Buddhism and Buddhadharma
The ultimate principle of Buddhism is that every human being can become a Buddha. All living beings were our parents in our past lives, and they are also the Buddhas of the future. When we bear hatred against any living being, it is as if we bear hatred against our own parents and future Buddhas. We become unruly persons of no virtue and no filiality.
I regard Buddhism as the "religion of all living beings," because no one is outside the Dharma realm and everyone is a living being. Therefore, Buddhism is the religion for every living being to learn.
I also regard Buddhism as the "religion for all human beings" since every human being is capable of becoming a Buddha. Anyone who devotes himself to cultivation will ultimately become a Buddha.
I would rename Buddhism "the religion of the mind," since all human beings have minds. People cultivate to get rid of the false mind and retain the true mind. One who has the false mind is an ordinary person, and one who has the true mind is a Buddha.
Sexual desire is the root of birth and death. If one's sexual desire is not severed, one cannot be reborn in the heavenly realm, not to mention attaining the unsurpassed Buddhahood. Therefore, if one wants to cultivate Samadhi, or to end the sufferings of birth and death, one must sever sexual desire first.
If one wants to bring forth the Bodhi resolve, one must listen to the Buddhadharma frequently. Once we understand the Buddhadharma, we will naturally bring forth the Bodhi resolve.
Buddhism fills up everywhere to the end of empty space and pervades the Dharma Realm. All living beings have the Buddha-nature, thus, all can become Buddhas. You do not believe in Buddhism now-in the future you will. If in the future you do not, you will in your next life. Not only will you believe in Buddhism, you can become a Buddha.
The Shurangama Mantra is the king of mantras and the longest of all. This mantra is directly tied to the flourishing and decline of Buddhism in its entirety. As long as there is a single person upholding the Shurangama Mantra, the Proper Dharma will exist in the world. If no one upholds the Shurangama Mantra, there is no Proper Dharma. The Shurangama Mantra is spoken by the transformation body of the Tathagata in the light atop the Buddha's crown. It is therefore truly inconceivable. Every word is wonderful and profound in itself.
During the Dharma-Ending Age, all heavenly demons, heretics, goblins, and monsters fear the Shurangama Mantra. The Shurangama Mantra is the spiritual mantra which destroys deviant ways and manifests the proper way.
Everyone cultivates during the Proper Dharma Age, but no one cultivates during the Dharma Ending Age. If everyone cultivates, the Dharma Ending Age can be transformed to the Proper Dharma Age.
What is the Buddhadharma? Generally speaking, it is a key. As we lecture on the Sutras, we are speaking of this key. While we talk about Dharma, we are speaking about ths key. This key of wisdom can open the lock of ignorance.
The Buddhadharma is still in the world. We have a chance to courageously climb out of the treacherous current. We can bring forth a great resolve for Bodhi and cultivate the Buddha-dharma with the utmost sincerity. In that way we have the opportunity to leave this Saha world. Otherwise, we will remain in the Six Paths, turning without cease and never getting liberated from suffering.
Wisdom
Being impartial and unselfish is Proper Dharma, whereas being selfish and self-benefiting is deviant Dharma.
How can one be free from anger caused by ignorance? One must cultivate the Dharma Door of patience (the Paramita of patience). The critical point is not to lose one's temper. If one can refrain from losing one's temper, one will have wisdom.
People in the Dharma-Ending Age tend to make a common mistake: they shoot for the moon and stumble over their own feet. They trade their eyes for ears, take hearsay for fact and go pursue it.
People who believe in Buddhism should not be superstitious; instead, we should eradicate and eliminate superstition. What is superstition? It is simply to believe things without question,believing whatever others say and thus become confused.
Why are living beings upside-down? They put ignorance in charge as their master, and thereby expel wisdom. Ignorance then gives the commands, claiming right things to be wrong and wrong things to be right.
Wisdom comes from the Dhyana Samadhi of purifying one's mind and reducing one's desires.
