk. Amituofo! If no one's listening to my teaching, how can I improve my teaching, right? Thank you very much for giving me a chance! It's very hard to get this opportunity (of being together). Let us dedicate the merits.

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Ven. Master Xue Wu's Lecture on Introduction to Buddhism on Nov.10, 2021 

Live translation by Dylan Lee （李迪倫）

...

Last week I briefly introduced why Shakyamuni Buddha wanted to renounce the world. A lot of people might ask this question. Living in such a good environment as a prince who will also inherit his father's kingdom, having a good wife and also receiving great support and love from the people, why would Buddha want to be a monk?

Last time I briefly introduced the four conditions that led Buddha to become a monk. The four conditions Buddha saw were an old man, a sick man, a dead man and a Shramana (monastic).

Buddha said only when we overcome the cycle of birth, age, illness and death will we be able to achieve happiness. No one can overcome death in this world, we are bound to leave this world the moment we are existing (born) here. Buddha has observed this inevitability of life, hence he started to determine how we overcome this endless cycle. That's why he became a monk, only then would he be able to give us this brief summary on why people have to do that (need to overcome this cycle). This is just a brief introduction.

Now let's have a brief introduction of Buddha's lineage. The founder of Buddhism was Shakyamuni Buddha about 2500 years ago. (At the Deer Park,) Buddha (along) with his five Bhiksus formed the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, (also known as) the Triple Gems (Jewels). The condition that led to the foundation of the Triple Gems is from here. It has been approximately 3000 years since Buddha taught the five monks and they all attained Arhathood.

I'm not going to talk too much about the examples. Why? Because we only have a one hour session per week, it’s such a short time. It's not enough time to go too deep into this and because the last time (when) we met face-to-face, we also talked about this. So I'm not going to repeat myself in this respect. I will leave this time for other content.

So to actually understand Buddhism itself. We can all see that April 8th, 624 BC Lunar Calendar is the birthday of Buddha (Purniva). We usually celebrate the birthday of Buddha by bathing the baby Prince Siddhartha, it represents purifying our tainted heart, washing away the taint, so that our heart returns to its purity. So every year we always celebrate this event which is called Vesak Day.

We also celebrate the day Prince Siddhartha became Buddha and the day Buddha went into nirvana. Those are the common celebrations that are held by all Buddhist communities. Why do we persist in celebrating them? It is so we do not forget our original teacher, our founding teacher. If there is no Shakyamuni Buddha, there is no Buddhism in this world. Also Buddhism is quite different from other religions. I will also slowly, gradually explain that to you. The point is to understand, to experience and to remember his compassion, of his caring for all beings, of his existence that shines the path for us to become enlightened and liberated from suffering so that we can live a fulfilling, happy life. That’s why we celebrate our teacher.

We all know about his birth place in the northern India subcontinent, in the present day Nepal. It’s in the south of the Himalaya mountains. In that country, there was a kingdom called Kapilavastu. This is the kingdom where he was born in and this is in present day Nepal. His father, who was also the king of this kingdom, is called Suddhodana. The mother of the Buddha is called Maya, she was the Queen, so we call her Mayadevi. Unfortunately, Queen Maya, after giving birth to the Buddha passed away 7 days after the birth. After her passing, she (was) born into the Trayastrimsa Heaven which is the heaven where the heavenly beings we talked about last week are, the third level of heaven from us. One day in that Trayastrimsa Heaven equals 100 years in our world. Think about that, in this perspective, it’s been 3000 years according to the Chinese calendar since Buddha was born. If one day in that heaven equals our 100 years, she only experienced like a month in this heaven throughout this 3000 years of human history.

She actually had a vow before that I just want to introduce briefly. We know now Queen Maya was the mother of the Buddha. Her vow actually was to become the mother of all Buddhas. So how does that work? It means she wants to be the person who bears Buddhas from all directions into this world. Before any Buddha comes to this world to give sermons, to turn the Dharma Wheel, she will be always there waiting to give birth to Buddha and then she will always leave soon after the Buddha is born. This is just some insight for you guys. So Queen Maya was not a normal person, that's why we call her Great Maya. (Just want to give you a concept that she was a) Bodhisattva actually, not a human. (Everything) she did was designed for us to learn and benefit from.

When Buddha's mother left this world, she had a sister who also married King Suddhodana and became the stepmother of Prince Siddhartha.

So when Prince Siddhartha reached the age of 16, he married the beautiful Yasodhara. So he was very very young when he got married, 16 years of age. Now, that is too young, (one should be) at least 30 years of age. After they married, they had a child called Rahula. This is a very brief introduction to Buddha’s lineage. We now know who Shakyamuni Buddha is, his history, where he was born, who took care of him, who his father and mother were and where his kingdom was.

Also I would like to explain to everyone, after Buddha attained enlightenment, all his family became monks (and nuns) (except his father). Think about it, his stepmother became the first Bhiksuni, the first nun in Buddhism. His son became a monk at 9 years old. All of his cousins (and siblings), about 6 or 7 of them, also became monks. Although the only person in the direct branch of his family that did not become a monk was the king, Suddhodana, he did chant Amitabha Buddha’s name to go to the Pure Land at the end of his life. So you can see from Buddha himself, he not only helped other beings, he also helped his own family to attain Arhathood. That means they are no longer affected by life and death.

Think about us in our current era, who wants to become a monk? No one wants to be a monk in current times. You don’t believe (it)? Ask Alex, ask Michael, ask Dylan: Do you want to be a monk? Impossible! Why is that? It's not easy! Therefore, to become a monk in Buddhism is a big duty, a big calling. A true ordained monk, who has taken the vow, always gives himself to the society, so they can serve everyone in society. No matter how hard, they will continue to serve everyone. Becoming a monk is not about enjoying respect. It’s not a career. It’s a mission to give your life, all of your life to all the beings just like the Buddha did, to serve all living beings. Even though we are not monks, we should also have that kind of heart. How do I become a good example to society? How do I give a good impression of Buddhism to society, to let Buddhism have a good, positive, empowering reputation? First thing, if you want to achieve this goal is (to cultivate) ourselves. I am a Buddhist. I am truly cultivating Buddhism. If I am, I have to be a good example. I have to set the right example, only then can other people have confidence when they hear that learning Buddhism is a good idea. If we are just doing self-cultivation, just cultivating like chanting Amituofo, which is good, but then when we encounter situations and we become angry, we show(lose) our temper, become greedy and all that, people (would think) this is not real (very good). If we can be respectful to elders, love and respect our friends and people around us, to give them a feeling of warmth when they are around you, only then will they be attracted to Buddhism. They will say: "Oh, learning Buddhism makes (you) such a good person. I want to learn Buddhism." Therefore, Buddha himself also led all of his family to become monks, not just monks, Arhats!

Now we will talk about what Buddhism is. Some people say Buddhism is a religion. Some people say Buddhism is a culture. Some people say Buddhism is a high level science. Some people say Buddhism is about politics. Some people ask me: how big is the area of command, the kingdom of Buddha? I just respond: Buddha is not a government official, why would you think of him in that way? So this is a misunderstanding. Some people ask me this question as well: how big is his area of control in Sydney? How many people follow him? They use that kind of mindset to think about Buddha. Some people say Buddhism is a philosophy, also that it is recognized by the world as the most comprehensive and sophisticated system of philosophy. The sutras recorded from Buddha's sermons are the pinnacle of the world's philosophy, the peak, that nothing can top it. Its logic and its sophistication in how it is constructed is beautiful.2240

For example, there are many educated people or people that have a passion for learning. Are you one of these people? If you are eager to learn, you would ask these kinds of questions: How did Amitabha Buddha build his Pure Land? Why do the Buddhas of the ten directions (only) praise Amitabha Buddha? Why do they (only) praise the Pure Land? Regardless of race or religious belief, those who are educated or have a passion for learning must be eager to unravel the mysteries of the universe. They want to know where do we come from, where did the world come from, where did the universe come from, what's the origin story? Why does the earth have human beings? Why do we have a distinction between humans, animals and plants? We all have that inquisitive "want to know" instinct.

Before I learned Buddhism, I always asked my Mom: Mom, you said I was created by God but I was born by you, so how does that work? Before I was a monk, I kept asking this question. No one can answer it for me. No one. Since we are created by God, who created God himself? How did our solar system come into being? Why do humans have life and death? Why doesn't God, if he can do that, create a perfect world where there is no life and death? If he has all the power that is described in the doctrines, why didn't that happen? Why do we have so much suffering? No one can answer these questions for me. These kinds of questions were always in my heart and mind back then. When people die, where do they go? When people come to this world, why are there so many differences? Some people are good looking, some not so good-looking, some people are born into wealth, high-positions and power while other people are born into poverty? No one can answer these for me. Why do I want to chant Amituofo? Why do I want to go to the Pure Land? If no one can answer these questions, then it is not worth learning. This also tells us that we need to start critically thinking about how we resolve these very fundamental problems.

For most people, we might also think about having a good, happy life in our current existence, that also requires an inquisitive mind as well. Like, how do I build a happy family? What are the components required to build a happy family? How do I find a good spouse? How do I provide for my family? How do we live together peacefully? Shakyamuni Buddha, throughout his entire teaching life, taught about this.

(start from2750 )
Where do humans come from? After humans die, where do they go? Why are human and natural environments like this? If you look at the sutras, they will slowly introduce these points to you, ideas about the finer points of Buddhism.

Today, if someone asks us as a lay or monastic member of Buddhism: what is Buddhism about? How would you answer it?

No. 2 Buddhism has such a vast collection of sutras. There are 84,000 methods of cultivation. Which religion has such a big volume more than a library actually if you put it there, such a big volume of sutras? Most religions only have one Bible or a few Gitas. We have a library worth of collection. So what is the goal of Buddhist teachings? What are they trying to achieve by giving us these teachings? How do we answer these questions? We also need to be able to answer well, otherwise a lot of people will misunderstand Buddhism. They would think it is just a superstitious old religion, that we come to the Buddha Chanting Hall and pray to the God called Buddha so that he gives you blessings or we'll sit down and chant Amituofo in the Chanting Hall all the time. If you don't understand why we do that, a lot of people would think: Is that all that Buddhism is about? So we must understand why we are doing this. So what is Buddhism? Let's continue.

We just need to break it down one by one to the finest points so that we can really understand it in our heart. How is it helping our society, how is it helping myself, how is it helping people around us, our world? First, what is Buddhism not? Buddhism is not a religion. So we do pray to Buddha which looks like we are worshipping, but we are not worshipping a God actually. We're just giving our respect, the highest form of respect.

It's not a philosophy or a field of science. It is a well-rounded and all encompassing education. It takes everything good about education and more and puts it in there. Why? Because it gives us wisdom, wisdom to discern right from wrong. It also gives you ways to attain longevity, health, infinite fortune and infinite merits. They are all there. What your future will look like, what is the outlook of your life. Buddhism is a light that shines that path for you, so you are not carelessly walking down a path that will cause you more suffering. Although there might be difficulties and obstacles at the time, but it will help you in the face of these obstacles or troubles. You will be able to build up the right system to overcome them.

For example, marriage, a lot of people, especially in the 70s and on, but also these modern times, a lot of people are taking this like a joke. After a few days or months, they get divorced, you know they just do it for the fun of it. Or sometimes when people harm us by saying something hurtful or defaming, how do we resolve that properly? What are the ways to resolve these properly?

Buddhism on a larger scale can harmonize our society. So that people can live in peace and also purify our hearts.

No. 3 It dispels the ignorance that creates more suffering for us. How do we stop creating miseries for ourselves or stop others from creating miseries? Education. Education enlightens everyone. No one can live without this education if you want to live a happy life, say in Australia, it's a form of fortune. You are able to be born in Australia or to migrate to Australia and live this happy life or stable life, this is a fortune but how do you use this fortune? How do we earn respect and learn from society? We also need to be educated on its composite effect. Look at someone with a beautiful happy family and we want a very good relationship with our spouse, parents, in-laws, children and siblings, that all requires education for everyone to work together. That's why all competency is well-rounded. Therefore Buddhism is an education.

So what we know is that Buddhism is not a religion, a philosophy or a science but an education.

So how do we get started? Why does Buddha put so much emphasis on teaching? For the 49 years that Buddha appeared in our world, everything about him was(about) education, an example. We learn by example, right? He is an example for us to learn (from), everything he says, (even the way) he moves, sleeps and sits, they are all a way to educate us.

Let's continue to learn what Buddhism teaches us. So, from where we start to understand that Buddhism is actually an education, how do we find out (what Buddhism teaches us)? Because people might ask: since you keep saying Buddhism is an education, where can you see it? Where can you find it in our conduct in Buddhist society? First (is) the way we address each other and address the Buddha in Buddhism. We address Shakyamuni Buddha as our founding teacher, or original teacher. Just now (Earlier) we did that, (by saying): Nan Mo Ben Shi Shi Jia Mo Ni Fo! This is why Shi(師) in Chinese translated into English is teacher. Ben(本), in this case, it means root, our root teacher, so putting it in clear English, he's our original, first teacher. 

So this teacher of ours who has gone through many lives of giving(sacrifice), he has gone through a lot of troubles just to find the way for us to gain enlightenment. Shakyamuni Buddha is a teacher who founded this teaching for us.

In front of Buddha, we address ourselves as students. In Chinese, we call ourselves Di Zi (弟子) which means student.

Di Zi Dylan, Di Zi Alex, Di Zi Michael, is the proper way of addressing ourselves. So our relationship with Buddha is one of a teacher and a student. Buddha is our teacher, we are his students. Like, when we were young, we went to school. Who taught us? A teacher. Without a teacher teaching us, why do we go to school? That's the whole point of school. If a student wants to be successful, to be great, they have to listen closely to what the teacher is teaching them. Shakyamuni Buddha is the same. Now we are his students, Shakyamuni Buddha is our founding teacher. So this relationship is quite unique to Buddhism in comparison to religions. In religions, they don't talk about students and teachers, because they center around the relationship of the father and the son which frames the relationship between God and humans. Thus religions are like that. You are my son, because I created you, this world is created by me. So such a relationship happens, you have to hear(listen to) me, because I am your elder(creator). So Buddhism is not like that. Buddhism educates without prejudice as long as you're willing to learn, Buddha will not refuse. If you don't want to learn, Buddha will not punish you. He will just walk away. I don't want to learn Buddhism, I want to believe and learn about other religions. Would Buddha say:" No, you can not leave! You will be punished to hell." No, he won't do that. Is there any sutra where Buddha says:" You are a betrayer! You are the Judas! You will be punished!" No, Buddha always accords to conditions, if you're willing (to learn), I will be here, I will help. If you don't want (to learn), the door is there, you're free to leave. Because Buddha educates without prejudice (to status, caste, race, religion, gender). Buddha does not separate us like that. He doesn't have that concept. He will not punish you, he will not put you in hell or condemn you. He wouldn't say you are my creation. It does not happen like that. So, Buddhism is something quite unique.

Since we understand and affirm Buddhism is in the category of education, let's talk about education itself. What are the parts of Buddhism that we keep practicing that shows that it is an education? The first thing is that the title Namo Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha represents education. I will break it down word by word to show why Buddha puts such a heavy emphasis on education. First, Namo. Namo Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Namo Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. What does Namo mean? It's a sanskrit word. In Chinese or English it means to return, to go home, to reform our faults, to reflect on our past wrongdoings and then return to our true nature which is good and pure. Why do we have to return? It is because we all have committed a lot of faults, a lot of habits that are not wholesome. If these habits are allowed to accumulate untouched and unmanaged, they will become Karma which will cause a lot of trouble in our future. Buddha does not fear that his students make mistakes, he fears that his students will make mistakes and not correct them, leaving the mistake to fester. The right attitude is: I must change (correct) my faults when I discover them. A lot of people, like myself, have a temper. We might easily lose our temper and if we allow this bad temper to continue, it will cause a lot of our loved ones around us to suffer when they are with us. They will gradually leave us one by one.

Also, gossiping is another bad habit, a common habit. A lot of people gossip because they like to pick on people's faults, people's wrong (doings), people's mistakes causing disharmony among groups. 4658

Another example are swear words or harsh words. These are a few examples of what not to do when we interact with society in our everyday capacity. The core of it is: have I done something that caused harm and pain towards others or discomfort to others? So, the name of Buddha himself reminds us of this. When we read "Namo", you must think “I must return back, return from my faults. I must change (correct) myself, only then can my life be as bright as Buddha's”. That's what Namo Ben Shi Shi Jia Mou Ni Fo(Namo Founding Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha) means. From now on, I must think “I will truly love the people around me. If I love them, I should not cause harm to them or cause them heartbreak. I should not cause my parents to fear for me because of my behavior or worry about me”.

So, what does Shakya mean? It's also sanskrit. In English, it's called compassionate, a loving heart, a caring heart towards others. It teaches us to treat everyone, all beings, with compassion, with love, trying to remove them from their current suffering and give them happiness. Especially in this era, a lot of people lack one thing: a compassionate heart, a heart of being considerate. Because of this insufficiency of being inconsiderate, we have this kind of society nowadays. Everyone's guessing, second-guessing, third-guessing each other, stepping up to hating each other, hating the world, hating school, things like that. If you are like Bodhisattva Guan Yin, if we adopt an attitude like Bodhisattva Guan Yin, are we even going to be angry towards people, pick on people's faults? Even though we might not be 100% like Bodhisattva Guan Yin, if we can learn 10% of the way he looks at the world, like Guan Yin is always looking at the good part(side) of people, the best part(side) of people. I might not even be able to help them in their current circumstance, but I can have a good mind, positive meta, a positive mindset to them with a prayer towards them, so that they may be well, they may be good, they may be kind, they may be healthy, their family may be in peace. We might not be able to help them now, but we always must have that heart all of the time, so this is how we plant compassionate seeds in our heart. The Buddha's name itself is the same. Why do we keep chanting his name? It is not for the sake of chanting, it's for the sake of completing this virtue, reminding us to be compassionate all the time, a person who is 100% compassionate. Have you ever seen Bodhisattva Guan Yin being angry, showing his temper? Have you ever seen Buddha showing his temper in the records?

There's a story about Buddha. There was a person who did not follow Buddha. He went in front of Buddha and without greeting Buddha began scolding(swearing at) Buddha, scolding(swearing) and scolding(swearing), using all kinds of harsh words, Buddha was not moved, just sitting there. He scold and scold until he was tired, then he asked Buddha: "I keep scolding you, I keep swearing at you, why aren't you responding?" Buddha replied: "I don't feel anything!" as he replied with a smile, like a joyful smile, a cheerful smile. But if you were in Buddha's position, how would you feel? How would you react? If someone swears at you or scolds you, picks on you one by one directly with that force, you would immediately jump (up and get) angry. You will start to think: "Who are you! You are not my Dad, not my Mom, (why do you scold me?)" Somebody may even lift(point) a knife in retaliation. There are humans like that.

There was a time when I was sitting in a plane, I witnesses a small incident, a small thing like a flight attendant being a little bit neglectful in their services, where one of the passengers stood up and just began scolding(swearing) and scolding(swearing) and scolding(swearing). If we learn the teachings of Buddha, would we react like that? Some people, unfortunate people, were raised in that kind of environment, all they know about is complaining and complaining and complaining. When they're young, they're exposed to complaining and then when they grow up they become that kind of person, scolding(swearing) and complaining. Buddha is not like that. On the other hand, Buddha always has a heart of tranquility, joy and bliss. In the normal depiction of Buddha, you will never see Buddha with an angry face. No, you will not. So Shakya means compassionate.

Muni means purity. So purity in what? When we face everything, all kinds of people or things or matters or business, our mind must be clear, must be very clear. What is right, what is wrong, what I must do, what I must not do. If you can do that, all these societal problems, divorces, all the crimes (would not occur). Especially marriage, why do marriages not last? They can not hold on to what they have, to be content. A lot of them lost the purity, lost the Muni, and got dragged along by the temptation of the outside (world). Some people are supposed to have a happy life, supposed to have a very good life, but because of one error and their mind was muddled because of the temptations, they gave it all up. The name of Buddha alone teaches this.

What about the second point? This is from the name of Buddha. From today, after this lesson, when we chant the name of Buddha. What does the name of Buddha tell me? No. 1, I must return, that means Namo. I must return from the faults, from the unwholesome deeds, the wrong deeds to prevent doing bad deeds, and go back to my true nature. So many sutras given by Buddha, what's the core of the sutras, what's the key point of the sutras? To reform our faults, to return to our good self, our true nature. We must investigate this.

We'll continue next week. It's been an hour already. This is how I got interested in Buddhism. In the past, I was not interested in religion, I learned Hinduism, I learned Taoism, I learned Catholicism, Christianity, why did I end up choosing Buddhism? Because all the answers are in there. All my questions were answered. It's just that we don't know about it. Buddha has already left all the answers one by one in one book by one book for us, we don't know it, isn't that a waste? Buddhism gives us a perspective of what we should do, what we should not do to have a happy life. Therefore I think it's very important for me to introduce it to you. It's very interesting. I'll pick some main points, because there are too many sutras, really a lot. So I will pick some main points for you, interesting points. So today, that's it!

Next week, next Wednesday, same time, 8:30 Okay? See you next week!

Thank you Teacher!

Master: "Buddha bless you! Amituofo! Okay, Bye!"

