【Description】
According to The Vimalakirti Sutra, “When your heart is pure, the Buddha’s land within you will also be pure.” But this state of purity is extremely difficult to achieve. Distractions from the outside world and various desires from the heart disturb people, making them restless and thus they drift further away from the Cool and Pure Land.
There are no shortcuts to practice, but there are correct method to follow. How should we practice to achieve a state of coolness and peacefulness? What can we do in life to get closer to this state? How can we refuse the appeal of negative things and stay away from laziness? How can we feel content and even abandon suffering to live a life of happiness?
In this video, Grandmaster JinBodhi guides us out of the mist and into the Cool and Pure Land.
【You will learn】
- Recognize “drowsiness”
- Understand the realm of coolness and purity
- Recognize two states of “confusion”
- The importance of diligence and endurance
- The harm of laziness
- The importance of cultivating an “illuminated heart”
- The story of a woman who predicted her death
- The dangers of greed
- The benefits of gratitude
- Ways to make family relationships more harmonious
【Featured aphorisms】
- Only coolness can make people calm and wise.
- Those who are calm can love everyone and live their own life well; they have good family relations and can think with clarity.
- A calm heart leads to clear thinking.
- People’s worries come not only from specific events but also from mental perspective.
- In higher-level dharma practice, whether a person is cultured depends on whether they still have cravings.
- An advanced state of self-cultivation means not only enlightening oneself, but enlightening others.
- If you have a heart full of gratitude, you will feel content, happy, and at peace. Peacefulness promotes gentleness, which brings out affection. The affection here does not refer to love between men and women; it means love for everyone around you.
- Only with compassion and harmony in the heart can behavior be gentle and calm.
【Content】
Hello, everyone. (Hello, Master.) The stories you shared were good.
Especially, that brother’s was very interesting. He is the type of person who “doesn’t shed tears until he sees his own coffin”. Even then, he will return to his old faults right afterward. Greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance and doubt all resurface. These are bad habits. In this world, it is strange, good things don’t easily attract people, bad things do. Like overindulgent eating and drinking, prostitution and gambling. The bad things attract even those who are considered to be good people.
With some things, it is unclear if they are good or bad, such as buying luxury items. Some men love to buy expensive watches; some ladies buy expensive purses. It is strange, it seems the modern man and woman live for watches and purses. I felt surprised, happy and a bit enlightened after hearing an explanation the other day. I was told: “A new purse can cure almost all illnesses.” Do you guys have this feeling? That carrying a good purse will make you happy? (No.)
How do you make yourselves happy? (Seeing Master makes us happy.)
Seeing me makes you happy? You are all just flattering me. If you don’t know me or have never heard of me, you won’t be happy if you see me. In your life, what events make you happy? I heard about a phenomenon: Many women go on a shopping spree after fighting with their husbands. Really? (Yes.) Why? (To relieve stress.) What? To relieve stress.
I see, so it is a kind of stress relief. You have lots of money so you spend some to reduce stress. Is it actually relieving stress or ruining the family fortune? Before, you were the one helping to save the money. But after a fight, you want to spend it and make him penniless, right? You think, “It is a waste not to spend it.” Just like this, mistakes arise.
OK. These couple of days, we have practiced chanting. While chanting, do you open or close your eyes? Both. Some keep their eyes open the entire time, right? If this is you, please raise your hand. Those with their hands raised, why do you keep your eyes open?
(Hello, Master. If I chant with my eyes closed, my body sways as I kneel. I keep my eyes open so I can focus on chanting.)
If you chant with your eyes open, can you feel any physical benefits? (Yes. Overall, I feel relaxed.) Relaxed in the mind? (Yes. I usually dream a lot, but yesterday I didn’t.) Not at all? (Not at all.) Is dreaming or not dreaming better? (Not dreaming.) Not dreaming. Then you waste an entire night. Usually, I don’t waste daytime or nighttime! I am busy during the day and also at night. So you feel your body is more relaxed. (Yes. More relaxed.) Currently, you don’t have any other sensations? (I am more energetic.) You are more energetic.