Those who easily lose their temper are mostly ignorant. Their heavy ignorance prevents them from nurturing their capacity for kindness.
A false thought is an untrue and unreal thought. If someone constantly has false,upside-down thoughts, he clearly knows something is wrong but does it anyway, and defends himself unreasonably by saying it was right.
If you constantly return the light to reflect upon yourself and observe your nature, you will bring forth the Paramita of Widsom. These acts establish your merit. Apply the Paramita of Wisdom widely at all times and in all places,and transform it ceaselessly. Don't be defiled by or attached to anything. Refrain from doing any deed that is profane and immoral. This is virtue.
In fact, there is no distinction between the Paramita of Wisdom of an ignorant person and a wise person. What sets them apart is that a wise person knows how to apply it, while an ignorant person does not.
If you can be free from attachments within and without, you can come and go as you please. You can know where you came from, and where you are going. "Come" means to return - return to your body and mind. "Go" - to go to the Dharma Realm.
If you are attached to the "coming and going" (birth and death), you are not free. You are encumbered and impeded.
If you have intelligence, you are like the sun. With wisdom, you will be like the moon.
The hope of becoming enlightened; the hope of become a Buddha- even these are false thoughts. Everyone should remember this point: we should seek only to truly cultivate instead of the fulfillment of hopes.
Whoever wants to have spiritual powers should first set everything else aside, and concentrate his mind on meditation. He will naturally gain spiritual powers when his work and his accomplishment becomes proficient. Spiritual powers cannot be sought externally, they are attained from within.
Attention, everyone! Demons also can manifest spiritual powers. Those who crave for spiritual powers and lack of Samadhi power will fall into the demons' trap. They will lose their way and join the demons' retinue. Pay special attention here for we cannot afford to be neglectful.
"See through; let go; be at ease." Seeing through is understanding; letting go is liberation; only when you have attained liberation can you be truly at ease.
In studying the Buddhadharma you should use your wisdom and not emotion. If you utilize wisdom in your pursuit of the Buddhadharma,then that is the Proper Dharma. If you utilize emotion in your study of the Buddhadharma,then that is the dharma of the Dharma-Ending Age.
Many people think that life is full of happiness. But the reality is that this form of happiness is illusory. Genuine happiness should spring from our inherent nature; it is not to be sought from outside.
If we don't develop the Dharma-selecting vision~ using our genuine wisdom to distinguish between what is the Dharma and what is not the Dharma- we would have studied the Dharma in vain.
If you have intelligence, you are like the sun. With wisdom, you will be like the moon.
Cultivation
To cultivate the Way is to turn yourself around. What does that mean? It means to benefit others, and take a loss yourself. It means to renounce one's self (the small self) in order to accomplish the greater good for all.
Do not harbor animosity even towards the demons; treat them as good and wise advisors who aid you in cultivation.
Our varying degrees of false-thinking are due to the varying karma we have created in life after life throughout limitless eons. Heavy karma results in abundant false-thoughts; light karma results in fewer false-thoughts.
Cultivators should cultivate the Way in order to end birth and death and cross over living beings - not for the sake of obtaining efficacious responses.
Cultivators of the Way should return the light and reflect within at all times. Do not seek outside, for the Way cannot be found there. In our inherent nature, we have everything that we need.
When we first resolve to cultivate the Way, our biggest obstacle is sexual desire. This remains the fundamental problem.
Cultivators of the Way! Take heed! Do not get into unwholesome relationships with anyone. Otherwise, entangled and confused, you will surely fall.
We are fortunate to have these human bodies. If we don't rely on our human bodies to cultivate now, what are we waiting for?If we wait until we lose our human bodies and then wish to cultivate, it will be too late.
Bring forth your true mind in studying the Buddhadharma. Your every move and action, your every word and deed need to be true.
You should conserve the resources of every Way-place. It is said, "Cherish all the properties of the Permanently Dwelling (monastery) as you would the pupils of your eyes.