Dedication

May the merits and virtues accrued from this work
adorn the Buddha’s Pure Land,
repay the Four Kindnesses above,
and relieve the sufferings of those
in the Three Paths below.
May those who see or hear of this,
bring forth the heart
of understanding and compassion and,
at the end of this life,
be born together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

77認識佛教1我要改過自新，我的前途才能夠一片的光明！我要改過自新，自我反省，我這一生才能過得好。

大家請合掌 一起來稱念 本師釋迦牟尼佛 三稱

南無本師釋迦牟尼佛(三稱)

大家晚安 吉祥 阿彌陀佛

今天很歡喜 能夠再藉這一次 跟你們在一起聚會 來學習 如何來認識佛教 這個是一個很重要的 有人說 在現代這個時候 在這個生活面 學佛對我有什麽好處呢 我爲什麽要學佛 世上有這麽多的宗教 我爲什麽要選擇對於佛教的認知呢？這個就是要跟大家一個一個來説明 因為我們是非常難得 過去是一個月只能一次的見面。 現在 每個星期三晚上會做一個簡單 扼要 主要性的來爲大家介紹。 佛陀對我們人類有什麽樣的，一個很大的幫助。 當然了我們要一個一個來學習。學習當中一定要有耐心，才能夠得到佛陀的教誨 這個一定要跟大家一個一個來説明。 雖然我們為青年團的或者一些老同修 經過學習幾年下來的 也可以當作溫習一下。 因爲很多人 到現在 雖然說我是學佛 但是到最後 我在學什麽他都不知道。 認爲我學佛 拿著念珠 誦一部經 或者念幾句佛號 少一個香 供養 布施 以爲這個就是佛教。能夠生意興隆發大財 或者升官 種種的 一種形式的看待 但是佛教不是這一個 它著重不是在這個地方

上個星期 已經給大家簡單的介紹了 釋迦牟尼佛 出家修道的因緣 爲什麽佛要出家？ 這個問題 很多人都會問這個問題。生在一個這麽好的環境， 又身爲一個王子 又將來能夠繼承他父親的王位，享受榮華富貴，有娶了這麽好的一個太太，這麽美麗的太太。又受各族老百姓的擁護，這麽好的環境，佛陀爲什麽要選擇出家 很多人都想不明白這個問題。上一次已經跟大家簡單的介紹，有四個因緣，佛爲什麽要來出家，就是因爲看到老、 看到病人、最後看到死亡、然後看到沙門。所以釋迦牟尼佛知道：只要突破這個生老病死之苦，人才能夠真正獲得快樂 美滿。因爲生老病死 沒一個人沒辦法去改變它的。我們來到這個世間，總有一天會離開這個世間的。我們來到這個世間 總有一天會老 沒有一個人能夠避免的。老了之後，又生病 佛看到這樣 人生之苦 所以想盡辦法 要來找一個方法 怎麽樣突破生老病死。後來經過出家修道 成佛了。才爲我們説明了 人 爲什麽會有 生老病死 這個道理 佛講的很清楚

我們大家都知道 佛教的創始人是釋迦牟尼佛 2500年前 釋迦牟尼佛與五位比丘 在鹿野苑 經過的教導 後來成立了 所謂的三寶：佛法僧。所以 佛法僧建立的起源 就是從這個地方而來的 釋迦牟尼佛成佛之後 去度這五位比丘 這五位比丘經過佛陀的教誨統統都證得阿羅漢果，證果之後 三寶就建立了 所以到現在 我們佛教已經距離現在已經3000年了

佛陀的歷史 我在這個地方 不再給大家介紹了 爲什麽呢 因爲我們一個星期只有一次，時間又很短，只有一個鐘頭。所以把這些簡單，因爲上一次，很多次，我已經爲大家講很多次，所以在這個地方，我不再給大家詳細的介紹，把這個時間不讓耽誤，我們能夠詳細來爲大家講解：認識佛教。

我們大家都知道在…裡面，都能夠看到，就是：公元前624年農曆一般我們4月初8是釋迦牟尼佛的聖誕 釋迦牟尼佛降生在這個世間是4月初8，所以一般我們佛教徒 每一年在4月初8 會做一個活動 慶祝佛陀的聖誕，用什麽來慶祝呢？沐佛節 就是來爲須達多用水來沐浴 代表 把我們的心 污染的 煩惱的心 把它洗乾淨 讓這個心能夠清淨。 所以每一年在佛教徒面 會一個慶祝叫維塞節 就是慶祝佛陀的出生日。然後 佛的成道日 佛的涅槃日 所謂的 三個節日。…爲什麽我要慶祝釋迦牟尼佛聖誕、 成道、 涅槃日？ 就是讓我們不忘本，今天如果沒有老師的貢獻 沒有本師釋迦牟尼佛爲我們一切衆生 我們今天是沒辦法 聞到佛法的。而且佛教跟其它宗教是不一樣。這個也是會跟大家慢慢説明。不要忘本，老師的慈悲，老師的關懷，老師對我們的貢獻 所以來慶祝。讓我們能夠依教奉行，能夠聼老師的教誨 把這個人生過得美滿，過得幸福。

釋迦牟尼佛出生大家都知道就是在北印度，就是現在我們所講的尼泊爾。就是在喜馬拉雅山的南邊 這個地方有一個國家 叫做 迦毗儸衛國，就是釋迦牟尼佛出生的地方。國王名叫淨飯王 母親摩耶夫人，但是很可惜 摩耶夫人生佛陀 經過七天，她就離開這個世間了， 然後來，生在忉利天，所以摩耶夫人現在還在忉利天。所以有人説摩耶夫人在哪？ 現在在忉利天，忉利天一天我們這個人間一百年，壽命有一千嵗。摩耶夫人距離我們現在已經將近三千年 到現在，(摩耶夫人在忉利天享受)才一個月。

摩耶夫人她有一個大願，…她曾經發過願 就是要做十方諸佛如來之母 意思說：十方諸佛如來要到這個世間講經説法，像釋迦牟尼佛降生在印度。她要做十方諸佛如來的母親，所以每一尊佛到這個世間講經説法 摩耶夫人一定先到這個世間等佛降世之後 她就離開了 這個摩耶夫人發過這個願。所以摩耶夫人也是一個很偉大的 非常偉大！讓你們學佛的人有一個概念。因爲這個就是所講的 都是菩薩 來示現的。所想的都是為衆生。

摩耶夫人離開這個世間，誰來照顧佛陀呢？就是摩耶夫人的妹妹摩訶poti，也是嫁給淨飯王，後來作爲佛陀的姨母來照顧佛陀。

到了十六嵗的那一年 佛陀就與美麗的耶輸陀羅結婚了。結婚的年齡很年輕。不像我們現在的人 哪有這麽年輕的？至少要三十歲。結了婚之後，生了一個兒子名叫羅侯儸。這個是簡單給大家溫習一下，佛陀的家屬。佛的歷史，我就不再給大家介紹了。這個是簡單給大家做一個概念：釋迦牟尼佛長大誰來照顧？釋迦牟尼佛成家是在幾歲？後來，生了一個孩子。他的父親，國王生在哪個地方？這個一定要給大家重複來溫習一下。而在這個地方，我們要跟大家來説明的就是：

釋迦牟尼佛成佛之後 他的家屬統統都是出家了。他的姨母摩訶BOTI，她也出家 他的太太耶輸陀羅也是出家 然後他的兒子9嵗 也是出家，還有他的這些表弟(堂弟)，師兄弟，因爲釋迦牟尼佛是老大，像阿難、難陀，這些好像有6個還是7個，我忘記了，統統也是出家。唯獨他的父親淨飯王沒有出家，雖然不出家，但是淨飯王念佛往生西方極樂世界，也是很特別，也是不可思議的。所以釋迦牟尼佛真的好厲害！不但能夠幫助一切衆生 也能夠孝順他的家屬，統統讓他的家屬個個修行成果 就是證得阿羅漢果 超越六道輪迴 超越生老病死了 這個就是盡孝道。所以真的很不容易 現在的人 在這個時代 誰想出家呀 沒有人想要出家的 你不相信？你問問Alex, Michael, 迪倫，你們想出家？不可能！真的不容易！

所以出家這個事業是很偉大的 不但把自己的生命貢獻給一切衆生 想盡辦法 來為大衆做一個服務 無論有多苦 想盡辦法 為大衆服務 這個就是出家 所以出家不是來享受的。不是一種事業的 不是 它是一種使命 把自己的生命貢獻給一切衆生 把自己的生命 來爲一切衆生 來做一個服務 所以我們也要發這個心。雖然我們不出家，但是我要怎麽樣來爲這個社會做一個好樣子 怎麽樣這個社會對佛教 有一個很好的印象，要怎麽樣讓社會能夠獲得佛教的利益。怎麽樣來做貢獻呢，先從自己做好樣子。我是一個學佛的人，我是一個真正學佛的人 做一個好樣子出來 人家看到你這樣的，人家學佛才會有信心 如果今天天天拜佛 天天誦經 天天拿著念珠 動不動發脾氣 動不動不喜歡這一個 動不動討厭這一個 動不動我對你怎麽樣，計較這一個 針對這一個，誰敢來學佛呢？2233

對父母能夠懂得孝順 對長輩懂得恭敬 種種在這個社會面你能夠做一個好樣子出來人家學佛才會有信心。所以我們來瞭解一下，佛教到底是講什麽呢？爲什麽現在 到現在已經距離我們3000年了。不但社會上能夠接受 而且現在學佛的人越來越多了 説實在的 以後會更多。有人說佛教是宗教，有人說佛教是一種文化，有人也説佛教是科學 而且是高等的科學，還有人家說佛教是政治家，甚至有人問我說：師父 釋迦牟尼佛管的地區有多大 釋迦牟尼佛管的人有多少 釋迦牟尼佛也不是做官的。還管人，還管地區的。這個就是誤會了 有人也問我這個問題：釋迦牟尼佛在雪梨管多大？還有問 人有多少？這個是不對的觀念。還有人說：我們佛教是哲學，而且是全世界的公認：釋迦牟尼佛是世界上最偉大的哲學家。全世界的，這個不是我講的。而佛教的經典也是全世界哲學的最高峰。最高峰的意思沒有比這個更高了，世界上所有的宗教，所有的哲學，是沒辦法比的。

譬如說，全世界知識分子，或者對於這些好學的人，好學，你們是不是屬於好學的，我不知道。好學的人，這個佛教是從哪來的？阿彌陀佛是怎麽樣建立西方極樂世界。西方極樂世界有什麽樣的好處？爲什麽爲什麽十方一切諸佛如來都勸導我們到西方極樂世界。這個就是一種好學，我想要知道，佛教是什麽，無論你是哪一個種族，信仰是哪一個宗教，他們都會想知道 想去探索 哲學的奧秘，什麽奧秘呢：宇宙的真相是什麽？這個宇宙是怎麽來的？這個人是怎麽來的？這樣宇宙的星球是怎麽樣的，起源的？他們都很想知道，包括我自己本身，我們每個人都想要知道這個道理，爲什麽諸佛要到這個世間來？爲什麽地球會有人類？爲什麽人類當中還有動物？還有這一些種種的 這些的生物，這些的生命，這個是怎麽來的，這個奧秘是怎麽說的？我們每個人都有這種的觀念，包括我以前也有這樣的觀念。師父以前還沒出家之前，我常常在問我的老師，問我的父母，我説：媽媽，上帝說，人是上帝創造的，我的生命明明是父母賜給我的，怎麽會是上帝創造的？以前我還沒出家之前就是常常問這個問題，但是沒有人能夠爲我解答，沒有人。既然我們人是上帝創造的，上帝在哪創造的？誰創造上帝的？我以前就是常常問這個問題。我們這個星球是怎麽來的。爲什麽人有生會有死，爲什麽不能永遠在一起？爲什麽上帝沒辦法把我們人類創造一個美好的世界，有生，沒有死，永遠不老，永遠健康。我常常問這個問題，但是沒有人能爲我解答這個問題。真的。人死了以後往哪走？這個人來到這個世間，爲什麽會有：有長的好看的，還有長的不好看的，為什麽還有一些人來到這個世間生在一個帝王之家，或者一個很有福報，富貴之家。3008或者有些人 來到這個世間 爲什麽生到這個世間很貧窮？或者甚至有人生在一個很富裕的國家？甚至於有人生到這個世間很貧窮的國家？我常常有問這個問題。但是沒有一個人能夠爲我解答這個問題，好學麽。我想要知道。像我以前爲什麽我要念佛？我爲什麽要到西方極樂世界？爲什麽十方諸佛如來要我們到西方極樂世界？這個我一定要知道的麽。如果你不清楚，對老師很模糊，那我們學這個宗教沒什麽意義。所以，你要用你的心去學習，用你的時間去參考，用你的精神去接近，你才能夠知道，原來人是這樣的。像我以前常常講：我要過一種幸福美滿的人生，將來娶一個太太，成立了一個家庭，生了一個兒子，我要怎麽樣來建立好這個家庭。我們必須要有一個根本，要一種精神，讓我們明白麽。這個問題我們一定要知道的。所以釋迦牟尼佛3151

所以 釋迦牟尼佛一生就是講這個，這個宇宙的真相從哪來的。人是從哪來的？人死了以後往哪走？我們來到這個世間，爲什麽會有這樣的環境？佛講的很清楚。而且，這個宇宙事實的真相，講的很明白。你看經典 你就知道，我們這個慢慢會跟大家來説明，讓大家有一個概念。希望大家我們好好來學習，好好來研討。3249

今天如果有人要問你，特別是我們學佛的弟子，無論男女老少，出家在家，人家要問我們，這個佛教到底在講什麽？你怎麽回答呢？佛教是講什麽？你看 第二佛教那麽多經典，頭有八萬四千法門。在宗教面只有佛教，才會有這樣的。這麽多。一部《大藏經》這麽多。你去看其他的宗教，他只有一本而已，這麽小小的。但是佛教你看整個《大藏經》這麽大，有八萬四千法門，面是講什麽呀？佛教教學的目標是什麽？我們要怎麽回答呢？所以這個問題我們怎麽回答，而且你一定要能夠答得出來，不然的話，你會讓人家誤會，認爲我們佛教是迷信的。這個我們一定要知道的。不然的話人家以爲你是迷信。來到佛堂，燒燒香，拜拜佛，拿著木魚，拿著大罄，敲一個木魚，這個就是佛教了嗎？每一天坐在念佛堂，阿彌陀佛 阿彌陀佛 阿彌陀佛…那個是佛教嗎？拿著花來供養，或者拿著經書來讀誦，那個是佛教嗎？不要讓人家(認爲)我們佛教是迷信的。那佛教是什麽3518

佛教是什麽？對我們這個社會有什麽幫助？對我自己本身有什麽樣的好處？佛教非宗教，它不是宗教，稱爲宗教是一種恭敬。算一種恭敬。也是非哲學。非科學。而且是至善圓滿的教育。至，就是沒有比這個更高的，就是很圓滿的。你這一生你要獲得，有福報，生在這個世上能夠有智慧，全部都在面了。你要開智慧，你這一生你要活得有福報。這個福報很多種，身體健康、衣食無憂，種種的，各樣的這種的福報，全部都在面。而且是至善，最圓滿的，沒有比這個更圓滿的，你想要獲得無盡的這些的福報，你要學佛！因爲佛教面全部都有了！將來你的前途，將來你是怎麽樣的，佛教這面很多爲我們指一條明燈。讓你將來，這一條路會走得很好，雖然，不是每一件事能夠一帆風順，但是起碼，它能夠幫助你，在這個社會上，在這個環境面，甚至於我們年輕人，要建立一個好的家庭，全部都在面。不要像外面現在，結婚才一兩年就離婚了，結婚才三年就離婚了。結婚才幾個月就離婚了。動不動兩位夫妻，過得很辛苦，在這個環境遇到處事待人接物，種種的，讓我們很苦惱，我們怎麽解決？我們心有時候會有煩惱，看到人嫉妒，看到人來批評我們，看到人來傷害我們，我要怎麽樣來解決，全部都在面！3817。

而且佛教能夠安定社會、淨化人心，這個是第二，它真的能夠幫助我們這個社會環境，讓人家過得平安，過得幸福，過得快樂。所以不但這樣，也能夠破迷開悟，離苦得樂，爲什麽呢？因爲，我們每個人就是想要幸福美滿的人生，你幸福美滿的人生你要經過什麽，經過教育。這個都是我們所講的，都離不開教育。你今天能夠生在澳大利亞，過得一種幸福、衣食無憂，這個也是一種福報，但是這個福報也是從哪來的？從教育。你今天想要過得幸福美滿的人生，你想要過得一種，在這個社會上得到人家的尊重，得到人家對你的愛護，得到人家對你的關懷，對你的愛心，也要經過這種的教育。將來你建立一個好的家庭，幸福的家庭，兒女能夠孝順，先生能夠懂得，怎麽樣來對這個家庭的愛護。太太要怎麽樣讓這個家庭帶來平安。都是經過教育的。全部都在面。所以佛教是教育，什麽呢？

4000既然佛教非宗教，非哲學，非科學，那佛教的教育是教什麽呢？我們要從哪下手？爲什麽釋迦牟尼佛著重在這個教育上？你看釋迦牟尼佛四十九年，一天講經都不中斷，每一天八個鐘頭，四十九年，從他的言語行爲造作，都是教育的，沒有一天中斷的，天天都在講經，都在教導衆生，連要入涅槃的那一刻，佛還是度人。你看都是教育的，我們從哪看到呢？我們從哪下手呢，這個教育教什麽呢？4113

從哪一些地方我們才能夠看得出來，佛教是教育呢？這個很重要。既然你説佛教是教育，我們從哪看到呢？首先 我們在佛教面，常常稱呼方面能夠看得出來，而且也能夠發現，我們佛教徒一般都是稱釋迦牟尼佛為【本師】。像剛才不是我們還沒跟大家講講之前，我們不是要先念南無本師麽。南無本師釋迦牟尼佛三稱麽。爲什麽要稱他，因爲他是我們的老師啊。師，就是老師麽。本師，就是根本的老師。所以，爲什麽我們每一次講經之前，會先稱念。想想我們的老師吃了很多苦，為了我們一切衆生，他犧牲自己來貢獻。今天找到這個方法，讓我們瞭解，讓我們明白，所以我們要稱念他，想念他。因爲，他是我們的老師，用現代話來講這個教學的創始人，他是創世的一位老師，他是創世佛教的一位老師，所以我們自稱為弟子。弟子，就是學生。像我們常常弟子：學悟。弟子：Alex, 弟子：迪倫，弟子：Michael。弟子代表，我是學生。所以(從)稱呼上來看是非常明顯的，我們能夠看出來。我們跟佛是學(師)生的關係，佛，是老師，我們是學生。像今天我們小的時候，去學校。到學校，誰來教我們，老師麽。如果沒有老師來教我們，那我們到學校做什麽呢？是不是這個道理啊？我們學生，如果你想要成就，你要聽話呀，老師怎麽教，你就怎麽學麽，就是好學生啊。釋迦牟尼佛也是一樣。今天我們是佛弟子，佛弟子是自稱，我們的老師是誰？就是釋迦牟尼佛。這種學(師)生關係，只有佛教面有，其他的宗教是沒有的。只有佛教。佛教才講學(師)生的關係。在其他宗教是沒有，爲什麽呢？4508

宗教頭最重要是講父子的關係，父子。就是說，講神與人的關係。其他宗教就是這樣：你們是我創造的，你要聽我的。這個世界是我創造的。這個宇宙是我創造的。你們全部都是我創造的。所以有這種神跟人這種的關係，你要聽我的。那佛陀的教育不是這個樣的。佛陀的教育是有教無類，只要你肯學習，佛就來教你。你不想學習了。我不想學佛了。佛也不會來懲罰你，不會的。我今天不學佛了，我要學其他的宗教。佛會不會說："你不學，我把你下入地獄！打入地獄！" 沒有啊！佛沒有這樣講啊！你有沒有聽過我們哪一部經，釋迦牟尼佛說：“你是一個叛徒！”沒有！釋迦牟尼佛很隨喜的，你能夠來，你想學習，我來教你。你不想學習了，隨緣，你喜歡，你離開，你喜歡哪一個，你喜歡去學習，佛不會嫉妒你，佛也不會障礙你的。佛也不會跟你說：“把你打入地獄！”沒有！釋迦牟尼佛從來沒有這樣的要挾我們這個人類，沒有，從來沒有這樣講的。釋迦牟尼佛也沒有說：“你是我創造的。整個宇宙是我創造的。” 宇宙是不能夠創造的。釋迦牟尼佛沒有這個。4731

所以在佛教面是沒有的，這個是我們必須要認識清楚。既然佛教是教育。它教什麽呢？譬如：從佛陀的這個名稱來看你就明白了。我們看下面的4811

從南無本師釋迦牟尼佛這個名號，我們就可以看出來，是代表什麽？是代表教學。我們先一個一個來爲大家解釋。所以，爲什麽著重在教育呢？它不是宗教。我們先來看第一個。【南無】我們不是常常念“南無本師釋迦牟尼佛，南無阿彌陀佛，南無地藏王菩薩，南無觀世音菩薩” 不是有嘛。那【南無】的意思是什麽？它是梵語，翻成中文就是回頭的意思，回頭用現代話來講，就是教你改過自新，自我反省，後不再造，這個叫做回頭。爲什麽叫你回頭呢？因爲每個人都有毛病。我們凡夫，每一天都會犯過失，而這個過失如果沒有改過的話，這個過失會帶來很多的麻煩。將來也會障礙你。所以，我們常常在老師的教導下：人不怕做錯事，只怕知道錯不改錯。像我以前就是這樣，不怕做事，我也不怕做錯事，但是我知道，做錯事，我要改過。以後不能再犯了。這個就是佛陀教我們要回頭，因爲我們每一個人都有這種的毛病。有時候甚至於會發脾氣，發脾氣好不好？不好。不但會傷害身體，將來你會讓你周圍的人對你失去了信心，對你的關懷，對你的愛護，而且你的親戚朋友會跟你保持距離。種種的很多一些，我們該不該改？改不改回頭？應該回頭。比方説，我們喜歡打妄語。或者喜歡説人家的壞話，或者說人家的一些是非，或者喜歡看人家的是非，或者喜歡聼人家的是非，種種這些毛病我們該不該改？一定要改的。該不該回頭，應該要回頭。以前對父母講話都非常的粗魯，態度非常的不禮貌，種種的，我們該不該回頭？該回頭啊。還有各種的，種種的。在這個社會上，處事待人接物，我們不是聖人，是凡夫。甚至有時會傷害人家，讓人家會很痛苦。講話不小心讓人家會很傷心，該不該回頭？該回頭。這個就是教育，從釋迦牟尼佛這個名稱，你就可以看得出來了。南無，當你讀到【南無】的時候，我要改過自新，我的前途才能夠一片的光明！我要改過自新，自我反省，我這一生才能過得好。南無-本師-釋迦牟尼佛，南無。從今天開始，我不要發脾氣。從今天開始，我要跟與人之間的關係要交好，從今天開始我也不要去讓我的周圍的人，起了傷心。從今天開始，我也不要去做一些讓我的最愛的人，或者我的父母傷心難過。這個【南無】就是這個道理。5245

