Dear Bodhisattvas: Amitabha!
Today we are going to talk about the third subject, and no matter what kind of dharma this practitioner is practicing, he should be free from greed.
The so-called greed is the attachment to many Dharmas, and this attachment itself will constitute an obstacle to your Fa, and when it itself becomes sharp, you will not care about anything. So people in the world often see people who are not going to rehab, he has stopped eating that drug, but after a few years you look at him again, how can he commit it again, because he has a covetousness for that realm, even if he has not touched that white powder or what and so on for many years, but as soon as the season karma comes up, he can't restrain himself, because the habit is still there. So the Buddha has told us, how can you avoid such a thing, be able to stabilize your cultivation, and not let it hinder your path? So you have to start honestly with Bhushi Paramita. If it is said that you are not enough for Prajnaparamita' practice, it does not matter, you have to complete these things, because the first five degrees from generosity, taking vows, enduring humiliation, perseverance, and meditation are all things that the bodhisattva wants to learn. Meditation Paramita does not specifically proclaim, or because it itself has more of the corresponding part of the liberation method, and then it is closer to the liberation point that is really able to enter the earth, it is enough for us ordinary people to have a concentration of the initial division in this desire realm, because we do not need to produce the whole fundamental meditation, but the study of Buddhism still has to go to this place, just to say that we are clearer in this way. So go back to generosity, taking vows, enduring humiliation, and persevering.
What is generosity? Generosity is about being able to give alms to what you covet. So the Brahma Sutra says: If there is a monastic bodhisattva who takes the bodhisattva vows today, this specifically points out the family, when he comes to ask him for the Dharma, he comes so far away to ask for the Dharma, what should he say to him first? Because he had come so far to ask for the Fa, he must have been unfamiliar with this person, so I had to tell him that he was going to give up. But what about the house, do you want to start with the house of wealth? No, you don't! Because the average person with foreign wealth understands, let alone a monk! Before the Buddha's door did not hold the money vows, of course, the bodhisattva vows are not necessarily in this matter or basically, the bodhisattva can not take money seriously, so let's not say that it is not because everyone understands it - but only say that the inside of the house; so the leader of the brain marrow must be able to give alms, let him smoke and practice, so that he can do charity with him, and then he will not say that it is his turn when he is really practicing giving, but he is stingy. Therefore, he wants to break his self-grasping, self-grasping, and break one point to count one point, so he wants him to break "me", "I" is his root, so the leader brain marrow is what he thinks "I", it is no longer the ordinary self.
This means that in the Dharma, every drop of it is not worth donating, every drop has its rational context, not that everything has no order and no grades. So in the Fa of covetousness, you have to come together through taking vows and through generosity. So generosity and ordination have a big effect in this place. Generosity gives good things to others, and when you see how much you have, you will give them to others, so that you will not be stingy, and you will not be greedy and will not make you poor.
If it is said to take vows, because you yourself are to receive sentient beings, this is your important vow, not on the general vows. The general precepts are one, two, three, and so on, and there are endless numbers, and when there is still its number to a certain extent, but in this case, where is the spirit of the "precepts" in the end? So take in sentient beings. To receive sentient beings is to give alms to him, and to receive sentient beings is to give him benefits, so there is wisdom in the middle. If you have wisdom, you have to practice slowly until you say that I am not keeping this precept, and if it is said that this person must be what it is, then I must make all kinds of conveniences, not that I deliberately want to violate the precepts; and even if I do this, even if I keep the precepts, I will be considered to have broken the precepts and broken the precepts! Therefore, there is all kinds of wisdom in the Buddha's door, and the Buddha's door is not left to the outside world to say: You will only be like this! That's all there is to it! No! In Buddhism, it is for sentient beings. For example, we shouldn't go to hell, but if there are sentient beings there who need help, the bodhisattva goes to hell, and we can't say that the bodhisattva says: Going to hell will hinder my time of study, and then hinder me from becoming a Buddha as soon as possible and then I can say to save sentient beings, so I can't do such a thing. Such a person does not understand the Dharma! The compassion and wisdom of the Dharma is not the kind of compassion and wisdom that the outer path says about producing two-body Buddhas and two-body images, but it must be covered up in this way! The compassion of the Dharma is to be able to carry many responsibilities for all sentient beings, even to say that the bodhisattva is saying that this karma is "I have received it", that is, the karma of all sentient beings, it does not matter, I carry everything, how to suffer, I will suffer. Because the state of the bodhisattva's cultivation in the end can be like a banana leaf slowly peeling off, stripping away his body, he does not think that he is suffering, because of his empirical evidence, his deep forbearance is incredible!