(Before, I always felt sleepy while chanting. These past couple times, I didn’t. I chanted for the entire 2 hours. I was more alert and not sleepy.)
May I please know your age? Are you only 25? (36.) There are reasons for my questions. At her age, she is drowsy when her eyes are closed. I want to know if a younger person is also like this. OK, I understand. The one beside you also keeps her eyes open, right? That person in front.
(Hello, Master. I keep my eyes open because my body sways and I feel sleepy otherwise. Focusing on the Medicine Buddha helps me concentrate.)
Good. OK, next. There is another hand. Give her the microphone.
(Good morning, Master. I am Zeng-duo. My voice has some issues. A voice therapist asked me what vocal exercises I do regularly. I said I am a Buddhist and I chant. He said I wasn’t suited for that. He said, “You can chant in your heart.” But when I did so these couple of days, I dozed off. So I knelt and chanted with eyes open as much as I could.)
OK, now I know. Everyone else switches between open and closed eyes, right? (Yes.) This is what I want. Feeling like you are slightly drowsy. Sometimes, when the drowsiness fades, you discover you were actually asleep. Have you experienced this? (Yes.) Smiling so happily must mean you did. Good, this is just what I wanted.
If you practice further and progress quickly, then in 5 days you won’t feel sleepy when your eyes are closed. You have kept chanting, but you didn’t have enough energy in the beginning. Sitting there with eyes closed, within 10 sentences, you have hypnotized yourself to sleep. After a few days of chanting, we stop feeling sleepy. In meditation or chanting, this state of being sleepy, we will call it “drowsiness.” Remember this word, it will be mentioned again as we continue to practice.
Drowsiness consists of various levels. Sometimes, the current clear mind is actually a state of mild drowsiness. When we meditate more in depth, you will realize that right now we are at “100% drowsiness.” Those who feel drowsy while meditating, when you are alert, you still have 20% drowsiness. Thus, I remind everyone: Don’t reply to those unnecessary messages in the early morning when you have just woken up.
At that time, your eyes are drowsy; most importantly, your brain is groggy and your feet and legs are sluggish. You could press the wrong keys and send out the wrong messages. When we wake up, we may still be unclear and half asleep, not entirely alert. At this time, it is easy to make mistakes, so don’t deal with matters unless it is urgent.
So, we need to explore the meaning behind the word “drowsiness”. The more we practice, the clearer we become, until we reach cool and calm purity. Like Manjushri Bodhisattva or Guanyin Bodhisattva. The practice place of Guanyin Bodhisattva is in the woods. Who knows the name? The Purple Bamboo Woods. When seeing bamboo, one thinks of purity and coolness.
Bamboo has medicinal values: It cools internal heat, detoxifies and expels dampness. It is inherently damp, but it can detoxify and help with gynecological diseases. Sorry, it is a bit embarrassing, but we have many female disciples. Just letting you know. If your body feels itchy, take some bamboo leaves, wash and boil them, then wash yourself with the water. It can stop the itchiness right away. It is effective at detoxifying and clearing dampness and heat.
It also helps heal cataracts, presbyopia and floaters. You can use the boiled water, not the leaves, to wash your eyes, or use a towel and gently press it to your eyes. Wash once a day. You will notice the effects after a week. It also treats age spots and bumps. Wash the face with the water to clear heat and detoxify. This is my secret prescription. Try it.
It is easy to find bamboo leaves in the South, but not in the North. I tolda friend in Tibet, whose mother had an ailment, to try it out. I told them my prescription, but they couldn’t find any fresh leaves. So they used the dried yellow leaves off of bamboo brooms. They boiled those. It was effective as well, but green leaves are even more effective.
Green itself symbolizes coolness, purity, water and yin. Bamboo itself is a bit toxic, but it can also detoxify. Generally speaking, bamboo can be eaten, but human teeth aren’t sharp enough. Pandas can eat bamboo, like us eating sugarcane. So bamboo is edible, but its fibers aren’t suited for human teeth and stomach.
