After I got converted to Buddhism, I have been upholding and studying the Lotus Sutra and the Six Paramitas (namely, to give expansively, to uphold the precepts firmly, to be patient always, to be diligent constantly, to cultivate concentration diligently, and to clearly penetrate wisdom) . I am deeply amazed by how profound and esoteric the Buddha Dharma is, and touched by His bless. It has benefited me both physically and mentally. These years I have been asked by many Buddhist believers on how to provide a decent and prosperous life to their family, ensure peace of their children, be successful in business, cure diseases, rid themselves of bad luck, and on how to live a longer life, etc. They are disturbed by these worries and therefore unable to practice the Buddha Dharma with their mind at peace. While I had always tried my best to help them, I also felt that it was not enough.
I often thought about it when in a meditation learning the Sutra of Lotus. One day, still in a meditation, I heard someone saying to me from the air, “If you are to help the multitude solve their worries, Sutra of Longevity can help. I once proclaimed the Sutra, which can help them extinct their offences.” I was wondering how to get the Sutra, when the voice from the air reached my ears again, “It is available at the Internet.” All of a sudden, I realized it was Shakyamuni Buddha talking to me and reminding me of it. I soon turned on the computer, googled, and found it. Its full name is The Dharani Sutra of the Buddha on Longevity, the Extinction of Offences, and the Protection of Young Children. It is also called The Dharani Sutra of the Budda on Longevity, and the Extinction of Offences, or Sutra on Longevity.
I soon started to study the Sutra of Longevity that evening. Thanks to the bless of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, I not only understood every word and verse of the Sutra, but all the virtues and merits it brings forth. It is written in the Sutra all the afflictions people could have as a result of the offenses they committed, and that the offences can be extinguished by the Sutra.
A miracle also unfolded before me on that evening. As is written in the Sutra on Longevity, “If there is a great Bodhisattva who is replete with kindness and compassion, who recites this Sutra repeatedly before all animals, birds, wild lives, snakes, worms, rats, ant and others, so that they will hear this Sutra in their original consciousness, then these beings will each attain liberation from their group and kinds with the strength of Sutra and Mantra." Just as I read the verses, a mosquito flew to stay on my computer. It was one degree below zero that evening. We seldom see a mosquito when it is so cold. I thought it might be a living being whom I was supposed to meet. I then said to the mosquito, “Why don’t you stay here and listen to me reading the Sutra of Longevity? You shall be reborn a human being.” After saying that, I shifted my attention to reading the Sutra and forgot about it. However, it was still on my computer after I finished reading the Sutra. It was already after midnight, so I turned off the computer and was about to go to sleep.
Just then I heard someone saying to me, “Thank you for ferrying me over. I shall be reborn tonight to the family of A at Village B. I then asked whether there was a Village B the second day, and was told yes. I also visited the village myself and confirmed that yes, a baby boy was born to family A. By then, I fully understood why. Buddha was showing the strength of Sutra to me by letting the miracle happen. You may ask me the names of the family and village. I do not tell the name to you because they are still alive. It would bring troubles to them if you know who they are. Sorry that I have to let you down. Amitabha-Buddha! As Buddhist practitioners, only by placing our faith in the Buddha Dharma can we truly feel it. You don’t need to keep contemplating about the miracle either. My advice to you is that you study the Sutra whole-heartedly, and it is my best wish that with the strength, merits, and virtues of the Sutra, we enjoy blessings and bliss in our present life, and savour the Dharma Joy!
Namas Original Teacher Shakyamuni Buudha! Namas Manjushri Bodhisattva!It is my wish to ferry over the beings after I attain the Way!
Dec 25, 2008
Misunderstanding about the Buddhist Practice of Releasing Lives to Freedom –Shi Zhenlin (Master)
The merits and virtues of the Buddhist practice of releasing lives to freedom are huge. This is so because by doing so we keep lives from being killed, show compassion and kindness. However, there seems to be misunderstanding about the practice—some take it as a magic wand to diseases, keep them away from disasters, and extend their lifespan. True, if we do it in the right way, such practice does bring such merits and virtues.
However, Buddha also reminds us that “whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, depends on our heart and mind”. This is particularly so with the Buddhist practice of releasing lives to freedom. If you do show compassion when doing so, certainly it brings huge benefits. However, many do so while keeping eating meat food. They are still killing lives. They do so for the sake of getting the benefits. Besides, most people would buy animals from the market, then release them. They fail to realize that doing so would only prompt the sellers to capture more wildly. Wouldn’t that only be more harmful to the animals? If so, how beneficial it can be for us?
Releasing lives to freedom is actually a means of how we practice goodness, show compassion, and stay away from killing. What matters is how we think and understand it, not how much money we spend doing it. It is efficacious only when we truly understand it and practice it from the bottom of our heart in our everyday life. Only in this way can we enjoy its benefits of extending our life span, keeping us from disasters and diseases, and enjoying peace…
However, Buddha also reminds us that “whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, depends on our heart and mind”. This is particularly so with the Buddhist practice of releasing lives to freedom. If you do show compassion when doing so, certainly it brings huge benefits. However, many do so while keeping eating meat food. They are still killing lives. They do so for the sake of getting the benefits. Besides, most people would buy animals from the market, then release them. They fail to realize that doing so would only prompt the sellers to capture more wildly. Wouldn’t that only be more harmful to the animals? If so, how beneficial it can be for us?
Releasing lives to freedom is actually a means of how we practice goodness, show compassion, and stay away from killing. What matters is how we think and understand it, not how much money we spend doing it. It is efficacious only when we truly understand it and practice it from the bottom of our heart in our everyday life. Only in this way can we enjoy its benefits of extending our life span, keeping us from disasters and diseases, and enjoying peace…
For Beginners of Buddhist Practice -- Shi Zhenlin (Master)
Beginners of Buddhist practice are people who, due to one reason or another in the present life, have just begun to practice the Buddha Dharma. As a matter of fact, these people are not beginners at all. You should have confidence in yourself. It is certainly not the first time that you have practiced the Buddha Dharma since innumerable long kalpas till now. Buddha Shakyamuni states in the Buddha Speaks Mahayana Eternal Life Sublime Sutra, that people who are filled with joy when hearing Amita-Budha, Buddhist Sutras, and Mantras and who pay homage to the Statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas respectfully and joyfully have practiced Buddha Dharma for more than one life circle, not to mention those who are able to uphold and read sutras and mantras. These people have cultivated great good roots. Therefore, you need to have the confidence and faith in yourselves as Buddhist practitioners. But you have also to keep in mind that now matter how great the good roots are, you need to practice the true Buddha Dharma in order to tap the uncontaminated faculties. Faculties here can also be interpreted as potentials. You have to practice even if you had been a Buddha before you were born a human. The only way to reach enlightenment is to concentrate on just one method (sutra), and practice with full devotion.