釋迦，釋迦的意思是什麽？它也是梵語，翻成中文就是我們所講的，仁慈。仁慈，用現代話來講就是愛心的意思，關懷愛護，教我們對待每一個人，對待一切衆生，你要有仁慈，你要有個慈悲心。我們讀釋迦牟尼佛的名稱，都是在教我們，特別在我們這個時代，人，最大的缺乏是什麽？缺乏最大的就是慈悲心。真的才會今天的世界，才會今天的環境，人與人之間互不相信，人與人之間互相猜疑，人與人之間互相的計較，人與人之間互相的討厭，人與人之間互相的嫉妒。今天如果你有慈悲心，像觀世音菩薩那樣，你還會嫉妒人嗎？你還會跟人家計較嗎？你還會跟人家發脾氣嗎？就是因爲你的慈悲心不夠。如果今天你的慈悲心具足圓滿了，像觀世音菩薩那樣，哪怕是我們沒辦法100%，10%我們把它學好，觀世音菩薩看人都是愛護的，想盡辦法來幫助別人，想盡辦法去關懷別人，就算我沒辦法用我的體力，但是用我的祈福，用我的祈禱，我每一天誦經完了，我念佛完了，我祈禱讓一切衆生離苦得樂，讓一切生病的人能夠早日康復，讓這些受到疫情的人能夠早日康復。用這種的慈懷，用這種的關懷，來愛護他們，來關懷他們，雖然我們沒辦法去幫助他們，但是你有這個心來祈禱,希望他們能夠過得幸福，過得快樂，這個也是培養慈悲心了麽。所以本師釋迦牟尼佛佛號不是用(來)念的，是用來去做(的)。我要像釋迦牟尼佛那樣天天都是回頭，天天都是培養慈悲心。有慈悲心的人，他就不會容易發脾氣的。你有沒有看過觀世音菩薩發脾氣？沒有。有沒有看到過釋迦牟尼佛發脾氣？沒有。5556

你看，以前釋迦牟尼佛，有一天，這個外道來找釋迦牟尼佛，他怎麽樣對待釋迦牟尼佛？見到釋迦牟尼佛，也沒打招呼，一直罵釋迦牟尼佛，罵的好難聼。罵，一直罵，一直罵，一直罵，最後呢，他問釋迦牟尼佛：“我駡你，你爲什麽一句話都不講？你會不會不高興？你(會)不會恨我？” 釋迦牟尼佛不但沒有恨他，沒有對他怎麽樣，而且釋迦牟尼佛笑著說：“”今天如果有人駡你，你是怎麽樣的態度呢？你不相信，你試試看，總有一天，遇到一個人，莫名其妙來駡你：“Michael，你怎麽樣怎麽樣！Dylan，你怎麽樣怎麽樣！哎呀，你這個人怎麽樣怎麽樣！” 你的反應是什麽樣？你第一個反應是什麽？你會生氣呀！“你是誰呀？你是算老幾呀！”這個一大堆就出來了。你也不是誰，你爲什麽罵我呢？甚至於可能去厨房，拿什麽呢？拿菜刀，或者種種的。人就是這個樣子的。

你看師父以前坐飛機的時候，在飛機面，小小的事情，空姐服務不周到，只是不周到而已，客戶馬上起來罵，罵的好難聽。學佛的人會這樣嗎？不會的。我們學佛的人一般講，大事化小，小事化無。那我們呢，一般社會人就是這樣：從無化到小，從小化到大。就是這樣的喜歡計較。所以我常常在講，我們這個世上最缺乏的就是慈悲心，就是這一個。所以我們要學釋迦牟尼佛，天天對人都是愛護的，天天對人就是歡喜的，天天對人都是微笑的，你這個佛像，微笑。你有沒有看到佛像很凶巴巴的那種？沒有！5844

最後，牟尼，翻成中文就是清淨。用現代話來講，對於人事物的想法、看法，都是正確的。換句話說，你不會被迷惑，你不容易被迷惑。我們爲什麽會造業，我們爲什麽會做壞事，我爲什麽會做一些傷害人的？甚至於你看現在，全世界離婚率爲什麽這麽高？在一天面，有十對夫妻，六對夫妻離婚。什麽原因呢？敵不過誘惑麽。外面的誘惑，被迷了。所以，教你要清淨心。把你的心照顧好。不要爲了外面的境界，只是一點點的享受，對這些的欲望，你把你自己的幸福賠上去了！你把你自己的幸福，本來過得很幸福的，但是因爲做了一點點的錯事。你看，你要帶來多大的後悔？10007

所以，從這個名號我們可以看到，釋迦牟尼佛真的，都是在教育我們。這個是從第一點來看到的，從他的名號。10023

第二點從哪呢？從什麽地方來看呢？這個是從釋迦牟尼佛的名號。所以從今天開始，你就知道了：我念本師釋迦牟尼佛是教你做什麽？第一個叫你要回頭，改過，不要再犯一些不該犯的事。教你要愛護，照顧這個心，不要讓這個心去做壞事。釋迦牟尼佛教我這樣做。這個是第一個。第二個佛的教育最主要是講什麽呢？這麽多經典，八萬四千法門。這個佛法是講什麽呢？它的核心在哪？關鍵在哪？它的主要性在哪？爲什麽釋迦牟尼佛四十九年，講經都沒有間斷。它的主要性的，最重要的是什麽？下個星期再跟大家分享。10131

時間已經一個鐘頭了，因爲下個星期，慢慢開始精彩了！這個就是我對佛教的一個很大的興趣。以前我對這個宗教是沒有什麽樣興趣的。也學過印度教，也學過道教的，也學過天主教的，基督教的，最後你看，爲什麽對佛教的興趣？因爲所有的答案全部都在面。只是我們不知道而已。釋迦牟尼佛留下來這麽好的東西，這麽珍貴的東西，你不去學，你不是很可惜了嗎？太好了!無價之寶！佛的經典都是無價之寶。這個一定要爲大家來説明。這個面的内容非常的精彩！我選擇一些重點。因爲經典太多了。我選擇一個重要性的給大家説明。今天我們就講到這個地方，下個星期禮拜三也是一樣。時間：8-點-半！好不好？Ok? See you next week!

Thank you， Teacher!

累不累？

“師父不累，我就Ok了！”

不累就好！今天師父就講到這個地方。難得我們一起來迴向。

弟子學悟，願以此功德，莊嚴佛淨土，上報四重恩，下濟三途苦，若有見聞者，悉發菩提心，盡此一報身，同生極樂國。謝謝大家！阿彌陀佛！下個星期見！Buddha bless you! Amituofo! Buddha bless you! Bye-bye!

76B不要把這個世上 每一件事當作真的 都是假的 明白嗎? 如果你把它當作真的 事情來了 真的 如果你每一件事把它當作真的 這個就是我們最大的障礙

尊敬的諸位同修 諸位護法 大家好 阿彌陀佛

我們繼續來跟大家來做一個分享 就是今天早上跟大家説明 一切衆生 一旦往生到西方極樂世界 皆是阿鞞跋致 阿鞞跋致就是證得圓滿 三不退的菩薩 今天有多少人受八關齋戒 有多少人 請舉手 才幾位而已 這麽難得不受八關齋戒 不能把它錯過! 我們大家也知道釋迦牟尼佛 爲什麽要我們發願求生西方淨土 因爲在西方極樂世界 確實真的功德不可思議的 而且這個功德都是釋迦牟尼佛親自而所看到的 今天我們一品無明煩惱都未斷 連小小的初果 須陀洹 也比不上 但是你一往生到西方極樂世界 皆是阿鞞跋致 阿鞞跋致早上已經跟大家學過了 地位有多大呢 就是七地以上的菩薩 就是等於等覺菩薩的身份 等覺菩薩是候補佛的 補處佛的 這個是非常難得 大家一定要知道的 一般見思煩惱 像證得圓教初住菩薩 他一定要把見思煩惱 塵沙煩惱斷盡了 破一品無明的煩惱 證一分法身 他才能夠證得圓教初住菩薩 圓教初住菩薩 我們看下面的那一張 圓教初住菩薩已經非常難得 很難得 他能夠把見思煩惱 塵沙煩惱斷盡了 但是你想一想 圓教初住菩薩 要證得七地以上的菩薩 還要距離多遠呢 三十七個階段 就好比我們讀書一樣 圓教初住是一年級 而七地以上的菩薩是三十七年級 怎麽比呢 比不了啊 所以這個法門真的難信之法 你要證得圓教初住菩薩已經很難了 連那個小小的初果須陀洹 我們都已經沒辦法了 其實都是一樣的 你想一想 帶業往生 無論你是怎麽樣的 你一生到西方極樂世界 就有這樣的果報 就有這樣的福報 你説呢 今生如果不到西方極樂世界 真的 我們的虧真的吃的很大 所以早上我跟大家已經講過 我們在這個世上 真的能夠隨緣 隨緣就好 什麽都帶不走的 該去做的 有緣去做 沒有緣的時候 好好靜下來念佛 把生活能夠過得好 遇到什麽樣的事情 我們盡量不要跟人斤斤計較 爲什麽 都帶不走的 最主要我們要執著 執著什麽 執著這一句名號 很多人說：師父 執著不是我們的煩惱的根源嗎 對 但是你執著這一句名號 這一句名號是帶來清淨的 能夠幫助我們超越六道輪迴 因爲靠這句名號我們才能夠往生西方淨土的 那個是不一樣 釋迦牟尼佛教我們 執著是一切衆生的根源 煩惱的根源 爲什麽教我們不要去執著 因爲都是假的麽 你看這個身體 多少這個世上的人 爲了這個身體 對這個身體嚴重非常的 錯誤的一種嚴重執著 都是假的麽 它不是真的 只要你能夠好好對這句名號 你的心只要能夠保持那一念 遇到什麽樣的境界 遇到什麽樣的因緣 只要你這句名號 你真的把它放在你的心裡上 除了這一句名號之外 你真能夠這樣的保持 沒有一個不往生的道理 無論你今天沒辦法證得像經典裡面所講的初住菩薩的那一種境界 沒關係 你帶業往生西方極樂世界 你就有這樣的福報 所以 藕益大師告訴我們 我們看下面的那一張

你想一想 藕益大師是怎麽説的 你看到了之後 你就明白了 爲什麽釋迦牟尼佛要我們到西方淨土 所以 藕益大師在《彌陀經要解》裡面 講的非常的清楚 你今天到了西方極樂世界確實是帶業往生 是一位凡夫 見思煩惱一品都沒斷 但是你到西方極樂世界 你的智慧神通 能力 享受 都是跟誰一樣 都是跟七地菩薩一樣差不多 換句話說 你的能力智慧神通 享受都是跟法身菩薩都是平等的 什麽原因呢 都是靠著阿彌陀佛大慈大悲本願威神加持的麽 這個福報誰給的 阿彌陀佛給的 你不靠阿彌陀佛行嗎? 你不念這句阿彌陀佛 行嗎？我們想一想尊敬的諸位同修大德 我們仔細的去思維一下 今天如果沒有淨土法門 今天如果沒有這一句阿彌陀佛名號 你要靠自己的能力 要得到像七地菩薩那樣的待遇 行嗎 不可能啊 就算我們能夠得到 你要經過有多長的時間 才能夠得到呢 很長! 就好比什麽呢 好比我們看下面的那一張

就好比我們在這個世上很窮 貧賤的人家 一無所有 什麽都沒有 但是你有一個很有高貴的朋友 你有一個很有福報的親戚 他今天把你請到他的家裡去做客 他提供給你的食衣住行都是跟他一樣 一模一樣的 這個是不是你的 不是啊 沒有一樣東西是你的 他今天用好車 你也可以用好車 他住大的房子 你可以用住他的大房子 他所有的錢 你也可以用 爲你所用 沒有一樣的 他所有的 你可以得到的 你想一想 這個誰的 不是你的 都是阿彌陀佛給你的 你看 你説我們也不用這麽辛辛苦苦去拼命 但是 你一生到西方極樂世界 你就能夠受到這種的待遇 好不好 很好! 就好像我們看到一個人生在帝王之家 就是一位王子 你看 他生到這個國王 一生到這個國王 帝王之家 他一生下來就是做太子了 他也什麽不用做 不用費什麽樣的 一些很大的功夫 也不用跟人家爭 也不用跟人家拼命 他一生下來就得到了 這個福報的待遇誰給的 國王給的了 這個待遇誰爲他補的 國王給他補的 給他修好了 今天你生到西方極樂世界 你所有的享受 你這樣的福報就是也是我們自己念佛功德成就的 阿彌陀佛已經把五劫 這五劫所修學的 所有的功德 全部都在這一句名號當中了 供養給十方一切的衆生 只要你肯相信 你肯發願 你真的能夠 念這句阿彌陀佛 只要你到西方極樂世界 你的待遇都是一樣的 跟阿彌陀佛都是一樣的 真的 你要相信 真的 真的不可思議的 在一切法門當中 在十方諸佛國土 你要慢慢的修 慢慢的學經 慢慢的學 但是 在西方極樂世界不用 好像我們讀小學 從小學直接 到研究所了 連大學小學高中都不用的 從小學升到研究所 這個只有在西方極樂世界有的 其他十方諸佛國土是沒有 它是一個一個的像樓梯一樣 一個一個的這樣 你要慢慢的修 慢慢的去累積 所以要無量無邊 無量劫以來你才能夠達到 所以在這個環境裡面 你要成佛 爲什麽稱爲 叫三大阿僧祇劫 阿僧祇劫 那個是沒辦法計算的時間 就是説無量劫 你才能夠成佛 釋迦牟尼佛就是因爲走這個一條彎路 走得很辛苦 成佛以後 才把這個法門 非常難得的法門 介紹給我們 那我們今天還不念佛!

你説呢 真的像這種的待遇 你想一想 不要説其他的了 我跟大家來講一個很可愛的故事 你看師父以前 從台灣要到美國紐約 到紐約大概要飛十四個小時 十四個小時 我買的飛機票是經濟艙的 很辛苦 真的 坐在那邊十四個小時 真的很辛苦 你看 我要登機的時候 突然間我的票 服務人員跟我說：師父 你這個票要換一下！沒想到 換了一張給我：師父 您今天很有幸運 您經濟艙的 把您升等了 我以爲升等到什麽樣的 豪華經濟艙。沒想到 你看 一升等 頭等艙的。但是這麽多年才有一次 這麽多年 才有一次而已 不是每一次有這樣的 不是每次的 你看 我們也不知不覺受到這種的待遇 本來是經濟艙 到了坐飛機的時候 把你升到頭等艙 你看 我以爲是悟行法師給我的 原來都不是 釋迦牟尼佛給的 享受釋迦牟尼佛的福報 真的 我以爲是悟行法師給的 到了美國的時候 我問師父 謝謝你 師父 今天 非常難得 給我升等到頭等艙 謝謝 不是我給的! 非常難得 但是這種的幸運 才幾年才有一次 如果你想要頭等艙 你自己用你的錢去買 但是我們出家人 錢都是大衆給的 我們怎麽能夠去享受 去亂花 你説對不對呢 雖然我們大家 供養給我們 我們放在該放的地方 該用的時候 趕快拿出來 但是我們不能亂花 所以 生到西方極樂世界 都是有這樣的待遇 無論你今天有多窮 你造的業有怎麽樣的 連五逆十惡 你一生到西方極樂世界 你就是能夠有受到這種的待遇 所以西方極樂世界 爲什麽它會很好 因爲它是平等的世界 所以在那個西方極樂世界爲什麽沒有煩惱 因爲沒有嫉妒心 沒有貪心 別人有的 你也有啊 別人無量壽 你也是無量壽 別人是金剛不壞身 你也是金剛不壞身 別人能夠住在天空 你也是可以住在天空 別人不想要住在這個天空 要住在這個地下 而且這個房子要多大 你也可以有這個能力 你也不用操心 天天都是怎麽樣的生活？ 就是天天聼經 天天聼阿彌陀佛 天天跟諸大菩薩在一起 每一天都是去哪裡觀光旅游 十方一切諸佛國土 過十萬億佛土 你去觀光旅游 每一天都是這樣的生活 不像我們這個世間 我們這個世間 爲什麽會這麽多人造業 不平等 你有 他也要 他有 你也想要有 你得不到的 你就嫉妒心 你就拼命的造業 爲什麽我們這個世界 爲什麽不斷的去造業 不平等麽 都是看著自己的業力 所修學的 所修的 你過去生 你修了什麽 你才能夠得到 但是今生我們遇到這個法門 到了西方極樂世界都是一樣的 我們要發願 真的要發願

不要把這個世上 每一件事當作真的 都是假的 明白嗎? 如果你把它當作真的 事情來了 真的 如果你每一件事把它當作真的 這個就是我們最大的障礙 所以很多人說：師父 我要怎麽樣念佛 你要保持那一念 這一念是什麽 清淨心 你要保持這一念 清淨心才能夠往生西方淨土 清淨心 才能夠滅無量罪 所以我們師父上人 爲什麽會有這麽大的福報呢 所以這樣的福報就是我們念佛而所感召來的 而這個福報非常難得 真的非常難得 爲什麽會有這麽大的福報呢 我們看下面

爲什麽呢 你看我們師父上人在講經當中常常講 也常常提到這個就是阿彌陀佛在因地發四十八願 五劫修行的時候 而成就的 加持給我們一切衆生 往生西方極樂世界這些人 所以這個就是阿彌陀佛五劫的時間 因地修行 而受到彌陀本願的加持 你才會有這樣的待遇 所以念佛法門這個法門真的非常難得 能夠這樣的遇到 真的 很幸運 這是真的 如果沒有阿彌陀佛這樣的發願 那我們怎麽可能呢 所以真的 尊敬的諸位同修大德 我們能夠遇到這個法門 真的非常幸運 如果沒有這個法門 那怎麽辦呢 活在這個世上 真的 是很苦的 真的很苦 釋迦牟尼佛兩千五百年前 已經説了 真的很苦 有生苦 有老苦 有病苦 還有我們常常講的愛別離苦 怨憎會 八苦焦煎 苦苦 不堪言 如果你明白這個道理 你就會瞭解 我爲什麽要念佛 釋迦牟尼佛爲什麽選擇 走這一條修道 修行沙門 做出家呢 就是因爲這個原因【不忍衆生苦】不忍心看衆生苦 所以想盡辦法要找到一個方法 要讓衆生不再受任何的苦 犧牲自己 貢獻自己 怎麽樣來幫助一切衆生 才會有今天我們遇到這個法門 我們今天每天 天天看到老人 有沒有覺悟 沒有啊 你看我們自己都老了 有沒有覺悟 有時候都沒有覺悟 天天看到人家往生 有沒有覺悟 沒有 天天看到人家有病苦 有沒開悟 也沒有 都在執著 每天不斷的在執著 都在執著 這個世上 有 我的 這個世上是我的 你想一想 一斷氣了 什麽都沒有 你看 師父每天在洗碗的時候 要煮菜 要煮飯的時候 在想:"能夠活到今天 非常難得 趕快拼命念佛" 明天要發生什麽事情也不知道 自己又凡夫 過去生又不斷的造業 我今生 今天又活了一天 我趕快念佛 趕快念佛 這樣 明天發生什麽事情 因爲無常麽 死亡隨時都會來臨的 有一些人聽説明天又撞車了 你看我們印尼最近發生了一樁事情 有一個很有錢的 在印尼很有錢 真的很有錢 一個華僑非常有錢 跟他的太太兩個人 開車在高速公路 被一個大貨櫃車 撞到了 現場就死掉了 他也沒想到 因爲這個死亡 每一天 每一分每一秒都會來臨的 我們自己不知道 所以 這一種的因緣 我們一定要好好把握 所謂的【過了這個村 沒有那個店了】要好好來念佛 因爲師父也是這樣想 你看 我每次在洗碗的時候就是這樣想:今天能夠活一天 那就多念佛一天 所以我們看下面

所以他們得到這個加持 就是得到了法身菩薩的待遇了 不但得到了物質上的待遇 連智慧神通道力都是跟法身菩薩沒有兩樣 這個就是我們所講的 是極樂世界無比殊勝稀有的 在諸佛國土 十方刹土 他們都沒有的 要記得: 只有阿彌陀佛那邊才有! 只有阿彌陀佛那邊才有。十方諸佛刹土是沒有的 所以 佛告訴我們 我們看下面

