Let’s first call our master Shakyamuni Buddha and the opening verses: Namo’s master Shakyamuni Buddha, Namo’s master Shakyamuni Buddha, and Namo’s master Shakyamuni Buddha.The supreme, profound and subtle Dharma is difficult to encounter in hundreds of thousands of kalpas. Now I have seen, heard, received and upheld it. I wish to understand the true meaning of Tathagata.
Dear fellow practitioners and great masters, good evening, all Bodhisattvas.Amitabha! Today we will conduct our third day of lectures and continue to study the "Amitabha Sutra".Yesterday we talked about the fourth grade, which is the beginning of the first grade of the authenticity of this sutra, and the order is the first three grades.The fourth chapter of this chapter is the "Dharmazang Cause Land", which is the predecessor of Amitabha Buddha.This sutra introduces us in detail to Amitabha Buddha’s life experience, his origin, his history, and the origin of the Pure Land. Therefore, this sutra is called the “First Sutra of Pure Land”, and it is indeed very detailed.
Today we will look at the fourth chapter. Starting from the first line on page 17, we will read this sutra first: "If sentient beings have not been saved, those who have been saved can become Buddhas."If you make offerings to the saints of the constant sand, it is better to be brave enough to seek enlightenment. This verse is the vow made by the monk Dharmazang.He was originally King Shirao, a king. In order to save all living beings, he abandoned his country and donated his king to become a monk.What to do when he becomes a monk? He vowed to establish the Pure Land to help all sentient beings be reborn and become Buddhas without regressing.Therefore, this is a vow made by the monk Dharmazang, hoping to "not save sentient beings and allow them to be saved." This is the Bodhisattva who helps all sentient beings.All sentient beings have different roots. Some sentient beings have sharp roots, which means they have a high ability to accept. They will understand as soon as you talk about them. Some sentient beings have poor roots, and they will only understand if you talk about them many times. Maybe they can only be able to save them in this life.Dharmazang Bodhisattva makes a vow here to follow the nature of all sentient beings to guide and teach them.If the roots are not mature, first plant good roots for them, which is to help them understand the Dharma and help them develop a desire to become a Buddha, but they don’t know when they become a Buddha.His faith and wishes are not very strong, but he has to be saved. Why? As long as a person hears the name of Amitabha Buddha once in his life, the so-called "one ear root will be the seed of the Tao forever", he will eventually be reborn in the Pure Land, but it may not be necessary for this life, but it is considered to be saved and he will eventually become a Buddha.However, for sentient beings with good roots and mature nature, how can they become Buddhas if they have saved them? Help them to be reborn in the Western Paradise, and they will definitely become Buddhas once they are reborn.
Therefore, we need to reflect on ourselves, what kind of sentient beings I am? Don’t look at others, the key is to look at ourselves.I have encountered Buddhism in this life and realized that Buddhism is the Buddha's most good and perfect education. I am willing to accept such a good education. The goal of this education is to enable us to escape from birth and death, escape from the three realms of reincarnation, and become a Buddha in this life. Have I truly made this vow to be reborn? If you truly made this vow, then congratulations, you have saved it to become a Buddha, and you have hope of becoming a Buddha in this life.If your wishes are not firm, the Pure Land is good, but you don’t really want to go there. There are still many things in this world that you have not let go, and you have to do this and that.Maybe these things are good things. To cultivate merits and do good deeds, you need to help these suffering sentient beings, but the problem is that you don’t want to be reborn yet. These good deeds and all the good deeds you do will become your blessing in the next life.If you are blessed in the next life, what should you do after you have enjoyed the blessings? After enjoying them, you will fall into the three evil realms and will never stop reincarnation. This is not a truly saved person.If you truly achieve salvation, let go of everything and recite the Buddha's name to the end.Now in this world, even if you do good deeds, do what you have the right to do and let go if you don’t have the right to do it. There is no attachment in your heart, and you only stick to the name of Amitabha Buddha. That’s right.
So it is explained here clearly below, "If you make offerings to the saints of the world, it is better to be brave enough to seek enlightenment."Hengsha is the sand of the Ganges River. If someone goes to India to see the Ganges River, you will find that the sand in the Ganges River is very thin. When you grab it, you will feel as thin as flour. The sand of the Ganges River is very thin.How much sand is there in a Ganges River? If you offer so many saints such as Buddhas, Tathagata, Bodhisattva, Pratyekabuddha, Arhat, etc., the sands of the Ganges River, you will have great blessings. If you really do this, you will enjoy endless blessings.But this blessing is still endless, because once you enjoy it, you will be confused. Once you are confused, you will create karma, and if you create karma, you will lose your blessings.So you see, how many people can not be confused by the wealthy and noble people? This is a reminder that it is better to be brave enough to seek enlightenment than to support the saint of the Continental Sand.To seek enlightenment means to hope that one can become a Buddha, and to become a Buddha is to become a Buddha, and to be supreme and to be enlightened.You see at the end of the "Avatamsaka Sutra", the "Sutra of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's Vows" tells us that the third article of the Ten Great Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is to practice and offer extensively. The most extraordinary offering is Dharma offering, and Dharma offering is the most among all offerings.The sutra tells us that there are seven kinds of Dharma offerings, the first one is called "Practice and Offering as the teachings."So true offerings do not mean how much money you spend to Buddhism, what land, building, or temple you offer. These are certainly offerings, but this offering is not the most extraordinary.The Buddha told us that the most extraordinary offering is to follow the teachings and practice according to the teachings of the Buddha.The Buddha teaches us that we need to be reborn in the Western Paradise, and that we must let go of everything and seek rebirth in the Western Paradise. This is the true offering, which makes all Buddhas happy.Think about it, you have become a Buddha. How many sentient beings do you save when you become a Buddha? You may not be able to save many sentient beings here now. After you become a Buddha, you will save countless sentient beings.So you have to know how to settle the account and don’t rush to do anything good to help sentient beings now.If you are already sure of being reborn, you can do it. It is a good thing to bring a few more people to the Pure Land; if you are not sure, you must first solve your own problems.
Once, Master Wudao was a disciple who had been with our master for a long time. Master Wudao asked him for a question.This is thirteen years ago, when I was still studying in the United States, I heard Master answer Master Wudao’s questions.What’s the question? Master Wudao asked, is it important to be reborn in the Pure Land by yourself or is it important to spread the Dharma and benefit sentient beings? Which one is important? Yes, everyone is really wise.Master also answered the same thing: rebirth in the Pure Land is more important than spreading the Dharma and benefiting sentient beings.Among all the merits, of course, spreading the Dharma and benefiting sentient beings is the most extraordinary, but compared to being reborn, rebirth is more important. What is the principle? It is this sentence. It is better to be brave enough to seek enlightenment than to offer to the saints of the constant sand. This is how the monk Dharmazang practiced back then.So if you understand this principle, you will know the importance of the difference. "If you know the order of the future, you will be in a short way." This is what the Confucian "The Great Learning" says. We must know the order of the order of our practice.