How to Set Up a Buddhist Prayer Room – Shi Zhenlin (Master)
How to Set up a Buddhist Prayer RoomI have been practicing the Buddha Dharma for years and get to know more and more Buddhist practitioners. While on the one hand I am happy to find that most Buddhist believers make offerings to Buddha images and scriptures at home, yet on the other hand it is a pity that they do not know how to set up a Buddhist prayer room, or worst still, leave Buddhist scriptures in improper places. As a matter of fact, we need to make offerings to Buddhist images and scriptures respectfully. By doing so we not only show respect to the forerunners of Dharma practice who have attained the Way, but also cultivate good roots, and are accumulating merits. Buddhist scriptures contain the essence of the Buddha Dharma. We should show respect to Buddhist scriptures as much as we do to the Buddha, and watch our behavior following the guidance written in them. By no means should we leave the Buddhist scriptures about.Some believers are very careful about the date and time when a Buddha image is being brought to their home. They also go into details about the exact location and position as to where the image is enshrined. They certainly do not have any knowledge about how esoteric and all-embracing the Buddha Dharma is. We often say that the Buddha Dharma is boundless. Under the bliss and bless of the Buddhas, anytime is auspicious, and everywhere is of good Fengshui (Geomancy). Buddhist scriptures, in particular, are endowed with spiritual powers. Curing diseases, staying away from disasters, making our home peaceful, and fortune good can be easily accomplished by Buddha Dharma.Yes, there are rules to follow when setting up a Buddhist prayer room and regarding where to place a Buddhist scripture, but this is not about being superstitious or ignorant.First and foremost, we need to show respect. Sure, the room should be made solemn, and the scriptures be placed where it is clean and in an orderly manner.We don’t have to make the room splendid. After all, our living environment and conditions are different from each other. It doesn’t matter how we establish the prayer room, how big the Buddhist images are, or how spacious the room is. All living beings are equal. As long as we show respect, it is fine to set up the room according to our personal preference, living conditions, and the space available.Nor do we have to pick a special date or set a particular location to establish the room. The fundamental principle is that it is comfortable, and makes our mind peaceful. It should be clean, quiet, and the air fresh, with abundant sunlight. It is all auspicious as long as we show respect and sincerity. If our home is not big enough, it is fine to enshrine it where the family and guests can see. If someone in the family does not like it, we should put it in a quiet and clean corner and take it out only when we pray. We don’t want to cause any incontinence to others. If it makes them unhappy, and they turn out to slander the Buddha, they cultivate bad roots and should receive retribution in the future. That is against our intention of setting up the room. If our home is spacious enough, certainly it would be great if we can set aside a room specially for it. We may place the Buddha image at a high location or in an independent cabinet. Usually, a candle holder and incense burner is a must. We may also use smoke-free candles and stick incenses to be safe and clean.What is needed in a Buddhist prayer room includes a Buddha or Bodhisattva image, praying-related items, a flower pot, censer, candle holder, everlasting light, a glass to hold water, fruit plate, etc. We don’t necessarily have to have them all, but can choose them according to the space available. It is fine as long as they are symmetrical, and make the prayer room solemn. If there is enough space, we can also set an alter table in the room. We may also choose to have a pair of couplets on the wall of Buddhist concepts that help us to purify the heart and enlighten the mind.Some believers place several Buddha or Bodhisattva images in their prayer room. In fact, it doesn’t matter how many images there are in the room, but whether the Buddha or Bodhisattva images enshrined are consistent with how they practice the Buddha Dharma is important. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are like our teachers. They keep reminding us that we need to be diligent, reflect inwardly, and not get lost. Usually at a Buddhist prayer room, we would make offerings to Buddha Shakyamuni, Amitaba Buddha, Medicine Master Buddha, the Three Saints of the West Pure Land (Amitaba Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva and Great Strength Bodhisattva), Guanyin Bodhisattva, or Earth Store Bodhisattva. They can either be in the form of a statue or hanging scroll. It is advised that we make offerings to the Buddha or Bodhisattvas in the room that are consistent with our practice of the Buddha Dharma. Certainly it does not matter if we place more than one Buddha or Bodhisattva image.Many ask whether consecration of a Buddha image is a must. This is a ceremony that originated from over 2,000 years ago when Buddha Shakyamuni consecrated His statue. He endowed the wood statue with spiritual power and Buddha nature with His Buddha energy.It is not easy to find a Master who knows how to consecrate a Buddha image nowadays. He has to be well-advanced in his practice of Buddha Dharma, and know how to apply the energy of a Buddhist scripture and mantra, to endow the image with spiritual powers and Buddha nature. He should also be able to preach the Buddha Dharma upon the consecration ceremony, which helps the Buddhist believers to practice in the right way and from getting lost. Otherwise, the image would be no more than a piece of wood even after the consecration. If we do not know who can consecrate it for us, it is ok not to do so. As long as we show sincerity and devotion, and keep sutra recitation and practicing Buddha Dharma in the room, the figures and images will gain spiritual powers gradually.How to make offerings depends on how we practice the Dharma, and how much time we have. We may do it everyday, both in the morning and in the evening, when we recite the sutra. Or, we may choose to make the offerings with burning incense sticks on the first and 15th day of every month according to the Lunar Calendar, as well as on Buddhism festivals. The offerings can be fruits, vegetarian food, flowers, or tea water, but never ever any meat. We may choose not to light the oil lamp or candle if the room is not spacious enough or out of consideration for safety.Moreover, a Buddhist prayer room should be kept clean and solemn. It is suggested that the cleaning equipment for the room, the alter table, the censer, and the candle holder is not used to clean other stuff. There is no need to cover the Buddha or Bodhisattva figures if someone passes away in the family. If we have to be out of home for sometime so that no one is left to take care of the prayer room, we’d better make sure everything is fine in the room, with special attention paid to avoid fire or electrical accidents.If we want to update the room and use new facilities, there are several points to note as well. If the previous items or facilities are still usable, it is better to keep them. If they are too worn-out, it is better that we burn them, and transfer the merits and virtues accrued to all the sentient beings or to whoever as we wish. If we have to move to a new apartment, we’d better pray before the Buddha and Bodhisattva so that we have a safe journey. The room should be well-lighted or illuminated, with good air ventilation. When not at home, we should put off the candle. Remember a Buddhist prayer room is where we pay homage to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, recite the sutra, and practice the Buddha Dharma. It is not supposed to be a place for fun or improper behavior. Otherwise, we may show disrespect.Setting up a Buddhist prayer room, in Buddha Dharma, is a form of giving practice, namely giving of Dharma and Buddha Image. It helps to make the Buddha Dharma known by more beings, and also bestow blessings and protection onto us. In the Dharma Semblance Age, after the extinction of the Buddha, it is very important to make our best efforts to establish Buddhist prayer rooms, make the Buddha Dharma known by more people, which shall bring true benefits to all the sentient beings.