OK, the practice environment of Guanyin Bodhisattva is the Purple Bamboo Woods, symbolizing purity. It represents the wisdom Guanyin Bodhisattva gained from purity. Another bodhisattva whose wisdom is profound, Manjushri, his practice place is the Pure and Cool Realm. Few know of it. Displayed at the foot of Mt. Wutai in China, the practice place of Manjushri Bodhisattva, is a sign which reads: “Pure and Cool Realm.” Seeing it means you are at Manjushri’s practice place.
The words have symbolic meanings; they are not written randomly. Shouldn’t we treat people with warmth and enthusiasm? Why cool and calm then? The original understanding of pure, cool and calm is the pure, calm mind. One cannot be overly emotional. If we are filled with passion and enthusiasm, we start to lose clarity, right? After drinking and dancing, with blood boiling with excitement, your mind and perception aren’t accurate and clear.
Humans are different from machines. Many bosses buy machines or high-tech automated robots to work for them. Why? If you were the boss, you would do it too. Using a person, you would pay him more, but if today he is unhappy, his work will be disappointing for sure. If his greed arises and he steals money while managing the accounts, your profit is gone. Machines have no emotions or thoughts, humans do.
Wise people know they have to calm down and be cool. It does not mean being cold and frosty or ignoring others. Think and observe the world with a clear, calm mind. Don’t look with cold eyes, but rather with a loving heart. Don’t use an intense emotional heart to look at the world. We love everyone but also want to live well. For a normal person, they have to face and treat their family well. They also need to think clearly, in order to become relatively rational. Though they may not have great wisdom, compared to moments of intense passion, being reasonable and rational makes it easier to achieve success.
Some have zero savings but when they hear their neighbor bought a big house, they also want the same. Where is the money? Maybe it will come when they talk to the agent. No. If you are born prosperous, then whatever you want, money will come. There are such people, but very few. So, they weren’t thinking rationally. That is why Manjushri’s world is called the Pure and Cool Realm.
The Eastern Lapis Lazuli World is pure, transparent and crystal clear. It allows us to be pure and transparent and see matters with crystal clarity. Isn’t it also wisdom? We can see more clearly. Many of us can’t see through many things. Like not knowing if the major your son chose will be good in the future.
It seems good now, but maybe he will be without a job after finishing school. He may die because of the job. It is all possible.
We can’t see the consequences so we choose blindly. Some seem to go with the flow and choose randomly. They may encounter issues. With a pure mind, some might say, “I can’t tell the future”, but one has the ability to judge and think. Understand? In fact, many professions, issues and risks can be analyzed and judged with our wisdom.
Say, a normal heartbeat sounds very even. If our mind is chaotic or excited, the heartbeat will be irregular on an EKG. Do you know how this person feels physically? The person will experience palpitations, with each beat bringing pain. When his heart beats like this, will he be rational? Around 60% of people will start to get confused. If the palpitations continue, he will probably faint.
Too much blood sent to the brain also causes trouble. It is like a flood. Normally, it is a river but instead we get a flood. Too much blood isn’t good. Sometimes, the heartbeat is useless due to the heart’s lack of strength. Ineffective beating causes weakness; no blood is supplied to the brain. Then our world truly becomes one without thoughts. Because when the brain doesn’t think and feel, one faints. If it turns into a deep coma, one almost enters a deathlike state.
Some people had an out-of-body experience during surgery. He will find himself hovering over his own surgical bed, watching it all clearly. He sees Doctor Zhang open his belly with a scalpel, take his intestines out, and make cuts while the nurse hands over instruments. Everything is very clear, there is no pain in watching his own operation. Anyone here had this experience? The rate is high. It is normally one in 300. At least 5% of people receiving general anesthesia for surgery have such experiences.
When people are in a deep coma, they are actually near death. Their soul has already left the body. Are there souls? When one is in a bad car accident, or goes into shock or a coma, or is anesthetized during surgery, the soul can leave. Of course, when we meditate, it can also happen. But I don’t encourage you to go that way. It may not be a good thing. As I discussed just now, it is caused by bad events, like having surgery. The body is already very weak.