So how did you get to this point in this situation? How did you get to this level? How can we do this for sentient beings? When we see such a person, we ourselves are very touched, don't we want to go in line with this Buddha's path, like this bodhisattva behavior? So the first thing is that you must stay away from your own evil greed, because some greedy hearts are so fierce that you find it hard to believe and accept, so you must look at your own greed according to the spirit of the precepts. If you can take vows without killing, without stealing, without fornication, without delusivity – delusion is nonsense, these first four precepts can be kept well, basically the karma of the three evil paths will slowly move away from you; then you can keep the vows without drinking, and you will not be fooled and commit the first four sins, so this is the fundamental five precepts. This is not yet a bodhisattva vow, but the bodhisattva vows do not depart from this spirit, so ask yourself, "Am I a disciple of the Three Jewels?" Am I the same craving as the people of the world?" If it is the same craving, I will definitely hinder myself, and even if I get this special Fa and realize this self-realization, what will I do? Sometimes it is very frightening that even you don't know what you will do, because for many things you have not been cultivated by the previous merits, but the knowledge of goodness pulls you up every time because of compassion, so it will produce in the later path but make yourself difficult to walk, so this is from your own abstinence to see.
And some people even say, "Actually I want to investigate and study, but I have never returned!" Then this is the more important thing to pay attention to! Xuanzang Bodhisattva translated a classic, and generally speaking, a bodhisattva with such a high level of testimony as Xuanzang Bodhisattva would not deliberately translate some texts like the Ahan Sutra or some of the Hinayana sutras, but Xuanzang Bodhisattva turned over a sutra about the Three Returns and Five Precepts. So let's talk about the Three Returns and Five Precepts, what is the Buddhist language that Xuanzang Bodhisattva endured? He said: It's like there is a metaphor, three thousand Buddhas in the world are crowded in this space, there is no gap, you use the most superior and wonderful to provide for the Buddhas in twenty thousand years, so as to compare with your merits of the three refuges, to compete, which one do you think is more? In fact, it is said earlier that after every Buddha has attained nirvana, you erect a stupa for him, and then make offerings, offerings, and so on, and these are ultimately compared to the merits of the three refuges. If ordinary people don't think deeply about it, the merit of the three refuges is of course relatively poor! Because he hasn't even been – he may not be able to see the Buddha. Like we are now, the Buddha has manifested the degree of extinction, and you see that it is not the true body of the Buddha, and of course there is no way to see the Dharma body of the Buddha, because you have not yet studied it, and you can only do so through the master who guided you to refuge. However, in this case, Xuanzang Bodhisattva still translated it according to the Buddha's will: the merit of the three refuges far exceeds the merit of all the offerings of so many Buddhas, more than 20,000 years, so it is incredible!
There are even more merits that can take vows, so practitioners who have not yet returned must find a way to do so, and you must also bring your family members to refuge. This is not like some religions they say baptism, it is possible to ask the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas or the protectors to take care of it, and then to take care of it when he grows up or how, or when he is willing to increase it again, and then he can return to it. Then, the same is true of this vow, the five vows in the Buddhist monasteries do not have to be taken together, for example, some bodhisattvas can take this vow without drinking, they can take the five vows without drinking, and some things he feels can't do, can't do it, just take it slowly, it doesn't matter, but don't be too slow. Let's just say that because the merit of keeping the five precepts is mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures, so if you take the vows, there was a bhikshuni before, she just didn't take the vows( not fornication), committed a very heavy karma to hell, she was the previous Buddha, Gaya Buddha, when she was there, and as a result, she was only one Buddha apart from Shakyamuni Buddha, and she attained arhat fruit, so the merit of holding the vows was great. Because your breaking of the precepts is just a seasonal cause, but you have taken the vows, but you have been holding them all day, and if you break them, it may be just one of the five precepts, and you have always held the other four precepts, so there is no way to compare this amount of time and so on. It's not like the people of the world who are foolish enough to say, "I don't keep this precept well, I don't want the other precepts, I just give up!" Of course, if you have the five precepts, you can also give up the vows, and giving up the vows is to give up, but in the Buddhist gate it is said that you try to keep it, and if you can't keep this vow, you give up this vow, and then you still have to keep the other vows. Then you can't do that with a bodhisattva, because the bodhisattva's vows are eternal. As for whether or not to receive it completely, one point or two points, this is to take the vows, and when there are causes in the future, there will be a teacher in it, and when you take this lesson, you will talk about it one by one.
Therefore, for this good Dharma desire, that is to say, it cannot be given up, and the craving of sentient beings can be given up. You must not think like a Hinayana person, "Then I am not greedy for anything, then I don't want to learn anything, then I don't want the immeasurable Dharma, I just want the Hinayana Dharma, I will leave, if I leave, I will leave!" What are you telling me so much about?" That's not right! Because you want to benefit from the masses, your craving for good Dharma desire is still there, and even if you enter the holy position, some confusion, you still have to keep one who can continue to be able to enter the womb, so that you can continue to be born in the Three Realms, which is necessary! Otherwise your Path of Buddhahood will die in the middle.