Dec 20, 2008
What a happy break!-----Lingwang
I have been on sick leave for over two months. It is certainly a very important turning point in my life. Thanks to Master Zhenlin, to the Sutra on Longevity, and to the bless of Buddha, this experience has turned from one that brought huge fear and distress to me to gratitude and happiness.
It was the most painful the week before the operation. It was mentally torturing. I had accepted the fact that I had vicious tumor, and was fully fearful of recurrence and metastasis. Beside, I’d lose my left mandible (replaced then by a piece from my right fibula), I was so worried about how I might look after the operation. It was days of huge terror. I cried everyday, both when asleep and when awake. It was like a nightmare to me from which I could never wake up.
I started to read the Sutra on Longevity three days after the operation. It has been over one month and a half now. Tremendous positive changes have been brought to me and my life. Master Zhenlin keeps emphasizing to us that we need to place faith in Buddha, concentrate on just the Sutra on Longevity, and there is no disease that cannot be cured by the power of Buddha. Sister Ling Xi also empowers me greatly with her amazing experience. I no longer have the fear about recurrence or metastasis. And, thanks to the bless of Buddha and Bodhisattva, the operation is a success and I am recovering well. I guess it won’t be too long before I am pretty again.
While my initial intention was to get cured by upholding and reading the Sutra on Longevity, I now realize that it not only cures our physical disease, it also heals the wound in our heart. Before I got sick, I was always feeling busy, in a haste, and my life was in a chaos. My excuse was that because I was busy, and therefore my being hasty and my life being in a chaos could be forgiven. I was not able to control my temper well, and always worried about this or that, feeling very insecure. Such a lifestyle was more serious a disease than cancer.
Before I know it, my life pace has been slowed down, after I started to read the Sutra on Longevity. I now realize that it was because my heart was in a chaos, and therefore I was always in a hurry, and therefore feeling busy. I mistook the cause as the effect for so many years. Though I stay indoors all day wrong as I have yet to get fully recovered from the operation, I never feel bored but very happy. Everyday I read the Sutra on Longevity, and learn more about Buddha Dharma by reading the blog articles posted at Master Zhenlin’s website. I am also learning to do what a girl should be doing: cooking, knitting, and cleaning the house—I never did this before I got sick. I felt myself a professional office lady, never to be bound by housework. My life was about flying, staying at five-star hotels, meeting senior government and business leaders. It is only now that I realize I got more and more impatient, and my vanity grew more serious in such a circle because I didn’t know how to control my heart. I was never able to reach the sense of security and happiness that I was so eager for internally.
Perhaps even Buddha found my lifestyle unbearable and therefore set such an experience for me, so that I could examine myself, and get adjusted.
Master Zhenlin reminds us, “ a painful experience is meant to bring us back to our true self.”Master Chin-kung also says, “While Buddha and Bodhisattvas see clearly the suffering by the sentient beings, they remain silent. Why? It is so because the time is not ripe. The sentient beings won’t reach enlightenment even if they are told the truth. They won’t accept it, but will only commit more serious karmas. Out of compassion and kindness, Buddha and Bodhisattva keep waiting patiently, till the sentient beings are ready to turn back and accept it. Then they extend the help.
Yes, it is the right approach. Before I got sick, I had known how many merits upholding and reading the Sutra on Longevity shall bring, but I never was patient enough to do it. Now I am reading the Sutra on Longevity twice a day, full of gratitude and joy.
More and more I feel this experience of getting sick is a rare opportunity sent to me by Buddha to enjoy life.
The only problem is that I am losing my hair these days, as a result of the chemo-therapy. Master Zhenlin, could you help to get me completely bald? Cleaning the dropped hairs is not easy…um..Could you also bless me so that the newly-grown hair is black and beautiful? I want to enjoy the cherry blossoming at Yuyuantan Park in the coming April, with a handsome boy…
It was the most painful the week before the operation. It was mentally torturing. I had accepted the fact that I had vicious tumor, and was fully fearful of recurrence and metastasis. Beside, I’d lose my left mandible (replaced then by a piece from my right fibula), I was so worried about how I might look after the operation. It was days of huge terror. I cried everyday, both when asleep and when awake. It was like a nightmare to me from which I could never wake up.
I started to read the Sutra on Longevity three days after the operation. It has been over one month and a half now. Tremendous positive changes have been brought to me and my life. Master Zhenlin keeps emphasizing to us that we need to place faith in Buddha, concentrate on just the Sutra on Longevity, and there is no disease that cannot be cured by the power of Buddha. Sister Ling Xi also empowers me greatly with her amazing experience. I no longer have the fear about recurrence or metastasis. And, thanks to the bless of Buddha and Bodhisattva, the operation is a success and I am recovering well. I guess it won’t be too long before I am pretty again.
While my initial intention was to get cured by upholding and reading the Sutra on Longevity, I now realize that it not only cures our physical disease, it also heals the wound in our heart. Before I got sick, I was always feeling busy, in a haste, and my life was in a chaos. My excuse was that because I was busy, and therefore my being hasty and my life being in a chaos could be forgiven. I was not able to control my temper well, and always worried about this or that, feeling very insecure. Such a lifestyle was more serious a disease than cancer.
Before I know it, my life pace has been slowed down, after I started to read the Sutra on Longevity. I now realize that it was because my heart was in a chaos, and therefore I was always in a hurry, and therefore feeling busy. I mistook the cause as the effect for so many years. Though I stay indoors all day wrong as I have yet to get fully recovered from the operation, I never feel bored but very happy. Everyday I read the Sutra on Longevity, and learn more about Buddha Dharma by reading the blog articles posted at Master Zhenlin’s website. I am also learning to do what a girl should be doing: cooking, knitting, and cleaning the house—I never did this before I got sick. I felt myself a professional office lady, never to be bound by housework. My life was about flying, staying at five-star hotels, meeting senior government and business leaders. It is only now that I realize I got more and more impatient, and my vanity grew more serious in such a circle because I didn’t know how to control my heart. I was never able to reach the sense of security and happiness that I was so eager for internally.