Neither loving nor hating anything is the Middle Way. We speak of cultivating the Way, but what is this Way that we cultivate? It is the Middle Way- treating everyone with equanimity, kindness and compassion. However, we need to be prudent in our actions, don't fall into the cage of love between a man and a woman.
Cultivating the Way today with the hope of attaining Buddhahood tomorrow is like expecting to dig a well with just one scoop of a shovel. That would be impossible. Cultivating the Way is like grinding an iron bar down to the size of a needle - after you exert sufficient effort, you will naturally achieve your goal.
Before learning any mantras, you should first develop a proper mindfulness and a sincere intent. If your mind is not proper, then any mantra you learn will miss the mark. Only when you have proper mindfulness will you receive an efficacious response from learning mantras.
Ignorance has two accomplices or partners. What are they?They are the desire for food and the desire for sex. Both help ignorance commit a variety of bad deeds.
It's said that "When you try to be good, karmic debts will appear; when you attempt to accomplish Buddhahood, first you have to undergo the insults of the demons." If you do not aspire to be good, your karmic debts will not know where to look for you. The more you resolve to be good, the more your karmic debts will come looking for you, determined to claim what you owe.
The difference between a Buddha and a demon lies in just a single thought. A Buddha has a kind and compassionate mind. A demon has a contentious mind.
Those who truly know cultivation do the work right in their daily activities, for every act, and every deed constitute cultivation.
A cultivator should not sell or advertise his cultivation. Whoever sells his cultivation will fall under the spell of demons.
Cultivators of the Way should, on all occasions, conceal their brightness and erase their tracks. They should not show off their extraordinary qualities.
Our minds always exist in someone else's place instead of our own, meaning that we are physically present but mentally absent.
Lecturing on sutras is cultivating wisdom. Meditating is cultivating Samadhi. Refusing to speak casually and irresponsibly is cultivating precepts.
It is said, "Affliction is Bodhi." If you know how to do it, you can turn affliction into Bodhi. If you do not know how, Bodhi can turn into affliction.
Cultivation is "training to play the fool." Training to play the fool means to appear stupid and inept. In cultivation, the more stupid you are, the better. If you are foolish to the point of knowing nothing, you will also do no more false-thinking.
Ignorance means "not understanding." The root of ignorance is desire.
The main purpose of cultivation is to end birth and death, not to obtain efficacious responses.
A cultivator has to protect his purity like the way he protects his eyes, which cannot tolerate a single grain of sand.
Gambling can create karmic offenses; making offerings can accumulate merit and virtue; meditation can eliminate delution and increase wisdom.
When we cultivate, we should watch our words when we live with others, and guard our minds when we are sitting alone. When a cultivator is in the presence of others, he should not talk too much. When he is alone, he should guard his mind from selfish and idle thoughts. By doing so, over time, a cultivator will be able to see his own nature with single-minded concentration.
To endure suffering puts an end to suffering once it is gone, but to enjoy blessings uses up blessings once they are gone.
A true cultivator controls his own actions and behavior, and doesn't stray from his mindfulness whether he is walking, standing, sitting, or reclining. Don't be a mirror which only can reflect others and not yourself.
Whoever has attachments has the "mind of a human" but whoever lives without attachments has the "mind of the Way."
"Someone who wants to escape death must first become a living dead-person." That means treating yourself as if you were already dead - with no greed, hatred, and delusion.
Whoever studies Buddhism must make vows, because the power of vows can spur you to advance toward the proper Way and prevent you from going astray. But if vows are not put into practice, they're just like blossoms on the trees that don't bear fruits, they're useless.
You can use your tongue to accumulate merit and virtue by speaking the Dharma. You can also use your tongue to create offenses by gossiping. If instead of speaking the Dharma, you gossip or speak frivolously, then you have created twelve thousand offenses.
A cultivator will naturally evoke efficacious responses, if in all circumstances he always uses attitudes of kindness, compassion, joy, and giving towards all people, no matter whether they are young, old, honorable or humble.
Cultivating the Way is nothing more than the practice of honesty and sincerity. As the saying goes, "If the mind is sincere, everything will be auspicious."
