Master Yan Pei made the great wish of Ksitigarbha. Practice the Great Filial Piety of Ksitigarbha
Master Yan Pei
***In the seventh month of the lunar calendar in the 44th year, he gave lectures at the Ksitigarbha Dharma Assembly of Shandao Temple
Time flies so fast. The commemoration of the enlightenment of the Bodhisattva on the 19th of June has just passed, and the commemoration of the Bodhisattva on the 30th of July has come again.As for the many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and the omnipresent of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, there is no day that is not the birth and enlightenment of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on 360 days a year. Therefore, we only hold a few regular commemorative Dharma meetings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas every year. It is just as we know and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who are particularly acquainted with our Saha world, that in fact, there are many births and enlightenment days of Bodhisattvas.
The reason why a Bodhisattva is a Bodhisattva is that there are many conditions, but the main one is not to describe the four big words "compassion, wisdom, practice and vows".Of course I won’t talk about it if I am not a Bodhisattva. If I are a Bodhisattva, these four are absolutely indispensable.That being said, Bodhisattvas have different preferences, so Buddhism tends to be different from the Bodhisattvas of Compassion, Wisdom, Bodhisattvas of Practice, and Bodhisattvas of Purpose.For example, as we know the Bodhisattva as the representative of the great compassionate Guanyin;Great wisdom Manjushri is the representative of wisdom enhancement;The great practice of Samantabhadra is the representative of the greater practice;The great vow Ksitigarbha we commemorate today is the representative of the augmentation of vows.Especially worthy of our celebration, the Bodhisattvas and saints represented by these four are our great ***，All of his fundamental temple (Putuo Mountain in the South China Sea is the Guanyin Taoist temple, Mount Wutai Mountain in Shanxi is the Manjushri Taoist temple, Mount Emei, Mount Emei, Sichuan is the Samantabhadra Taoist temple, and Mount Jiuhua, Anhui is the Ksitigarbha Taoist temple )，Each of them captures the sentient beings that he should capture.Therefore, we who are born in China and hear the Dharma should be delighted by our deep roots of goodness;You should be happy to be able to get close to the great Bodhisattva;In this era of suffering, we should also imitate the fearless spirit of all Bodhisattvas as Dharma and human beings. In this suffering era, we should do more things for suffering human beings and do some good things for human beings!
Among the great Bodhisattvas, their compassion, wisdom, and their actions and wishes are worth learning from.But in order to adapt to the requirements of the times, today, where there are many weak and weak people, I think the wish of Ksitigarbha to work hard and focus on suffering to save sentient beings is something we urgently need to learn.Wish is to wish to seek, and to vow not to stop the lofty goals that you have hung on. This is to be the power of wish.In today's terms, it is a strong and powerful willpower.No matter what we do, we must strengthen our willpower and promote it later, and then we will succeed.If you have weak will and weak will, you will achieve nothing.What the ancients said, "When the spirit comes, nothing will come true" is the result of this strong will.But how did this strong willpower come about?According to my personal real feelings, it is nothing more than religious power. If you say it from a Buddhist standpoint, it is inspired by the spiritual power of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
look!The Bodhisattvas in Buddhism are active in life and death, and they sacrifice no matter how they sacrifice their lives, even sacrifice their heads, heads, marrows, and brains. They still practice the Bodhisattva path to save sentient beings. The originality is actually the driving force of this powerful will.Therefore, we can say that the life of a Bodhisattva practitioner is a life of the willpower.They are walking on the long path of Bodhi, not knowing that they will fight against many difficulties, and not knowing how many times they will lose their lives. However, because they have the willpower to support them, the more they encounter difficulties, the more dangerous they are, the more diligent they can serve all living beings, and never shrink back from any resistance.From this we can see that the power of faith is manifested in the will of the Bodhisattva.This amazing and strong willpower, from the perspective of religious sentiment, is the result of enthusiastic faith.According to the old Buddhist saying, the so-called "beginning from faith and vows" means this.
Bodhisattva practitioners, when they are suspense about all sentient beings and develop the awareness of relief, they must save them no matter what. Therefore, compassion becomes a powerful willpower and form their noble and great personality.In order to admire his personality, people in later generations developed the idea of serving the admirers.The willpower of Buddhist beliefs has such a powerful force, which can be seen here.In this era of depressed will and depressed spirit, Buddhism's belief willpower is necessary to inject into people's hearts.By emphasizing the Buddha's faith, you can place yourself above the infinite Buddha, be blessed by the Buddha, and make your willpower stronger, and finally the courageous and fearless power of vajra will occur!