所以 佛與十方諸佛如來爲什麽在這一部《佛説阿彌陀經》都稱讚阿彌陀佛 極樂世界是不可思議功德利益 而且這個利益是釋迦牟尼佛親眼所看到的 親眼所看到的 他不是從傳聞來的 是釋迦牟尼佛與十方諸佛如來 親自看到西方極樂世界阿彌陀佛這個功德真的不可思議的利益 所以佛在《佛説阿彌陀經》告訴舍利弗尊者 怎麽説呢 我們一起 請合掌 來念希望把這一段經文能夠把它深入 佛告舍利弗【我見是利 故說此言 若有眾生 聞是說者 應當發願 生彼國土】經文我們就念到這個地方 這個就是釋迦牟尼佛在這一部《佛説阿彌陀經》告訴我們的 你想一想 你會有這樣的福報 就是阿彌陀佛而所修來的 而這個福報功德是釋迦牟尼佛親眼看到的 所以我們看下面的那一張

所以釋迦牟尼佛在《佛説阿彌陀經》裡面連續的四次都勸導我們 發願求生西方極樂世界 而這一段經文是釋迦牟尼佛第二次的勸導 就是勸願 這個是第二次的 釋迦牟尼佛在《彌陀經》有四次 但是這個是第二次 但是在這一段經文裡頭我們 一定要知道【我見是利】不能把它簡單看過 也不能把它忽略 一定要把它想透了 因爲這一句話非常的重要 我見是利 不能把它簡單看過 爲什麽呢 什麽原因呢

明天早上再跟大家分享 能夠學習《彌陀經》淨土經裡面的一些經教 越學習越有興趣 越學習感覺我們跟阿彌陀佛很接近 真的 越學 我們感覺到好像阿彌陀佛好像在我的旁邊 觀世音菩薩在我的旁邊 大勢至菩薩好像在我的旁邊 而且越感覺這種的感覺 我們的煩惱越來越輕 等於是什麽呢 我們的業障越來越輕 就是説明什麽 你得到阿彌陀佛的加持了 這個加持就是什麽 煩惱輕智慧長 你要這樣的學習呢 靠的是什麽 靠的就是我們所講的 你的恭敬心 所以爲什麽在南傳的佛法裡面 南傳的佛教 我們會看到 法師還沒講經之前 這些居士 他會讀誦什麽 一個偈頌 這個偈頌就是以前釋迦牟尼佛兩千五百年前成佛之後 在想這個佛法能不能世間人接受 當他想到這段事情的時候 釋迦牟尼佛本來要入涅槃了 被大梵天王下來 來祈請 來祈請釋迦牟尼佛留在這個世間 永住這個世間 來幫助一切衆生 其實都是在表演給我們看 而這個偈頌 大梵天王是怎麽樣跟釋迦牟尼佛祈請的 所以他們 南傳的佛教就是應用這樣的 就是恭敬心對法的恭敬 你對法的恭敬 你才會得到利益 你對法不恭敬 你是不會得到利益的 所以爲什麽我們大乘佛法 不讀誦 在南傳的 大梵天王的那個偈頌 幾乎都在讀誦什麽 我們武則天的【無上甚深微妙法 百千萬劫難遭遇 我今見聞得受持 願解如來真實義 】這個是對法的恭敬 對法的稱讚 所以 我們一定要懂得從恭敬心開始 對一切人 對一切物 對一切事 這樣的學習 你就能夠得到 那種幸福 一種美滿的人生 這個簡單跟大家説明 我們明天早上再來跟大家講講謝謝大家 如果有講一些不對的地方 請大家多多批評 祝大家身體健康 老實念佛 謝謝大家 阿彌陀佛

76A隨緣 不要跟人家對立 也不要斤斤計較。善也是阿彌陀佛 惡緣也是阿彌陀佛 順也是阿彌陀佛 逆境也是阿彌陀佛 這麽好的人生 爲什麽要把它變成活得很辛苦呢 你要找外面的世界的美好是找不到的 很少人冷靜下來看看你的内心的世界 那個才是真正的完美 你想要找到幸福美滿 你要從你的内心的世界去發出

76A 20211105

尊敬的諸位法師 諸位同修 諸位護法 尊敬的我們鄭居士 大家早上吉祥 阿彌陀佛

今天再藉這個打佛二的因緣 再來跟大家 做一個簡單的學習 學習佛法 也是一種教育 所以 如果講不對的地方 請大家多多批評 我們這一次的學習 就是要來繼續 跟大家來報告 如何讓我們這一生念佛 特別是帶業 能夠順順利利的 帶業往生西方淨土 而到了西方極樂世界 獲得什麽樣的福報呢 這個就是要跟大家 做一個簡單的學習 所以 如果有講一些不對的地方 請你們多多批評

首先 我想跟大家 先講一些 鼓勵的 我跟雪梨淨宗學會 可以説 這個緣非常有特別 而且這個道場 就是依我們師父上人 一些理念 來去利益我們念佛的人 所以你看 一年念佛都不中斷 你看 沒有聽説我們雪梨淨宗學會 這個星期放假 不念佛 沒有聽説過了 "師父沒有" 我不知道 我以前到現在也沒有聽過 這個月放假 休息 太累了 沒有 沒有聽説過的 所以我對這個道場很喜歡 現在又加上每天晚上都有念佛 這個是講心裡話 不是講那種花言巧語的 不是 我們學佛的人 一定要講真語 不能亂講話 不但念佛不中斷 而且 講經不中斷 甚至於有時候請法師來講經。你看以前 我們做三時繫念 一年頂多兩次 現在加了至少四次 這個有特別的一種特色

最難得 就是最近 我們的鄭太的祈請 每一個禮拜三晚上 星期三晚上 八點半到九點半 有開了一個特別課 上課 就是《如何認識佛教》這個很重要的 希望大家歡迎加入 特別對於一些初學佛的 但是 你不能小看這一本書 雖然看起來 好像很基本的 但是如果你沒有真正去瞭解 對於這個佛法有正確的觀念 你對這個佛教你是不會有得到利益的 不要說得到佛教的利益 連你念佛都沒辦法得到利益 不要説得到利益 清淨心也免談 連清淨心都沒有 你怎麽能夠往生西方極樂世界 那個是不可能的 602

所以 師父 以前在印尼大學 都在講這一本 因爲大學生都是知識分子 高等的知識 而且認識佛教 對於這些知識分子很重要的 不能小看它的 真的 跟我們念佛關係密切很大 我跟大家先講一下 簡單的概念講一下 所以感謝我們的鄭太的邀請 所以每一個星期三晚上八點半到九點半 一個鐘頭640

我跟大家講一個概念 很多人對這個佛教有一個嚴重的誤會 真的 甚至於等一下 我要問你們 你們怎麽解答 如果你真的能夠解答出來 那你是真的學佛了 很多人以爲說: 我燒個香 買個水果 來供養 或者拿著念珠 誦一部經 念著咒 或者我們來到這個佛堂 拿著木魚 敲個大磬 或者我們坐下來念阿彌陀佛 那個是佛法嗎 那個是佛教嗎 不一定 甚至於有人 會問我說: 師父 佛教是迷信的 甚至於在佛教當中 在宗教裡面是最低級的 多神教的 甚至於有人也會問我 我曾經遇到一個護法 他很喜歡做善事 但是對佛法一竅不通 他甚至於有問過一問題 他說: 師父 釋迦牟尼佛管的地區有多大? 釋迦牟尼佛管的人有多少 釋迦牟尼佛也不是當官的 也不是政治家的 釋迦牟尼佛 他的精神是在教育 就是教育我們這一些衆生 這一類的衆生。這一類的衆生的範圍 有多大呢 釋迦牟尼佛教化衆生 這個教化的衆生的地區 範圍有多大 一個三千大千世界 一個三千大千世界用現代話來講是多大呢 有沒有人知道 可不可以跟我講 有多大 有沒有人可以説 一個三千大千世界等於用我們現代話來講一千個銀河系 一千個銀河系 換句話說 在這個宇宙上 只要在這個 所有的星球 只要有生物 有生命 有人類 就是釋迦牟尼佛教化衆生的對象 你説這個範圍大不大 很大 所以很多人把佛教 把釋迦牟尼佛當作一種權威 好像做皇帝一樣來看待 不是 他是一位教育(家) 那我想問大家 什麽叫做教育呢 這個很重要 你今天念佛能不能得到利益 這個關鍵在這個地方 那我問大家 什麽叫做教育 這個我們今天非常難得 藉這個因緣跟大家講講話 給大家做一個概念 讓我們學佛能夠得到利益 讓我們念佛 才能夠得到利益 那我今天問大家 什麽叫做教育 釋迦牟尼佛講經説法四十九年 共有無量無邊的法門 這無量無邊的法門 大家有沒有去留意 有沒有去注意一下 我們念佛念了這麽多年 釋迦牟尼佛最重要是講什麽 有沒有人跟我說? 釋迦牟尼佛的教育 而這個教育 釋迦牟尼佛最主要的是講什麽 有沒有人知道 請大家講出來嘛 跟師父分享一下 老蔡? 講什麽呢 "宇宙人生真相" 當然啦 這太大了 什麽叫宇宙人生真相 我也搞不懂什麽叫宇宙人生真相 "破迷開悟" 怎麽開悟啊 那我們開悟 從哪裡開始 因爲佛法 釋迦牟尼佛這無量無邊的法門 它一定要有一個中心 這個中心是什麽 它一定要有一個中點 一個【點】從這一點開始慢慢的發展 這一些對知識分子的人 一個很有很大的興趣

釋迦牟尼佛教育 這無量無邊的法門 而四十九年都是為哪一個為中心 一個字而已 哪一個字呢 就是講我們的【心】要記得: 講你的【心】就是講我們這個衆生的一個心態 釋迦牟尼佛告訴我們什麽呢 釋迦牟尼佛說: 一切衆生【有病】你看 釋迦牟尼佛直截了當 他沒有拐彎抹角 他直截了當就告訴我們 一切衆生有病 是不是 你有沒有病? 你們有沒有去發現這個問題 不但我們身體的生病 最主要的是講到 一切衆生心靈裡面有生病 那我們的心有什麽病呢 因爲這是關鍵 如果你沒有把這個問題解決 你怎麽念佛是不可能得清淨心的 你怎麽念佛 你也不會往生西方淨土的 是沒辦法的 你連這個道理你都不知道 我們的心病是什麽呢 很多 貪心 怨恨的心 瞋恚的心 愚癡的心 傲慢的心 看不起人家的心態 對於聖賢的教誨 有一種非常嚴重的懷疑的心態 還有嫉妒的心 殺盜邪婬的心 妄語 綺語 惡口的心 不善的念頭的心 還有自私自利 名聞利養 五欲六塵 種種的心 非常多 你想一想 如果你沒有把這個解決問題的話(如果你沒有把這個問題解決的話) 你能不能得到清淨心 你能不能往生西方淨土 是不可能的 尊敬的諸位同修大德 這個就是釋迦牟尼佛的教育 但是有多少人能夠明白這個事(實真)相呢 所以很多人 一般的人 除了生活 追求 享受 欲望 天天都是從外面去追求的 以爲外面的世界能夠得到幸福 美滿的圓滿的世界 能夠看得到嗎 看不到的 外面的世界 你要找外面的世界的美好是找不到的 你看現在的人【富而不樂 貴而不安】你天天能夠活得快樂嗎 你看看你們自己 你快樂的多 還是苦的多 不要説別人 看看你們自己就知道了 你想一想 你的生活裡面 很少人冷靜下來看看内的世界 很少人知道内的世界 那個完美的世界 比外面的世界更美 很少人 都是常常往外面的去追求 但是沒有冷靜下來看看你的内心的世界 那個才是真正的完美 你想要找到幸福美滿 你要從你的内心的世界去發出 外面是找不到的 但是你的内心的智慧 内心的完美的世界 怎麽樣去發揮呢 你一定要經過這個教育 而這個教育 一定要有一個正法 要有一個正知正見的 如果今天你看我們這個娑婆世界 你看這個時代邪知邪見的多 特別你要找到一個有正知正見的法師 你才能夠得到你這個完美的世界 如果你找到一個邪知邪見的法師 你所得到的 就是邪知邪見 就是那種(邪)魔外道的 你不會得到的 所以這個佛法裡面 教育非常的重要 所以我們的鄭太 請我來跟大家 禮拜三 我很喜歡 歡迎大家 有空可以來加入我們的一部分 可以一起來學習1822

説實在 我們都學習我們師父上人 我們法師走到哪裡 就是要隨緣 不能攀緣 有人請 我們就來給大家講 沒人請 我們就好好念佛 過一種平平淡淡的生活 好好念佛 將來往生西方極樂世界 比什麽更重要的 在一切事 在一切時 對一切人 對一切物 能夠盡量避免不要去計較 不要跟人家 對立 隨緣而不攀援 (沒有)什麽樣的 比這個更好 所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 能夠懂得學習放下的 也是一種幸福 這個是我自己的認爲 因爲這個生命太短促了 人生太短了 今天我們能夠遇到這個法門 能夠聞到西方極樂世界 無盡的莊嚴 無盡的美好 我們隨緣就好了 真的 隨緣 不要跟人家對立 也不要跟人家斤斤計較。好 也阿彌陀佛 壞 也是阿彌陀佛 善 也是阿彌陀佛 惡緣也是阿彌陀佛 順 也是阿彌陀佛 逆境也是阿彌陀佛 你看 這麽好的人生 爲什麽要把它變成 活得很辛苦呢 你要懂得 這個是簡單來爲大家説明 2020

今天是我們的佛二 今天是我們的佛二 剛才跟大家分享 大家明白了嗎 我們的佛教最主要是教什麽呢 就是你那個心【一切法唯心造】所有的萬物 都是從我們的心 而開始的 所以釋迦牟尼佛講經説法都是講這一個 才會有今天 稱爲 八萬四千法門 這八萬四千法門都是對治我們的心 我們的煩惱 我們的習氣 所以佛教最主要的 這八萬四千法門都是繞著這個心 而慢慢的發展出來的 怎麽樣讓這個心 真的 得到清淨心 明心見性 大徹大悟 這個就是佛，教學的目標 教學的重要性 對於一切衆生的期望 今天我們念佛也是一樣 你的心 如果沒有阿彌陀佛 你的行 如果沒有阿彌陀佛 你的願 沒有阿彌陀佛 你念佛是沒辦法得力的 所以【一切法唯心造】以心的開始。2202

我們今天佛二 一般在道場 都是做佛七 這個佛七的起源 大家都知道 爲什麽我們要做佛七 一般會做佛三 或者佛二 或者佛五 我們爲什麽要打佛七呢 它有三個目標 有三個目標 你看《彌陀經》不是講嘛 釋迦牟尼佛告訴我們 我們這個佛七的起源是怎麽來的 就是釋迦牟尼佛在《彌陀經》裡面 告訴我們: 若一日 若二日 就是說 告訴我們: 若有善男子 善女人 聞說阿彌陀佛 執持名號 若一日 若二日 乃至七日 得一心不亂 即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土 所以今天我們念佛 打佛七 打佛二 沒有別的 就是要一心不亂 最主要是在這個地方 只要你能夠在七日當中 你能夠專念這一句阿彌陀佛 你就能夠得到一心不亂 所以念佛首先要先學習什麽 你要一心不亂 首先你要學習 先學【專】專注這一句名號 專心在這一句名號 你才能夠達到一心不亂 所以學【專】很重要的 你念佛的時候不能胡思亂想 三心兩意的 口在念阿彌陀佛 你的心胡思亂想 想到那邊 想到這個地方 想到那個 想到這一個 沒有好好把這一句阿彌陀佛 專專心心 來專注這一句名號 你怎麽能夠得到一心不亂呢 一心不亂 用我們 以玄奘大師來翻譯。【一心不亂】是鳩摩羅什大師翻譯的。以玄奘大師而所講的 就是得到繫念 這個繫念是什麽 你的心 就是跟阿彌陀佛相應的 除了阿彌陀佛之外我什麽都放下 我執著這一句名號 我什麽都不要 我好好來念佛 我這一天裡面 我這個短短的時間 一日一夜 我好好來專注這句阿彌陀佛 就能夠得到 這個就是釋迦牟尼佛在《佛説阿彌陀經》你就能夠這樣的修持 你就能夠得到 而得到一心不亂的果報 將來你就能夠往生西方極樂世界 換句話說 自由自在 生死無有掛礙了 就是生死自在了 所以今天我們念佛的人 一定要知道 目標 念佛的目的就是這一個 打佛七 因爲我們以前就是隨緣的念佛 有空念佛 沒有空 就不念阿彌陀佛 所以得到的效果是沒辦法 所以 以佛七這個精神 佛二 佛三 佛五的這個精神 讓我們這個心 真正能夠淨下來 萬緣放下 抓住這句名號 然後來念這句名號 你就能夠得利了 那我們有沒有得到利益呢 有沒有呢 爲什麽沒有 心不專 是不是 你想一想 你是不是這樣 所以 真的 一切法門中 首先你必須要先學【專】你學專 你才能夠得一心 不然的話 你是沒辦法的 所以《大勢至菩薩圓通章》裡面講的非常的清楚【淨念相續 不令間斷】所以【專】那個很重要的 所以我們念佛 應當要怎麽念呢《彌陀經》講的很詳細 就是要具足三種條件 就是三資糧 有信 有願 有行 你必須要具足 深信切願 你真的用功 努力 精進，念佛才能夠達到 一心不亂，才能夠達到 我們所講的 往生西方極樂世界的目的。這個就是我們 辦佛七的起源 辦佛二 佛三 佛五的起源 這樣跟大家簡單 來爲大家鼓勵 不要浪費時間 因爲我們的生命太珍貴了 再加上能夠遇到這個法門 非常難得 你不好好應用這個時間 好好應用你這個好的身體 這個身體趁我們健康 好好來修行 將來我相信你們會得到 有無量無邊的功德利益 起碼將來不到西方極樂世界 我們也不會墮在三惡道2837

接下來 就是要繼續跟大家 來説明要如何能夠這一生遇到這個法門 能順順利利 能夠帶業往生 而一旦往生西方極樂世界 藕益大師在《彌陀要解》裡面告訴我們 是什麽樣的果報呢 而這個福報是什麽樣的福報呢 我們看下面2907

上個星期 我已經簡單爲大家 説明了 就是說 這個法門的特別 建立在哪裡 就是能夠帶業往生。 一切衆生 不論你造什麽樣的業 五逆十惡 只要在那一念當中 或者我們在 對於阿彌陀佛能夠真正相信而一絲毫懷疑都沒有 你就能夠帶業往生西方極樂世界

第三點 人一到西方極樂世界 藕益大師是怎麽說的呢 就是告訴我們 一切衆生 一旦往生西方極樂世界 就能夠得到 不退轉的菩薩 不退轉的菩薩就是我們一般的經典所講的 就是阿惟越致菩薩 尊敬的諸位同修大德 阿惟越致菩薩 這個身份不是那麽容易得到的 是每一個人學佛的夢寐 的願望 不是那麽容易得到的 你看你想一想 你自己一品無明煩惱未斷 又一個凡夫 連初果須陀洹都比不上 只要你往生西方極樂世界 你就得到這個阿惟越致的菩薩 這個福報是從哪裡來的 給大家看一下

這個福報不是自己來的 都是阿彌陀佛本願的加持 如果沒有阿彌陀佛本願的加持 是不可能的 下面會跟大家解釋什麽叫做阿惟越致菩薩 你聼懂了之後 你會發現 如果這一生 如果我們今天 沒有往生到西方極樂世界 真的 你的虧 真的 吃得太大了 所以爲什麽藕益大師在這個地方特別 强調告訴我們: 你要相信這個法門! 因爲在一切法門當中 在十方一切諸佛國土 是沒有的 而且這個就是叫做什麽呢 説明西方極樂世界跟一般的世界是不一樣的 不但不一樣 而且超過 超絕 再找不到了 沒有了 已經沒有了, 唯獨在西方極樂世界才有。所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 從這一篇我們來看 你就瞭解了 很多原因 爲什麽十方諸佛國土 沒有一尊佛都不勸導的 只要你能夠往生西方極樂世界 你就能夠得到阿惟越致的菩薩 3256

所以 釋迦牟尼佛在《佛説阿彌陀經》告訴舍利弗尊者 他怎麽説呢 請合掌 我們一起來念【極樂國土 眾生生者 皆是阿鞞跋致】請放掌 你看 這個是釋迦牟尼佛所看到的 無論你是什麽樣的 造的什麽樣的業 只要你能夠往生到西方極樂世界 你就是阿惟越致菩薩 你就是阿鞞跋致【衆生生者】衆生生者的意思就是說 是指十方一切的衆生 聽從他的老師 就是他的本師 像我們在這個娑婆世界 我們的本師是誰 就是釋迦牟尼佛 釋迦牟尼佛勸導我們: 你要發願: 往生西方極樂世界 你生到西方極樂世界 釋迦牟尼佛就告訴我們 皆是阿鞞跋致 阿鞞跋致是古印度文 翻成中文的意思是什麽呢 就是不退轉的菩薩 你想一想 不退轉的菩薩 什麽叫做不退轉 下面會跟大家講 是哪一種不退轉 而這不退轉有多個 會跟大家説明 所以藕益大師告訴我們 3511