We should try to do good deeds constantly during our time here in this word. Each breath and every bit of strength we have should be channeled into performing good deeds and accruing merit and virtue. In this life, do not draw on the good roots you planted in past lives without cultivating more, and thus exhaust all the blessings you earned.
The Buddha can turn all living beings into Dharma vessels. Thus the saying: "Borrow the false to cultivate the genuine." The "stinking skin bag" is just our temporary residence so we can cultivate the Way. This is the meaning of "borrowing the false body (physical body) to cultivate the genuine body (Dharma body)."
Someone who is very greedy, insatiably greedy, in the future will fall into the hells. Someone who is very hateful, constantly flaring up day and night, will become a hungry ghost. Someone who is very stupid, always doing foolish deeds, will become an animal.
The greatest shortcoming of living beings is foolish love. Day in any day out, people live in their blind passion, unable to let go for a single moment. If they can only channel their lust into learning the Buddhadharma, never forgetting to study the Buddhadharma in every moment, then they could quickly attain Buddhahood.
One who is truly enlightened would not proclaim that he has attained enlightenment. When Sages appear in the world, they definitely do not reveal their true identity. For this reason, anybody who proclaims himself to be a Buddha or Bodhisattva is a twisted demon.
People of noble and virtuous conduct are limited neither by social status nor age. With quiet speech and silent actions, they just naturally project an awesome character that people respect. Their awesomeness does not evoke fear in others, for fear would make people stay away from them. Rather, this is the type of awesomeness that inspires respect, not fear.
Everybody has three afflicted thieves, namely: greed, hatred, and delusion. There is no need to annihilate them; transform them into Bodhi seeds instead.
The Dharma is spoken; the Way has to be practiced. In order to realize any benefit, you have to actually practice according to the Dharma.
Those who truly know cultivation do the work right in their daily activities, for every act and every deed constitute cultivation.
Upholding the Precepts, Being Patient in Difficult Circumstances
A cultivator cultivates the mark of no-self. If you are free of the mark of self, you can endure everything. When states manifest, your mind will not be influenced. You will see yourself as empty space.
To become a Buddha is not so easy! If you don't cut off your sexual desire yet still want to become a Buddha - that is absolutely impossible. There's no such principle in this world. Nowadays, most people are greedy for lucky breaks and shortcuts. We get attracted easily to the mysterious and fall into the demon's trap.
Why do people lie? Because they are afraid of losing any benefit to themselves, afraid of being at a disadvantage.
If one breaks the precept against sexual misconduct, then it's easy to break the precept against killing, stealing and lying. Therefore, breaking the precept that prohibits sexual misconduct also includes the breaking of the precepts against killing, stealing, and lying.
By upholding the Five Precepts and practicing the Ten Good Deeds, you will be born into the human and the deva (heavenly) realms. If you have an attitude of greed, hatred and delusion, then you may fall into the three evil paths.
If you understand the precepts, then you can penetrate the entire Buddhadharma. If you don't understand the precepts, then you're like a cloud floating in the sky, lacking any foundation.
All precepts share one basis - it is not being selfish.
You should vigorously uphold precepts, even in places where people can't see you. You should not be vigorous only in front of people, or uphold precepts only in front of people. Instead, you should forge ahead vigorously and uphold precepts when you are all by yourself.
Studying the Buddhadharma is learning not to trouble or harm others. Therefore, Buddhists must eat vegetarian food because eating meat harms other lives.
Eating a vegetarian diet requires that you suffer a loss when you are still alive, because you cannot satisfy your palate with delicious food. But if you are not a vegetarian and eat a lot of meat, after your death you will have to settle your accounts before the King of Hell. As my conscience dictates, I am telling you the truth. If we are not greedy for our desire to satisfy our taste buds and greedy for pleasure, we won't be greatly fooled after we die.
If someone who studies Buddhadharma does not uphold precepts, that person is like a bottle with a hole in the bottom. The water leaks out as soon as the bottle is filled. If one can uphold precepts, one will gradually obtain a state free of outflows (Anasrava).