Making a vow is one of the necessary practices for Buddhist practitioners. It is not only the Mahayana that is transformed from above to below, but also the Mahayana that is transformed from above to below, but also the Hinayana that is targeted by Nirvana and liberation, and it cannot be achieved without wishes.Besides, those who rely solely on other people must be purely willing to seek rebirth;Those who rely solely on their own strength must also be supported by their will.Therefore, vows are all comprehensible. Anyone who studies Buddhism must not make vows. In the Mahayana Bodhisattva Dharma, there is even a difference between general vows and other vows.Scholars do not know the importance of wishes, but what kind of wishes do they make?Why make a vow?This is very different.In the words of most Buddhists in our country, most people regard "wishing to be reborn in the Pure Land" as their greatest aspiration.There is nothing to be discussed about wishing to be reborn in the Pure Land, but what has become a problem is what should we do for the world we live in?If you say that you just let him do this and only care about your own rebirth, the negative atmosphere will be too strong."Buddhism is the most positive", this sentence is often from the mouths of us Buddhists. For example, some people say that Buddhism is negative, but our fellow Buddhists are always unhappy!However, being unhappy is one thing, and the fact is another. To eliminate the misunderstandings that people say that "Buddhism is negative", it is useless to argue only in theory. It is necessary to show behavior to be the most powerful weapon.If you still blindly hate this filthy world, and want to end this life quickly and be born in the Pure Land as soon as possible, you will ignore the real world. No matter how red you fight with others, you will not remove the stain of "Buddhism is negative".Therefore, those who truly want to express the Mahayana spirit of actively saving the world and be a Buddhist student must have a great wish of how to solemn the world from today.The one who can be an example for us is the great vow Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva commemorated today.
We know that our teacher Shakyamuni Buddha was in this evil and turbid world of the Saha world. He was unable to do things, unable to endure things, and able to achieve Anuttara Samyaksambodhi, so he won the praises of all Buddhas in the ten directions.As the Amitabha Sutra says, "These Buddhas also praise my incredible merits, and say this: Sakyamuni Buddha can do something very rare and can attain Anuttara Samyaksambodhi in the five turbid and evil worlds of the Saha world."The one who inherits this spirit and practices this vow must be said to be Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.Like the preface of the Ten Wheels of Ksitigarbha Sutra, it shows Ksitigarbha's wish and says: "I am learning from the World Honored One and make such a great vow: I should obtain the supreme Bodhi in this impure land!"What kind of spirit is this?Please think carefully. How many good men and women who study Buddhism today, and those who become monks and lay people, have vowed to become Buddhas in the impure land?Even if there are a few Bodhisattvas with great intentions who have such a wish, they may be scolded by practitioners who wish to be reborn in other Pure Lands, as ordinary people who do not practice, and even denounced as demon kings and heretics.Some people say that those who are determined to rebirth in the Pure Land and think that they represent all Buddhism and have to bear most of the responsibilities. I think there are considerable reasons for them!
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva not only vowed to become a Buddha in the impure land, but also vowed to go to hell to save all sentient beings. Therefore, there are a few popular and well-known words in Buddhism about Ksitigarbha, which is, "Hell is not empty, and I vow not to become a Buddha;Only when all sentient beings are saved can they attain Bodhi."This is really a particularly valuable fearless spirit.Just imagine: The Saha world, called tolerant, appears on this world stage, which is already painful enough. Without a little perseverance, you can't stand it at all. Therefore, those who are timid will always want to come out of this Saha world as soon as possible.But the great vow Ksitigarbha, based on his infinite enthusiasm for saving life, will go to the most painful hell of this world of distress to save the sentient beings in hell who are suffering.According to his vows, saving sentient beings is not just a few sentient beings, but to save all sentient beings;Going to hell is not only temporary, but also permanently living in hell.Not only do you live in hell forever, but you also want to solemnly make hell a country of joy. What a wish?How great is such a Bodhisattva with solemn vows!No wonder Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is deeply admired and chanted by Buddhists in our country.Today we are all gathering here to commemorate the enlightenment of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. It should not be just a formal offering of incense and flowers, or chant the holy name. Even if we express our respect to the Bodhisattva, we should make the great vow of Ksitigarbha, wish to achieve enlightenment in this turbid and evil world, and wish to go deep into hell to overcome distressed sentient beings!