Let's go to the fourth subject, which is to stay away from slow mind. There are some people who belong to Gong Gao, and this Person who is high and slow, he is extremely serious, and he will want to say, "I have so much knowledge, I have so much wealth, then it should be very simple to study this Fa again, right?" You should treat me differently, right?" Therefore, he did not think of saying: Buddha's gate does not count this kind of human feeling. So whether it's a king, a ruler, a nobleman, a nobleman, or so on, your local cultivation is equal, and no one can directly tell you the results of the (last) step of studying the Buddha, which is contrary to the teachings of Rulai. So the slow mind is also like this, it can cover the sacred path, if you commit some other crimes, it is fine, but if the slow mind arises, he feels that he says, "I am very good", and even some people think that they are very clever: "I understand the books you said, I already know where Rulai is hidden, my self-heart Midas don't need you to say, I can just go directly to you." I'm going to come to the meeting to find a plain mentor, I'm going to talk to him, I'm going to have such a good root organ, I don't want to see anyone else." I really don't know who wants to see him or who he wants to see, so it belongs to the slow-hearted people who are high in the Buddha's words.
There are also some people who, in terms of cultivation, he also comes to lead the people, so he has another slow mind, he thinks, "I understand what you say about the Fa, and I read the books you have published, of course, we have different realizations, so why should I learn from you?" You still go all the way to saying that what I said is not right, and so on." Such a person, he just can't accept some facts. Our cultivation is nothing at all in the whole sea of Dharma, and the Bodhisattva said that when you enter the third great abhyasis, that wisdom doubles every moment; then you say that the wisdom of the bodhisattva who has cultivated the two great abhyasis is not zero in that place, it is equal to one, the next moment is multiplied by two, between one thought, you know that the Prajnaparamita Sutra says nine hundred moments, so it is equivalent to two hundred to the power of nine hundred, there is no way to calculate! Amazing! Wisdom can rise to such an extent with a single thought! This also tells us that even if we are enlightened today, it is nothing, let alone those who are still outside the door who have not yet attained enlightenment, so that there is nothing to show off for their pride, which is simply too far away from the Buddhist path!
So this slow mind has to be removed, because this kind of slow mind can't make your wisdom grow, it makes your path very difficult. Even because of the lack of time for cultivation, this slow mind will want to say" when it comes to a season, "Then I want to come by myself," say it myself, and so on. Or is it that on the side of the original saying, we have been teaching and teaching and thinking that we have spoken very well, but we say that even if we are reborn in the world of Elysium, do you think that side is all good people, all of them are making up for their lives, and almost everyone is waiting to be a Buddha, and there are very, very many such people and such bodhisattvas, even if they are not the most, but you don't know how many bodhisattvas you can meet in a day, is there really room for you to open your mouth? Is it interesting to try so hard to say things in the human world, and it turns out that every Fa is wrong? Or there is no wrong, but it is not as reasonable as it is, it is not very thorough to say this rational road, and the people who listen to it are not very understanding, so vague. If you are wrong, you will not open the buds in the lotus flower immediately, why do you say? Because of your karmic results, because of your slow habits - you feel that you are really too good, do not say no, others do not sit down and listen to it, always say, wait until you are in the lotus bud, you have to listen to your "tape" all the time, you will be ashamed to hear this; if you are not ashamed, Amitabha Buddha or other bodhisattvas always have other conveniences to help you correct your mistakes, at this time you will be red-eared, and you will find out how many "tapes" you want to listen to! Because you are preaching every day, every season, and you are preaching without being relevant, and even the holy teachings that you are talking about are all the time, you are always saying to let go, to let go, to let go, and as soon as you let go, you have let go of your own holy karma. So be close to the knowledge of goodness!
Don't say, "I can go to Elysium, and if the flowers bloom, I'm going to prepare my words." Where can it be your turn to say? You may not be able to say it well, the birds that Amitabha Buddha incarnated, and these birds also tell you that he will tell you, "Bodhisattva! How many mistakes you have to say, come on, I'll tell you." As a result, people who can't understand it don't know why you stayed under the tree for two hours, and thought that you were watching the line, and it turned out that you had been trained by the incarnated bird for two hours. So a bodhisattva should put down his own slow mind, thinking how high or thick the knowledge he knows is, because that's not what a true practitioner should do, you should be humble, you should know how to pursue the knowledge of goodness. Therefore, the Huayan Sutra says how to cultivate fast, there is a bodhisattva called the boy of good fortune, as soon as he hears that there is good knowledge on which side, he does not stop, we can say that he has worked tirelessly to visit one by one, and he did not think of saying, "I have taken a break, because I have studied enough, good enough!" He didn't produce an increase in slowness in this way. Today, too, if you have found in the Simple Choice of the Dhamma that you cannot break away from the discourse of the outer path and cannot enter the core of a Mahayana religion, shouldn't you let go of your slow mind and come to learn from the knowledge of goodness? Even if you can't, you should do all kinds of conveniences - correspondence or all kinds of benefits, to praise.
This is what we are going to talk about today, and we will continue to preach it next time.
Amitabha!
The Fifty-Ninth Episode of The Gate of Recitation