Below, the sutra says, "Will we stay in Samadhi and always shine with light and shine everything." This is where we should know where to stay.Nowadays, people feel uneasy in their body and mind. There are many troubles, many temptations, many greed, anger and ignorance in society. The magnetic field is not good, so they are uneasy in their body and mind.How do we rest in peace? This sutra says, "Abide in Samadhi."Samadhi is the three things mentioned in the "Lingyun Sutra", called "Samata, Samadhi, and Jana". The three things are all alias for meditation, which means meditation, so Samadhi is about us practicing meditation.How do we practice meditation with our fellow practitioners in Pure Land? Meditation is not just about Zen practice, but all sects practice meditation. Each of the Buddha's 84,000 methods teaches us to practice meditation.Because the three principles of Buddhism’s practice are precepts, concentration and wisdom. Concentration is obtained through precepts, and wisdom is obtained through concentration. All methods are practiced by precepts, concentration and wisdom. This concentration is a very important key in the middle, meditation.If you can keep the precepts, you will be able to be calm. Just keeping the precepts is not enough, you must also practice concentration.In Tiantai Sect, Mahasatana is practiced, which is to practice meditation, and Tiantai Sect is the teachings; Huayan Sect is also called Xianshou Sect, and they practice according to the "Avatamsaka Sutra" (Tiantai is based on the Lotus Sutra )，The samadhi of the Xianshou Sect is the view of the Dharma Realm.What is our Pure Land Sect Samadhi? The "Amitabha Sutra" talks about one mind and the "Lingyun Sutra. The chapter on reciting the Buddha's name of Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta" talks about "all the six senses and pure thoughts are successively", which is our meditation, which is the "pure and equal enlightenment" mentioned in the title of this sutra. This is the samadhi of the Pure Land Sect, and we must live here.
If you can stay at peace in reciting the Buddha's name with one mind, you can shine light. Here we talk about "constantly shining light on everything."What kind of light is this light? It is the wisdom light that we have in our true nature.This light is not obtained from the outside, but is originally found in our own nature. However, our minds are not pure now, and this light cannot be emitted and is blocked.It seems that the sun is in the sky, and now it is covered with dark clouds. It seems that it has been raining heavily these two days. You can't see the sun or see the sun during the day. Doesn't it mean there is no sun? No, the sun is still in the sky, but it is blocked by dark clouds, and the light cannot be revealed. As long as the dark clouds are removed, the light will be revealed.Therefore, removing dark clouds means calming our minds, eliminating all delusions, thinking about nothing, chanting Buddha's name, and not being confused. At this time, the light will be revealed.This light is clear and indeed there is, but it is just that ordinary people with naked eyes cannot see it. Why? Now we all understand that the light we see is called visible light. The visible light is a very small part in the spectrum. Red light is relatively long light, and purple light is relatively short light. We can only see the visible light part.Where is infrared? We can't see infrared rays.What about ultraviolet? UV rays cannot be seen.We all understand this, so we can't see a lot of light with our naked eyes, but it really has it.Now, using scientific instruments can collect a little more light than we see with our naked eyes, but after all, it is still limited.Therefore, we cannot see the light of our own nature with our naked eyes, but it really does exist.The effect of this light is that all sentient beings will be bathed in this light, and they will be very happy, and will be filled with joy.You should know that we will study the "Amitabha Sutra" together. When we recite Amitabha here, the light of Amitabha Buddha shines on you, so you are very happy. All your worries and worries are eliminated, and you will get this effect.The "Perfect Chapter of the Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta" says that this is called "Sutra of Fragrance and Light", and when chanting the Buddha's name, it is the Sutra of Fragrance and Light.
The following scriptures also talk about "feeling the vast and pure residence, with extraordinary solemnity and unparalleled nature." These two sentences talk about the Pure Land.The monk Dharmazang already had this wish on the causal realm, hoping to establish the Pure Land.At that time, the Pure Land had not achieved success, but this was already vaguely in his heart.You should know that Buddhism says, "All dharmas are born from the mind." The Pure Land is also born from the mind. Amitabha Buddha had already begun to think about the Pure Land at that time.Look here, he hopes to obtain "a vast and pure residence, extraordinary and solemn and unparalleled nature", which is incomparable.This Pure Land has begun to think about this Pure Land, and Amitabha Buddha is thinking about it every time, then he will achieve it. Amitabha Buddha thought about it and became a Pure Land.Now when we read the "Amitabha Sutra" and recite Amitabha Buddha, we also think of the Pure Land in our hearts. Therefore, the Pure Land not only Amitabha Buddha wants to be born in our hearts, but also each of us wants to be born in our hearts.Our heart is integrated with Amitabha Buddha's mind. This is called common karma. The karma you practice is the same as Amitabha Buddha. He wants to the Pure Land, and you also want to the Pure Land, and the same karma.Therefore, the cause and the result are the same, and you can be reborn in the Pure Land.
The following scriptures also talk about "The sentient beings in the samsara of reincarnation will quickly give birth to me and receive happiness."Always be kind and help you to eliminate sentient beings and save all the boundless suffering beings.Amitabha Buddha hopes that sentient beings in the cycle of reincarnation come to the Pure Land as soon as possible to receive happiness. This is Amitabha Buddha's great compassion. He takes special care of us sentient beings in the cycle of reincarnation. He knows that sentient beings in the cycle of reincarnation are the most painful.Those who have passed away from the samsara, such as Arhats and Bodhisattvas, also have troubles, but the troubles of view and thoughts are gone, and there are dust and sand troubles and ignorance troubles, which are much better than us, and they are not as painful as us.In the samsara, we have all three afflictions such as views, thoughts, dust and sand, and ignorance, so we suffer.This suffering is caused by oneself. If one is confused and deluded, one will create karma. If one creates karma, one will suffer. The consequences of this suffering.Amitabha Buddha felt pain in his eyes and his heart. He hoped that we could escape as soon as possible, so he established this paradise to help us leave the cycle of reincarnation as quickly as possible.Therefore, "always use compassion to relieve sentient beings." His compassion and compassion are compassion that is one with us, so-called "great compassion without cause, great compassion for one body."Amitabha Buddha sees that all of us sentient beings are like their own bodies. If we suffer, we suffer, so he cannot bear to suffer and hopes to transcend us as soon as possible.Sentiments are all sentient beings. Sentiments are troubles and attachments. Sentiments have troubles.This constant fortune often refers to time, and "saving all the boundless suffering beings" refers to space.Look, Amitabha Buddha hopes that all sentient beings in the endless time and space will all go to the Pure Land without leaving any one. This is Amitabha’s true original wish.
The last verse afterwards is Amitabha Buddha's statement. He often practices the Bodhisattva path, and his vows are called "only Buddha's wisdom and enlightenment."His vows are indeed extremely special. Only Buddha can understand that Bodhisattvas cannot understand perfectly without the Buddha's blessing.Amitabha Buddha is really doing it. Look at the last sentence, "Even if the body stops in all sufferings, the wish will never fade away." This is really doing it.Therefore, when we ask for rebirth in the Pure Land, we must come from the real world. If we don’t have to come from the fake world, what is the fake one? We say that we want to go to the Pure Land, but our minds and actions are completely contrary to the Pure Land. In our minds, we are not chanting Buddha’s name, but greed, anger and ignorance.For all people and things, they will become greedy in good times; for those who are unsatisfied, they will lose their temper, curse, hate, and be greedy and ignorant.This is contrary to the Pure Land. This is not true, it is fake, it is just a mistake.Amitabha Buddha knows whether we are true or false, and of course he knows it well.So we see that the practice of monk Dharmazang is entirely done from the true heart.
The fifth grade of the following is "responsible diligence", which is his manifestation after he made a wish.Look, the monk Dharmazang made a vow here, and he said, "I am now in the Bodhisattva path, and I have developed the supreme enlightenment and have made a vow to become a Buddha."'This sentence is not simple.We have seen many people studying Buddhism. What is the purpose of studying Buddhism? Some people think of worshiping Buddha, hoping that Buddha will give him blessings, get wealth, get promoted and make money; some people ask Buddha to bless him, be healthy and have peace of his descendants; some people may like Buddhist principles and want to study Buddhism. In short, everyone's purpose in coming to Buddhism is different.But there are a few people who can come to Buddhism, as if the monk Dharmazang said, "I came to "get vows and become a Buddha." I came to Buddhism to learn Buddhism because I wanted to become a Buddha.