No matter what Dharma-door you practice, as long as you have patience, you will attain achievement. If you don't have patience then you can't cultivate any Dharma doors to successfully.
What Way do the left-home people cultivate? They cultivate the Way of patience.
“Patience is a priceless gem
Which few know how to mine,
But once you've truly mastered it,
Then everything works out fine.”
A cultivator has to endure the things that others cannot bear, renounce the matters that others cannot give up, eat the foods that others cannot swallow, and wear the garments that others cannot put on. In brief, a cultivator ought to bear what others cannot bear.
In cultivating the Way, the most important thing is not to fight. No fighting means not to quarrel over people's good points and shortcomings, nor gossip about others' rights and wrongs.
Do not be greedy for anything at all. Know contentment and be patient. This is the unsurpassed wonderful Dharma that is, alas, neglected by all. By not fighting and not being greedy one will have boundless blessings and long life. If you are contentious, greedy, and always stirring up trouble, then you will incur many karmic offenses. Even if you wanted to leave the Triple Realm there would be no way for you to do so.
All the various kinds of precepts are aimed at teaching people to follow rules. People who follow rules can help maintain order in the society and resolve the problems faced by humankind. Thus, the moral precepts are the basis for world peace.
Investigating Chan, Reciting the Buddha’s Name
Why is it that we cannot recognized our original face?It’s because we haven’t removed our mark of self and selfishness.
The word "investigate in "investigating Chan" means to contemplate. Contemplate what? Prajna. This contemplation teaches you to have constant awareness of yourself, instead of others. Contemplate whether you are really present or not.
People who investigate Chan must first recognize the basic problem clearly. What problem? Our bad habits and faults. Participating in Chan session is to rid ourselves of bad habits and faults.
In the Chan hall, everybody investigates Chan and meditates. This is a test to see who can pass and attain Buddhahood. How do you pass? Inside, there are no body and mind; outside, there is no world.
Many people who investigate Chan make two mistakes: one is having an unsettled state of mind, the other is drowsiness. These individuals are either having idle thoughts or falling asleep during their meditation.
To investigate Chan, one must have patience and perseverance. The secret to investigating Chan is patience. Even if you can't bear it anymore, you still must persevere. Once you have endured to the extreme, then everything will be interpenetrating and you will become enlightened.
When your investigation of Chan reaches maturity, not only will you have no false thinking, you'll also have less anger, your afflictions will decrease, your character will improve, and your capacity for tolerance will expand.
Why don't we have any response in the Way? It's because our wild minds do not rest.
To investigate Chan, one must have patience, for that is your means to enlightenment.
We have the opportunity to become enlightened when we investigate Chan. When our true nature appears, it's like when spring returns to the earth and the myriad things start to grow.
A person who truly investigates Chan is a person who truly recites the Buddha's name; a person who truly recites the Buddha's name is also a person who truly investigates Chan. A person who truly upholds the precepts is also a person who truly investigates Chan.
What is the "real me?" It is our inherent nature and the attainment of Buddhahood. Only when one attains Buddhahood, can one find the "real me." Before that, everything is false.
Whoever does not have any defiled attachments is a Buddha. Whoever has defiled attachments is a living being. What is a defiled attachment? To put it simply, it is whatever one cannot see beyond and let go of, and what causes one to constantly have idle thoughts.
When you apply exacting effort to your cultivation, food and clothing become secondary. How much the more in regard to other external objects; you should let go of them.
Cultivation is not limited to practicing Chan meditation and reciting Sutras. Instead, cultivation is done at all times and places. Do not have such a discriminating mind; do not contend for power; do not vie for leadership to supervise other people; do not show off before the Master.
The essential quality of the Way is concentration; that of a general is his strategic skill, not his courage; that of an army is its quality, not its size.
Sincerely reciting the Buddha's name is to constantly concentrate one's mind on the recitation without any false thinking or desire to eat and drink. Reciting to the point where everything is forgotten is true mindfulness of the Buddha.