OK, let’s come back to a pure and calm mind. Only with purity and calmness can it be transparent with clear layers and distance, allowing us to reasonably observe, judge, think and decide.
Many people are hot-tempered. I remember the Thousand-People Energy Bagua Event a few days ago. An older lady with dyed-red hair wanted to come up to the stage. She said otherwise she would cry and make a scene. I said, “Wow, your hair at your age is dyed red like a burning mountain”. Her character is as I described. She couldn’t stop feeling aggravated. Actually, it is nothing serious. She is just hotheaded.
What is it? It’s personality. She also may not have cultivated her mind. When encountering life afflictions, she may not feel hurt, but she feels she has hurt others too little, so she has to be irritable. Being irritable can easily lead to mistakes, embarrassment, doing the wrong things and harming others. She doesn’t care about others’ feelings, as long as she vents her anger.
If so, that is ignorance. How do we explain ignorance in modern terms? Simply put, it is confusion. Confused people can’t do reasonable things. Sometimes, people say mindful confusion is a good thing or ignorance is bliss. But, say you are the person being operated on. It should be your left side, but they cut open the right. Seeing no sickness on the right, they don’t sew it up and just switch to the left. Many dentists pull the right molar when it is the left molar that should be pulled. Yet, unreasonably, they still say, “Look, I didn’t charge you for both teeth.” When in fact it is his fault. Pulling the wrong tooth may hurt the cranial nerves. A serious case can lead to premature death. Do you know that tetanus can also cause one to die quickly?
Confused people will only mess things up. They will turn things from good to bad and bad to worse. They will turn healthy into unhealthy and joy into sorrow. That is what confused people do. At first, some confused people seem good. They are diligent, polite, caring, and have good manners.
However, for big events such as their first date, they are late. If they do make it on time, they have worn the wrong clothes. When the check comes, they go to the bathroom. On their wedding day, they say, “Brother, please get married for me.” They do all the big events wrong, but they are fine when dealing with small matters. These people are truly confused.
Mindfully confused ones do all big events correctly and small things carelessly. That is tolerance. These people have great wisdom. In life, occasionally, we can meet such friends. They are easygoing and won’t be angry when being made fun of. They won’t be angry if their head is touched casually. They are not pretending. When you make big decisions, you want to consult with them, right? They don’t fuss over details or get angry. Normally, they seem confused, but they are not confused when facing important events.
This is great wisdom. Some have this wisdom even if they don’t cultivate. It may be their cultivation in past lives, and having good morals. Calmness makes one wise. Stupor makes one ignorant.
I want to remind you that we try to keep clear-minded while meditating. If we keep clear-minded, the disadvantage is it is not easy for us to enter a hazy meditative state, but it lays a good foundation for a pure, calm meditative state. Keeping your eyes open, you worry you will never enter a good meditative state or you will miss all the wonderful physical sensations or experiences. Don’t be worried. This is actually laying a solid foundation. Be patient.
According to my personal experiences, if we cultivate sincerely as taught — please heed my words, practice as taught. From a Divine perspective, we will surely be protected and loved by all buddhas, bodhisattvas and deities. For our personal experience, it will lay a good foundation for us to deeply enter the 3 kinds of illuminations: body, mind/heart and consciousness. In the future, once you close your eyes, it will be very easy for you to enter a deep meditative state. This is very good.
You all have done well. Though you may doze off while chanting, others’ chanting voices will wake you up. Continue chanting. Those with eyes open the entire time are also very good. This is laying a foundation. What is not good? Using 4 of 8 hours of meditation time to go to the bathroom. This needs a discussion. I hope you practice more diligently. The smell in the bathroom isn’t good. Or you come out for coffee. Our teahouse is especially attractive. “You silly people keep chanting, I am going for coffee.” This is avoidance.
Many people are talented. They are smart, healthy and wise, but they are lazy. I know a young boy. His mom dragged him by the ears to come see me. “He made me so angry. He got a perfect 100 on his assignment, but he forgot to sign his name because he was lazy.” His dad knew of his laziness, and said to him, “After you finish your exam paper, read it over 3 times.” He read everything, except his name. Whose paper is this? His teacher gave him 50 marks as a warning. “You did everything correctly, but forgetting to write your name is not OK.”