We see in history, Master Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty. He is such a person.You see, he was originally a woodcutter who specialized in harvesting firewood to make a living.His family is very poor, he has never read a book, and he doesn't know anything. We say it's illiterate.As a result, when he heard someone reading the Diamond Sutra, he became enlightened.He could understand that this was the deep good roots of his past life.Then he went to pay homage to the Five Zen ancestors and sought the Dharma.You see, he was only twenty-four years old at that time. When he saw the Fifth Patriarch, the Fifth Patriarch asked him, "What are you here to do?" (Master Huineng is from Guangdong, we are from Guangdong. We went from the south to Huangmei to seek to meet the fifth ancestor and the fifth ancestor. )He said, "I came to seek a wish to become a Buddha, and I hope to become a Buddha.""When the Fifth Patriarch saw him, the southerners must have spoken in a southern accent, and he tested him: "You 小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小� (The sacred name of the southerners is like a southern barbarian. )，You, an uneducated southerner, still want to become a Buddha, and you want to become a Buddha, and you have a very strong tone!" What did Master Huineng say in the end? He said, "People are divided into north and south, but how are Buddha natures divided into north and south?" You see, his nature is very good. People just come to seek the Dharma and become Buddhas. They know that everyone can become Buddhas equally, southerners and northerners can become Buddhas, and all sentient beings can become Buddhas. Why? The "Avatamsaka Sutra" says very well. Shakyamuni Buddha said that all sentient beings have the wisdom and virtues of Tathagata. The sentient beings mentioned in the "Perfect Enlightenment Sutra" are originally Buddhas.Therefore, you are originally a Buddha and have the wisdom and virtues of the Tathagata. Of course, you can become a Buddha, just depends on whether you are willing to take responsibility.Some people say that if you become a Buddha, you dare not become a Buddha. Can a person like me still become a Buddha? If you dare not take responsibility, you cannot.
You think that the monk Fazang is not simple here. He said that he wanted to make a vow to become a Buddha, so he sought the Dharma from the Buddha, just like the Sixth Patriarch asking the Dharma from the Fifth Patriarch, saying: "I wish the Buddha could preach the sutras and Dharma for me. I should uphold it and practice according to the Dharma."'At that time, the teacher of the monk Dharmazang was the worldly king of freedom. He hoped that his teacher would preach the Dharma to him, and hoped that he would "relieve all the roots of diligent life and death, and quickly achieve the supreme enlightenment," which would mean quickly becoming a Buddha.Why do he want to become a Buddha quickly? Because he feels pity for all sentient beings. Only by becoming a Buddha can he ultimately help all sentient beings perfectly. This is the driving force of great compassion.Moreover, Bhikkhu Dharmazang is even more powerful than Master Sixth Patriarch. He said here: "When I want to become a Buddha, I will be wise and bright, and I live in the country, teach my name, and I will hear the ten directions."All the heavenly people and the worms will become Bodhisattvas in the next life of our country.I made this wish, and those who were superior to countless Buddha lands would rather get it? "He was even more powerful than Master Huineng. Master Huineng just wanted to become a Buddha and become a Buddha. The Buddha that the monk Dharmazang wanted to become is better than countless Buddha lands. He wanted to achieve the most superior among all Buddhas. This is amazing! His vow was superior to Master Huineng, so when he became a Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha praised him as "the most honorable among the light and the king among the Buddhas."People make such a great vow on the cause. This great vow is not arrogant, but a sincere vow deep in their hearts, hoping to help suffering sentient beings the most perfect.
He made a vow to the teacher, and the teacher gave him a lecture. The Tathagata, the King of Freedom in the World, told him: "It's like a man fighting in the sea, and after a disaster, he can still be exhausted."'You can measure it.Therefore, the scripture says: "If a person seeks the Tao sincerely, he will never stop diligently, and he will be able to overcome the fruits. Why don't he wish?" This is to tell him that if your heart is true and sincere, and you can be able to improve and unremittingly, how can you not get the fruits? "If you can be able to overcome the fruits", this wish will definitely be fulfilled.There is a saying among Chinese people, "Nothing is difficult in the world, I am afraid of those who are determined." As long as you really want to do something, you will not achieve anything.The key is that we have a sincere and respectful heart. We say we are dedicated and you must do it really.Moreover, you must make progress and not slacken for a long time, and never give up until you reach your goal. If you go deep into one subject and practice for a long time, you will definitely achieve success.
After the worldly king Tathagata gave teachings to the monk Dharmazang, the monk Dharmazang was not simple, and he was not satisfied with his own practice.Of course, the most important thing in practicing is oneself, but the monk Dharmazang hopes to study in the land of countless Buddhas in the ten directions, so he asked his teacher to show him the infinite land of extraordinary Buddhas, so that he can study, contemplate, practice according to the Dharma, and fulfill his great wishes.His wish was that the land he established was superior to all Buddha lands, and of course he must go to other lands to investigate.Therefore, the Tathagata, the King of Freedom in the world, knew that he was very wise and his wishes were very profound. The sutra says, "It is to preach the merits of the 21 billion Buddhas' lands, which are the perfect and merits of the 21 billion Buddhas."This "appearance" often talks about the "reality of all dharmas" in the sutra. In our current words, it is the truth of the universe and life.
The Tathagata, the King of Freedom in the World, demonstrated it to him, and this is not flat, but three-dimensional.Now we usually watch TV and act, and these shadows are flat, not three-dimensional.There are three now D The movie is three-dimensional. Although it is three-dimensional, you can't touch it with your hands and don't feel it.However, the Buddha land displayed to him by the Tathagata, the worldly king of freedom, is not only three-dimensional, but also can go in and feel, examine and contemplate it very realistically.Therefore, this teaching method is very scientific and requires him to conduct on-site inspections by himself, not based on his own imagination.Such an investigation gives the final result, and this Western Paradise is the most real.Therefore, the following scriptures say, "At that time, Dharmazang heard all the Buddha's words, and saw them all."When the monk Dharmazang heard the Buddha explain the ten directions of the lands, and asked him to investigate it himself, he could see it and he knew it in his heart.Therefore, the following is to say, "To make the supreme and extraordinary wishes, to think about the good and evil of the heavens and man, to think about the ultimate truth, to choose what you want, and to make a great wish."So how did the Pure Land come from? The Pure Land is the great achievement of the truth, goodness and beauty of all Buddha worlds in the ten directions.All the good places in other worlds are absorbed, and all those with defects and incompleteness are abandoned. Therefore, the Pure Land established in this way is the most perfect and the best and best places in all worlds are gathered together.In the scriptures, the Tathagata, the King of Freedom in the World, told him that there are hundreds of billions of years, and this time is very long.They have a long lifespan, forty-two kalpas, so they have this lifespan and this time to learn.