無論你是從凡聖同居土 或者你是下下品往生的 這些造業的衆生 五逆十惡的衆生 下下品的 一直到實報莊嚴土 統統都是阿鞞跋致 什麽意思呢 只要你生到西方極樂世界 沒有拐彎抹角 直截了當 你就是達到了 圓滿證得三不退 這個三不退 你看看下面的解釋 你就知道了 每一個菩薩的夢寐啊 我們學佛每一個人都希望的 所以真的 你看了這個解釋 注解之後 你就會發現 人這一生不到西方極樂世界 你的虧 真的 吃的太大了 所以我們不奇怪 爲什麽釋迦牟尼佛連續的四次 在《佛説阿彌陀經》勸導我們要發願求生西方 那我們來看一看 什麽叫做三不退的菩薩 這個三不退菩薩的身份是什麽身份 他的地位什麽呢 就是七地以上的菩薩 什麽叫七地以上 用現代話來講 就是等覺菩薩的身份 等覺菩薩是候補佛的身份 大家一定要知道: 一般我們見思煩惱 塵沙煩惱斷盡了 破一品無明 證一分法身 你才能夠證得圓教初住菩薩 你能嗎 你行嗎 而圓教初住的菩薩距離我們七地以上的菩薩有多遠呢 下午再跟大家來説明3745

因爲等一下我們要念下支(香) 念佛 剛才念的是上支香 下支香 十一點 我們要過堂 就是說我們要過午不食 這個做個簡單 來爲大家説明 給大家做一個簡單的報告 最主要的 我們一定要知道 念佛的精神 學佛的重要性 這個一定要搞清楚 只要你能夠明白了 你學佛就不容易退心 你念佛就不容易退心 你會懂得怎麽樣去 精進勇猛用功 因爲只有勇猛用功 你才能夠真正得到 將來你的方向 你的目標 這個就是簡單來爲大家説明 下午我再跟大家來分享 今天如果有講一些不對的地方 請大家多多批評 多多指點 希望大家我們一起來念佛 一起來用功 謝謝大家 阿彌陀佛 阿彌陀佛

75C不然的話 臨終的時候 突然間看到一個你討厭的人 死啦 死啦 這個慘了 隨著這個習氣走了 不要讓我們的身口意的過失 障礙我們將來帶業往生淨土 你要嚴守 你要嚴持你的淨戒20211030

尊敬的諸位同修 諸位護法 大家早上吉祥 阿彌陀佛

能夠跟大家聚會 一起來共修 一起來念佛 就好像《彌陀經》裡面所講的 西方極樂世界 聚會一處 這個就是我們 念佛法門的好處 今天 再藉這次的因緣 再跟大家來一起學習 如果有講到一些不妥當的 不對的地方 請大家要多多批評 你們的批評 對我有很大的好處 我才能夠看得出 我要在哪個地方改善 我才能夠進步嘛 所以不要害怕 "哎吆 那個是法師 怎麽說 你敢説嗎" 不能有這種的念頭 我們都是一樣的 同參道友 接受批評 也不一定是個壞事 人家來批評你 他也不是 爲你不好 今天都是因爲 爲我們好 他才爲我們來批評的 這個就是我們 聚會一處在學習當中 一定是有這樣的檢討 所以爲什麽我們出家人一年當中 一定要三個月結夏安居 結夏安居是佛陀 制定下來的 其實 目的就是讓我們來檢討 你在一年當中 你哪一個地方不對 需要改善 需要改過 經過懺悔 然後來證得自己 以清淨心 能夠得到 所以 這個是一個非常的重要 所以結夏安居 最主要的不是對外 是對内 對你的起心動念 對你的言語造作 你的行爲 你的念頭 種種的 有沒有依佛陀的教誨 依教奉行 這樣學佛才能夠有很大的成就 念佛才能夠獲得彌陀的加持 彌陀的利益 所以大家多多批評 不用害怕 師父不會後面拿一個木頭 給你瞪眼 不會的 多多批評

今天我要繼續來跟大家來説明的 就是念佛法門的特色 就藕益大師在《彌陀經要解》要我們對這個法門要深信 然後 在這個特色當中 昨天已經跟大家講到 這個法門的特色就是能帶業往生 在一切法門中是沒有的 唯有這個法門才有 唯有念佛法門才有的 那這個帶業往生一定有方法 這個方法就是 如何順順利利才能夠帶業往生 那要怎麽修呢 這個很重要的 下面有 四個會給大家提供 作爲我們來參考 雖然這個法門能夠帶業往生 是不可思議的法門 但是 方法一定要正確 如果方法不正確 不但帶業往生不了 最後被這個業力而所帶走了 所以我們在這個生活裡面最麻煩的就是 我們的業力 如果這個業力沒有處理好 將來能不能帶業往生 那就很難 所以 爲什麽 我們臨終的時候 很多人到最後 業力做主 最後就沒辦法往生淨土 很可惜 所以必須要把這個業力處理 怎麽處理呢 下面會跟大家説明 所以這個法門的特色就是在這個地方 在其他的法門 首先 一定要斷惑 你一定要斷煩惱 一定要把它斷得乾乾淨淨的 一絲毫煩惱都沒有了 你才能夠超越六道輪迴 橫出三界 所以佛的標準 首先你要把這個見惑斷掉了 所謂的八十八品見惑 八十八品見惑 佛菩薩通常把它歸納五大類 昨天已經爲大家説明了 第一個 你先要突破你的身見 不執著這個身體是你的 這個身體是假的 它是無常的 不能爲這個身體 對這個身體產生的執著 過於執著 會障礙我們往生西方淨土 所以爲什麽釋迦牟尼佛在世的時候 常勸導弟子 你要突破 你要超越 你要證得 所謂的清淨心 你首先 你一定要常常來 四念處 就是觀想 修四念處 觀想什麽 觀想這個身體 不清淨的 把這個身體不能當作 它是我的 你要放下 第二個的 你要突破的就是 邊見 邊見就是對立的意思 對一切物 一切人 一切衆生 一切萬物 無論你在一切處 一切時 你都不再跟人家對立了 以你的大慈大悲的心態 用你關懷的心 無緣大慈的心態 同體大悲的心態 來對待一切衆生 那你今天念佛往生西方那就很容易了 第三的 我們一定要突破的是什麽呢 我們看下面

第三的就是什麽呢 要突破的 就是我們的成見 這個成見 一般我們在社會通常 稱爲什麽 自以爲是 我們常常都是有這種毛病 自以爲是 而這個成見裡頭 有兩大類 從因上來講 這個成見 叫做戒取見 從果上來講 這個成見 叫做見取見 而這兩種都是屬於什麽呢 錯誤的成見 這個你必須要突破 這個是屬於 第四 第五是什麽呢 我們看下面916

第五 所謂的邪知邪見 所謂的邪見 對於錯誤的看法 對於錯誤的想法 見法 而這種的錯誤 我們佛教把它稱爲叫做邪知邪見 這個很麻煩 太麻煩了 所以今天我們的時代爲什麽會動亂 天天 你看外面的這些人 天天都在搞什麽 殺盜邪婬 自私自利 名聞利養 五欲六塵 一大堆 這些 每一天都在造這些業 什麽樣的影響 邪知邪見 錯誤的想法 當作這個身體是你的 當作你自己的想法是對的 對一切人都是非常的不善的念頭 不善的言語 種種的 各樣的想法 種種各樣的説法 都是歸納這種邪知邪見 那你想一想 從你自己的想法 從你自己的所看到的 你所聽到的 你所有的 你的念頭 你的行爲 種種的 你想一想 有沒有真正依我們佛經裡面的標準 有沒有 所以佛告訴我們如果你能夠把這五種突破了 你能夠把這五種所謂八十八品見惑能夠斷掉了 你就證得阿羅漢果 説明你的心就清淨了 你得到清淨心了 能不能做得到呢 做得到嗎 請舉手 爲什麽不敢舉手 舉手嘛 沒關係 沒有人怪罪你的 像師父也做不到 我請舉手 真的説實在做不到 自己的煩惱 不要説其他的 你不善的念頭 不善的念頭很多 歸納太大了 嫉妒心 瞋恨心 欲望的心 種種的 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 我爲什麽今天要跟大家分析 這一些事情 讓大家明白 在這個環境裡面我們真的想要突破 真的太難 又沒有老師在旁邊的指導 又沒有同參道友 又沒有一個好環境 你説呢 你能不能成就 太難 所以今天 我們看下面1308

所以今天我們一品煩惱都沒斷 見思煩惱都存在 我們的業障深重 天天執著我們這個身體 能不能往生 祖師大德告訴我們 能 這個叫做什麽 帶業往生 在一切法門中是沒有的 唯獨念佛法門才有 但是它有條件的 雖然是帶業往生 它有條件的 你沒有符合這個條件你是沒辦法的 所以我很喜歡這個法門 真的 當我認識了這個法門 我死心塌地 終身不改 一門深入 長時熏修 只有這個法門才能夠幫助我 除了這個法門是沒辦法的 其他法門你要斷煩惱 不要説證得阿羅漢果 初果 須陀洹 我們都沒有資格 圓教初信位的菩薩 我們也更沒有資格 不要説證得阿羅漢果 但是今天你相信這個法門 那就不一樣 所以在《彌陀經》裡面 釋迦牟尼佛告訴我們 一樁事情很重要 很重要跟大家説明 在《彌陀經》釋迦牟尼佛有一段經文 大家有沒有熟悉 去看 釋迦牟尼佛說【舍利弗。我見是利，故說此言。若有眾生，聞是說者，應當發願，生彼國土。】生到西方極樂世界 它的功德利益是不可思議的 是無法用語言來表達 是無法能夠來形容出來的 所以稱爲【不可思議】而且這個不可思議 是釋迦牟尼佛親自而所 看到的 他不是從聽聞的 釋迦牟尼佛親眼看到這樣的功德不可思議的 所以這一段經文裡面 他告訴我們勸導我們【我見是利】這一句話非常重要 很重要的 我們《彌陀經》不是看到有四次釋迦牟尼佛勸導嗎 這一段經文是屬於第二次的 那我們今天想一想 西方極樂世界的功德利益是什麽樣的不可思議 這個利益是什麽 第一個 橫出五濁惡世 就是等於說你能夠橫出三界了 橫出就是很快的意思 在無論什麽樣的法門 是沒有橫出的 在其他的法門 你要超越六道輪迴 你要橫出三界 你要一層一層的 你必須要一步一步的往上提升 這個叫做什麽 這個叫竪出 但是這個法門橫出 你不要一層一層一步一步的 但是你可以直截了當 超越六道輪迴了 在其他法門沒有的 哪有這種的道理 你想一想 尊敬的諸位同修大德 你要在這個五濁惡世 修行成果 一步一步的去修 你要需要多長時間 三大阿僧祇劫 那個時間很長 但是你往生到西方極樂世界 你能夠橫出五濁惡世了 橫出三界了 所以爲什麽這個法門 這麽難信之法 太難得了 但是很可惜呀 真的很可惜 很多人沒有這個善根 今天我們善根具足了 你不好好抓住這個機會 很可惜 這個就是第一個功德 不可思議的 我們淨土法門沒必要從小學 然後慢慢的研究所 沒必要的 我們從這個小學一直超越了研究所 你想一想 所以【我見是利】這一段經文非常重要 爲什麽呢 因爲釋迦牟尼佛給我們證明了 如果不是佛說的 我們是不能相信這個法門 爲什麽呢 找不到根據 理論 雖然相信阿彌陀佛的話 實際上呢 理論依據 還是很模糊 所以 釋迦牟尼佛在這一部經 爲我們來證明而所看到的西方極樂世界的功德利益真的不可思議的 就是這個 來爲我們證明 不僅僅釋迦牟尼佛來爲我們證明 連十方一切諸佛如來都站出來爲我們證明 告訴我們 他們所看到的 親自所看到的 西方極樂世界有這麽無比殊勝的功德 你要相信 我們必須要把釋迦牟尼佛的教誨 言語 要相信 爲什麽 因爲《金剛經》講的很清楚 【如來是真語者，實語者，如語者，不誑語者，不異語者】我們相信釋迦牟尼佛的話 決定釋迦牟尼佛不可能欺騙我們的 這個就是釋迦牟尼佛在《彌陀經》裡面告訴我們 他親眼所看到的 西方極樂世界真的不可思議的功德利益 這個是第一個2032

第二個利益是什麽呢 我想問大家 第一個利益我們已經聽到麽 橫出五濁惡世 我們這個時代就是五濁惡世 那第二個是什麽呢【圓證四土】西方極樂世界大家都知道 有四土 凡聖同居土 方便有餘土 實報莊嚴土 常寂光淨土 你生到西方極樂世界等於就圓滿證得這個四土了 就算你今天帶業往生 你造的業太重 下下品往生 往生到凡聖同居土 等於你已經得到了【圓證四土】一證一切證 一生一切生 在十方諸佛國土是沒有的 哪有這種的道理 這個就是釋迦牟尼佛親自見到來爲我們證明 世尊在這個地方勸我們 我們要相信 要跟他 相信的話(我們要相信他的話)決定是不會錯的 我們這個地方是凡聖同居土 跟聖人都在住在一起的 我們有沒有看得到 你有沒有看到彌勒菩薩 有沒有呢 有沒有看到觀世音菩薩 有沒有 有沒有看到文殊師利菩薩 看到地藏王菩薩 或者看到護法龍天 這一些護法神 有沒有看得到 他們在 跟我們在一起的 我們這個環境 現在我們所住的是釋迦牟尼佛的凡聖同居土 跟佛菩薩在一起的 爲什麽我們看不到 因爲你沒有到達那個能力 你沒有這個福報 你心不清淨麽 你沒有辦法突破 但是你在往生西方極樂世界 雖然你在凡聖同居土 但是其他的三土 你看清清楚楚的 真的 多好啊! 還不去! 所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 念佛真的很好 你能夠相信這個法門 真的 師父說實在的 從我遇到這個法門 聞到這個法門開始 真的整個心踏實了 有一個寄托 好像有一個寄托一樣 今生壽命到了我們有個方向 我們有個目標 趕快到那邊去 更好 更美滿 很好 也不要憂慮 也不要害怕 我將來的方向是怎麽樣 我要修什麽樣的法門 我要依什麽樣的目標 很模糊 我以前就是這樣的經驗 我現在遇到這個法門 我的前途 我的方向 我的目標很清楚 就是一個阿彌陀佛 就是一個西方極樂世界 其他的就不談了 這個就是第二 第三呢 它的功德不可思議就是什麽 你往生西方極樂世界 哪怕是今天是下下品往生 你造業的深重 你到了西方極樂世界 得到的是什麽 直至不退轉的菩薩 三不退轉 所謂的阿惟越致菩薩 沒有拐彎抹角直截了當 就是達到圓證三不退 這個地位是什麽地位呢 等覺菩薩的地位 等覺菩薩是候補佛的地位 你想一想 你從一個凡夫 往生西方極樂世界 就有這樣的能力 你説這個法門能不能 不學呀? 佛 能不能 不念? 不念 你的虧吃大了 真的 但是這個佛號要怎麽念 那才是關鍵 往生要怎麽樣帶業往生 那才是關鍵 所以我們今天一定要知恩報恩 真的 我們一定要報佛恩的 我們一品都沒有斷 我們一定要報佛恩 報釋迦牟尼佛的恩 把這個法門介紹給我們 然後報阿彌陀佛的恩 把四十八願來貢獻給一切衆生 來加持我們 我們才能夠獲得四十八願的加持 獲得阿彌陀佛名號功德不可思議的加持 所以我們一定要報恩 怎麽報恩呢 好好幹 好好修 好好努力 將來往生西方極樂世界 這個就是最大的報恩 報父母恩 報佛恩 報老師之恩 報國家之恩 報一切衆生之恩 所謂【上報四重恩】你全部統統具足圓滿了 這樣的解釋 OK嗎 明白嗎 好好珍惜

昨天有一位居士 問我因爲再過幾天藥師佛的聖誕 問我：師父 我修藥師佛好 還是修阿彌陀佛好? 這個問題我很難解答 …我説阿彌陀佛好 怎麽樣 等一下我説藥師佛好 怎麽樣 所以我就告訴這位居士 我説 看著辦 你喜歡藥師佛 你就念藥師佛 你喜歡阿彌陀佛 你就念阿彌陀佛 但是師父 能夠勸導的 一切諸佛如來 沒有一尊佛 都不勸導我們念阿彌陀佛 藥師佛也不例外 自己選擇 自己去想 這個道理我們一定要這樣想 這樣講 不然 很不好 對不對

所以我們今天念佛雖然能夠帶業往生 方法很容易 但是它有一個條件 關鍵要如何 把它順利帶業往生呢 這個才是一個關鍵 如何要順利 我們先看第一個

第一個我們一定要知道 必須要明白 首先關鍵在哪裡 你的正念分明 你的正念一定要分明的 就是說 這個正念就是講 這一句阿彌陀佛的名號 你臨終的時候你的頭腦 很清楚 你的頭腦很明白 很清醒 而沒有一個 一絲毫懷疑 不迷惑 不顛倒 你能夠信心的堅定 毫無懷疑 願意念佛 求生極樂 假如一念 乃至十念 如此決定 一定往生淨土 你的正念要分明 這個正念是指阿彌陀佛 那這個正念要怎麽樣的培養呢 那一定在日常生活裡面去培養 這個很重要 所以雖然煩惱 我們看到這個是第一點的 我們一定要知道 你要讓你能夠順順利利帶業往生 你第一個 你一定要這樣的 你的正念要培養 這個正念要分明 不然的話 你是往生不了的 你要念一萬聲 十萬聲 你也沒辦法往生 但是你的正念分明 清清楚楚 乃至一念 十念 你都能夠往生淨土 所以這一念是從哪裡培養開始的 從當下 從今天開始的 不是在臨終的時候 才培養的 所以走到哪裡 一切時 一切處 一句阿彌陀佛 不令間斷 看到誰 一句阿彌陀佛 看到孩子 一句阿彌陀佛 看到老公 一句阿彌陀佛 看到誰 好人壞人 善緣惡緣 逆境順緣 就是一句阿彌陀佛 這樣的培養 你第一關 你能夠把它做好了 你才能夠進入第二關 第二關怎麽樣呢 就是雖然煩惱未斷 但是在臨終的時候 你有這樣的能力 什麽能力 伏住 把它伏住 讓它不起作用 才能夠往生西方極樂世界 我們來看下面的 剛才那一張

要用什麽樣的方法來伏住呢 很簡單 這個一句阿彌陀佛名號 而且這個方法 太不可思議 太妙了 妙不可妙 妙不可説 妙不可言 妙不可思 用這一句名號 這個就是我們的 淨土法門的好處 這個伏住 好像一個什麽 一個大石頭壓著這個草 不讓這個草一直長出來 這個草就是我們的習氣煩惱 這個大石頭 是什麽 就是阿彌陀佛的願力 讓我們起心動念就是阿彌陀佛 無論是善念惡念 第二個念頭就是阿彌陀佛 讓你的心裡 在一切時 一切處 只有阿彌陀佛 除阿彌陀佛之外 什麽念頭都沒有 能養成這樣的習慣 能夠培養這樣的習慣 你往生西方極樂世界 你帶業往生西方極樂世界都有把握 都能夠可靠 因爲你跟阿彌陀佛西方極樂世界 天天培養的感情 天天培養相應 就這樣的 但是在這個地方我要提醒大家 我要提醒大家 我爲什麽要提醒大家呢 伏住煩惱不是在臨終的時候培養的 去鍛煉的 你不要帶著 存著僥幸的念佛 你一定要在日常生活裡面去鍛煉 去培養 養成這種的習慣 然後 你才能夠有這個把握不然的話 你不但帶業往生不了 你會被這個業力而所帶走了 所以我們大家一定要知道 不然的話 那這很麻煩 因爲業力太強了 所以這個就是我們念佛的人的希望 什麽希望呢 就是提起阿彌陀佛的名號【願我臨終無障礙】所以每一天要去念阿彌陀佛 給自己做功課 因爲最後會跟大家講一個故事 觀世音菩薩 給這位居士 告訴他你每一天至少要六千 六千聲的佛號 像黃念祖一天十萬聲 那你們要把這個功課定下來 至少要五千到一萬 一天 那我們一天 念佛念到至少一萬的 請舉手 有沒有 至少五千的 你們沒有達到一萬對不對 五千的有沒有 請舉手 連五千都沒有 天哪 那就麻煩了 這個以後真的很麻煩了 我們一定要培養 好好習慣培養 十五分鐘當中你可以念多少 所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 這個不能開玩笑 如果你這一生當中 你想要真正超越六道輪迴 你不想再受任何的苦 你想要好好在西方極樂世界跟諸佛如來聚會一處 你沒有別的路 你要從今天開始要好好培養 口不離阿彌陀佛 心不離阿彌陀佛 一切處一切時 看到一切人都是阿彌陀佛 要這樣的培養 臨終的時候 才能夠可靠 像今天我們來看 你看你大家 當你起煩惱的時候 比如說 你脾氣起來 第二個念頭 阿彌陀佛 有沒有起來 你在發脾氣的時候 先發脾氣 還是先念阿彌陀佛 你看到一個人不順眼的時候 我很討厭這個人 討厭先起來 還是阿彌陀佛先起 我相信你們都是先起的第一個 我討厭你的 對不對 爲什麽會這樣 就是因爲你沒有把它培養習慣 當你遇到這個逆境的時候 第一個念頭先起來是阿彌陀佛 你能夠這樣的鍛煉修行 那你臨終的時候 那就可靠了 臨終的時候 障礙來 什麽樣的逆境 業力來了 統統你能夠考過 不然的話 你考不過的 所以你要鍛煉 從這一刻開始你要鍛煉 遇到什麽樣的境界 順境來的時候 阿彌陀佛 把這個貪念壓下去 慢慢自自然然一年當中 半年當中 你這種的鍛煉 你會慢慢的恢復 自自然然而念的 你不用去注意它 阿彌陀佛自自然然就起來了 就是像我們的習氣一樣 我們遇到順(逆)境的時候 自自然然 那種心裡面不高興起來了 討厭 怨恨 種種的 自自然然就起來了 爲什麽 因爲這個習氣 無量劫以來就是這樣的 那我們現在 要怎麽樣把這個習氣伏住 把這個阿彌陀佛自自然然的顯出來 提出來的 你要這樣的鍛煉 念佛才能夠可靠 你説是不是呢 不然的話你看 臨終的時候 突然間看到一個你討厭的人 死啦 死啦 這個慘了 隨著這個習氣走了 所以第三點最重要是什麽呢 要怎麽樣來伏住 讓這個伏住煩惱 能夠起作用呢 我們看第三3915