Perhaps even Buddha found my lifestyle unbearable and therefore set such an experience for me, so that I could examine myself, and get adjusted.
Master Zhenlin reminds us, “ a painful experience is meant to bring us back to our true self.”Master Chin-kung also says, “While Buddha and Bodhisattvas see clearly the suffering by the sentient beings, they remain silent. Why? It is so because the time is not ripe. The sentient beings won’t reach enlightenment even if they are told the truth. They won’t accept it, but will only commit more serious karmas. Out of compassion and kindness, Buddha and Bodhisattva keep waiting patiently, till the sentient beings are ready to turn back and accept it. Then they extend the help.
Yes, it is the right approach. Before I got sick, I had known how many merits upholding and reading the Sutra on Longevity shall bring, but I never was patient enough to do it. Now I am reading the Sutra on Longevity twice a day, full of gratitude and joy.
More and more I feel this experience of getting sick is a rare opportunity sent to me by Buddha to enjoy life.
The only problem is that I am losing my hair these days, as a result of the chemo-therapy. Master Zhenlin, could you help to get me completely bald? Cleaning the dropped hairs is not easy…um..Could you also bless me so that the newly-grown hair is black and beautiful? I want to enjoy the cherry blossoming at Yuyuantan Park in the coming April, with a handsome boy…
On the Principle of No-Impatience----Lingwang
Master Zhenlin told us that when reading Sutra, we should adhere to the 5-Nos principle. No complaining, no suspicion, no impatience, no I-don’t-care-about-it attitude, and no-inconsistency.
Coming to think of it, being impatient is one of my biggest weaknesses. I need to keep reminding myself the principle of no-impatience, not only while reading and reciting the Sutra on Longevity, but also in everyday life.
The other day I was talking to Sister Ling Ju and she told me that she had been working on the translation of the Diamond Sutra since last August. She would listen to the recorded video files of Master Zhenlin talking on the Sutra. The translation can be done very soon. Nonetheless, she now decides to turn it down and start from scratch all over again, and this time, for three years.“Focus solely and wholeheartedly on it, and do it everyday.” Or, as Master Zhenlin suggested to her, that she should uphold and study the Diamond Sutra forever, not only in her present life. I am touched and inspired by her.
No-impatience means we need to be down-to-earth, with our mind at peace. There is no need to be hasty. The other day I was trying to translate into English the Lecture on Sutra on Longevity by Master Zhenlin. I found it very difficult to continue after a few paragraphs. My understanding about Buddhist concepts is too skin-deep at the moment while Master unfolds to us through the lecture how amazing the power of Buddha and how great Buddhism is. It is beyond my grasp. I have yet to even fully understand the Sutra on Longevity, not to mention translating the lectures on it by Master Zhenlin. So, I tell myself, “just be patient. Take your time to learn more. When time is ripe, you will be able to do it before you realize it.” Otherwise, not only will my efforts be in vain, but I may translate some points wrongly.
No-impatience also means we need to let things run in their own course, especially when trying to make the power of Buddha known by more people. We should not be too eager to share with our family or friends on how we are learning the Buddha Dharma. While I have been learning and reading the Sutra on Longevity for a little over one month, already I have come to feel keenly how it has positively changed my temper and world outlook. Whenever my friends or colleagues visit me, I could hardly wait to share with them the happiness I gain from it. However, after reading what Master Chin-kung said the other day, I realize I was being to hasty. “We should not push too hard when trying to make the power of Buddha known by more. Don’t be too hasty. Let it run in its own course. This is the fundamental principle. When the time is ripe, everything will unfold before you as it should. This is what World-Honor-One did. If only one or two people are ready to accept Buddha Dharma, He talked it to only the one or two people. If all the multitude are ready for it, He talked to them all. Let it run in its own course, and talk as the opportunities come. Only by doing so can people gain true benefit from the power of Buddha.”
No-impatience means even when you are asked of the same question everyday by different people, you still remain patient and answer them nicely with a smile. Master Zhenlin is a role model in this regard. Every evening as we meet at the Sina UC forum, he has to emphasize to different disciples or non-disciples the basic principle of “practice the Buddha Dharma by upholding and reading the sutra. Only one sutra is enough, and stick to it.” Master has never been impatient. I remember a funny experience at Beijing Railway Station. I got lost while trying to retrieve my luggage and was about to ask the owner of a grocery store nearby when I read a blackboard outside the store, “Go straight ahead, then turn left, to get your luggage. Don’t ask me. I am fed up with the question!” I guess ordinary people certainly could hardly bear to be asked of the same thing everyday. If I were in Master Zhenlin’s position, and with my temper, perhaps I have to set up a board at the Sina UC forum read “If you have troubles or worries in life, just read the sutra. Only one sutra is enough, and stick to it. Don’t ask me. I am fed up with the question!”
Coming to think of it, being impatient is one of my biggest weaknesses. I need to keep reminding myself the principle of no-impatience, not only while reading and reciting the Sutra on Longevity, but also in everyday life.
The other day I was talking to Sister Ling Ju and she told me that she had been working on the translation of the Diamond Sutra since last August. She would listen to the recorded video files of Master Zhenlin talking on the Sutra. The translation can be done very soon. Nonetheless, she now decides to turn it down and start from scratch all over again, and this time, for three years.“Focus solely and wholeheartedly on it, and do it everyday.” Or, as Master Zhenlin suggested to her, that she should uphold and study the Diamond Sutra forever, not only in her present life. I am touched and inspired by her.
No-impatience means we need to be down-to-earth, with our mind at peace. There is no need to be hasty. The other day I was trying to translate into English the Lecture on Sutra on Longevity by Master Zhenlin. I found it very difficult to continue after a few paragraphs. My understanding about Buddhist concepts is too skin-deep at the moment while Master unfolds to us through the lecture how amazing the power of Buddha and how great Buddhism is. It is beyond my grasp. I have yet to even fully understand the Sutra on Longevity, not to mention translating the lectures on it by Master Zhenlin. So, I tell myself, “just be patient. Take your time to learn more. When time is ripe, you will be able to do it before you realize it.” Otherwise, not only will my efforts be in vain, but I may translate some points wrongly.
No-impatience also means we need to let things run in their own course, especially when trying to make the power of Buddha known by more people. We should not be too eager to share with our family or friends on how we are learning the Buddha Dharma. While I have been learning and reading the Sutra on Longevity for a little over one month, already I have come to feel keenly how it has positively changed my temper and world outlook. Whenever my friends or colleagues visit me, I could hardly wait to share with them the happiness I gain from it. However, after reading what Master Chin-kung said the other day, I realize I was being to hasty. “We should not push too hard when trying to make the power of Buddha known by more. Don’t be too hasty. Let it run in its own course. This is the fundamental principle. When the time is ripe, everything will unfold before you as it should. This is what World-Honor-One did. If only one or two people are ready to accept Buddha Dharma, He talked it to only the one or two people. If all the multitude are ready for it, He talked to them all. Let it run in its own course, and talk as the opportunities come. Only by doing so can people gain true benefit from the power of Buddha.”