After studying, he said here that he began to study.He practiced "satisfied with the five kalpas", and the time he practiced was five kalpas, and this time was astronomical.The following sutra also talks about "in the twenty-one koti Buddha land", and this "twenty-one koti" is the 21 billion mentioned earlier, which all represent perfection.The reason why the twenty-one kotis is mentioned here is different from the 21 billion mentioned earlier. We can imagine that when the old lay Buddhist Xia Lianju gathered the five original translations, they must have gathered them from two places, but the meaning is the same.The monk Dharmazang used the five kalpas to establish the Western Pure Land based on the merits of 21 billion Buddhas, which were strictly pure and solemn and solemn.The establishment of the Western Paradise has been completed, and his life span is still there, but it has not yet been completed. Why? Because his life span is forty-two kalpas, it has been established in five kalpas.After it was established, the teacher was still alive, so he immediately reported to the teacher and reported the results of his cultivation to the teacher.So here he went to the place of the Tathagata, the worldly king of free, and "curled his head and bowed his feet, walked around the Buddha three times, and clasped his hands together." This was when he saluted the teacher before reporting, and he was very respectful to the teacher.He said, I have already achieved the solemn Buddha land.What reaction was the Tathagata, the King of Freedom in the World? He said: "Good."'That's great! 'It's time now, you should say it to make everyone happy.'You must report your results quickly.Look at the teacher’s true joy for the students’ achievements. The achievements of the monk Fazang are better than his teacher. As the saying goes, “The younger generation is better than the younger generation”, the teacher is not jealous of the students and is very happy.
This jealousy can be said to be true for all mortals, and even teachers are jealous of students.As we have seen in history, Zheng Kangcheng of the Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty was a great scholar. His teacher Ma Rong and he learned from Ma Rong.Ma Rong was jealous and felt very unhappy when he saw his student Zheng Kangcheng surpassed him.After Zheng Kangcheng finished his studies, he had to say goodbye to the teacher. The teacher took the students to see him off, but the teacher wanted to kill Zheng Kangcheng because he did not want the students to surpass him.So I set up wine for him at Shilichang Pavilion, asking every student to toast him, and toast him one by one, trying to get him drunk, and then asked the killer to kill him.But unexpectedly, Zheng Kangcheng had a lot of alcohol. After drinking three hundred cups, he not only did not get drunk, but also did not lack the small etiquette when performing the ceremony.Therefore, Li Bai has a poem called "Wine is about to enter", and "If you want to drink three hundred cups at a time", it means that Zheng Kangcheng will not get drunk for 300 cups.Zheng Kangcheng was very smart. He knew that the teacher had a murderous intention toward him, so he told the teacher, I'll go the big road.But in fact, he sneaked away from the small path, so he was not killed by him.Now we talk about the Analects of Confucius, and we often quote Zheng Kangcheng's annotations, and he has annotations of "The Analects of Confucius".I saw that teachers were jealous of the students here.
A truly virtuous teacher will not be jealous of his students.You see, in Buddhism, Master Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, obtained the Dharma from the Fifth Patriarch, and obtained the Fifth Patriarch's mantle, but many people were not convinced because he did not recognize words, had never heard of scriptures, and had never practiced and learned. He had achieved great enlightenment and had left after he got the robe and mantle. Many people were not convinced and wanted to pursue it.Therefore, in order to avoid everyone's dissatisfaction, Master Sixth Patriarch lurked in the hunter team for fifteen years.Fifteen years later, everyone gradually forgot about this matter, and he returned to Guangxiao Temple in Guangzhou.I am in Guangzhou, and my home is near Guangxiao Temple. Old Monk Benhuan is the original abbot of Guangxiao Temple.It was called Faxing Temple in the Tang Dynasty, and it was at Faxing Temple. At that time, the Sixth Patriarch had not yet become a monk and was still a layperson. He was all forty years old at that time.At that time, Master Yin Zong was preaching at Faxing Temple. Two monks were fighting outside the sutra hall. We all knew very well. The two saw the wind blowing and the banner was moving.Banners were used for advertisements in temples in ancient times. Let me tell you that we have a Dharma Assembly today, so I will erect the banners.If you preach, erect a banner. It is a cylinder. Let’s go to the temple to pay attention to what you will see. There are banners and banners.When preaching, there is a vertical pagoda called a high-stories Dharma pagoda, which is used as an advertisement to tell people around that there is a preaching today, so please come and listen.Now there is no need to erect a Dharma banner. Go and call to notify your friends. There will be a lecture tonight, and you can notify them to come. This means the meaning of a high tree Dharma banner.Even now, it is very convenient. You can read a magazine in Hong Kong that says "Warm the World". You can go there to make an advertisement and notify us that our association will give lectures from 4:00 to 6:00 every day, and our courses are listed there. This is also a high-tree Dharma Banner, which has great merit.In ancient times, there were no newspapers or magazines, just erected a banner, which was an advertisement, and those who wanted to come would come.
The two wizards saw the wind blowing the banner outside the hall and were fighting there. One said that the banner was moving there, and the other said that it was not the banner moving there, but the wind was moving there. If the wind did not blow, how could the banner move? The two were fighting there.As a result, Master Sixth Patriarch went there and reconciled for the two of them, saying, "You two need to fight anymore, either the banner or the wind is moving, "The heart of the benevolent is moving."Only when your heart is moved can you see it move. If your heart is not moved, you will not see the outside world moving.This sentence was passed to Master Yin Zong. When he heard this, he summoned him immediately and had a great time. When he saw this, he realized that he was the Sixth Patriarch who passed on the robe and bowl of the Fifth Patriarch.At that time, he had not yet become a monk, so Master Yin Zong immediately slandered him. After slandering, he went on to worship Master Huineng as his master, and led all his believers to take refuge in Master Huineng of the Sixth Patriarch.Therefore, Master Huineng’s Dharma affinity in the south is so extraordinary, Master Yin Zong’s first merit is truly protecting the Dharma.The Dharma Protector is not jealous. He will not think that "my believers have been taken away by you." He can't let go, no.What did he think? "Since you are better than me, I hope that all my believers will convert to you and listen to you."He is for sentient beings, and he has no selfishness for sentient beings, so he is not jealous.Therefore, the Yin Sect is not an ordinary person, but the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come back to perform this kind of guardian.Our master said that the realm of Yin Sect is definitely not under the Sixth Patriarch Huineng. Two people performed on the same stage, which is called "One Buddha is born and thousands of Buddhas support him."This is truly a good teacher and a good guardian. He will not see you being respected, famous, profit-making, and will not be happy in his heart. He does not have this jealousy.
Our master is also not jealous.Look at the beginning of this year, on New Year's Day in 2010, on the first and second days, the Singapore Pure Land Society invited us.Master led a few of us students, Mr. Hu Xiaolin, Mr. Cai Lixu and me, to rent a venue for a large expo center at the venue of the Pure Land Society, and three or four thousand people came to listen.At the dinner night before, Master told everyone that we now hope to promote Buddhism with successors. As the saying goes, "There are three kinds of unfilial piety, and no descendants are the greatest." We hope to cultivate the next generation of talents to spread the Dharma. So this time I came with them. I won't talk, but I asked them to talk. They talked better than me, and they surpassed me.Say this to the public.Look at what Master performed is exactly the same as Master Yin Zong and the Tathagata of the World. He has no jealousy at all. He will never think that young people cannot surpass themselves. He did not think so, and hope that the next generation will surpass themselves.Only such teaching is called success, and it is better than the best, and this is called success.If the next generation is worse than himself, the master said that he had not achieved success in teaching.Of course, we are students, and we are far from our master's level. In order to give everyone confidence and make everyone feel sincere and respectful, Master said this.This is skillful and convenient, not that we really have any skills, but that we are just to develop sincerity and respect for all sentient beings, because "one point of sincerity and respect will bring one point of benefit, and one point of sincerity and respect will bring one point of benefit" is a good idea.We feel ashamed, but it is simply not true.