When you are mindful of the Buddha, the Buddha will also be mindful of you. It is a bit like sending a telegram to Amitabha Buddha. This is known as the "intertwining of the response and the Way." If you are not mindful of the Buddha, he will not receive your message. Therefore, it is imperative that you uphold the Buddha's name.
In reciting mantras, one should so recite that the mantra flows out of one's mind and returns to one's mind. The mantra mind and the mind mantra-the mantra and the mind are united in sound after sound and are never apart from each other. One is reciting, yet not reciting; one is not reciting, yet constantly reciting.
When you venerate the Buddha, and the Buddha accepts your veneration, you will increase your blessings and wisdom. That is to say that bowing to the Buddha is an influence, and his receiving of the veneration is a response. That is the "intertwining of the Way."
The cultivation of the Sangha members
The Sangha is attained when four or more who have given up the householder's life live together in harmony and peace, without conflicts or attachments. A single left-home person by himself cannot be called a Sangha.
Those who seek transcendental Dharma need to leave behind the worldly Dharma. If not, it is like standing in two boats, wanting to go north and south at the same time； such a deed is impossible.
Since ancient times, all eminent Dharma Masters and the greatly virtuous ones obtained their enlightenment by ascetic practices and diligent cultivation. You can search through the Tripitaka and not find even a single Patriarch who attained enlightenment through pursuit of pleasure.
What are the criteria for choosing an Abbot? He must be even-tempered, congenial and affable. He should practice democracy, and not use his power to oppress anyone. He must inspire respect.
Sangha members may accept offerings, but should not be greedy for offerings. Only by not being greedy for offerings, can they be like true disciples of the Buddha.
Disciples of the two-fold assembly (monks and nuns) can no longer seek fame and social status. Rather, they should possess the spirit of willingly suffer on behalf of all living beings, and the impartial mind to universally save all living beings.
Sangha members should vigorously investigate Chan, practice meditation, uphold mantras, recite sutras, and strictly observe the precepts. If instead they simply rely on the Buddha for food and clothing, they will fall into the three evil paths.
When filled with essence, cold does not exist；when filled with energy, hunger does not exist；when filled with spirit, exhaustion does not exist. Therefore, essence, energy, and spirit are three treasures cultivated by the Sangha members.
Sangha members serve as models for laypeople. If you cannot be a good model, then you cannot evoke faith within the laypeople and you won't be able to influence them. Therefore, Sangha members should comport themselves in a way proper for Sangha members.
Sangha members should have proper knowledge and proper views. Without them, one will surely fall into demonic ways and be caught by the fifty skandha-demons. Sangha members should do things together as a group. One should not have a special style, or just do whatever one pleases.
"Concentration yields efficacy. Distraction leads to hindrance.” What do we concentrate on? To attain concentration, one should get rid of desires and love. If desires and love are not cut off, then even if one leaves the home-life and cultivates for eighty thousand great eons, one will not achieve the Way. This point is of vital importance.
We have to cultivate the Way and nurture our virtue at all the time. When our virtue and our cultivation in the Way are both perfected, then we will be worthy of being a Sangha member.
Sangha members take propagating the Dharma as their main responsibility. Spreading the Buddhadharma is our basic duty and obligation. Therefore, our every thought should be devoted to propagating the Dharma. Our every deed and action should speak the Dharma for living beings.
Sangha members should observe the Four Dignified Deportments when they walk, sit,stand, or recline. As it is said, ⁿWalk like the breeze, sit like a bell, stand like a pine tree, and when lying down, bend like a bow."
Cause and Effect Repentance
It is said, "Karmic retribution is not subject to one's control." We are driven by our karma and were born into this world to undergo the corresponding retribution. As we have created varying karma in the past, we now receive varying retribution. This is “being entangled in the net of karma.”
The Chinese character for meat, 肉, consists of a person being eaten and a person eating. Although the person eating is still human, the person being eaten has transformed into an animal. The person eating and the person being eaten thus create a relationship wherein the knot of hatred cannot be untied. They take turns in dominating and preying on each other.