No-impatience means even when you are asked of the same question everyday by different people, you still remain patient and answer them nicely with a smile. Master Zhenlin is a role model in this regard. Every evening as we meet at the Sina UC forum, he has to emphasize to different disciples or non-disciples the basic principle of “practice the Buddha Dharma by upholding and reading the sutra. Only one sutra is enough, and stick to it.” Master has never been impatient. I remember a funny experience at Beijing Railway Station. I got lost while trying to retrieve my luggage and was about to ask the owner of a grocery store nearby when I read a blackboard outside the store, “Go straight ahead, then turn left, to get your luggage. Don’t ask me. I am fed up with the question!” I guess ordinary people certainly could hardly bear to be asked of the same thing everyday. If I were in Master Zhenlin’s position, and with my temper, perhaps I have to set up a board at the Sina UC forum read “If you have troubles or worries in life, just read the sutra. Only one sutra is enough, and stick to it. Don’t ask me. I am fed up with the question!”
Dec 15, 2008
Compassion is the Nature of Buddha
Through practice, a person’s spiritual realm gets sublimated and his moral standards get improved continuously. His mind is not narrow as previously, but in the process of getting broad and generous. At the beginning, the sympathy of the humankind and bemoan of the universe may arise during the quiet practice. Along with the effort taken and deepen, his merciful love will spout like the poet's inspiration from the depths of the soul. And his view of the world and life philosophy will have a great change. His understanding and comprehension about universe, time and life has been far beyond the previous “I” , and has exceeded ordinary people. He may still work to serve people. He may still dress for dinner. But to him, Cyril fame, honor gains and losses has become lighter and lighter. And the hate, jealousy, anxiety trouble etc in his mind has got less and less. His heart is full-filled with love and passion of life, society, human beings and universe. His mind is as broad as ocean, as universe. As he further improves, he will be in a merciful and selfless spiritual state. Such state is kind of functional state------a state of harmony between man and nature. Then your heart would have completely integrated with all the things on earth. This is an unbiased state that everyone is with me physically and everything is with me from the same root. At this time the concept about I and material object, public and private has been played down or even disappear in his heart. He has full of sincerity and respect for flowers, trees, snow and ice, earth and rocks. He takes heaven, earth and everything on earth as his master, from which he got inspiration and passion. When he is in such a merciful and all-I forgotten lofty realm, even he does not practice for a minute, it is equivalent to 24 hours a day exercises. The essence of practice is self-cultivation. It is a high degree of physical and mental health, is the distillation of the spirit. This is so-called ability results from morality.
The Sutra on Longevity Sends Him on a Trip to Beijing – Lingxi (disciple)
Chen was the Chairman of the Labour Union before his retirement. He is now 71-year-old now. We used to be neighbours. He lived just cross the street. We often bumped into each other. His elderly brother also lived in the same building where I lived, so we saw each other from time to time. After I was diagnosed with lung cancer years ago, I moved to live with my parents. I was so sick that I could only stay indoors or either hospitalized. From then on, we seldom saw each other. After I recover after reading the Sutra of Longevity as Master Zhen Lin suggested, and I have been back to office again. Still, I don’t see him. What has happened to him, I wonder.
It was only when I met his sister-in-law did I know that he was not able to walk because he suffered from serious foot pain. He stayed at home all day long and could walk no more than 20 meters. A fortune-teller told him that he was predestined to be paralyzed from 71-year old to 73-year-old. He had tried both Chinese medicine and western, but the foot pain only got more serious. After his retirement, he also took the role as the “publicity officer” of the Communist Party Office of our company, and the head of the Office, Chao, another retired colleague, knew him very well. Chao told me that Chen had been cut off from social events for a long time.
After learning that I got cured by reading the Sutra on Longevity, his sister-in-law thought about helping him with it. One day I was reading the Sutra with his sister-in-law at her home, she took away my Sutra to read it for Mr. Chen without telling me. ( I never gave away the Sutra to others unless they ask me for it. Only in this way can people show true respect to it. Of course, I am fine with what his sister-in-law did as I am sure she was earnest. I give her and Mr. Chen my respect and best wishes). His sister-in-law later told Chen just how effective and amazing the Sutra on Longevity is and how I have recovered by reading it. Chen then started trying it, though still feeling unsure how effective it could be. One month later, he could walk for 100 meters, then 200 meters, 500 meters…He was so happy. Gradually he could walk outdoors, and even rejoin his old colleagues for some social events. The other day, he even went on a trip to Beijing! He asked his daughter to read it as well, as she had some problems getting pregnant. She said no, unfortunately. Anyway, the changes in Chen are amazing. Mr. Chao is so amazed by the changes in Chen that he also asked me for a copy of the Sutra the other day, and said he would try to keep every word in mind. J
Chao also likes the Sutra, saying that even the character is small-sized, he can still read it without even wearing presbiopic glasses.
It was only when I met his sister-in-law did I know that he was not able to walk because he suffered from serious foot pain. He stayed at home all day long and could walk no more than 20 meters. A fortune-teller told him that he was predestined to be paralyzed from 71-year old to 73-year-old. He had tried both Chinese medicine and western, but the foot pain only got more serious. After his retirement, he also took the role as the “publicity officer” of the Communist Party Office of our company, and the head of the Office, Chao, another retired colleague, knew him very well. Chao told me that Chen had been cut off from social events for a long time.
After learning that I got cured by reading the Sutra on Longevity, his sister-in-law thought about helping him with it. One day I was reading the Sutra with his sister-in-law at her home, she took away my Sutra to read it for Mr. Chen without telling me. ( I never gave away the Sutra to others unless they ask me for it. Only in this way can people show true respect to it. Of course, I am fine with what his sister-in-law did as I am sure she was earnest. I give her and Mr. Chen my respect and best wishes). His sister-in-law later told Chen just how effective and amazing the Sutra on Longevity is and how I have recovered by reading it. Chen then started trying it, though still feeling unsure how effective it could be. One month later, he could walk for 100 meters, then 200 meters, 500 meters…He was so happy. Gradually he could walk outdoors, and even rejoin his old colleagues for some social events. The other day, he even went on a trip to Beijing! He asked his daughter to read it as well, as she had some problems getting pregnant. She said no, unfortunately. Anyway, the changes in Chen are amazing. Mr. Chao is so amazed by the changes in Chen that he also asked me for a copy of the Sutra the other day, and said he would try to keep every word in mind. J
Chao also likes the Sutra, saying that even the character is small-sized, he can still read it without even wearing presbiopic glasses.