Say, you are a good person with a ticket, but you forgot to bring your passport. There are many such lazy people. You planned to go to the airport at 8:00, but you slept until 7:50. When you wake, there is no time to even brush your teeth. You run with your suitcase, leaving the bag with your files and ID behind. In the end, you didn’t even bring any money for the taxi. Many people are smart but appear terrible just because they are lazy. Many fail because of various reasons. Some smart people fail because of carelessness. More because of laziness.
Some others fail as they lack persistence. Many people are very lucky to succeed; they are not smart and their physical energy and credentials aren’t high. However, the smart, capable people didn’t persist to the end. In the Silicon Valley, there are many computer experts and the best companies, right? There are many excellent computer technicians. We have 2 centers there. We have many “cool” stories over there, stories that give you chills all over.
When a company was founded 20 years ago, there were 30 employees. The boss used all means to attract engineers, as many new companies were appearing. One of our male practitioners, Zhang, went to the company. He is very wealthy now. He said, “At that time, our company recruited 30 people. In the end, only 2 of us, the slowest and most dull-witted, stayed. Too scared to leave, while others left for higher salaries and market shares. For many of those who left, around 17 or 18 of them, their new companies went bankrupt; they didn’t earn any money or get any shares.”
The old company started with 30 people, but 28 left. Eventually, they hired 2,000 more employees. Can the company afford the high salaries of the technicians? Each is over $100,000 or $150,000 annually. It has to be able to afford them. When the company had 2,000 people, the company was already successful.
I asked this practitioner why he didn’t leave. “You are so blessed. You must have great wisdom.” “Master, it is because I don’t have any wisdom. I don’t have a high degree compared to others. I did poorly in the exams, so I was afraid to leave. Since the boss hired me, I wanted to be deeply focused.” So I stayed. I didn’t have the abilities to compete with others.”
In the end, the boss promoted him to deputy manager, a very high position, because he is honest. He isindeed not that smart, but later, the boss gave him many shares to encourage other employees. Everything good came to him. Everyone thinks he has great wisdom. He said he was slow-witted, so he stayed. In the end, the boss gave him all the benefits.
Many haven’t succeeded because they don’t have endurance. When I train our young people, I train their endurance. They carry 10 bricks and half a bottle of water in their backpacks and walk for a whole day. During the walk, no food or other sources of water, so they push themselves. Many failed to finish the trip, but many also stuck it out to the end and succeeded. Their success is not due to their smarts but persistence.
I want to remind you: Many people fail because of laziness. I should thank the male practitioner for sharing previously. What shows up on him very noticeably is his bad habits. Even knowing it is wrong, he still keeps at it. This is a true depiction of all beings. They stop learning right after they get a bit better. You don’t know how much danger is waiting for you tomorrow. I am not trying to scare him. It is true. How many of us can predict the next year? How will you be living? Standing or lying in bed?
Over time, our health declines. Shouldn’t we take good care of it? Before, you chanted and Buddha gave you 10, 20 million. You have almost spent it all, squandered it through indulgence. Your health is almost ruined. It is lucky you didn’t contract a venereal disease. If your body were a car, it should have been scrapped already. Now you have entered a repair shop, but just after fixing the tires, you run back. You go to nightclubs again. However, now you can’t even afford to pay the tips there.
Sometimes, it is good for people to be not as well off, right? When one is poor, one is human. After becoming rich, one becomes a demon. They don’t go to good places; instead, they frequent nightclubs. Then both their money and health are gone. When their health improves a bit, they go ruin it again. This is the karmic fire burning the body. If he is not dead, he will selfdestruct. If he lives well, he won’t be at ease. He has to ruin himself. There are many such people.
Many billionaires choose one more risky investment and end up losing everything, right? They were already billionaires. In the end they became penniless, having nothing. This is truly fun, isn’t it? Being a billionaire equals a meaningless existence. Why do we talk about lifestyles and mentalities? Your lifestyle creates your emotional fluctuations. Lifestyle behaviors can directly harm your body and life. Fluctuations in life are related to your spiritual world. They hasten your death.