We see that the Tathagata, the King of Freedom in the world, heard that the monk Dharmazang had already achieved the Pure Land, and was extremely happy, so he immediately asked him to report.You see, "It is time now, you should speak it." I hope he cannot keep it, and speak it all out; I hope the public will be happy, "and let the public hear this Dharma, and get great benefits, and be able to practice and receive it from the Buddha's way, and satisfy the infinite great vows."You see, the students are encouraged in this way, and the worldly king Tathagata, like Master Yin Zong, guided all his believers to take refuge in Amitabha Buddha.Not only is the Tathagata, the worldly king of freedom, do you think that we, Shakyamuni Buddha, are the same? He advised all sentient beings in our Saha world to seek rebirth in the Pure Land and take refuge in Amitabha Buddha.He would not say, "You take refuge in me, you cannot take refuge in Amitabha Buddha." He does not have this discriminatory mind, and all Buddhas and Tathagatas in the ten directions are like this."Practice and receive, satisfy the infinite great vow." The meaning of this infinite great vow is a pun. One is the great vow of the Buddha saving sentient beings, and the infinite Buddha saving sentient beings; the other is the great vow of the countless sentient beings hoping to become a Buddha, which must be achieved by the Pure Land Dharma.
We see that the report on the achievements of our practice is the following article "The Sixth Great Vow".The sixth chapter of this chapter is told by Amitabha Buddha himself, who reports on his situation in the Western Paradise to the public.This is the most primitive scripture based on the practice of Pure Land Buddhism. This is called first-hand material, which was spoken by Amitabha Buddha himself.Sakyamuni Buddha introduced it to us and told us.The center and core of the entire sutra is this sutra, "The Sixth Great Vow", and the "Amitabha Sutra" is a detailed description of this sutra.Not only the "Amitabha Sutra", but all the scriptures are detailed descriptions of the great vows.We look at the first wish, because this time we are talking about the general idea, so we will not read or explain the scriptures in detail.After this vow, there is a small note below the first scripture, which is "The vow of one country without evil paths, and the vow of not falling into the evil realms."The first wish is to have no evil paths in the country.The monk Dharmazang made a vow, "If I become a Buddha, my Buddha will not have the three evil paths in my land, so I will achieve success in the Western Pure Land."The monk Dharmazang said that if this wish is not fulfilled, he will not attain the supreme enlightenment, and he will not become a Buddha.Dharmazang Bodhisattva has become a Buddha, and the sutra tells us that it has been ten kalpas since he became a Buddha.Becoming a Buddha means that all his wishes have been fulfilled, and all forty-eight wishes have been fulfilled, and none of them is empty.Therefore, the Western Paradise proves that there is no evil path in the country.
Everyone doesn’t like to go to the evil path. Who likes to go to the evil path? The evil path is the result. What is the cause? The cause is greed, anger, and ignorance. Only greed, anger, and ignorance can respond to the three evil paths.If we don’t want to go to the three evil realms, we should not create the causes of greed, anger and ignorance. If we create this cause, we cannot do it. This is very important.In the Western Paradise, what does it mean when we see that it does not have the result of the three evil realms? The people there do not have the cause of the three evil realms, and they do not have the fate of the three evil realms.There must be retribution, and both cause and condition must be fully met before there can be retribution.It’s like seeds. For example, when we say that we get melons, we should plant a watermelon seed into the ground, water and fertilize it, so that it can sprout and grow slowly, and then it will bear the melon and bear the fruit.Seeds are the cause, water, soil, sunlight, fertilizers, etc. are called fate. Only if there is no fate, you put the seeds in the refrigerator and wait for them for ten thousand years will not germinate or bear fruit.It is not enough to have fate but no cause. There is only soil, sunshine, and water, but without seeds, it cannot bear fruit.Therefore, only by having causes and conditions can you achieve retribution.In the Western Paradise, all people's hearts are pure, they have no worries of greed, anger, and ignorance, they have no cause, and they have no fate.There is no chance for you to create karma. Everyone is chanting Buddha's name, and everyone is merciful to save countless sentient beings.If you don’t have the opportunity to develop greed, anger, and ignorance, and you have no cause or condition, you will certainly not have any consequences.So we must pay attention here.
We must know that if we want to go to the Western Paradise, and when we recite the Buddha's name, can we be reborn by chanting the Buddha's name? Not necessarily.In the past, our master’s teacher, Mr. Li Bingnan, once said that among the ten thousand people who chant Buddha’s name, there are only two or three who can truly be reborn, which is disproportionate.Why only ten thousand people can pass away two or three rebirth? What is the reason? Ancient great masters said that this method is for ten thousand people to practice, and ten thousand people to practice and ten thousand people to practice.Why did the old lay Buddhist Li Bingnan say that only two or three of the 10,000 people chanting Buddha’s name have been reborn? We must know this reason that we do not meet the requirements for chanting Buddha’s name.It’s like when we study, we read every day, and we are very diligent, but we fail every exam, so we always resign.Therefore, we must know this standard that we must recite the afflictions of greed, anger and ignorance when we recite the Buddha's name. If we recite the Buddha's name, we will also have greed, anger and ignorance in our hearts. Of course, it will be useless for no matter how long it takes to recite, and in the end we will not be able to be reborn. Why? The mind is not pure.This method is that if the mind is pure, the Buddha's land will be pure. If you want to be reborn in the Pure Land, your mind must be pure. It doesn't matter how much you recite the Buddha's name. What is important is that you recite the pure mind.The skill of reciting the Buddha's name is your pure mind. If you truly have a pure mind, you will be in line with Amitabha Buddha.Therefore, we must subdue the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance.
The troubles of greed, anger and ignorance are the three evil realms of hungry ghosts, hell and animals. If we have greed, anger and ignorance, we will not be able to be reborn even if we recite the Buddha's name.Not only can you not be reborn, but you can’t even get the human body. Why? The Buddha told us in the sutra that to obtain the human body, you must have the Five Precepts and Ten Virtues. This standard is the middle-grade ten good deeds. Among the ten virtues, there are no greed, no anger, and no ignorance.So give yourself a score. Will I get a human body in the next life? If you can get a human body after your ten good deeds? If you pass the ten good deeds, you can get a human body after you pass the qualifications and have seven or eighty-tenths, then you can get a human body.If you want to be born in heaven, you need the top ten virtues. What is this? You have to be above 90 points so that you can be born in heaven.There are twenty-eight levels of heaven, and the higher your score, the higher your level.Therefore, we should let go of our greed for the five desires of wealth, sex, fame, food, sleep, and sleep; we should let go of our hearts for anger, dissatisfaction, concern about our right and wrong, and opposition to others.The so-called seven emotions and five desires must be at least subdued. Even if the roots are not necessarily broken, they must be able to subdue them.If you can suppress it, you will be reborn in the Pure Land.
