【Description】
Why is it that some homes emit a relaxed and comfortable feeling, while others make visitors feel uninvitingly cold and uneasy?
When life graces us with prosperity and happiness, do we have the capacity to retain these blessings?
What should we do to store the “Gold Spirit” in our homes?
Put aside any distractions and listen to Master JinBodhi’s life lessons.
【You will learn】
- The prerequisite for having wealth and happiness
- The way to increase family auspiciousness
【Featured aphorism】
- Some money looks for its rightful owner; this happens to people who have accumulated merits.
- If you give an offering to a meditator who achieves buddhahood, you will also gain fortune and receive the Buddha’s blessing.
【Content】
Misfortune contains a seed of happiness; happiness can underlie misfortune. We spend decades pursuing wealth; we go places in search of happiness. But once we have obtained both of them, do we have what it takes to sustain them?
The selfless accumulation of merits is what enhances our sustainability.
For years, it has been rare for me to visit my students because I have always been busy. I prefer meditating or researching when I am free, so I seldom visit others. When I visit a house, I am often interested in investigating the presence of prosperity spirits. They could be gold or silver. Sometimes it is neither gold nor silver; sometimes I see iron spirits. There were times I found nothing. There were houses without spirits, nothing! I felt like crying when I first entered. Houses like these chase everything away.
I remember when I was a child, there was a family in my hometown with a gold spirit running outside their house. That was interesting, something that only happens in dreams. That little gold spirit ran into their neighbor’s house. I went to check on it again in the evening. There was a silver spirit too; it ran away. The family lost a fortune, while their neighbors gained.
When you are destined for wealth, there is no need to be anxious, because wealth shall find you. The neighbor’s family went digging. As they were digging, they heard a sound, like the hoe had hit something. Using their hands, they dug up a ceramic earthen pot and they opened it to find that it was full of silver! A big earthen pot, imagine that.
That fortune wasn’t hard-earned; it was just lying there, waiting for them. Some money just comes to you. That is what we call good fortune. It happens due to merits accumulated previously or merits from ancestors. Fortune comes to people with lots of merits. From what I have observed, an auspicious house is a giver’s house. I can feel the aura of auspiciousness. You feel relaxed just being there. It is comfortable. It feels so good you don’t want to leave. I have been in houses that weren’t like that. I felt nervous as soon as I entered. I had chills up and down my spine. My back felt tickled. However, not all houses were like that. In the cases of those that weren’t, they had been accumulating merits, doing good deeds and making offerings.
We make offerings on our own, rather than asking others to do so. Why do we offer? It is for the Buddhas, practitioners of Buddhism, and meditation centers. Should a meditator achieve enlightenment, then you will gain merits from him, too. The merits will be immeasurable after you enlighten so many in meditation centers. After serving at a center, merits will soon follow. With such merits, it is easy to have wealth, and happiness. All Bodhi disciples here have happiness written all over them.
Make good use of a selfless heart to accumulate merit and sustain your fortune.