Misunderstanding about the Buddhist Practice of Releasing Lives to Freedom –Zhen Lin
The benefit of the Buddhist practice of releasing lives to freedom is huge. This is so because by doing so we keep lives from being killed, show compassion and kindness. However, there seems to be misunderstanding about the practice—some take it as a magic wand to diseases, keep them away from disasters, and extend their lives. True, if we do it in the right way, such practice does bring such benefits.
However, Buddha also reminds us that “whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, depends on our heart and mind”. This is particularly so with the Buddhist practice of releasing lives to freedom. If you do show compassion when doing so, certainly it brings huge benefits. However, many do so while keeping eating meat food. They are still killing lives. They do so for the sake of getting the benefits. Besides, most people would buy animals from the market, then release them. They fail to realize that doing so would only prompt the sellers to capture more wildly. Wouldn’t that only be more harmful to the animals? If so, how beneficial it can be for us?
Releasing lives to freedom is actually a means of how we practice goodness, show compassion, and stay away from killing. What matters is how we think and understand it, not how much money we spend doing it. It is effective only when we truly understand it and practice it from the bottom of our heart in our everyday life. Only in this way can we enjoy its benefits of extending our life span, keeping us from disasters and diseases, and enjoying peace…
However, Buddha also reminds us that “whether it is right or wrong, good or bad, depends on our heart and mind”. This is particularly so with the Buddhist practice of releasing lives to freedom. If you do show compassion when doing so, certainly it brings huge benefits. However, many do so while keeping eating meat food. They are still killing lives. They do so for the sake of getting the benefits. Besides, most people would buy animals from the market, then release them. They fail to realize that doing so would only prompt the sellers to capture more wildly. Wouldn’t that only be more harmful to the animals? If so, how beneficial it can be for us?
Releasing lives to freedom is actually a means of how we practice goodness, show compassion, and stay away from killing. What matters is how we think and understand it, not how much money we spend doing it. It is effective only when we truly understand it and practice it from the bottom of our heart in our everyday life. Only in this way can we enjoy its benefits of extending our life span, keeping us from disasters and diseases, and enjoying peace…
Congratulation for one year of vegetarian---Lingxi
(2008-06-08 09:31:16)
It has been one year since I became vegetarian. Celebrate myself!!
On 5th July 2005, the day I was found I had suffered from lung cancer, my family began to care about my dietary. I remembered, on 11th July 2005, I had a surgical operation. According to the advices of doctors, my family tried to improve my nutrition. When I could eat again (there was a short phase of fasting after the operation), I had one chaiba fish each day, and sometimes with an additional soft-shelled turtle. My family brought wild soft-shelled turtles from my hometown, and asked some others to bring them to my hospital in ChangSha city, and then my husband asked victualing houses to cook them for me. On the day of the first chemotherapy, i.e., 15th august 2005, I ate a WuLin duck (a kind of local snack). So bad, it deteriorated my illness, and the pain lasted for two days. My husband was scared, and immediately called my family to ChangSha city. My illness became more dangerous than before. Doctors of tumour department even didn’t know the reason for the situation. They believed that I was close to over, and told my family to prepare the final things. But my husband didn’t give up, and he ask doctors of thoracic surgery department to treat me. Doctor CHEN Jiu-ming said that my thorax was full of liquid, and it should be extracted. However, he could not find suitable rubber drainage tube in his department, tubes there were too large. Doctor QIU in tumour department solved the problem, and he got smaller ones. Doctor CHEN said it can help. when the tubes were inserted into my body, the liquid poured insurgently. Thanks to the two distinguee doctors, I was saved and became safe temporally. I was moved from tumour department to thoracic surgery department and stayed there for about a month. I lost about 10 Kg, and then went home. With the advices of doctors, mum cooked fishes for me every day. Then I had three chemotherapies.
In 2006, I learned Buddha. I heard LengYan mantra by accidence and liked it very much. I listened to it for 8 months, and I played it each time when I run my PC. Then, in June 2007, I found I was not interesting in meat again, and didn’t want to eat it. I became vegetarian. My family was afraid that I will be malnutrition without meat, and ask me to eat again. However, I couldn’t, and my doctors found I was not in malnutrition. I was better than other patients, so my family and doctor didn’t impose me again. This mouth, I felt dishes containing meat smelled badly. They sent out awfully, frowzy odours. I could not smell them, not to mention eating. Nevertheless, I found that patients in malnutrition were all meat-eaters, and no one of them was vegetarian. These death patients were all meat-eaters, too. A patient called NangZhi, my friend, is vegetarian, and lived well now. I just talked with her on the telephone.
Here I cited some words from explanation of my master about ChangShou sutras: “in our living, we should not eat snake, tiger, wolf, white elephant, beef, dog, bear, panther, and horse. We also should not eat some wild animals, including escargot, red carp, tortoise, and soft-shelled turtle. Wild soft-shelled turtle is very good at prapatti. And monopterus, it is also called eel, which is can artificially bred now. We should better don’t eat eel. Why? Eel is good at prapatti too. If you eat a prapatti eel, you will die immediately. Prapattie eel is known as gazing-moon eel. In night, it gazes at moon, so it gets the name. Gazing-moon is a kind of prapattie. In this way, eel can absorb refined energy of the universe. If you eat it, you will be poisoned to death. Don’t eat wild animals, which will put you to trouble. Well, wild animals, such as frog, escargot, we should not eat them. The best way is to be a vegetarian, for avoiding trouble. If you are converting disciple, you should be vegetarian. If not, why do you convert? If you are converting disciple and you eat meat, you still take life of other animals. Converting means that you should obey five precepts including refraining from killing, refraining from stealing, refraining from sexual misconduct, refraining from false speech, and refraining from use of intoxicants. Buddha told us, eating ten kinds of animals is equal to killing our parents and best relatives.”
My master also told us a story of himself: Cantonese dare to eat everything. When I came to GuanDong province the first time, I found a strange dish called “three squeaks”. We wanted to know what the dish is, so we ordered it. It took a very long time to see the dish. Oh, my god, the dish was live rats. The rats just were born!! They injected pitocin into pregnant rats, and make the dish using born rats. Why the dish was called “three squeaks”? When it was picked up using chopsticks, the rat squeaked. When it was dipped in sauce, it squeaked too. And when it was put into mouth, the rat squeaked the last time. We did not dare to take the dish. However, the other Cantonese were very happy, and they enjoyed it. Cantonese eat everything, so they were captured by SARS. That is retribution! When ghost king see this kind of evil deed, he will punish these bad persons using diseases. The persons will be captured by incredible diseases, and will not be cured forever!