第三的 用什麽方法呢 懺悔發願 第三的 這個很重要 這個非常的重要 我們修淨土宗念佛的人 如果想要處理我們的業力一定要經過什麽呢 經過勤修懺悔 你念阿彌陀佛 等於在懺悔 天天不斷的去懺悔 對於我們的過去生所造的殺盜邪婬 對於我們今生所造的殺盜邪婬 在佛門前我們至誠的懺悔 發露自己的過失 以懺悔心來面對自己的業力 這個叫做能夠帶業往生 你要不斷地去懺悔 天天去懺悔改過自新 把你們的身口意三業不斷的往這個善念的 去培養 而這個善念最好的 就是這句阿彌陀佛名號 念佛真的 能夠消業障 但是如果這一句名號你沒有把它善用 將來你無論怎麽念佛 你能夠墮地獄的 所以這個很重要的 然後發願 我們看第四4114

第四 要怎麽樣發願 這個願 是什麽願呢 你要嚴持淨戒 我們一定要清楚 懺悔是針對過去 發願是針對未來的 你要記得 你今天懺悔 你的過去 但是你今天發願 是針對你的未來 我今天要往生西方極樂世界 我要發願 怎麽發願呢 你要遵守佛陀的戒法 避免你的身口意 不要去犯過失 這個我們念佛的人一定要知道 不要讓我們的身口意 的過失障礙我們將來帶業往生淨土的 所以爲什麽我們在淨土宗裡面 爲什麽 淨業三福 是我們的基本 你要嚴守 你要嚴持你的淨戒 這樣的話你能夠把它落實在生活 處事待人接物 從你的發願 從你的懺悔 經過這個懺悔 經過這個發願 你才能夠真正將來才有把握往生淨土 不然的話 靠不住你看佛陀在世的時候 阿闍世王 犯了五逆十惡 到最後往生西方極樂世界 他靠的是什麽 經過懺悔 經過發願 而來念這句阿彌陀佛 最後 他要離開這個世間的時候 真的往生西方極樂世界 而且品位很高 那我們今天也是一樣 我們的身口意 不斷的造業我們的習氣煩惱太重了 我們是凡夫 所以每一天爲什麽不斷的去反省 檢討 懺悔 改過 天天發願 將來不再造這些業 將來不會再傷害別人 將來不要再犯一些不該犯的過失 天天的這樣的進步 天天這樣的培養 天天這樣的修持 你念這句阿彌陀佛 那就容易了 不然的話 真的很難 天天念阿彌陀佛 心有沒有淨下來 很難説 真的 你看師父也是一樣 雖然在念佛 有沒有煩惱 有 煩惱還是存在啊 這個我講實話 真的 我念佛 雖然是有 煩惱還是存在 但是這個煩惱有區別 我的煩惱跟你的煩惱 只是關鍵在輕還是重而已 那不一樣 我相信大家 你們的修行比我好 你們的念佛比我好

{//4455最後來跟大家 來講一個故事 大家有沒有 聽過這個故事 他是河北人 在這一帶 因爲他的緣故 把這一帶念佛帶動起來了 大家有沒有聽過這個故事 他是一位奇人 名字叫韓仲英 姓韓的 河北人 你看他的照片 他的氣色 長得很好看 這個照片已經 年齡也是 很長壽了 他的雙腎已經爛掉了 但是因爲念佛的緣故 又長出新的腎 從古至今沒有聽過的 但是事實上我們今天已經聼到了 這個文章是悟行師父傳給我的 你想一想 腎臟壞了可不可以再生 能不能再生 依醫學來看 是沒辦法的 是不可能的 一個人如果腎臟爛掉了 説明什麽呢 他跟死亡距離不遠了 而且得到對腎臟有問題的人 那個很辛苦的 真的很辛苦的 雖然現在科學發達 醫學發達 這個腎臟能夠換 壞掉能夠找 來換掉一個新的 但是在一萬當中難得 得到其一 而得到之後 也不一定適合 而那個副作用很嚴重的 不是每個人能夠承受得了的 他是河北這一帶的 他 做什麽樣的行業 就是專門修什麽 修水利的 以前的做水利工 很辛苦 科技沒發達 靠什麽 靠人力 挖洞 挖這個洞 不小心被泥土車撞到了 落在七八尺的洞裡面 然後整個人 這個腰啊 一些 搞到整個很嚴重 昏迷過去了 連他的那個腎臟就爛掉了 全身都是血 骨折種種都受傷 連腰就沒辦法 昏迷了 送到醫院 沒有一個醫院能夠治得了的 沒辦法治得了 躺在這個床上 動也不動 又加上他的腎臟爛掉了 排尿 又很難 所以整個人 腫出 腫的很大 很難看 而且痛的不得了 天天哀苦 天天受苦 你想一想 像這一類的人 如果今天 如果他的意志沒有很大的堅持 早就自殺了 這樣受苦受難 誰能夠受得了 但是這位老人家 韓仲英 他有善根 因爲他小的時候 他的爺爺奶奶是拜觀世音菩薩的 他拜觀世音菩薩的 所以 他突然間想到觀世音菩薩 他就三天三夜的喊觀世音菩薩 "觀音菩薩 我很痛苦 我很痛 我爲什麽這麽痛苦 您爲什麽不來救我呢? 爲啥呢 您爲什麽不來救我 您是大慈大悲 您爲什麽不來救我" 三天三夜 你看 大慈大悲的觀世音菩薩真的 不離一切衆生之苦 示現説法 突然間 有一天 第三天 托夢給他 他夢了觀世音菩薩 而且告訴我們：菩薩的慈悲莊嚴 是言語難代表的 他看到觀世音菩薩 他的莊嚴 那種莊嚴法 沒辦法形容的 他一生都沒有學佛 只是因爲他這個善根 小的時候 爺爺奶奶拜觀世音菩薩的 沒想到 觀世音菩薩在夢中裡面告訴他 他說: "韓居士 " 這個韓居士就告訴觀世音菩薩:"菩薩 您爲什麽不救我呢 您爲什麽不管我呢 我這麽痛苦 您爲什麽不管我?" 觀世音菩薩怎麽說 觀世音菩薩就告訴韓居士 韓仲英居士 他説:"你的罪孽深重 你的罪太大了 這個叫做什麽 重業輕報" 他已經受到這樣的 整個腎臟也爛掉了 在床上 動也不動(動也動不了)天天喊痛苦 他還是重罪輕報 你想一想 那嚴重的罪報是怎麽樣 那不可思議了 都是無間地獄了 然後觀世音菩薩 告訴他 "你要趕緊念阿彌陀佛" 你看觀世音菩薩沒有叫他念其他的 你趕快念阿彌陀佛 但是 韓仲英居士告訴觀世音菩薩 他説什麽 他説 觀世音菩薩 我疼 我很痛啊 我怎麽念啊 觀世音菩薩就告訴韓仲英 你疼也要念 你痛也要念 而且 你每一天至少要念六千聲的阿彌陀佛 而且 觀世音菩薩告訴韓仲英 "你從今以後 不可以再吃肉了 病好了 你要宣揚念佛 勸人家相信 然後 來念這一句名號" 這個是觀世音菩薩在夢中裡面 勸導韓仲英的 所以韓仲英很聼話 怎麽聽話呢 你看他用什麽來計算這個佛號的 我們平常用計算機 有沒有 他用玉米 玉米一顆一顆 放在一個很大的碗 然後 念了一句阿彌陀佛 把那個玉米拿出來 念第二聲 把玉米拿出來 把這個碗玉米全統統都拿出來之後 又把這個玉米放進去 早上念 晚上念 下午念 無論怎麽樣他都是念阿彌陀佛 沒想到 念了第二天 他原本很難排尿的 他竟然可以排出尿來了 他原本不能走路 然後經過半年 他的身體能夠翻身了 也能夠用爬的 最後呢 又能夠走路 雖然他走路 不正常 他是彎著 這個人是彎著走路的 半年 你想一想 半年 而經過這樣的修行 經過了十五年 他整個人恢復了 而十五年當中 這一半年來 沒想到 他的腎臟長出了兩顆 兩顆新的腎臟出來 而經過十五年 他就回去 這個醫院以前這個醫生看他的時候 這個醫生看到他的時候 整個醫生就驚訝了 整個醫院就驚訝了 太神奇了 他就問他 韓居士 你是行 做什麽樣的善事 才會有這樣的奇跡呢 韓仲英就告訴醫生 他說 我沒有做什麽樣的大善事 我只是念這一句阿彌陀佛的名號 他告訴醫生這樣的 沒想到 在這個河北地區很多得癌症的 因爲他這樣的念佛功德不可思議 度了很多人 有三十幾位得癌症的全部得愈 最特別的就是他的鄰居 姓玉的 玉娥娘 她得肝癌 整個肚子腫出來很大 很痛苦 痛苦到什麽程度 嘴巴沒辦法張開講話 所以趕快請了韓仲英居士到她的家裡為她助念 她告訴韓仲英 我沒辦法 把這個嘴張開 然後跟著念佛 沒關係 你默念 沒想到 念到第二天 她的嘴巴能夠張開 而跟大家講話 那個時候 這個玉娥娘74嵗 你想一想 活到九十四嵗 增加了二十年 念佛的功德 所以韓仲英老居士 以今天來説 度了很多河北這一帶 念佛感應的故事 非常功德 不可思議的 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 你念佛 像韓仲英居士 像這樣的精進念佛 我相信 你們會更大的成就 所以 身教超過言教的功德 你要做表演出來 給大家看 做一個好樣子 讓大家瞭解 讓大家能夠看 讓大家能夠深信 你是一個了不起念佛之人 你在這個雪梨能夠好好修行 將來能夠影響整個雪梨這一帶 那就功德不可思議了 能不能做得到 這個關鍵就是你們自己啦 不要説整個雪梨這一帶 把你自己做好 讓你的家親眷屬看到你這樣念佛了不起 那你的功德也不可思議了 這個就是藕益大師 告訴我們念佛法門的特色 第二個就是能夠帶業往生 而帶業往生的關鍵 你能不能天天發露懺悔 發願 而能夠把這一句阿彌陀佛 天天的培養習慣 然後 無論在什麽樣的境界當中 順境也好 逆境也罷 善緣也好 惡緣也罷 無論在 一切處 一切時 你能夠把這句阿彌陀佛 對一切的境界能夠伏住 你能夠帶業往生西方淨土 這個就是跟大家來分享 第三個的最大的特色 就是什麽呢 下個星期 再跟大家分享 今天簡單跟大家講到這個地方 我也希望我們也能夠好好用功 這句名號太容易了 太簡單了 無論你在哪裡 上班也好 做什麽樣的工作也好 只要你能夠有空的時候 趕快念 最好給自己做功課 下定功課 學習 沒關係 一天至少五千 像觀世音菩薩告訴韓仲英 一天六千 而且觀世音菩薩也交代韓仲英 十齋日 一定要受八關齋戒 我們如果十齋日沒辦法 六齋日 六齋日 沒辦法 一個星期一次 像師父 一個星期 禮拜四 師父會受八關齋戒 一個星期一次就好 好好修習 給自己 做一個定課 因爲韓仲英 他經過這個學習八關齋戒的時候 其實 戒不是對於外 其實 戒最主要是對自己的 那今天我們修行 也是最主要對自己 自己做好 你就能夠幫助別人 別人能夠得利 你自己也得利了。

這個說到這個地方 如果有講一些不對的地方 大家多多批評 如果有一些 大家有什麽樣的疑問 對於這個念佛 有產生的問題 不清楚的話 師父 我念佛爲什麽這樣 我念佛爲什麽不能得利益 種種的 你可以提出來問 有因緣 我爲大家來解答 你可以經過我們的鄭總 我們的總幹事 你可以傳給他 用簡訊的 我每個星期 我會把十分鐘的時間 五分鐘的時間 來爲大家解答這個問題 謝謝大家 如果今天有講一些不對的地方 祝大家多多批評 祝大家六時吉祥 祝大家身體健康 謝謝大家 阿彌陀佛

75B因爲一切衆生都是跟你一樣的 你傷害衆生 衆生一定來傷害你的 你批評 或者用你的語言去傷害衆生 總有一天他也會用語言來傷害你 用這個大慈大悲 無條件的 去愛護一切衆生 你愛護一切衆生 等於是愛護了自己了 你幫助一切衆生 等於你幫助你自己了 你成就一切衆生 等於你成就了自己20211030

75B 20211030

尊敬的諸位同修 諸位護法 大家吉祥 阿彌陀佛

今天 再一次藉這個共修的因緣來跟大家一起來學習 希望能夠對於念佛法門 能夠產生的深信 而將來能夠得生淨土 離苦得樂 如果有講一些不對的地方請大家多多批評128

這一次要跟大家來分享的就是 藕益大師在《彌陀經要解》爲我們修淨土法門的 對於稱念這一句阿彌陀佛的名號 爲我們説明 念佛法門有三個地方是非常的特色 在這個三個地方裡面 在一切法門中 是沒有的 唯獨念佛法門才有 而且這個特色 是無比的殊勝 這一點我們一定要知道 爲什麽我們要相信這個法門 爲什麽要來稱念這一句名號 它的好處最大的是什麽 爲什麽我要來念這句阿彌陀佛的名號 它的殊勝是在哪裡 這個要跟大家簡單來説明 然後最後來給大家分享一個故事 這個故事 是一位奇人 他是住在河北這一帶的 因爲他的雙腎 就是他的腎臟已經爛掉了 但是因爲念佛的因緣 又長出新的腎臟 從古至今 我們從來沒有聽過的 但是事實上已經發生了 這一位是誰呢 下面會跟大家來分享 讓你們能夠對這句阿彌陀佛的名號 絲毫懷疑都沒有了

上個星期已經跟大家分享到了 藕益大師第一個特色就是這個法門 它是【三根普被 利鈍全收】就是說 無論男女老少 無論你的根性 不認識字的 也不會懂得誦經 也不會懂得 去講經 就算三歲小孩 五歲小孩 八十歲的老翁 都能夠念這句阿彌陀佛的名號 很簡單 方便 只要你肯念 你就能夠藉這個因緣來成就自己 無論你是什麽樣的根性 就算最愚笨的人也都能夠念這句阿彌陀佛名號 上個星期已經爲大家説明 也爲大家講過一些故事

今天要跟大家來分享的第二的是什麽呢 我們看下面 第二點的 藕益大師告訴我們 念佛法門的特色無比殊勝的就是什麽 帶業往生 在一切法門中 是沒有的 雖然我們的煩惱的種子還沒斷 我們煩惱很重 業障深重 無論你是什麽樣的罪業 只有你一生學佛 好好修行 到臨終的時候 你能夠正念分明 心不顛倒 一心不亂 西方三聖 阿彌陀佛 觀音菩薩 大勢至菩薩 以及諸菩薩眾都能夠來接引我們到西方極樂世界 這個叫做什麽 這個叫做帶業往生 你想一想 在一切法門當中是沒有的 一切法門 你要超越六道輪迴 你要了生死 你首先一定要斷煩惱 但是淨宗是沒有的 你不用斷煩惱 你能夠帶業往生 這個我們一定要知道的 所以 以前 師父在台灣的時候 我爲什麽後來喜歡這個法門呢 這個法門爲什麽我這麽會喜歡 因爲它的好處都是帶業往生 你想這一生要了生死出三界 最偉大的 你能成佛 你要靠其他的法門 是沒辦法的 唯獨這個法門才能夠幫助我們 但是尊敬的諸位同修大德 在這個地方我要提醒大家 我一定要提醒大家的:很多人認爲說 帶業能夠往生 那我這一生 等到臨終的時候才來念佛 現在 造一些業沒關係 最主要 臨終的時候 請人家來助念 請一些大善知識 來爲我助念 來爲我消業障 來幫助我回向 到時候 我們才往生西方極樂世界。不要用這種的心態 這種的僥幸的學佛 來學佛的 不可以的! 不要把西方極樂世界當作垃圾桶 統統把這些垃圾扔到西方極樂世界去 不可以的 所以很多人聽到這一段經文 會產生的誤解:反正都帶業往生 業 造多一點 沒關係 將來統統到西方極樂世界 讓阿彌陀佛解決 哪有這個道理?

所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 在這個地方我要提醒大家 雖然這個道理很簡單 就算我們犯了五逆十惡 犯了很嚴重的造業 左脚已經在無間地獄了 右脚還在這個世間 只要你肯念這句阿彌陀佛 只要你肯發願 你對這個淨土法門一絲毫懷疑都沒有 你的心對於西方極樂世界那種向往 非常強 但是爲什麽 臨終的時候 爲什麽現在念佛的人多 往生的人少 什麽原因呢 難在哪裡呢 這個我們一定要知道的 我們在這個生活裡面 尊敬的諸位同修大德 我們在這個生活裡面 我們每一天所有的生活裡面 都被我們的業力牽著走 我們的業力 所以 我們在這個生活裡面 誰做主 就是我們的業力做主 很麻煩 如果今天我們沒有把業力處理好 你能不能帶業往生 沒辦法的 因爲這個業力太强了 如果你沒有把這個業力 把它處理 把它修好 將來會障礙我們往生淨土的 現在我們念佛感覺很不錯 因爲你的業障還沒現前 這個業障都是講業力了 當你業障現前的時候 你要怎麽樣來對付它? 你要怎麽樣來克服它呢? 那個才是關鍵 所以爲什麽我們 像我自己本身 每天要睡覺之前 我也希望大家能夠這樣做 人躺在床上的時候 合掌 二十一遍 四十九遍 念阿彌陀佛 到最後 祈求阿彌陀佛【願我臨終無障礙】希望我們臨終的時候 不要有很多的障礙 不然的話 不但我們不能帶業往生到西方極樂世界 而被這個業力帶著走了 那就很麻煩了 如果我們被業力帶走了 那你想一想《地藏菩薩本願經》講的很清楚:閻浮提衆生起心動念無不是罪 你想一想 你這一生造的業有多少 從你的身口意三業 你造了多少 天天都在造業 將來要受果報 那這個果報幾乎都在哪裡 在三途 不要以爲:我今天念佛 沒事 慈雲灌頂大師也説過 在《觀無量壽佛經》《大勢至菩薩圓通章》它有講了 告訴我們 念佛的人 有一百種的果報 第一種的果報是什麽 墮在地獄 所以你要明白這個道理 業力很恐怖的 這個業力很可怕 每一個人都有過去現在未來 那我們過去生 所造的業 現在只是遲早而已 什麽時候呢 沒有辦法來算定什麽時候發生 所以這個業力如果沒有把它處理好 那就沒辦法 所以 藉這個共修的因緣 我要跟大家來説明 要如何讓我們能夠順順利利的帶業往生淨土 這個很重要 所以後面會跟大家分享 有四件(事) 要提供給大家分享 讓大家明白要如何讓我們這個業力 不要產生來障礙我們將來往生淨土 這個很重要 所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 爲什麽西方極樂世界這麽莊嚴 無盡的美好 就是因爲阿彌陀佛因地修行 他的願力而所感召來的 爲什麽我們這個世界 會產生種種的障礙 因爲我們的業力而所感召來 這不一樣 所以大家一定要小心 今天念佛 就是要幫助我們 要如何將來 不讓這個業力來產生 來障礙我們 得生淨土 所以在這個地方 就是我們所説的 念佛的好處都是帶業往生 這個就是阿彌陀佛的慈悲 悲願之深 我們看下面1503

這個就是阿彌陀佛的悲願之深 看到這個衆生 要修行難 要成就難 不要説斷煩惱 你一天不造業 都已經很不容易了 所以阿彌陀佛才發這個大願 告訴我們 只要你相信淨土 只要你相信阿彌陀佛 只要你相信西方極樂世界 你真幹 你精進 勇猛的念佛 你都能夠成就 你能夠超越六道輪迴 你會離苦得樂 所以 攝度之廣 超逾十方 這個超逾十方是指十方諸佛國土 什麽意思呢 我們看下面1608

在十方法界裡面 沒有説法 說能帶業往生 唯獨西方極樂世界阿彌陀佛才有 雖然我們的煩惱未斷 都能夠帶業往生 這個說明什麽呢 阿彌陀佛的慈悲啊 阿彌陀佛的偉大啊 對十方一切衆生的護念 這個就是阿彌陀佛的 對我們的關注 你想一想 如果沒有這個法門 怎麽辦呢 你想想我們自己本身 每一天 你想一想 處事待人接物 無不是罪業 每一天都是這個樣子的 所以 我們看下面1713

所以我們能夠帶業往生 雖然沒有證 連初果都沒有證 初信位菩薩都沒有證 但是能往生淨土 我們生到西方極樂世界 極樂世界的凡聖同居土 地位跟我們現在娑婆世界的地位都是相同一樣的 只是換一個地方 我們現在 在這個地方 所住的 所謂的 就是凡聖同居土 我們到西方極樂世界 極樂世界的凡聖同居土那就不一樣 你看下面 我們來看下面1807