Yes, Ksitigarbha’s great vow is worthy of praise, especially for us to imitate, but why did Bodhisattvas make such great vows?This is also a big problem.According to the sutra, there are many causes and conditions to promote the compassionate vows of Bodhisattvas. From the announcement of the Ksitigarbha Sutra, I think it is a filial piety, which is a filial piety to parents. In other words, such great vows are made to repay the deep kindness of parents' raising.For example, when the Master made a great vow to save all sentient beings when he was a Brahmin girl or a Guangmu girl, he was the wish that came from his mother to escape from evil paths and "I wish my mother to escape from hell forever."In short, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva inspired great vows because of his filial piety, and practiced great filial piety because of his original vows. He emphasized both filial piety and vow power, and completed the noble holy pattern, so he was named Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva of Great Vows.
Filial piety is deeply impressed by our people, because China's ethics attaches great importance to filial piety.It is natural for a child to be filial to his parents, and he should do this for the people of any country.Therefore, the Book of Filial Piety says: "Filialty is the scripture of heaven, the meaning of earth, and the actions of the people."The reason is that filial piety is the foundation of virtue. If a person cannot be filial to his parents in the hall, he must never be righteous to others, must never be loyal to the country, and there is no way to talk about everything.The importance of filial piety to being a human being can be seen here.The President once said, "Parents gave birth to us, educate us, and even established it, love and care for it, and meticulously. The so-called kindness of parents is truly unparalleled.We can be unfilial to our parents. If we are not loyal to our parents, we will not love others and be unfaithful to the country. The so-called "filial piety and brotherhood are the foundation of human beings!'If we can practice the way in the world, we must first be filial and brotherly to serve our parents and brothers.Mencius said: "You cannot be a relative, you cannot be a person, you cannot be a relative, you cannot be a son if you are not a relative.'This is what it means to be filial to serve parents."After reading what the president said, we can see how filial piety is important, and we have to be filial to the two elders in the hall.
However, modern people, by using human power to conquer nature, have achieved great progress in history on the one hand;On the one hand, the spiritual depravity has also reached a shocking level!Not to mention anything else, just in terms of family: we are a small boat in the sea of people;The family is a good harbor for restoration.The boat of life tumbling in the raging waves is often attacked by risks and pain. When exhausted and feel empty in life, the only thing that can comfort and light for me is a lovely and peaceful family.Assuming that there is no family that can be docked with the boat of life, no matter how strong the boat is, it may eventually be destroyed.Therefore, family peace is the happiness of life.However, although there are many things to do when you can achieve peace and happiness, it is important to be a son of the people who are filial to their parents.However, the person who claims to be the times, who, under the call of European and American rain and intoxicated by material civilization, wants to overturn all old practices, not only no longer value filial piety, but even sing slogans of non-filial piety. I really don’t know whether this is the progress of the times or the regression?It's really amazing!In my opinion, no matter how the times progress, human beings cannot be forgotten. If a person forgets his roots, then who will become?Just imagine: After our mother is born, we have a long period of innocence and cannot survive independently. We rely entirely on our parents' upbringing to adulthood. How can we forget all our biological parents when we have the ability to survive, and ignore all our care and filial piety?Besides, let’s go further: If you and me are there without parents?So as long as we still admit that we are alone and remember our roots, we must not be unfilial to our parents.Not only that, I have parents, I should be filial to my parents, and others have parents. It is necessary to make others filial to their parents, which is true filial!Although the times have advanced to the atomic era, filial piety for serving parents is always the common virtue that mankind should follow, and will never change due to the progress of the times.If you think that the times have progressed and filial piety is not allowed, then you are very wrong and you are not worthy of being a figure of the times!If you really want to stand ahead of the times and lead the evolution of the times, you should take it as your responsibility to respect your parents and carry forward filial piety, because only those who love their parents can truly love humanity!