I heard the two stories, and I didn’t want to, dared not to, and couldn’t, eat meat again. In fact, the meat we eat are all from slaughtered or fatality animals. If people eat meat from fatality animals, the fatal viruses will infect us through meat. Many people feel sick, pain and vomit after having infected meat, which are immediate effect of viruses. If the meats are from slaughtered animals, people also face a dangerous inevitable situation. That is, when animals are slaughtered, they will generate a lot of resentment and anger which make their body poisonous. How can people still be healthy after eating these meats? Experimental results illustrated that, if the exhaled gas of angry people, is collected with bottle, and then is injected to small animals, the animals will die shortly. Since human being is larger, poison in the meat can not kill human being quickly. This is a pathetic lucky of human being.
An American nutritionist, Doctor of Medicine, called Miller once said, “If we eat various kinds of meats too much, we will be valetudinarianism. There are many reasons; meat usually doesn’t contain enough nutrient elements, such as vitamins and carbohydrates; there exist many wasters and virus in bodies of animals; meat also decomposes after slaughtering. So, eating meat will cause the absorbing of superfluous waters and poisons for body of human being. Thus, many complicating diseases emerge, and how can meat-eaters be healthy?
From the scientific view of point, now days, the meat we eat is all from animals from artificial feedings. During the feeding, in order to seep up growing and gaining weight, the animals are fed with many kinds of medicines, including hormones, antibiotics, and depressants. At last, these terrible medicines will be transformed into body of human being inevitably. And, if the animals are infected by pestilence, human being will be captured too.
From humane view of point, modern slaughtering methods with automatic equipments can alleviate pains of slaughtered animals quickly. However, specialists point out that many animals can be ware of their final times, and they will cry and screech with tears. This situation is very tragic, and how can people always boost that they are merciful in nature?
Now, I know that, compared with meat, vegetables contain more comprehensive nutrition. An article of master HaiTao said: 1) human being can absorb enough protein from meat or vegetables. Although dairy products, eggs and meat contain proteins, some vegetables, such as pea and bean have a very high percentage of protein; 2) many people have a wrong viewpoint that animal protein is superior to vegetable protein, however, this is not true. As we know, herbivores have strong muscles and bones, and they only eat plants; 3) elephants have giant ivories. Hartebeests and fallow deer grow giant buckhorns in several months each year. They all only eat plants, 4) vegetables and fruits contain more important elements than any cooked dish and food, since they contain both known and unknown vitamin; 5) organic sodium of green pumpkin, summer squash, and retorted pumpkin is a ideal source for the supplement of sodium in liver; 6) vegetables containing abundant kalium can provide organic alkali for pancreas and salivary glands which are main kalium storehouses in human being; 7) please note, vegetables, including onion, luobo, mooli, garlic, shallot, cress, most of spices, and saline skins of fruits, are poisonous. For example, these vegetables are planted with crops to resist pests. And, in ancient, splices are used to remove smells of rotten meats, and now days, we use refrigerators for this purpose; 8) doctors think that garlic and shallot can increase excessive excretion of gastric acid, which is the main reason of many diseases. So both are not healthy foods; 9) according to Yoga theory, the acrimony of garlic and shallot, as it can cause tears and nasal mucus of us, disturbs spirits of us terribly. It also makes us can not meditation well, so we can not arrive in higher ambit. Now, as I find, these viewpoints are all true. Let’s be vegetarian forever!
It has been one year since I became vegetarian. Celebrate myself!!
On 5th July 2005, the day I was found I had suffered from lung cancer, my family began to care about my dietary. I remembered, on 11th July 2005, I had a surgical operation. According to the advices of doctors, my family tried to improve my nutrition. When I could eat again (there was a short phase of fasting after the operation), I had one chaiba fish each day, and sometimes with an additional soft-shelled turtle. My family brought wild soft-shelled turtles from my hometown, and asked some others to bring them to my hospital in ChangSha city, and then my husband asked victualing houses to cook them for me. On the day of the first chemotherapy, i.e., 15th august 2005, I ate a WuLin duck (a kind of local snack). So bad, it deteriorated my illness, and the pain lasted for two days. My husband was scared, and immediately called my family to ChangSha city. My illness became more dangerous than before. Doctors of tumour department even didn’t know the reason for the situation. They believed that I was close to over, and told my family to prepare the final things. But my husband didn’t give up, and he ask doctors of thoracic surgery department to treat me. Doctor CHEN Jiu-ming said that my thorax was full of liquid, and it should be extracted. However, he could not find suitable rubber drainage tube in his department, tubes there were too large. Doctor QIU in tumour department solved the problem, and he got smaller ones. Doctor CHEN said it can help. when the tubes were inserted into my body, the liquid poured insurgently. Thanks to the two distinguee doctors, I was saved and became safe temporally. I was moved from tumour department to thoracic surgery department and stayed there for about a month. I lost about 10 Kg, and then went home. With the advices of doctors, mum cooked fishes for me every day. Then I had three chemotherapies.
In 2006, I learned Buddha. I heard LengYan mantra by accidence and liked it very much. I listened to it for 8 months, and I played it each time when I run my PC. Then, in June 2007, I found I was not interesting in meat again, and didn’t want to eat it. I became vegetarian. My family was afraid that I will be malnutrition without meat, and ask me to eat again. However, I couldn’t, and my doctors found I was not in malnutrition. I was better than other patients, so my family and doctor didn’t impose me again. This mouth, I felt dishes containing meat smelled badly. They sent out awfully, frowzy odours. I could not smell them, not to mention eating. Nevertheless, I found that patients in malnutrition were all meat-eaters, and no one of them was vegetarian. These death patients were all meat-eaters, too. A patient called NangZhi, my friend, is vegetarian, and lived well now. I just talked with her on the telephone.