我們現在住的這個地方是釋迦牟尼佛的凡聖同居土 我們現在住的這個地方 是釋迦牟尼佛的凡聖同居土 當我們到西方極樂世界 那我們是極樂世界的凡聖同居土 就是阿彌陀佛的凡聖同居土 雖然我們生在凡聖同居土 是最低的 下下品往生的 但是你的待遇 你的福報 都是跟阿彌陀佛一樣 你想一想 你今天帶了很多的一些罪業 造了很多的造業 你往生到西方極樂世界 等於你生在凡聖同居土 雖然凡聖同居土 但是你的福報 你的待遇 跟阿彌陀佛的一樣 就好像我們什麽都沒有 我們什麽都沒有 但是生到西方極樂世界 什麽都有了 阿彌陀佛有的 我們也有 阿彌陀佛有無量壽 我們也有無量壽 阿彌陀佛有無量相 我們也無量相 相有無量好 我們也相無量好 阿彌陀佛在極樂世界裡面 一切法能夠稱心如意的 沒有一件事(不是)隨心所欲的 都是稱心如意的 我們也是一樣 在西方極樂世界所有的福報 阿彌陀佛擁有的 我們也擁有的 雖然我們帶業往生西方淨土 在十方諸佛國土沒有這個道理 沒有這個説法 今天如果我們能夠遇到這個法門 沒有好好來珍惜 然後 把這個機會錯過了 那真的很可惜呀 所以我們看下面2028

所以我們師父上人常常告訴我們 如果沒有阿彌陀佛 沒有淨宗這個念佛法門 我們想要成就 任何人的成就 就不可能有任何的大成就 而且這個成就是什麽呢【生死自在 了無掛礙】這個我們一定要知道的 那你想一想 以我們(的)能力 不要説大成就 最小的成就 就是我們小乘講的 須陀洹 初果 我們能夠得到嗎 説實在的 很難 真的太難了 爲什麽很難呢 什麽原因呢 我們佛教裡面最低的初果須陀洹 小乘的 大乘教的 圓乘教 所講的 初信位菩薩 這樣地位是最低的 我們就無法能夠得到 那何況再講別的呢 爲什麽呢 我們來看下面的2218

佛在經上常常告訴我們 講的很清楚 你必須要斷三界八十八品見惑 你才能夠超越三界 了生死超越六道輪迴 我們能夠斷得了嗎 斷不了 尊敬的諸位同修大德 什麽叫做八十八品 我們在這個環境裡面 你要靠自己的能力 你要靠自己的修行 再加上這個環境 這麽嚴重的誘惑 又沒有好老師 又沒有一個好的同參道友 又沒有一個好的環境 你想要大成就 斷煩惱 不要説 成阿羅漢果 連須陀洹 你就沒辦法成就 你想一想 能成就嗎 很難 我們斷不了啊 什麽叫做八十八品 我們來看一下

你看這段經文你就明白了 爲什麽十方一切諸佛如來叫我們要念佛 所以爲什麽十方一切諸佛如來 把淨土法門 把念佛法門 作爲教導衆生的爲中心 從阿彌陀佛 這句名號 展出就是八萬四千法門 而八萬四千法門都是無量無邊的法門 歸納起來 到最後也就是阿彌陀佛這一句名號 所以 爲什麽我們要很需要靠這個淨土法門 靠這個念佛法門 你想一想 從最低的 最基本的 叫做八十八品見惑 八十八品見惑在大乘經裡面所講的 佛菩薩把它歸納五大類 就是見思煩惱 有五大類 你必須把它斷掉 如果你沒有把這個五大類的見思煩惱斷掉 你是沒辦法超越六道輪迴 你還在門口 你還沒入門 第一個你要破掉的是什麽 你要突破的 第一個就是身見 不再執著這個身體是我的 誰能夠突破 誰能夠破得了 有人能夠做得到嗎 誰呢 我們天天 哎呀這個身體呀 不舒服 哎呀這個身體越來越老 很多人對這個身體的執著 爲了這個身體的欲望 爲了滿足這個身體 天天都在造什麽呢 殺盜邪淫 特別就是那一些女生 我是講不是你們 外面的了 你們都很有修行的 你看我們現在 這個社會上 做什麽樣的生意 你看現在很多國家 建什麽 美容院 或者讓能夠長得漂亮 能夠長得越來越年輕 種種的 你看想盡辦法 要如何來讓這個身體 能夠來滿足這個身體 爲了這個身體 你看 一切衆生不斷的在造業 你爲了這個身體 起了貪念 爲了這個身體 起了欲望 爲了這個身體 做了一些不該造的業

所以爲什麽釋迦牟尼佛在世的時候 常常教我們要觀想什麽 教我們觀想四念處 四念處頭一條就是告訴我們怎麽觀想 觀想這個身體【觀身不淨】就是說這個身體很骯髒的 臭皮囊 觀想這個身體 不要執著這個身體 那你想一想 這個是簡單的比喻了 我們能不能突破 突破不了 所以會產生 生病 看醫生 會產生很多一些問題 因爲這個身體 你每一天 你要滿足它 你不滿足它 它會給你一個很大的麻煩 你説你不吃飯 它行嗎 還不行啊 你不洗澡 你想一想 像我以前在打佛七的時候 有人發過願 請大家要發願 有一些居士參加佛七的 這個居士說 我要一個星期不洗澡 這個不行 不要說一個星期 你兩天不洗澡 你會影響別人 你那個味道就很難聞的了 很麻煩 這個身體。你不會好好對待它 它會帶來很多的麻煩 它會跟你抗議 所以 釋迦牟尼佛首先教你要先突破 突破這個身體 你能夠突破 這一關 你就能夠過了。但是很難2859

所以《金剛經》裡面告訴我們 我們看下面《金剛經》裡面告訴我們 前半部整個《金剛經》你看我們會常常讀到什麽【無我相 無人相 無衆生相 無壽者相】如果能夠把這個四相突破了 你就證得什麽 小乘初果 須陀洹 大乘圓教初信位菩薩 你就真正入門了 只是第一關而已 你想一想 如果今天我們不靠淨土法門 你行嗎 無人相 無衆生相 無壽者相 你能夠突破嗎 突破不了啊 你能夠突破了 你真的入門了 所以很難 真的 你不靠這一句名號 你不靠阿彌陀佛 你真的太難成就了 所以我們師父上人 在講經當中常常講到什麽呢 我們看下面【真幹】什麽叫真幹 放下自私自利 放下名聞利養 放下五欲六塵 放下你的貪瞋痴慢 這十六個字 已經很不容易做到了 有沒有證到初信位菩薩 説實在的 沒有 你有沒有入門 也沒有 你只在門口而已 還沒進去 爲什麽呢 因爲佛的標準 是要斷見惑的 我們看下面3100

斷見惑 只是一個身見 佛的標準是這一個 你沒有經過這個標準你是沒辦法達到的 所以説實在 當我認識了淨宗 讓我感覺 我的心就定下來了 有一個寄托 有一個希望 這個法門真的太容易了

第二個是什麽呢 當你把這個身見突破了 第二個你要突破什麽 邊見 邊見是什麽 用現代話來講 這個邊見的意思就是對立 你對人對事對物對一切萬物 都對立 所以衆生爲什麽會活得很辛苦 就是這個原因 所以這個錯誤的見解 你想一想 我們活在這個世上 不要說外面的人 説你自己 天天跟人跟事跟物 幾乎每天都是對立的 看這個人不喜歡 看那個人我討厭 看這個人我喜歡 看這個我不討厭 天天都是這個樣子的 念佛人不應該這樣的 我們應該怎麽樣培養呢 遇到什麽樣的事情 不要跟人家對立 跟人家對立很辛苦的 念佛之人不應該這樣的

所以 我們看下面 尊敬的諸位同修大德 其實 我們如果能夠明白事實真相 整個遍法界虛空界 一切萬事萬物 其實跟我們是一體的 所謂在菩薩道裡面我們常講的【無緣大慈 同體大悲】你要這樣的培養 無條件的 無緣 就是無條件的 去愛護一切衆生 因爲一切衆生都是跟你一樣的 你傷害衆生 衆生一定來傷害你的 你跟衆生對立 衆生一定跟你對立的 你批評 或者用你的語言去傷害衆生 總有一天他也會用語言來傷害你 所以 用這種無條件去愛護一切衆生 用這個大慈大悲 無條件的 去愛護一切衆生 你愛護一切衆生 等於是愛護了自己了 你幫助一切衆生 等於你幫助你自己了 你成就一切衆生 等於你成就了自己 這個就是我們師父上人在大乘經裡面常常提醒我們 你要用這種的心態來念佛 那今天念佛就得力 你今天念佛就成就了 爲什麽我們不要這樣做呢 爲什麽要跟人家對立呢

所以 從今天開始 聼師父的話 難得我們都在一起念佛 回到家裡 走到哪裡 看到誰 哪怕是看到你討厭的人 你不喜歡的人 把他當作阿彌陀佛 沒事! 我們的事情會減少一大半 真的 如果你把他當作敵人來看待 真的 睡也睡不好 吃也吃不飽 很辛苦的 你能不能突破? "師父 很難!" 你難也要修啊 這個就是修行 所以你想一想 今天你不靠淨宗 你不靠這一句阿彌陀佛 那怎麽辦呢 所以 要怎麽樣來化解 用這句名號 第三點是什麽呢3559

第三點就是我們的成見 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 這個只是講到第二 突破你的身見 突破你的邊見 邊見就講對立 第三的是什麽 我們看下面

第三就是成見 成見的意思就是 自以爲是 成見裡頭 有兩大類 因上的 叫做戒取見 果上的 叫做見取見 換句話說 這兩大類屬於是什麽呢 成見 就是錯誤的 你的想法 你的見解 都是錯誤的 你能不能突破 很難 最後呢

我們看第五 叫做邪見 邪知邪見的 是錯誤的看法 錯誤的想法 錯誤的見法 這個就是什麽 叫做邪知邪見 如果這五種思想上錯誤的都沒辦法斷掉了 你看下面 如果這五種思想上的錯誤斷掉了 你就能夠證阿羅漢果 你就得到清淨心了 誰能夠做得到? 你能做得到嗎

我們看下面 最後 我們今天 一品煩惱都沒斷 見思煩惱都在 業障深重 天天執著這個身體是我的 能不能往生 能! 這個叫做什麽 帶業往生 在一切法門中 是沒有的 唯獨念佛法門才有 但是要如何呢 你雖然 你能夠帶業往生 但是你要經過什麽樣的修行 你才能夠順利? 你已經明白這個道理了 你已經知道這個道理 原來這個法門能夠帶業往生 難得 非常難得 但是用什麽方法呢 讓這個能夠順順利利的 讓我們臨終的時候無障礙 用什麽方法呢 下個星期再跟大家來説明 3911

這個爲什麽要跟大家分析 讓大家明白 在這個環境裡面真的 太難了 不要說 見思煩惱斷掉 說簡單的 你能不能改掉你的脾氣? 我們脾氣有 你能不能改過你的脾氣 能不能 很難 連小小的一些事情 我們都做不到 那不要談大事 所以我們真的 能夠遇到這個法門 真的不得了 什麽樣的人 在這個世上最有福報的 什麽樣的人 有人跟我說: "師父 身體健康長壽 最有福報的 子孫滿堂 大富大貴。" 那個都是假的 那個不是真正有福報 真正有福報的人 能夠遇到這個法門 老實念佛 將來能夠得生淨土 了生死出三界 那個才是真正有福報的人 爲什麽 離苦得樂了麽 那個才是真的 我們現在這個世上所有得到的東西 一樣的東西都帶不走 只是暫時借給你用而已 時間到了 你也還是要放下 你還是要離開這個世上 所以 我常常講【啥 都是假的】這個世上哪有是真的 沒有 真的是什麽 這句阿彌陀佛名號 所以好好抓住這個機會 珍惜這個因緣

你看在河北 我跟大家 最後跟大家分享這個故事 很精彩 大家有沒有聽過這個人呢 他的名字叫做韓仲英 有沒有聽過 這個韓仲英 他的腎已經爛掉了 4131

//韓仲英 這個人 你看這個圖片 你看他的氣色 長得不錯 還能夠站起來 你想一想 這個腎臟壞了 可不可以再生 醫學給我們答案 是不可能的 人家腎已經爛掉了 怎麽能夠長出來呢 但是 在河北這一帶 韓仲英就是一個例子 你想一想 一個人如果腎臟爛掉了 那個很辛苦的 就算雖然現在的醫學已經發達了 現在的醫學發達可以換腎 但是 腎源的難求 而且價錢不是這麽很便宜 那個費用 很貴的 而且開一敷藥 尋常人難以承當這個負擔 不是每個人適合 但是 韓仲英他有一個很契機 他得了這個腎壞掉了 躺在這個床上 動也不動(動也動不了) 天天痛的不得了 你想一想 你看過那個人家 得腎病的人 你想一想那個很辛苦 但是 韓仲英 他小的時候 他跟他的奶奶 爺爺曾經 常常拜觀世音菩薩 痛的不得了的時候 很辛苦 動也不動(動也動不了) 在這個生活裡面 他突然間想起觀世音菩薩 就喊觀世音菩薩 喊了三天 他告訴觀世音菩薩 我在床上一動也不能動 我很辛苦 你救救我吧 祈求觀世音菩薩 喊了三天 所以這個事情 關鍵在你相信不相信而已 喊了三天 有一天 韓仲英 夢見了觀世音菩薩 觀世音菩薩來告訴他 韓仲英就告訴菩薩 他説: "觀世音菩薩 爲什麽 我這個生病這麽嚴重 您不管我呢 您爲什麽不幫助我呢?" 他告訴觀世音菩薩 觀世音菩薩就告訴了這個韓仲英一句話: "你的罪業太大了 你的重業輕報 而且你要趕快念阿彌陀佛。" 觀世音菩薩告訴韓仲英 在夢中裡面 你的罪業很重 所以你現在要趕快念阿彌陀佛 但 韓仲英就告訴觀世音菩薩: 我很疼啊 疼到什麽程度 疼到念不出來 韓仲英告訴觀世音菩薩 然後觀世音菩薩告訴韓仲英: "疼也要念" 不要找借口 人很會找借口 哎呀我很忙啊 我要賺錢 我要上班 我要怎麽樣 我要如何 觀世音菩薩就告訴韓居士:你疼 你痛 你也要念! 而且每一天最少要念多少 六千聲 而且 觀世音菩薩又告訴韓仲英: "以後不能再吃肉了 病好了 要宣揚念佛 勸人家 相信念佛法門" 這個(是)觀世音菩薩告訴韓仲英的 你想一想 那個病人躺在這個床上 動也不動(動也動不了) 很辛苦 觀世音菩薩給他托夢 告訴他"你不能吃肉 你的罪業很重 你一天 你至少要念六千聲的佛號!" 我們不知道我們的珀斯淨宗學會的同修 你們一天的功課有多少 有多少呢 哎呀 師父 一天 一百 太少了 一天至少要五千 要把自己定功課 你看 黃念祖老居士 一天十萬聲 你要定功課 一天五千 然後觀世音菩薩 多次來給他托夢 不僅僅勸他念佛 也叫他十齋日要受八關齋戒 十齋日是在《地藏菩薩本願經》裡面 佛告訴我們 十齋日 你要受八關齋戒 沒想到 天天念佛 用什麽方法來計算呢 用玉米 玉米放在這個碗 然後 念一句阿彌陀佛 把這個玉米拿出來 就等於計算機了 念一句阿彌陀佛 拿出來 念一句阿彌陀佛 拿出來 念一句阿彌陀佛 拿出來 

把他那個玉米已經念光了 又把這個玉米裝進去 天天就是這樣做 你想一想 沒想到十五年 他的身體慢慢的恢復 以前沒辦法走路 現在可以走路 又能夠上厠所 又能夠種地 又做種種的一些功課 做一些種種的事情 所以把河北這一帶 讓大家做出了一個很大的貢獻 讓一切衆生 能夠對這句名號的功德不可思議 產生的深信 他度了很多人 經過了十五年 又給這個醫生去檢查的時候 醫生的當地(當地的醫生) 曾經來檢查他的病 看了這一件事情 驚訝了一次 在這個世上沒有發生這樣的事情 太神奇了 腎已經爛掉了 還能夠長新的出來! 你想一想 經過已經五十多年了 五十多年 現在還在 你想一想 如果一個人得腎臟有問題的 距離死亡已經不遠了 但是你看活得五十多年了 到現在還在 所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 不要想病 不要胡思亂想 念佛的時候 把你的注意力 你的精神集中在這句名號 要這樣想 這個簡單爲大家 把這個故事韓仲英念佛感應的故事 爲大家一個啓發 你要相信 這一句名號真的功德不可思議的

簡單 今天跟大家講到這個地方 講過頭了 本來二十分鐘 但是在這個地方 爲大家介紹 希望大家能夠用功 努力老實念佛 像觀世音菩薩告訴韓仲英:一天六千聲 給自己定下來一個功課 你可以學韓仲英 你可以用玉米 你可以用紅豆 綠豆 或者用你的計算機 每一天去計算 至少五千 至少六千 祝大家六時吉祥 祝大家老實念佛 祝大家身體健康 如果有講一些不對的地方 請大家多多批評 希望大家好好用功 謝謝大家 阿彌陀佛 阿彌陀佛

75A從我的内心而發出來 提醒大家 今天我們沒有把這個業力處理好 那不是我們帶業往生了 你會被這個業力帶走了 要小心 閻浮提衆生起心動念無不是罪 業力幾乎都是帶到三惡道

75A 20211030

尊敬的諸位同修 諸位護法 大家早上吉祥 阿彌陀佛

今天再藉這個共修的因緣 再一次跟大家來學習 如果一些講不妥的地方 不妥當的 請大家多多批評 今天要繼續跟大家來説明的就是 藕益大師在《彌陀經要解》對於【深信法門】特別把它列出來 什麽原因呢 當然要做一個簡單 來爲大家做一個分析 來研究 爲什麽要深信這個念佛法門 它有什麽樣的特色 釋迦牟尼佛講了八萬四千法門 每一個法門都是平等的 都能夠幫助我們超越六道輪迴 將來能夠證菩提 爲什麽我們要深信這個法門呢 當然一定要爲大家來説明一下 208

比如説 有一些人念佛 如果今天我們念佛只是修福報 那這一句名號就沒有什麽樣的特色 你可以念觀世音菩薩 念藥師佛 或者念地藏王菩薩的名號 但是如果我們用超越 橫出三界的角度來看呢 這個法門對我們的意義那就很大 那爲什麽祖師大德要我們 對於這個法門能夠 要深信呢 就是今天要跟大家來分享的

首先 我想跟大家來做一個 簡單的介紹 順便跟大家講講一些故事 也互相的鼓勵了

以前 我剛剛到台灣 就是臺南淨宗學會 就是我們悟行師父的道場 大家有沒有去過 我們趕快請我們的鄭總 如果明年疫情沒有了 組團 到台灣去！沒問題！不要一直呆在澳洲 趁老和尚在 我們趕快 組團 我來領眾 希望大家能夠一起 去參訪 特別現在極樂寺 道場特別大 而且台灣有很多好吃 所以師父以前到台灣 第一個想念的 就是台灣的小吃 特別好吃 我們也可以去參觀一些聖地 台灣有四大名山 法鼓山 佛光山 還有很多山 特別值得我們以後 可以去參觀

我第一次到台灣 在淨宗學會的第二層樓 他有挂了一幅畫 哪幅畫呢 我很喜歡看這一張 這一張！在臺南淨宗學會二樓 有這一張 我以前剛剛到的時候 看到這一張 那個心 看到阿彌陀佛抱著這個小孩 那種很親切 就好像一個父母想念兒女 趕快回家！就好像一個父母一直想念孩子

“你什麽時候回家？”

那個阿彌陀佛的眼神 看到這個小孩 很親切的 而且他的愛護 慈悲 甚至於超過父母那種 對兒女的想念 所以有一次 我就問我們學會裡面的一些老菩薩 因爲裡面很多一些住眾 住眾很多 挂單的人也很多 有一位老人家來跟我説

他説：“學悟法師 這個圖片你知道嗎？”

他説：“我跟你説 這個圖片 就是阿彌陀佛要我們趕快回家 不要呆在我們這個六道輪迴 趕快回來 因爲回家真好！”

這位老菩薩已經往生了 但是 他講的那句話 讓我很親切 所以 阿彌陀佛每天想著我們啊

“孩子啊 什麽時候回家？”

該回家的時候 趕快回家 不要呆的太久 在這個地方 只有苦沒有樂 所以到現在 對著阿彌陀佛 就好像父親一樣 天天看著我們 什麽時候能夠跟他們在一起 阿彌陀佛每天都是這麽的想 不但阿彌陀佛 連十方一切諸佛如來也是這樣的想念

然後到了西方極樂世界 父親就好像阿彌陀佛 觀世音菩薩 大勢至菩薩 都好像我們的長輩 而且生到西方極樂世界 都是我們的兄弟姐妹 所以這種的感覺 我相信對於我們每一個人的念佛的人 會有一種想念 希望大家也是一樣！這位老菩薩常常跟我講“要趕快回老家！”因爲我以前在臺南淨宗學會住了很多年 所以回家真好 真的 爲什麽真好呢 我有一個朋友 很好的朋友 現在也是我的道場的護法 很好的朋友 一般我們講的就是 對女生… 男的 哥們

他是一位商業家 做生意的 但是他把家 排為第一 把生意排為第二 都是以家爲主的 所以他十點去公司 三四點就回家了

我有一天就問他：“你一大早就回家做什麽？”