This method is the easiest method. If you want to achieve success in your life, you should know how to practice other methods. Don’t talk about everyone. Just talk about me. Maybe everyone’s skills are better than me. For me, I personally speak, and I know that I will definitely not be able to use other methods.For example, when practicing Zen, it doesn’t mean that you have seen the nature of your mind. It means that you want to achieve meditation. You must know that you must suppress your five desires and afflictions before you can get born in the first meditation.The desire to be eliminated in the first level of meditation is to be eliminated, and this is to be eliminated, and it may not be eliminated, but it really cannot arise. No matter what temptation, your desire will not arise. Wealth, sex, fame, food and sleep are really not the mind.I reflect on myself, but I can't do it. I will really be moved by wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep in front of me.You say it is impossible not to move your mind, but what is it? We know our own situation, so try to stay away and purify our mind by staying away.Reciting Buddha's name can help us suppress these desires and our own troubles and habits.However, if you do not recite the Buddha's name and do not go to the Pure Land, it is indeed impossible to be reborn in the first meditation, and even the birth of heaven is not guaranteed, and even the heaven in the desire realm may not be.In the desire realm, is it because of the desire realm that has not stopped or has desire? It is called the desire realm.Only when your desire is cut off can you be born in Zen Heaven and the realm of form.The formless realm is even more powerful. The formless realm is the four empty heavens, and the formless realm is the four meditations. We talk about the four meditations and the four emptinesses.Therefore, the only way out in this life is to seek rebirth in the Pure Land, because this method is blessed by the power of Amitabha Buddha, called the second power method. It is really not possible to rely on our own strength, but it is only possible to rely on the power of Amitabha Buddha.Our power is our true belief and true wish to be reborn in the Pure Land. This is what we need to do. The power of Amitabha Buddha blesses us. We can be reborn with our karma. Once we are reborn, we will never fall into the three evil realms.This is the second vow that says "Wishes not to fall into the evil realms", and you will not fall into the evil realms.Even if the greed, anger, ignorance and evil karma we have created before, there is this seed, as long as this karma can be controlled, and I can suppress my greed, anger, and ignorance with the name of Amitabha Buddha, then I can be reborn with my karma. This karma can be slowly eliminated and truly eliminated when it reaches the Pure Land. Why? Because there will be no cause for creating karma, and you will not fall into the evil realm again. Through long-term practice, these karma can be truly eliminated.
The third, fourth and fifth vows in the following scriptures are the second paragraph in the vows, which talk about the three vows, the third is the "golden vow of the body", the fourth is the "thirty-two vows", and the fifth is the "wish of the body without distinction". This paragraph talks about the great vow of equality.When we are reborn in the Pure Land, you see, "All sentient beings in the ten directions will be born to me."This "Ten Directions World" includes all worlds, and we certainly include them.People like us who have a great reputation for ordinary people. When we go to the Pure Land, we actually have the appearance of "purple-milled true golden body, thirty-two real men's appearances."This is the appearance of the Buddha. Our appearance is exactly the same as that of the Buddha, so everyone in the Pure Land has the same appearance.As the saying goes, "People's hearts are different, each with their own faces." Why do people's appearances differ? Because people's hearts are different, they have different appearances.Some people have a kind heart, so they develop a kind appearance, and they look very kind.Everyone here has a very kind appearance. Why? You are kind and virtuous, and come to study Buddhism and are good people.Some people have strong thoughts of greed, anger and ignorance in their hearts, and their appearance becomes evil.In the Western Paradise, everyone's appearance is the same as that of Buddha. Why? Because everyone chants the Buddha's name, he has no other thoughts except chanting the Buddha's name, and there is only Buddha in his heart.With the blessing of Amitabha Buddha's original vow, everyone has exactly the same appearance, all have a perfect body appearance, no difference in body.This body is the result.You should know that when we study Buddhism, our appearance and body are our dependent retribution, and the dependent retribution follows the dependent retribution, and the dependent retribution is the human heart.Therefore, if you study Buddhism, reflect on whether you have made any progress. The first thing is to look at your body and appearance, and whether you have changed.
People who truly study Buddhism will get better and better. Without taking any nutritional supplements, your body will naturally get better and better, your appearance will become more compassionate and wise, even different from year to year.Look at our master. If you look at his photos when he was young, it is very different from his current photos.The photos now look like Buddha statues. They were not like this when they were young. Why? I have truly practiced and changed my appearance and I am healthy.Look at an 84-year-old man who talks for two hours a day and is not tired at all.He said, "I originally wanted to talk for four hours, but everyone took good care of me and refused to let me talk."He said it would be absolutely fine for four hours, exactly the same as our young people. The physical strength of our young people is also the same now.
You see, we went with him to Italy, to the Vatican, to visit the Catholic Pope.It was last month, I had the honor to follow my master and organize a religious visit to the Vatican with religious representatives of the five major religions in Malaysia.Departure from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we took Thai Airways and transferred from Bangkok, Thailand. From Bangkok to Rome, we flew more than twenty hours in the flight time and the time in the middle.After getting off the plane, the local tour guide immediately organized us to visit the Vatican church.The church was very big. We landed in Rome at 6:30 in the morning. Then we didn't have our luggage in the hotel. We followed the car to the church and started visiting.From 6:30 in the morning to 2:00 in the afternoon, I had no seats or food, I didn't eat breakfast or lunch, and I didn't even drink a sip of water, so I walked inside. The elders of other religions seemed to have broken their waists, and they all felt very tired.It was not until three o'clock in the afternoon that we started looking for a restaurant to have dinner. We didn't know what to eat, whether it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner.But look at our master, he was very casual and comfortable all the way, and he couldn't tell that he had a little tired expression, so the elders of other religions admired him so much that they were full of admiration.He is the oldest and most physically strong in this visiting group, and this is good health.Our master did not do much exercise, why did he have such a good body? A pure mind.You see, the "purity and equal enlightenment" mentioned in the title of this sutra makes us healthy, physically and energetic.So, what is the bad health actually? Too many delusions and too many random thoughts, you will ruin yourself.Our master's mind is pure and has no delusions, so he is in such a good health.
Let’s look at the following passage and talk about it. The sixth is “the vow of fate”, the seventh is “the vow of heavenly eyes”, and the eighth is “the vow of heavenly ears”.This chapter talks about three wishes: fate, heavenly eyes, and heavenly ears, which are the supernatural powers that ordinary people talk about.Now we have met such a person, and he really has some magical powers.He can enter into meditation, observe a person, observe his past life; or he has a divine eye, and can see something that ordinary people cannot see.There are often two reasons for this. One is that he cultivates himself and gains some supernatural powers in practicing meditation, but this power is a very small power. Why? He must enter into samadhi to see it. If he does not enter into samadhi, his mind will be impetuous and he will not see it.Generally speaking, younger people often have this ability, but as they grow older, their mind becomes unclear, and they see more and think more, and their supernatural powers are lost.What does this supernatural power mean? Human instinct does not mean how you cultivate it.The supernatural powers, small supernatural powers, and the true great supernatural powers are supernatural powers in the self-nature. All the people in the Pure Land are revealed by the supernatural powers of their own nature.Another kind of supernatural power in our world is because some ghosts and gods possess themselves. They are not possessed by themselves, but ghosts and gods possessed by them. Therefore, they can see some things. We say that the Yin and Yang eyes are possessed.
We see that people in the Western Paradise have extraordinary supernatural powers and can "know their fate for countless kalpas."This fatefulness is to know one's previous life. Most people know that one's life and two are amazing. Arhats have fatefulness. They can know the previous five hundred lives, but he didn't know it before five hundred lives, and his ability was limited.But when we see sentient beings in the Pure Land, they can know their fate for countless kalpas, and there is nothing they can't remember.We need to know this matter. This vow says, "All sentient beings are born in our country." That is to say, people like us who are dedicated to rebirth in the Pure Land. We are reborn in the Pure Land because we have heavy afflictions and heavy karma. We may only reach the lowest level and the lowest level, but we can also have the same supernatural powers.Because it does not talk about the lowest level, or the different levels of supernatural powers are different. No, it is all the same. Why? It is the blessing of Amitabha Buddha.Therefore, as long as we go to the Pure Land, we can remember everything from countless kalpas in our past lives.We also have the heavenly eyes, and you can see everything in other worlds and everything in the world, and you can hear everything they say, the heavenly eyes and heavenly ears.