If we truly wish to detoxify this world, then every one of us must be vegetarian and refrain from eating meat.
The ancients said, "The Superior One molds his own destiny." An upright person endowed with Way Virtue is capable of modifying his destiny and transcending fate. Why are there unpropitious happening? It is because there is unpropitiousness in our minds which plants evil causes resulting in evil retributions. If we rectify our wrongs and conform to wholesomeness, we will be able to draw close to auspiciousness and avoid ill calamity.
It is not easy to eliminate one's faults, but if one can eradicate his faults, he will have Samadhi power.
As it is said, "Those who see my faults are my teachers." These individuals are our Good Knowing Advisors, and we should be thankful to them instead of hateful.
A respectful mind can transform an obstinate temperament to a gentler temperament. To bow to the Buddha is to bow to the Buddha of one's inherent nature. Where one accomplishes Buddhahood in the future, this is just accomplishing the Buddhahood of one’s inherent nature.
Why do people have demonic karma? This is because in past lives, they did not listen to the teachings of good knowing advisers; they did not heed the warnings of Good Knowing Advisors. They kept having false thoughts and creating evil karma. That's why in this life they are always surrounded by demonic karma. On many occasions things do not conform to their hearts' desire.
Anyone who avoids eating is helping the world become free of war.
If everyone can stop killing, liberate life, and not eat any kind of meat, then people's violent thoughts will end.
Education
Nowadays, intellectuals seek fame and wealth. In Chinese, the words for "understanding principles" and for "fame and wealth" sound alike, but they could not be more opposite; they are eighteen thousand miles apart.
Children are like trees; when they are young, they are easy to shape in the right way. We must prune the horizontal branches so the main trunk can be straight and useful for beams in the future.
Young friends! Do you know what is the root of being a human? It is the Eight Virtues. They are: filial respect, brotherhood, loyalty, trustworthiness, propriety, righteousness, incorruptibility, and a sense of shame.
Why is the world inundated with problems of juvenile delinquency? Simply because the parents only bear the children and do not provide them with adequate discipline and education.
Our greed is higher than the sky, thicker than the earth, and deeper than the ocean. It is a bottomless pit, which can never be filled up at any time.
If one does not have morality, he is truly poor.
If anyone seeks Dharma from me, I will tell him to, "Eat less, wear less, and sleep less." This is because, "Wearing less increases one's blessings, eating less increases one's life span, and sleeping less increases one's wealth."
People do not live to eat. They live to benefit society with their merit, benefit others with their virtue, and help the entire world. People should "with kindness and compassion proclaim and transform on behalf of heaven, with loyalty rescue the citizens for the sake of the country."
Throughout my life I am never busy for myself. I never bother with my stinking skin bag.
Why does the world become worse daily? It's because everyone fights - for fame, advantages,power, and status. The worst thing is fighting for sexual pleasure.
I wish to ask for a big gift from all of you. I ask for your temper, ignorance, afflictions, and hatred.
Natural disasters. Actually, it is not nature that is having the disasters; rather, it is the human species which is experiencing the disasters. Man-made calamities are disasters which we bring upon ourselves.
Where should we start in order in propagate the Buddhadharma? In my opinion, we should start with education.
If we start with education, children will be able to understand Buddhism, and when they grow up Buddhism will flourish naturally.
If you do ghostly things, you are a ghost. If you act like a human being, you're a human being. If you do the deeds of Buddhas, you're a Buddha.
I want to provide an education not only to perpetuate the Buddha's wisdom, but also to perpetuate the wisdom of living beings. Having received a wholesome education, the graduates will know how to conduct themselves in society and how to influence social reform.
No matter where you go, there is a lesson to learn. Every place and time is an opportunity to learn.
One goal of education is to select talented people. What kind of talented people? People with intelligence and wisdom. As for those who are stupid, we also should think of ways to help them realize their inherent wisdom. This is one of the goals of our schools.