080407 The Importance of Taking in the Dharma

Date: April 7, 2008 (Monday)
Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Place: April 3, 2008 –Jing Si Hall in FengYuan, Taichung County

Our Jing Si Hall in Fengyuan, Taichung County is truly a beautiful, dignified building, as it is in the shape of a Tzu Chi logo, a lotus flower. So, while we are inside the hall, every one of us is like a lotus seed. Indeed, every one of us is a bodhi seed as well as a lotus seed. In Buddhism, lotus flowers symbolize inner purity and selflessness. Sitting in the lotus-shaped Hall, we are in the lotus flower’s core. I believe everyone will be all the more diligent. The world we live in today, is one filled with the five impurities, and people’s hearts are filled with the afflictions of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt as people are suspicious of one another. As people’s minds are filled with such afflictions, the whole world inevitably will also become defiled and polluted and be filled with turmoil and corruption. But, we are truly very fortunate, because as the Buddha tells us, rare is the chance to be born, as a human being, and even rarer is it to encounter the Buddhist teachings. So, we’re very blessed to have both. But, have we ever given rise to any unwholesome thoughts, such as greed? It is greed that leads to our many wrong thoughts.

So, if we can take the Dharma to heart, then naturally, the changes that we do wrong will be reduced or we won’t do any wrongs, period. This is because Dharma is like water that cleanses us spiritually. We are mundane, so of course we still give rise to unwholesome thoughts sometimes. But, if we’ve been taking in the Dharma, we will not act upon these wayward thoughts, as we will repent immediately and alert ourselves to the presence of such thoughts. With that, we’ll not act upon them and do wrong. That is why we must remain vigilant at all times and repent constantly. Repentance purifies us. By that, I don’t mean that when we repent all the mistakes we make will be wiped clean. When we’ve wronged and we repent. It means that we vow not to make the same mistake again. In other words, we know we have done wrong and we admit our fault immediately. What then. We must reform ourselves quickly. Or, when we give rise to an unwholesome thought, we must be aware that it’s wrong and stop such a thought immediately. This is what repentance means. So, if we are always repenting this way, so that we continually have such wholesome thoughts and can keep a repentant mind continually, then, it will be like having a steady stream of water always cleansing our mind. With that, when our mind is tainted with any defilements, or when we give rise to any unwholesome thoughts very quickly we can wash them away so that they won’t reside in our mind. And we won’t act upon them. For example, when our Jing Si Aphorisms were first published around twenty years ago, there was a young man who fell in with a wrong crowd and agreed to act as a guarantor for them. His friends were unable to make the payments leaving him with a debt of several million NT dollars to pay off. At the time, he as desperate, so he thought he’d go rob a bank. Coincidentally, while standing outside the bank, he saw a small scooter with a basket. In front in the basket was a book of Jing Si Aphorisms. He took the book out and began flipping through it. Do you know what aphorism was on the page he landed on? “When it comes to doing good, everyone is indispensable. When it comes to doing bag, one is already too many”.. That’s right. This aphorism jolted him back to his senses, and he quickly put the book down and left the bank. Later on, he wrote a letter to us, it was five to six pages long and explained about what had happened. A single thought can change everything. If we can change the direction, of one misguided thought or a moment’s agreed. Then calamity can be averted. All that hinges on one single thought of ours.

So, in our turbid society today, what we need are living bodhisattvas, It doesn’t matter how many bodhisattvas. You recruit With every person you inspire. There’d be one less person contributing to the turbidity of society, because once he joins Tzu Chi, he’d be among these whose mission is to do good, so there’d be much fewer opportunities to commit wrong doings. So, we need to recruit as many living bodhisattvas as we can. Moreover, we need to continually share the Dharma with others. Sharing aphorisms, methods of practice. But, though you often share my aphorisms, it seems that you do not always apply it in your won life. We really should remind ourselves of this. So, everyone, it is my hope that all of you will listen to the Dharma and take in the Dharma. So, I’ve continuously been putting out there, the means with which you can take in the Dharma. Nowadays, there are technological means available to assist me in imparting dharma teachings. See, we have Da Ai Television as well as the Internet. In particular, since September last year, Tzu Chings from over ten countries worldwide have been participate in an activity where they listen to my dharma talk at 5:30 a.m. and discuss it online afterwards. You all know about this, right? Though you may know about it, whether you can do is another matter, right?

Everyone, being in Taiwan, you are in such close proximity of me. I am truly very mindful about imparting. Dharma teachings to you hoping that everyone can get to hear the Dharma. For newcomers to Tzu Chi, the Dharma is like water that can cleanse their minds. For those who have a deeper understanding of my teachings, the Dharma then becomes one’s Dharma-marrow with nourishes one’s wisdome-life. Just as bone marrow generates new blood ceils the Dharma-marrow can transform a person for the better. For those who are just beginning to listen to my dharma teachings, these teachings will help to first cleanse you spiritually and that way, you won’t commit wrong doing easily. So, everyone, I hope that if you are truly a good disciple of mine, you should listen and take in the Dharma, you should listen and take in the Dharma. I put it out there for you. If you don’t take it in , I’d have to take it back. But, if you take in the dharma teachings and apply it to your daily life so that you being to change, then your wisdom-life will grow. So, everyone I hope that you won’t make any delays, because a year passes by very quickly, and almost a third of it has gone by already. Everyone, we should seize the time we have. We only live a fe decades in our lifetime. So, I hope that you will mindfully take in the Dharma. Your wisdom life can only grow if you take in the Dharma. I truly care about your wisdom-life. While it is your parents who give you physical life as your teacher, it is my duty to help your wisdom-life grow. But I’ve already done all that is in my power. Whether you take it in is up to you. I’ve already passed the Dharma to you, it is now up to you to make use of it. I have not been slack about my duty. On reflection, I am actually quite diligent and have made sure to seize the time to impart dharma teachings to you. In the future, the world will only become more defiled, with further decay of ethics and more disasters occurring with greater devastation. When we return to this world in our next life, we’ll still need Dharma to help transform ourselves and others. So everyone, please look after your wisdom-life. Only then will I feel I’ve fulfilled my duty. Since you have such a dignified place for cultivation. I hope you wont’ get caught up in material things and let material greed taint you. Leading you to do something you’ll regret later. Each one of us is like a seed in the lotus seed head. In a lotus seed head, there are many lotus seeds, it is my hope that every one of you will understand my heart and the efforts I make. The germ of the lotus seed at the seed’s core, how does it taste? “Bitter”. That’s right. Please don’t let me experience that. Please be like the lotus flower. Though it is in murky pong, it’s untainted by it. I have truly made great painstaking effort in guiding you. That is something I hope everyone of you can understand.