Some people say, "I can't bear to leave my family, I can't bear to leave my children and grandchildren." He doesn't have such a sincere wish to be reborn, which is why he doesn't understand.After you were reborn in the Pure Land, you did not leave your family. Why? You see it every day and you have the eyes of heaven.Our world is very far from the Pure Land. The sutra tells us that it is a land of ten trillion Buddhas, but it doesn’t matter. If you look at the sky eye, you can see this world as if you are in front of you, and you will watch three-dimensional movies.Listen to what they say clearly, and even when people speak in this world, both of them may not hear clearly, you can hear clearly.Also, the following talks about his understanding of the mind. He can know what all people in all worlds have, and all Bodhisattvas in the Pure Land know.And you have the power of magic, and you have the power of magic that can help your family in your past life with great magical powers.Therefore, you have never left your family when you are reborn in the Pure Land.
When we see this scripture, we know that we must be cautious in every word and action, even our thoughts and actions. Why? Because everyone in the Pure Land knows that you can't hide their eyes from them. You think that God will not know anything, but you didn't expect that everyone in the Pure Land knows it.How many people are there in the Pure Land? There are countless people, countless, and everyone knows them, so they can't hide them.Not only do we know what we do, but we hear what we say. They all know that we have a bad thought in our hearts and cannot deceive others.Therefore, we must not deceive ourselves in our practice, but must do it from our true heart.Deceiving oneself is foolish and he has no way to achieve success.Since ancient times, people who have truly succeeded in their studies and achieved success do not need to be supervised by others, but we should supervise ourselves.After learning this scripture, you will know that all the Bodhisattvas in the Pure Land are looking at us. The Confucian "Four Books. The University" says, "Those who see ten eyes and those who point to ten hands" means that although we are alone, other sentient beings, ghosts and gods all look at us with ten eyes, and ten fingers pointing at us.Really, we have these sentient beings around us, but we can't see them.Only when we read this sutra did we realize that not only the ghosts and gods around us could see clearly, but all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the Pure Land could see clearly.So how can we not work hard, how can we not do it really? If we are not doing it really, we are just making a vow, you are just hiding it from those foolish people, you cannot deceive the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the Pure Land, they know that you are not doing it really, so they will not come to pick you up when you die, and you will not be able to do it false.
Let’s look at it again. The Divine Foot Power specifically talks about “in one thought, more than 100 million Nayuta’s hundreds of thousands of Buddhas”. This is a vast supernatural power.Supernatural powers are that your ability is perfect, you can do whatever you want. You can do whatever you want, which world you want to go to, which sentient being you want to save, and when you see that the fate of being ripe with you, you can save him. You can do whatever you want, without any obstacles.So some people are reluctant to let their families go, it doesn’t matter. You go to the Pure Land first, you can come back to this world often to take care of your family.Some people are very compassionate and vow to save sentient beings in this world for generations.But the problem is that wish is a very kind wish, and you may not have the ability to remember nothing in your reincarnation. You may even create karma and fall into depravity.So our master advised us, it doesn’t matter. We will go to the Western Paradise first. After seeing Amitabha Buddha, he bowed to him and said, “Amitabha Buddha, I have great sympathy for the sentient beings in my hometown. They are very miserable. Can I save sentient beings now?” Amitabha Buddha nodded and said, “Yes, you go.”"You can come back immediately after you wish.Then the identity you come from is not an ordinary person. The sutra says that you are Aweiyue Bodhisattva.What is Avyuki Bodhisattva? He is a Bodhisattva who does not regress. You can only make progress, not regress.So you must know this special thing, you must not go there.
The eleventh vow below is the "Vow to offer all Buddhas" which means that you go to the Buddhas of all Buddhas in the ten directions and three times to offer them to them and get close to all Buddhas.You can "in a thought", the time is very short. In that moment, how do you go? It's not about going one by one. If you go one by one, how can you say that you can travel all Buddha lands in a thought? It's impossible.You must have been incarnated, so you can be incarnated when you go to the Pure Land. How many bodies can you transform into? The infinite and boundless bodies.Every Buddha land and every world has your body, but your true body remains unmoved in the Pure Land.It is like the moon in the sky, and the moon in the sky is like the real body. We place a basin of water on the ground and see that there is a moon in this basin of water; a bucket of water, a bucket of water has a moon in it; a pool of water, a pool of water has a moon in it.There are water in thousands of rivers and moons in thousands of rivers. No matter how much water you place, there is a moon inside.The moon in the water is our incarnation, and the incarnation is infinite and boundless, and the true body remains unmoved in the Pure Land.Look at how extraordinary this realm is!
If you go to the ten directions of the world to offer offerings to all Buddhas, you are close to good teachers.The "Rules for Disciples" says, "If you can be close to the benevolent, you will be extremely good, your virtue will improve every day, and your life will be less."The good teachers you are close to are not ordinary good teachers, but all Buddhas and Tathagatas. You go to offer them.Of course, you have to bring some gifts for you to support them, and you don’t have to worry about this gift yourself. Why? Amitabha Buddha provides you with the smallpox from the sky, and these smallpoxes are your gifts.These small flowers are very special and beautiful, and you can’t get them at all in the world. You can use these small flowers to offer to all Buddhas and Tathagatas.If you offer to all Buddhas and Tathagatas, of course the Buddha will not receive your offerings for nothing. The Buddha is very compassionate. If you come to offer to him, he will definitely offer you Dharma and preach you to enlighten you.You should know that when you go to the Pure Land, you can listen to the Buddhas and Tathagatas preaching in the Buddha lands of the ten directions every day, not to listen to Zhong Maosen’s preaching here.You may not be enlightened when I preach the sutras, but you will definitely be enlightened when you listen to the teachings of the Buddhas and Tathagata.And it is not to listen to one Buddha, but to countless Buddhas.Think about it, even if you listen to a Buddha's Dharma in a day, and say "Yi Nayuta Hundred Thousand Buddhas", then you will listen to Yi Nayuta Hundred Thousand Buddhas. How could you not be enlightened and how could you not become a Buddha? Therefore, you must study in the Western Paradise, make great progress and listen to the Dharma every day.
So many people, especially some young people, have aspired to learn the scriptures and teachings, including myself. I also like the scriptures and teachings very much. They also talk about the Analects of Confucius, the Great Learning, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, and the Taishang Ganying Pian. They all talk about this and that, and they must learn them.Now I understand that learning so many things and so hard is actually not necessary. You only need to learn a sutra, "The Sutra of Amitabha", recite Amitabha Buddha carefully, and be reborn in the Pure Land.After you reach the Pure Land, what do you want to learn from the Buddhas and Tathagatas to teach you, and you learn very quickly.So there is no need to envy others. Others seem to be very capable, and they know both the scriptures, Zen, and Tantric Buddhism, and they know all kinds of methods.You don’t need to envy him. Once you go to the Pure Land, you are more capable than him, and you are more than a hundred times more capable.So, today I finally understood that I was thinking about speaking the Four Books, and after the Four Books, the Tao Te Ching, the Tao Te Ching, and then the Avatamsaka Sutra, and finally came to learn the Avatamsaka Sutra. I may be already seventy-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty-something-something-something-something-something-something-sBecause the "Avatamsaka Sutra" is very long, you see that our master has been talking about for twelve years and only reached one quarter of it, so we have to finish all the talks.Now I understand, I have to let go of all these.I just reported to my master that I said that since the Analects of Confucius has begun, I will make it perfect.After I talked about the complete "Analects of Confucius", I didn't talk about any sutra, but I specifically talked about the "Amitabha Sutra".I fully understand why? This is a shortcut. I talk about those who may not be enlightened. I talk about the blessings of all Buddhas and Tathagatas that will be enlightened quickly.Even if you are not enlightened, it doesn’t matter. When you go to the Pure Land, the ancient genius said, “If you can see Amitabha, why worry about not being enlightened”, you will definitely be enlightened.So this is the choice of a person who truly understands it.