Speaking of this, perhaps someone wants to say: The importance of filial piety is what everyone knows and should do;However, in your Buddhism, there are two groups who have become monks and lay people who have given up their love and left their parents and left their homes. They cannot "conserve their morning and evening" or "serve their blessings and wealth". Can this be considered filial piety?So, those who really don’t value filial piety are probably Buddhism?Many people misunderstand Buddhism like this.In fact, Buddhism is the religion with the strongest ethical color. It not only ignores the world's filial piety, but also attaches extreme importance to filial piety.Only what Buddhism emphasizes is different from what the world values: Buddhism focuses on filial piety that has been passed down through generations, permanent and broad.The secular world only reproduces worldly, temporary, and narrow filial piety.To give the most obvious example: Shortly after I became enlightened, I returned to my country to preach to my father in order to repay the grace of my present father;When he was about to enter Nirvana, he would express another filial piety to repay his mother's kindness in order to repay his mother's kindness, and ascend to the Trayastrimsa Heaven to preach specifically for his mother, in order to repay his deep kindness in case.Moreover, since the Buddha became enlightened, he not only repays the kindness of his parents in this life, but also repays the kindness of his parents in life for generations since time immemoriality. Is this what the shallow viewers see as not filial piety?For example, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who was driven by filial piety in the past, was expanded to save all sentient beings by his parents' grace to repay his parents' nurturing grace and to the point of wishing to save all sentient beings.I think that the pain of life and death of my parents should be saved, and the pain of life and death of all sentient beings should be relieved. Moreover, every sentient being in the five realms of reincarnation has been my parents. If I don’t help them, who else can I save them?What is the great filial piety that repays all parents like this? Where can ordinary people who only know how to be filial to their parents?Therefore, none of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas themselves is not a practitioner of filial piety. Even if they preach the Dharma and teach others, they all diligently praise filial piety, which makes people filial!However, Buddhism says that filial piety and the completion of true filial piety are not only "concentrate on morning and evening, and maintenance of blessings and wealth", but mainly encourage parents to trust and respect the Three Jewels, and obtain ultimate liberation from life and death from the faith and respect of the Three Jewels.Therefore, Master Lianchi said: "My parents are more kind than the mountains and hills, and the five cattle and three animals are not enough to repay. If you are separated from dust and dirt, your son will achieve success."This is very important.We Chinese have the idea of chasing relatives in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, or die at the fifteenth day of the dynasty of the Ksitigarbha, or recommend it on the thirtyth day of the Ksitigarbha. This is very meaningful from the standpoint of repaying kindness.Only further one must go further, to go from filial piety in the narrow sense to filial piety in the broad sense, imitate the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and practice great filial piety in the world, which is truly commemorating Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva!
Finally, I have to say that Buddhism says that relief is not only for the future, but also for the present.Religious future relief is of course important;Real worldly relief is particularly important.Only when reality can be truly relieved can it be trusted that the future will be relieved.If the reality is not fulfilled, then what else can we talk about in the future?Therefore, Buddhism never advocates emptiness, and we should know that the same is true for practicing filial piety.After the death of parents, they are born in the good paths and evil paths, which is certainly worthy of the care of children. Within the possible scope, they are mostly used to provide offerings and cultivate blessings, so that they can be blessed by the power of the Buddha and escape from suffering;But the most important thing is that when your parents are here, they are kind and kind, serve them with etiquette, and serve them with filial piety, so that they can trust the Three Jewels.Even if parents are not wrong, we can only persuade them to fulfill their duties as a son. If parents do not listen, they will feel a clear conscience. Therefore, the filial piety of respecting their parents should be completely overwhelmed and we must never lose the way to be children because of their parents’ temporary negligence.So we look at whether a person is filial, not to show off his or her grand ceremony after his or her death, but to be filial and considerate during his or her life. If parents are not filial in the day, then whether all actions after death are out of filial piety will become a big problem.Therefore, although Buddhism talks about filial piety to the great filial piety of parents from the beginning of time, it emphasizes the true filial piety of parents in the present, which is something that we who value filial piety must not be ignored!
There have been many things to talk about in the name of Ksitigarbha and the transformation of the masters in history, and I will omit it all now.What I said to you today is mainly to show the great vows and great filial piety of the Bodhisattva.May you agree:
Make a great wish of Ksitigarbha!
Perform the great filial piety of Ksitigarbha!