Stockbrokers and fund agents usually don’t live long. You exploit using other people’s billion or tens of billions of dollars. It isn’t as easy as elementary-level math, right? 1 million plus 1 million is 2 million. The answer is easy to get. In stocks, what’s 2 million minus 1 million? 1 million. In the end, they come for your life. The stress from that number isn’t the same as elementary math problems. The stress is about your life.
The more risks you take, the quicker you will die. Many rich people don’t know how rich people should live. He invested 200 million, 30 years of savings, all on stocks. When he is old, he can’t even afford a coffin. This is most unfortunate and ignorant. Why do I teach this? Is it because I am moody today so I find reasons to scold you? I hope my scolding will wake you up. If you are very angry, you can scold me back. It doesn’t matter, I can’t hear it anyway.
If a successful person wants to maintain his success, he needs a more detached mental state, so he can leave the world peacefully. Last class, I asked, “Can you die calmly?” Imagine you becoming a billionaire after 30 years of hard work, but when you die, you aren’t at peace because your money is gone. You were cheated out of it, or your kids spent it. You can’t close your eyes even when dying. This is very miserable. It’s better if you never made a fortune. You wouldn’t have such a huge sense of loss.
If you are poor for life, your passing is peaceful. Many beggars can pass with their eyes closed. They feel happy because they drank bottled water before death. In contrast, you are used to drinking expensive, name-brand wine, but now you don’t even have money to buy water. The difference is huge. Our nerves can’t handle it.
These afflictions are specific. More afflictions arise from the mental disparity. Thus, we cultivate an illuminated mind and heart to reach a desireless state. Then we can reach illuminated consciousness. So, we can have a clear understanding of these matters. It will be very easy to control our emotions. Only by reaching mind and heart illumination can we have illuminated consciousness and great wisdom. You can completely control your life and emotional fluctuations. Many well-cultivated practitioners can control their life and death. Some practitioners or Taoists in the past stressed cultivation of both mind and body. I am talking about another dharma school. By studying the Law of Nature and the detailed cultivation methods of life, a few Taoists can control their life.
Sometimes, believing their life is long enough, they say to the people around, “My mission is done. I don’t want to play in the human world anymore. I am ready to go.” Some can pass within 7 days. Some meditators who truly practice can also do this.
In Fujian Province, there was a lady whose daughter was my student. The husband of this lady went fishing and died at sea when she was 30. She was already a mother to a girl and boy before she became a widow. She couldn’t get remarried because her family wouldn’t let her. She remained a widow from age 30. Life must have been difficult for her. Later, she met a master who said, “Since you know nothing else, you can just read sutras.”
At the beginning, she read while sitting. After 5 minutes, she would fall asleep. At night she would feel lonely, so she would read sutras. The dim light from the oil lamp made it hard to see. After reading awhile, she would fall asleep. She went to talk to her master. “It still hasn’t worked. I can’t sleep at night, but I fall asleep when I read sutras.” “Then just sleep.” “But after a while, I wake up. I don’t feel well. You can’t imagine how lonely it feels. It doesn’t work. What should I do? I still hope to practice.” The master said, “Then kneel to practice.”
After a while, she went to the master again. “Master, even kneeling while reading the sutras, I still fall asleep.” Master said, “Then kneel on the washboard to read.” “There are ridges on the board, kneeling on it will be very painful. I won’t be able to stand it.” “If you are in pain, you won’t fall asleep.” So, she chanted while kneeling on a washboard.
Let’s shorten the story. Decades of chanting passed. Her daughter told me about it. Chanting changed her mom. After becoming a widow at a young age, her mom was bad-tempered. No one to love and care for her. She attended to family matters and raised her kids by herself. During the daughter’s childhood, her mom hit the kids with sticks. The daughter said she still had a scar on her butt from a beating.
But after her mom had done over 10 years of practice, the teenage daughter found her mom no longer lost her temper. She became gentle to her. Actually, she and her brother behaved well. It was weird. They did excellently at school. This daughter became a university professor. Her school performance was great. The mom didn’t have to worry or scold them. They behaved very well. The mother was very peaceful and gentle. She didn’t speak to them loudly.