他説：“回家真好啊！”

那個回家的感覺真好！他爲什麽喜歡回家呢 感覺麽 這個感覺的意思就是說 溫暖 和睦 關懷 愛護 所以回到家裡很幸福 回到家裡很快樂 因爲家裡帶來溫暖 所以讓他感覺 回到家裡真的很舒服 回到家裡感覺到 很踏實的感覺 如果今天這個家庭 天天吵架 你討厭我 我討厭你 你不喜歡我 我不喜歡你 你會想回家嗎 你回家沒什麽意義 你每天回到家 都吵架 不是吵架 就是討厭你 所以現在爲什麽 很多一些大富大貴的【富而不樂 貴而不安】什麽原因？很多

所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 雖然這個簡單的道理 但是我們一定要透徹的瞭解 真的 你在一個家庭裡面 在一個好的環境裡面 你回到那個家庭 你的心裡很踏實 就好像我們回到西方極樂世界 爲什麽很踏實 爲什麽這麽快樂 因爲跟我們這個世界是不一樣的 這個世界帶來不安全 不可靠 有生必有死 有生必有病 個種種的 所謂的 八煎焦苦(八苦焦煎)每一個人都離不開的 所以我們一定要知道 今天我們念佛目的是爲了什麽 沒有別的 要回到更好的家 這個家在哪裡 西方極樂世界 我們在這個世間的家 所以 爲什麽呢 念佛 你看 我 疫情之前 我看到很多國家 念佛的人很普遍 所謂我們淨土宗裡面所講的【三根普被 利鈍全收】無論男女老少 就算你連三歲五歲的小孩 八十歲的老翁 就能夠念這句阿彌陀佛的名號 每一個人都會念 很簡單 也不用出力 也不用耗很大的 一些 的力量 去背 去修 順口都能夠念這一句阿彌陀佛的名號 但是爲什麽現在念佛這麽普遍 成就的人少呢

什麽原因呢 因爲我們沒有把釋迦牟尼佛在這個淨土宗裡面的經典 還有我們的祖師大德 這些的注解 真正透徹瞭解 對於西方極樂世界的無盡的莊嚴 無盡的美好 沒有真正透徹的瞭解 所以 產生對這個娑婆世界的執著非常的嚴重 看不破放不下 我們自己不知道而已 所以 尊敬的諸位同修大德 下面的 等一下要跟大家説明的 那就是很重要了 我們對這個娑婆世界爲什麽 這麽嚴重的執著 你沒有把西方極樂世界之樂 搞清楚搞明白 如果你真的搞清楚搞明白了 你對這個世間會看得很淡 因爲你知道這個世間 而所有得到的 只是暫時 它不是真的是你的 你今天所得到的 只暫時給你用而已 時間到了 各走各的 沒有一樣東西能夠帶得走的 今天如果我們對這個極樂世界能夠徹底明白了 瞭解 對於釋迦牟尼佛 苦口婆心的勸導 那今天我們來念這句阿彌陀佛的名號 真的效果就不一樣了 你那個心會集中在這句名號 你的心除了阿彌陀佛之外 除了工作 處事待人接物 其他的 只有阿彌陀佛放在你的心裡面 因爲這個名號才能夠帶得走的 一切萬物都帶不走的 所以 你要把(精神)集中 集在一起。 就好像我們看到人家在賭博一樣 你看賭博 你看師父小的時候 看到很多 喜歡賭博的人沒有一個好下場的 喜歡賭博的人 你看有一些那個賭博三天三夜 不吃飯不睡覺的 他爲什麽能夠維持 因爲他精神集中在【我要怎麽樣來打贏這個牌】就是這個道理 看有一些人家 喜歡看連續劇的 從早到晚 一直看 爲什麽呢 因爲精神集中在這個故事裡面 這個故事 這個人是怎麽死的 這些好人是怎麽樣的結果啊 每天就看這個連續劇 天天看著它 到最後是怎麽樣 都是一樣 被迷住了麽 今天如果我們來迷住這一句名號 像他們那樣 來念佛 那成就不得了了 不要説三年五年 三天！你就能夠得生淨土了 你看 瑩珂法師 瑩珂法師 他爲什麽三天把阿彌陀佛念來 因爲他心裡知道 不守清規的人將來會墮在無間地獄的 他害怕 如果我今天不用功的話 (念)阿彌陀佛 那怎麽辦 只有兩條路 不是到西方極樂世界 那就墮阿鼻地獄 所以他拼命的念阿彌陀佛 三天 把阿彌陀佛念來了 而且阿彌陀佛告訴他：

“你還有十年的壽命”

瑩珂法師：“我不要！我現在就要跟您走！”

1725你看 你看那個心 那個心不動搖 對阿彌陀佛的深信 對西方極樂世界的向往從來不動搖的 那個精神！那今天我們爲什麽不行呢 沒關係呀 你要慢慢來 阿彌陀佛也慢慢來 無所謂 你要等十年 阿彌陀佛也等你十年 你要二十年 阿彌陀佛也二十年 沒關係 所以這個念佛 如果今天你真的 對這句名號的功德 透徹的瞭解明白了 對於西方極樂世界真的透徹的瞭解 你這一句名號 就算你念一句名號 你就能夠得生淨土 你那種力量 你那個念佛的力道非常之强。現在我們只是 有共修念佛就念佛 有空出來 該打電話的 打電話 該講話的 講話 所以沒有真正的 集中在這一句名號 所以有斷續 不像我們《大勢至菩薩圓通章》裡面所講的【淨念相續】我們沒有相續 我們常常有斷續的 而這個斷續 都是藏著什麽呢 對這個世間觀念想法 種種的 產生的嚴重的執著 所以產生我們今天念佛爲什麽不能得力的原因 所以趕快回老家 修行時間到了 趕快回去 不要呆得太久啦 師父跟大家講的是實在話 不是迷信 也不是消極 但是 我們已經明白了 阿彌陀佛天天都想念我們 你像祖師他們(說的)：你想彌陀 彌陀想念你。念念相應 哪來不得成就的道理呢 就是這個原因 這個簡單來爲大家説明這一幅圖畫 以前 我在台灣的時候 常常 每一天都看著這一張圖畫 而且到現在還有 以後你們到臺南的時候 要趕快去看 很大張 畫的很大張 挂在那邊2033 200

好 我們看下面 來跟大家來繼續分享 藕益大師在《彌陀經要解》裡面 教我們要深信淨土 剛才已經跟大家講過了 這個法門有什麽特色 值得我們來相信嗎 我爲什麽要相信這個法門 所以藕益大師在這個地方 爲我們列出來 三個重點的特色 爲什麽十方一切諸佛如來教導衆生都是以這一句阿彌陀佛為中心 繞著這句阿彌陀佛 這三個重點 上個星期已經跟大家講過 第一個重點就是 它的特色【三根普被 利鈍全收】今天要跟大家分享的就是 第二個 是什麽呢 雖然我們很熟 但是我們可以用這個地方來跟大家學習 來 我們看下面2157

我們一起來讀 念佛法門的特色無比殊勝 就是它能夠帶業往生 在一切法門中是沒有的 雖然煩惱的種子還沒斷 只要一生學佛 好好修行 修行到臨命終的時候 能夠正念分明 心不顛倒 一心不亂 你就能夠得到 西方接引 往生淨土 這個叫做帶業往生 但是在這個地方 我要提醒大家 我們讀到這一段 看起來好像很容易 無論你造什麽樣的業 五逆十惡 左脚已經在無間地獄了 右脚還在這個世間 只要你肯回頭 你肯懺悔 你相信阿彌陀佛 對於西方極樂世界 你非常的向往 你就能夠往生西方極樂世界 這個叫做帶業往生 看起來好像很簡單 但是修起來 不是那麽簡單 讀起來很容易 阿彌陀佛有這麽大的慈悲 無論你造什麽樣的業 你都能夠往生西方極樂世界 只要你相信 看起來很簡單 但是 當你修起來 很難 你看多少人臨終的時候 有沒有真正往生西方極樂世界 他的正念能夠提起嗎 沒有 爲什麽呢 因爲在我們的生活裡面 都是業力牽著我們走路的 我們一生誰做主的 我們的業力做主 今天爲什麽西方極樂世界會這麽無盡的莊嚴 無盡的美好 而超過十方諸佛的國土 是什麽原因 是因爲阿彌陀佛 因地修行的時候 願力 大慈的願力 而所感召來的 我們在這個娑婆世界都是以我們的業力而所感召來的 這個區別就是在這個地方 今天如果你們大家沒有把這個業力處理好 因爲這個業力太强大了 你不能小看它 你一定要知道這個清楚 我們這個生活裡面 都是以業力牽著我們走路的 這個業力非常之强 而且非常强大 如果今天你沒有把這個業力處理好 將來它會變成我們最大的障礙了 你要明白這個道理 它會變成你的障礙 特別我們這一生想要往生西方極樂世界的 想要超越六道輪迴 想要了生死出三界的 你沒有把這個業力處理好 那將來變成你的大障礙 所以爲什麽我們念佛的人 常常會念【願我臨終無障礙】願我臨終無障礙 所以師父每一天晚上睡覺之前 二十一遍阿彌陀佛 最後會念這一句【我臨終無障礙】祈求阿彌陀佛加持 如果今天我們沒有把這個業力處理好， 那不是我們帶業往生了， 那不是帶業往生了， 你會被這個業力帶走了， 要小心。 不但你帶業不了， 而且你被這個業力帶走了。 業力帶走， 你想一想《地藏菩薩本願經》講的很清楚 閻浮提衆生起心動念無不是罪 我們的業力幾乎都是帶我們到哪裡去 三惡道 所以你不處理好 你不行 現在我們看起來好像 念佛 當我們身體健康 頭腦清楚的時候 你念這句阿彌陀佛 都沒辦法集中 那臨終的時候 你的障礙來的時候 能不能集中 這個是個問題

所以爲什麽現在 人家看到這一段經文 很容易 反正臨終的時候 有人幫助我們助念 念這句阿彌陀佛 提起這個正念 不是那麽容易的 你要記得 你的業力很强啊 如果業力不强的話 我們不可能還在這個六道輪迴嘛 要記得這一件事情！我今天跟大家來分享 從我的内心而發出來的 告訴大家 來提醒大家 你大家去思維 想一想是不是這個道理 要小心 不然的話 錯過這個機會 那可惜了 今生辛辛苦苦又念佛 又不能得到生西方極樂世界 那不是很可惜了嘛

所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 這個就是爲什麽我們要怎麽樣來處理這個 我們的業力 有四種方法 可以提供給大家參考 下面會跟大家説明 所以我們一定要很清楚要明白 不要到臨終的時候業力做主 那就完了 一定要願力做主 你的願力做主 那就不一樣 你的願力是什麽呢 你的心這句阿彌陀佛 你的願就是阿彌陀佛 這樣的人 才能夠真正往生西方極樂世界 所以阿彌陀佛真的 我們看下面2955

所以阿彌陀佛的慈悲 他的悲願之深 攝度之廣 超逾十方 這個十方 是指什麽呢 就是指十方諸佛國土 什麽意思呢 就是説在十方諸佛國土 沒有帶業往生的説法 唯獨西方極樂世界阿彌陀佛才有的 雖然煩惱未斷 但是 你能夠帶業往生 這個就是阿彌陀佛的偉大 這個就是爲什麽西方極樂世界的特殊 這個就是説明阿彌陀佛的大慈大悲對於十方一切衆生的護念 在一切法門中是沒有的 真的是沒有的 在一切法門你一定要斷煩惱 你不斷煩惱 你是沒辦法的 但是在這個法門 你不用 只要你伏住 但是你要怎麽樣伏住你的煩惱呢 這個也是一個很大的學問 所以我們帶業往生雖然沒有證 我們看下面3141

雖然我們沒有證菩提 沒有達到連初果 也都沒有證果 連初信位的菩薩也沒證 但是能帶業往生淨土 我們生到西方極樂世界 極樂世界的凡聖同居土 地位跟我們現在這個娑婆世界的地位都是相同一樣 換個地方而已。我們現在住的都是凡聖同居土的 都是釋迦牟尼佛 凡聖同居土 我們今天往生到西方極樂世界 是阿彌陀佛的凡聖同居土 雖然生在凡聖同居土 下下品的往生 但是 你的待遇 你的福報都是跟阿彌陀佛一樣的 雖然你帶業往生 你沒有真正斷煩惱 只要你到西方極樂世界 你的待遇跟阿彌陀佛都是相等的 因爲極樂世界都是平等的世界 它的好處就是在這個地方。你想一想就好像我們窮光蛋 到了西方極樂世界 阿彌陀佛擁有的 你也擁有啊 阿彌陀佛所有的 你 一絲毫也不缺 相 有無量相，相 有無量好 壽命 阿彌陀佛有無量壽 我們也無量壽 每一件事情 都是心想事成的 每一件事情無不是隨心所欲的 你要看大乘經裡面 你去看一下 在十方諸佛國土有沒有像阿彌陀佛極樂世界那樣 沒有。只有西方極樂世界才有的 你的福報 所以爲什麽在西方極樂世界我們的煩惱起不了所用 爲什麽沒有貪欲 爲什麽我們到西方極樂世界 天天活得很快樂 別人有的 你也有 你想要住在一個天空的 房子就在天空 你想要住大的 房子就大 你想要住小的 房子就小 你不想住了 房子就沒有了 你動一個念頭 你想吃什麽 西方極樂世界就有了 什麽都有了 別人有的 你也有 你會產生嫉妒嗎 不會呀 我們這個娑婆世界爲什麽這麽辛苦 因爲人家有 你想也要有 人家搶 你也要跟人家搶 所以活得很辛苦 所以阿彌陀佛這個方法真的是妙！太了不起了！所以我常常講 什麽樣在這個世上 最有福報的人 大富大貴 或者健康長壽 子孫滿堂 不一定 不是！因爲都是假的麽 什麽樣的人最有福報 能夠念這一句阿彌陀佛名號 將來能夠往生西方極樂世界 你就是最有福報的人了 這個我簡單就是説明 因爲你到西方極樂世界 你所得到的 就是永恆的 不會改變的 所以 以前 我在台灣的時候 在學習的時候 我看到這一段經文 我的心裡面 整個心就踏(實)下來了 很踏實 整個心就定下來 爲什麽 因爲你有一個希望 有一個寄托 你想一想 你想在這個環境裡面 你要真正修行成就 不迷惑 不顛倒 而不造業 再加上現在這個環境的誘惑 你行嗎？有可能嗎？很難！我以前出家的時候 我在想這個世上有沒有一法能夠幫助我們 很簡單 而且這一生當中 能夠了生死出三界的 有沒有哪一法 佛講的很多 八萬四千法門 但是我們做不到 當你認識淨土的時候 當你認識這個法門的時候 你整個心就踏(實)下來了 所以 什麽樣的人在這個世上最有福報的 就是這樣 念佛的人 所以今天你們是最有福報的 真的 要珍惜 很多人不懂得珍惜 錯過這個機會 那就很難了 所以 我們看下面3810

所以如果今天沒有阿彌陀佛 四十八願來度衆生 沒有淨宗念佛法門我們根本就不可能有任何的大的成就 而這個大的成就是什麽呢【生死自在 了無挂礙】我們一定要知道 以我們的能力 你想要 別説大成就 連初果 最小小的 小乘的須陀洹 初果須陀洹 我們能夠做得到嗎 做不到。不要説 真正斷煩惱 連初果 須陀洹 圓教裡面的 初信位的菩薩的地位 我們很難 爲什麽難呢 我們看下面3921

爲什麽呢 因爲佛在經上跟我們常講的很清楚 必須要斷三界八十八品見惑 你才能夠超越三界 了生死超越六道輪迴 我們能夠斷的了嗎 很難！所以你想一想斷煩惱 不是那麽一件容易的事情 爲什麽呢 我們看看跟大家來説明一下 簡單説明一下 什麽叫做八十八品 我們看下面的那一張4018

八十八品見惑在大乘經裡面 佛菩薩常常把它歸納五大類 第一個是什麽呢 就是身見 不再執著 這個身體是我的 你不再執著了 你對這個身體已經不再執著了 你能夠打破得了嗎 有人能夠做得到嗎 很難 太難了 你看我們現在 多少人爲了這個身體的欲望 爲了這個身體 的執著 每一天不斷的 造那些什麽 殺盜邪婬 爲了這個身體 滿足這個身體 滿足你這個身體的欲望 不斷地 從外面的 去造業 去追求 所以爲什麽 釋迦牟尼佛 常常教我們在世的時候 要把四念處作爲自己的觀想 就是這個原因 第一個是什麽 觀想這個身體 觀身不淨 這個身體是不幹淨的 你不要執著這個身體 特別是那一些女生 女生如果愛漂亮 什麽都敢做出來 我講的不是你們 外面的了 你看 我有一個護法 他的朋友 常常去做什麽 爲了這個眉毛讓它漂亮 去做什麽 … …很痛的 花不少錢 聽説一次 澳幣 兩三千塊 真的不容易修 你首先你一定要看破 你能夠突破對這個身體的執著 所以《金剛經》裡面講得好 我們看下面4311

《金剛經》前半部 佛所説的 什麽呢【無我相 無人相 無衆生相 無壽者相】如果你能夠把這個四相看破了 突破了 你就能夠證得小乘初果須陀洹 大乘圓教的初信位菩薩 你才能夠真正入門 你能夠做得到嗎 我們現在還沒入門 我們現在還在門外 還沒真正入門 你不要以爲我今天念佛 念得不錯 你已經入門 還沒！你還在外 你還沒真正入門的。《金剛經》裡面講的很清楚 無人相 無衆生相 無壽者相 無我相 你真正把它突破了 你才是真正入門 你説我們能夠做得到嗎 做不到 不要説 能夠突破 無我相 無人相 無衆生相 無壽者相 我們師父上人在講經當中的 常常告訴我們是什麽呢 我們看下面的那一張4448

你看我們師父上人 這幾年 在講經當中常常勸導我們什麽 我們要真幹 要真幹 真正去修行 修什麽呢 放下自私自利 放下名聞利養 放下五欲六塵 放下貪瞋痴慢 這十六個字 已經很不容易做得到 有沒有證果 不容易做到 有沒有證到初果 小乘的初果 須陀洹 圓教 大乘的 初信位菩薩 實在講 沒有 沒有 爲什麽呢 因爲佛的標準你要破見惑 這個十六個字已經很難修了 你能夠突破 你有沒有證 沒有 有沒有入門 也沒有 所以你説 真的很難 因爲 佛的標準 很低的標準就是這一個 小小的標準我們都做不到了 要斷什麽煩惱呢 斷不了 所以這個身體 雖然是一個身體 但是裡面的學問很大 那第二是什麽呢 第二是什麽呢 我們來看下面4710

我身見已經破了之後 第二個就是要破邊見 邊見是什麽呢 就是用現在話來講 就是對立 我們常常對事 對人 跟一切萬物 都能夠有一個常常念頭 的心態 就是對立 所以衆生爲什麽 會活得很辛苦 就是因爲這個原因 錯誤的見解 真的 其實事實真相 遍法界虛空界 萬事萬物都是跟我們一體的 所謂的 在菩薩道裡面常講的【無緣大慈 同體大悲】你跟一切衆生是一體的 你還會跟一切衆生對立嗎 不可能的 你對一切衆生的愛護 你的慈悲是無有條件的 你對一切衆生是無有條件的 你會跟衆生 一切萬物產生的對立嗎 是不可能的 我們能不能突破這個 這一關呢 也不一定 你看我們的生活裡面 看一切人 看一切事 看一切物 幾乎不是你好 不是我好的 都是每天 都是看這個人不好 看那個人不好的 看一切萬物都是對立的 你連這一個方面 你都突破不了 你還能夠斷煩惱嗎 很難 第三個是什麽呢4921

明天再跟大家來分享 因爲大家能夠在這個地方好好念佛 聚會一處 真的很不容易 今天我只是爲大家來做一個簡單的報告 真的 在這個環境 我們想要斷煩惱 超越六道輪迴 真的很難 你不靠這個法門 你真的不行 你不要說大的成就 連小小的成就 你都沒辦法 對這個身體的執著 對你自己的邊見 你都突破不了 你怎麽能夠談起斷煩惱呢 所以這一句名號非常妙 在一切境界當中 在一切萬物裡面 只要你能夠用這一句阿彌陀佛 你就能夠成就了 很簡單 很容易的 所以尊敬的諸位同修大德 爲什麽來分析這個地方 讓大家明白 爲什麽十方一切諸佛如來 要我們念這一句阿彌陀佛 而且釋迦牟尼佛最大的願力 就是希望一切衆生 能夠以這一句阿彌陀佛 將來能夠帶業往生西方極樂世界 那事情就解決了 這個就是我們今天跟大家做一個簡單的介紹 那如何念佛呢 要怎麽樣讓這一句阿彌陀佛能夠得力呢 那如何能夠將來真正能夠帶業 順利能夠帶業往生西方極樂世界呢 那要如何讓這個帶業能夠順順利利的 達到西方極樂世界呢 明天繼續來跟大家分享 今天如果有講一些不對的地方 一些不妥當的 請大家多多批評 跟大家見面 真好 跟大家聚會一起念佛 也真好！所以剛才早上已經跟大家講過了：回家真好 怎麽回家呢 靠自己的願力 你能不能把這一句阿彌陀佛念好 你就能夠回老家了 今天講到這個地方 謝謝大家 祝大家六時吉祥 祝大家老實念佛 我們將來同生極樂國 謝謝大家 阿彌陀佛 明天見 阿彌陀佛