Next, the twelfth vow is "The Vow to Become a True Awakening". Here it means that you will definitely become a Buddha when you go to the Pure Land.The time and time of becoming a Buddha depends on your own efforts. Some people are diligent and diligent, and they will become a Buddha quickly; some people think that it is okay not to be so diligent, but they will definitely become a Buddha when they go to the Pure Land, so they think it’s not too late to enjoy it, so they should take it slowly.It’s okay to take your time. There are no obstacles in the Pure Land, but you will become a Buddha later. It’s not that fast, but you will definitely become a Buddha in the end.When you go to the Pure Land, you must know that the more we practice, the more we will improve. Why? Because you keep listening to the Dharma every day and practicing in such a good environment every day, your progress will definitely be faster and faster.At first you thought you could take it slowly, but later you would get faster and faster.
It’s like we are now very slow when we were just beginning to learn in this world.I think back to myself. I started listening to the sutras with our Master at the age of nineteen. At the beginning, I listened very little. On average, I may not hear it for an hour a day.When I read the "Amitabha Sutra", how did I start reading it? I read the sixth grade in a day, and the forty-eight grades in eight days. This is how I read it.It’s different now. Now you can read one sutra a day, and you can recite it, and sometimes you can read two.You see, when you first learn the sutra, listen slowly, listen slowly, listen slowly, listen for a long time before you finish it.Gradually, the more I heard, the more I made progress, the faster and faster.In the past, when I studied and worked, I could only take the free time to study Buddhism and listen to scriptures.Later, the more I listened, the more I felt, and I felt that it was impossible not to listen to the sutras for a day, so the time for listening to the sutras was fixed, and I could listen to the sutras for at least two hours a day.Later, it gradually increased to four hours of listening to the sutra. Why? You get a little joy from listening to the sutra and your mind is pure.This will not affect your work. If your mind is pure and wise, you will get twice the result with half the effort when working. If our mind is not pure and has many troubles, we often cannot see the problem clearly and understand it clearly, and often make many mistakes, so we will get half the result with twice the effort.There is a saying in Cantonese, "Everything is gone, but you don't have time to go." Work hard, but without wisdom, you often spend a lot of useless work.Therefore, it is very important to have a pure mind. You can see the problem accurately and know what to do and what not to do at this time. You will not spend your useless work.Therefore, the more you study Buddhism, the more joy you will be, the more pure your mind will feel, and it will not affect your work.
Later, you see, in 2006, I put down all my work and came to study Buddhism and teach scriptures. Now I spend more than ten hours a day in the scriptures and teachings, and I am getting more and more diligent.And as you become more and more diligent, your environment and your dependent retribution are becoming more and more suitable for your practice.So I feel very happy now, why? Follow our master every day.Now follow Master every day and be reborn in the Pure Land every day.Therefore, the joy of Dharma is very important. If you really have joy of Dharma, you will forget the fatigue.In the past, I had to sleep at least eight hours a day, but I was not energetic enough without eight hours.Later, I studied Buddhism for seven hours. My mind was pure and I didn’t need to sleep so much.Sleep is to restore your mental and physical strength, but your mind is pure and your mental and physical strength is not consumed so much, so you don’t need so much time to recover.Later, I had enough sleep for six hours, but now I can do it for five hours.So I am getting more and more diligent and more time to practice.Fatigue is actually a phenomenon that our own kung fu is not effective. If you have good kung fu, it means that when you have good dharma, we say that people feel refreshed when they are happy, and you will not be unable to lift your energy.So if you really work hard, your progress will become faster and faster.
The thirteenth vow is the "Voice of Infinite Light" and the fourteenth vow is the "Voice of Fun in Touching the Light".The scripture says, "When I become a Buddha, my light will be infinite, shining on all directions, and it will surpass all Buddhas."This "light" is the light of Amitabha Buddha, so the name of Amitabha Buddha is also called immeasurable light.Shakyamuni Buddha praised him as "the most honorable among the light and the king among the Buddhas", so he has indeed realized the wish of "absolutely superior to all Buddhas".This light is better than the light of the sun and the moon. The light of the sun and the moon. You see, the sun is very dazzling. It is not very special, but the Buddha light is very special. Why? It is very bright, but it is not dazzling and soft. We sentient beings will feel happy under the illumination of this Buddha light.It is said here, "If there are sentient beings who see my light and shine on their bodies, they will be happy and do good deeds in the next life."Therefore, I deeply realized that what our master said was right. I was very happy to talk about the "Amitabha Sutra". I didn't say it before, but now I'm really talking about it.So why don’t you talk about other sutras? Just talk about this sutra? When you talk about this sutra, the Buddha’s light shines on his body, not only shining on me, but you all here shine.When we study the "Amitabha Sutra" here, and remember Amitabha in our hearts, we will be illuminated by the Buddha's light, and our hearts will be happy and "be kind and kind."If you develop compassion and kindness, your worries will be gone immediately, and your thoughts of greed, anger and ignorance will be gone immediately.Therefore, as long as there is Amitabha Buddha in your heart, you will be filled with joy.
The fifteenth vow is "infinite lifespan", and the sixteenth is "innumerable shravakas".This life span is Amitabha Buddha himself, and he himself is infinite life. One of his Buddha's names is called Amitabha Buddha.We know that the life span of infinite life is the first virtue among all blessings, because if there is no life span, you will not get anything else, so the life span of infinite life is the first virtue among all infinite life.Not only does Amitabha Buddha have infinite life, but all the heavenly beings in the Pure Land are infinite life. You see what you said here, "There are countless Śrāvakas in the country, and their lifespans are also infinite."So you have to know why you can become a Buddha when you go to the Pure Land? Because you have an infinite life span. Even if you don’t make progress, you will definitely become a Buddha when you practice with your infinite life span.This infinite light and infinite life represent everything.Light represents space, life represents time, and all things, wealth, and blessings in time and space are all immeasurable.This infinite is the nature virtue of our own nature. The blessings we enjoy when we are reborn in the Pure Land are the blessings of Amitabha Buddha, and his infinite is distributed to us.
Today is time, so let’s stop here.Before the vow is finished, let’s talk about the sixteenth vow first.For something that was inappropriate today, please criticize and correct meritorious Bodhisattvas.
Let us first put our hands together and recite the dedication verse, dedicating all the merits we have learned from listening to the sutras and Dharma today to the suffering sentient beings in the world, eliminating disasters and avoiding difficulties, and also dedicating them to all of us here, and even all sentient beings, who can be free from suffering and gain happiness, and be reborn in the Pure Land in this life, all enemies, relatives and creditors can be saved, and all sentient beings with a predestined relationship can be saved.I wish to use this merit to adorn the Buddha's Pure Land.Repay the four levels of kindness and save the sufferings of the three paths.If you see and hear, you will develop the Bodhicitta.All this reward body will be born in the Pure Land together.Amitabha! Thank you everyone.