When she died, the daughter was married and had her own children. The mother called and asked her to come: “My mission as your mother is finished. In 3 days, I am leaving.” The daughter was so scared. “Where are you going? Are we not treating you well? How about you move in with me?”
“No, my worldly mission is done. I am leaving.” The daughter couldn’t accept it. The mom said, “Life is like a cocoon. After a phase is over, it enters a freezing period. Later, life is renewed and transforms into a butterfly.” This daughter took care of her mother for 3 days. On the third day, the daughter got hot water so her mom could have a bath. At that time, they didn’t have a shower at home. “Put some flower petals in the water. I am going to go see the Buddha. Take out the clothes I prepared, I am going to wear them.”
She went to meditate in sitting position. 5 hours later, she left during her meditation. The whole room was filled with a sweet fragrance. When people die, the body usually smells bad. People with knowledge of death know the smell isn’t good. Her smell was sweet; it filled the room. It was like a fragrant mist permeated the room. Her daughter saw a vision. It was as if Bodhisattva came to take her away. It was very auspicious.
After her mom passed, her body seemed transparent, like the lapis lazul I mentioned last time. Ordinary people struggle and are nervous when dying, their hands are stiff and unmovable. If you move them, they break like stiff wooden sticks. Her mother’s limbs were soft when the daughter helped her lie down. She told the master about this, and he instructed her to return her mother to a sitting position and support her back with something. In the end, the master asked someone to put her in a lotus jar and bury her.
Like glass, her body was pure, undefiled and at ease. She was incomparably pure. She was free of greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. She didn’t feel joy after being praised nor affliction after being ridiculed, humiliated or blamed. She achieved this after years of practice, doing over 3 hours of meditation and chanting each night. I can’t judge whether she reached buddhahood or not. However, her life transformation and her pure, peaceful wisdom are the special state we are amazed by and long for.
If we want to see whether one is cultured, just see if he has greed. A higher level of Buddhadharma practice is the desireless state. Her master didn’t teach her about the state of glass-like transparency, but during her entire practice, she naturally entered the illumination of body, mind, heart and consciousness. However, her consciousness illumination may not have reached the higher state. She had no detailed teachings and guidance like mine to you. So, she only achieved her own liberation. She didn’t extensively help others or do good deeds. She didn’t receive such a teaching. Her master only answered some of her questions. She did nothing extra. However, she self-cultivated well.
We can know in advance about the mind, heart and consciousness illumination, and the higher mental states we want to pursue. Many Bodhi practitioners will be willing to learn about these higher states in the future. This is different from only individual practice. If we do more good deeds, our practice will progress faster and higher. Though her achievement is admirable, it is known as self-liberation or awakening in Buddhism — she didn’t do much to benefit all beings. Her progress was slow. Our practice is benefiting self and others, enlightening self and others; it is the highest state Illumination of body, heart and mind allows us to manage and elevate ourselves.
In the 2 previous teachings, I mainly focused on telling everyone we should have gratitude. The teachings about mentalities allow us to cultivate our mind and heart. If we are compassionate and peaceful, our behaviors canbe gentle and peaceful. The purpose is to counter our sufferings. We want to leave sufferings and gain happiness. If you are not peaceful, but full of arrogance and greed, their negative impact causes mental obstacles and physical illnesses, right?
If you are greedy for something and can’t get it, you will be afflicted, right? After gaining it, you will be afflicted and worried about losing it or the uneven distribution of it among your children. It is not all beneficial after you have obtained it. After you obtain wealth and fame, you may not be truly joyful. Sometimes, it may be momentary joy but lifelong pain. Isn’t it troublesome?
There is a folktale about a black diamond, the “Black Widow,” a gem of over 17 karats. A diamond of 10 karats is already rare. I heard it has already had over 10 owners who were all murdered because of owning it. Half the owners had their entire family killed when others came to steal the gem. Imagine how joyful and happy the people were when buying or owning it, gaining the greatest treasure in the world. However, just because of this, the whole family was murdered. What great pain and cost!
If the diamond’s owners knew they would attract misfortune because of this treasure, who would want to own it? Why would they still want it? Greed, that is why. Many of our mistakes are caused by our mental biases and deviations. That is why I am constantly teaching everyone about higher mental states and more liberated states.
When we have compassion, our gratitude will surely arise. Full of gratitude, one will be much happier. When we are full of gratitude, we are happier and more content. A Northern saying goes: “Fall short of the best, but be better than the worst.” It means: “I am not the wealthiest or the poorest. I can live very well.” This state is pretty good. You are very happy.
The more you ask for, the more you will lose. When a country undergoes political changes, the king is often killed or assassinated. As a commoner, the chance of being assassinated is small. Who wants to assassinate a pauper? Is it meaningful? One kills for money or lust, right? When one is too beautiful, it is unnerving being watched by many people. Too much wealth and power spark the desires of everyone.
People with the most power face the biggest danger. When the president shows up, the police feel everyone is a bad guy. In truth, it is dangerous. There have been assassinations before, right? No matter how you look at it, the most powerful position is dangerous. The real man behind the assassination is unclear. The murderer was caught on the spot. The mind behind the order to kill is still a mystery.
Many people probably wanted to kill the leader. Each leader has their own political intentions and policies. His policies must have harmed some people. The wealthier these people were, the more damage they suffered. Say, a 10% tax won’t affect an ordinary person with a $1,000 or $2,000 income. However, if an annual income of $2 billion drops 10%, it islike cutting one’s flesh. The richer the people, the bigger the harm to them. Some may have thought to spend some money and get rid of the political leader.
Such things happen all the time, but we don’t spend time summarizing and contemplating them. Thus, gratitude brings the mentality that being content begets everlasting happiness. Often, happiness brings peace; peace brings gentleness. Being gentle means more love. With more love, one behaves nicely. You start loving the people around you. These days, do you feel you have more love and have become gentler?
Have you called your parents? We have more female practitioners — have you said “I love you” to your husband? (Yes.) Someone said, “Master didn’t ask me to do so. Why do I need to say ‘love you’? It is good enough if I don’t hate him.” Have some love for him. Recall the kindness he’s shown you and his contribution to the family. Go home tonight and praise him. Prepare what you will say.
Use loving language toward your family, seniors, partners and children. Say to your child, “You have grown tall. Dad is so happy.” Or: “Mom loves you very much.” Express it this way. Don’t say, “How come you still haven’tfinished your assignments? You want a beating?” He will think the shrew has returned. When you are angry, your child doesn’t like you. He gives his mom many nicknames such as “witch.” Be careful, as he will think this way.
In the end he isforced to respect and love you. He both loves and dislikes you. Why do children want to go away for college? They go to the States, Canada, Africa; anywhere is fine so long as they don’t stay in their home country. If he wants to run away, it shows the parents don’t know how to talk with him. The family environment isn’t good. The relationship between Chinese parents and children is that of police and thieves. I hope your relationship is that of good friends. You can’t force your children to love you. They have to be willing to be close to you. It is not easy to achieve.
You become more charming after chanting. However, when you open your mouth at home, it is like a gun firing. Everyone has to escape, right? Seeing that you are back, they hide under the table. Like a fierce beast is coming. Everyone seeks to escape. Right? Also, many wives make their husbands into herbivores, but they are carnivores themselves. When they see their wife is back, many husbands get cramps and weak legs. Why doesn’t your man want to be around? It is the result of being scared of you. Speak gently. Recall the kindness of the other and be grateful. Then you can have a happy family.
If our hearts are compassionate and peaceful, and our actions soft and peaceful, we shall be liberated from suffering and gain happiness.
Let’s continue chanting. (OK.) Open and closed eyes are both fine. Just try not to sleep. (OK.) Don’t talk in your dreams if you fall asleep. We have standards.
Please play Chanting to Sakyamuni Buddha.
One chant creates a lotus flower. One lotus flower eliminates tens of millions of bad karmas. (Got it.)