Here I cited some words from explanation of my master about ChangShou sutras: “in our living, we should not eat snake, tiger, wolf, white elephant, beef, dog, bear, panther, and horse. We also should not eat some wild animals, including escargot, red carp, tortoise, and soft-shelled turtle. Wild soft-shelled turtle is very good at prapatti. And monopterus, it is also called eel, which is can artificially bred now. We should better don’t eat eel. Why? Eel is good at prapatti too. If you eat a prapatti eel, you will die immediately. Prapattie eel is known as gazing-moon eel. In night, it gazes at moon, so it gets the name. Gazing-moon is a kind of prapattie. In this way, eel can absorb refined energy of the universe. If you eat it, you will be poisoned to death. Don’t eat wild animals, which will put you to trouble. Well, wild animals, such as frog, escargot, we should not eat them. The best way is to be a vegetarian, for avoiding trouble. If you are converting disciple, you should be vegetarian. If not, why do you convert? If you are converting disciple and you eat meat, you still take life of other animals. Converting means that you should obey five precepts including refraining from killing, refraining from stealing, refraining from sexual misconduct, refraining from false speech, and refraining from use of intoxicants. Buddha told us, eating ten kinds of animals is equal to killing our parents and best relatives.”
My master also told us a story of himself: Cantonese dare to eat everything. When I came to GuanDong province the first time, I found a strange dish called “three squeaks”. We wanted to know what the dish is, so we ordered it. It took a very long time to see the dish. Oh, my god, the dish was live rats. The rats just were born!! They injected pitocin into pregnant rats, and make the dish using born rats. Why the dish was called “three squeaks”? When it was picked up using chopsticks, the rat squeaked. When it was dipped in sauce, it squeaked too. And when it was put into mouth, the rat squeaked the last time. We did not dare to take the dish. However, the other Cantonese were very happy, and they enjoyed it. Cantonese eat everything, so they were captured by SARS. That is retribution! When ghost king see this kind of evil deed, he will punish these bad persons using diseases. The persons will be captured by incredible diseases, and will not be cured forever!
I heard the two stories, and I didn’t want to, dared not to, and couldn’t, eat meat again. In fact, the meat we eat are all from slaughtered or fatality animals. If people eat meat from fatality animals, the fatal viruses will infect us through meat. Many people feel sick, pain and vomit after having infected meat, which are immediate effect of viruses. If the meats are from slaughtered animals, people also face a dangerous inevitable situation. That is, when animals are slaughtered, they will generate a lot of resentment and anger which make their body poisonous. How can people still be healthy after eating these meats? Experimental results illustrated that, if the exhaled gas of angry people, is collected with bottle, and then is injected to small animals, the animals will die shortly. Since human being is larger, poison in the meat can not kill human being quickly. This is a pathetic lucky of human being.
An American nutritionist, Doctor of Medicine, called Miller once said, “If we eat various kinds of meats too much, we will be valetudinarianism. There are many reasons; meat usually doesn’t contain enough nutrient elements, such as vitamins and carbohydrates; there exist many wasters and virus in bodies of animals; meat also decomposes after slaughtering. So, eating meat will cause the absorbing of superfluous waters and poisons for body of human being. Thus, many complicating diseases emerge, and how can meat-eaters be healthy?
From the scientific view of point, now days, the meat we eat is all from animals from artificial feedings. During the feeding, in order to seep up growing and gaining weight, the animals are fed with many kinds of medicines, including hormones, antibiotics, and depressants. At last, these terrible medicines will be transformed into body of human being inevitably. And, if the animals are infected by pestilence, human being will be captured too.
From humane view of point, modern slaughtering methods with automatic equipments can alleviate pains of slaughtered animals quickly. However, specialists point out that many animals can be ware of their final times, and they will cry and screech with tears. This situation is very tragic, and how can people always boost that they are merciful in nature?
Now, I know that, compared with meat, vegetables contain more comprehensive nutrition. An article of master HaiTao said: 1) human being can absorb enough protein from meat or vegetables. Although dairy products, eggs and meat contain proteins, some vegetables, such as pea and bean have a very high percentage of protein; 2) many people have a wrong viewpoint that animal protein is superior to vegetable protein, however, this is not true. As we know, herbivores have strong muscles and bones, and they only eat plants; 3) elephants have giant ivories. Hartebeests and fallow deer grow giant buckhorns in several months each year. They all only eat plants, 4) vegetables and fruits contain more important elements than any cooked dish and food, since they contain both known and unknown vitamin; 5) organic sodium of green pumpkin, summer squash, and retorted pumpkin is a ideal source for the supplement of sodium in liver; 6) vegetables containing abundant kalium can provide organic alkali for pancreas and salivary glands which are main kalium storehouses in human being; 7) please note, vegetables, including onion, luobo, mooli, garlic, shallot, cress, most of spices, and saline skins of fruits, are poisonous. For example, these vegetables are planted with crops to resist pests. And, in ancient, splices are used to remove smells of rotten meats, and now days, we use refrigerators for this purpose; 8) doctors think that garlic and shallot can increase excessive excretion of gastric acid, which is the main reason of many diseases. So both are not healthy foods; 9) according to Yoga theory, the acrimony of garlic and shallot, as it can cause tears and nasal mucus of us, disturbs spirits of us terribly. It also makes us can not meditation well, so we can not arrive in higher ambit. Now, as I find, these viewpoints are all true. Let’s be vegetarian forever!
Dec 6, 2008
The 21 Merits and Virtues from Upholding the Sutra of Longevity ---By Ling Xi (a disciple to Master Shi Zhenlin)
The Sutra of Longevity is widely circulated in Hong Kong and Taiwan, except that Buddhist practitioners there tend to think that it is mainly used to exempt women from the offenses of abortion if they have it before or to release the souls of died infants from hell. Even till today, the debate is on-going on what the Sutra is for.
My Master is different. Immediately when he reaches the Sutra of Longevity, he knows what it is for. There are 21 merits and virtues from upholding it. Almost all the problems and challenges that we human being faces can be solved by upholding and reading it. Isn’t it amazing?
Shakyamuni Buddha also had used the Sutra to protect himself. It is particularly efficacious in the following three areas:
1- To cure people of diseases. It is a cure-all. Be it serious diseases like cancer, paralysis, contagious disease, or minor problems like cold, headache, fever, or stomachache, you can get cured by reciting it. If a child of under 10 years old is sick, no matter how seriously, the disease can be cured of as long as his parents read the Sutra on Longevity for him. It is very miraculous.
Second, this is a Sutra that can be understood not only by all beings with their original consciousness: human beings, animals, insects, bacteria, but also those “non-beings”, such as mountains, water, earth, plants, metal, or even the furniture and electronic appliances in your home. It is just really this amazing. Don’t harbour any doubts!
Third, the Sutra can be our “scrubber”. By reading the Sutra on Longevity once a day, we can wife off the dust in our heart. This is what Buddha refers to as that “it is protective”. We wipe with it every day, and our heart gets purified, and our life gets better, with less challenges.
Master Zhen Lin once told us of an example. A layman practicing Buddhism in Dongyue Temple (his focus of learning is the Lotus Sutra) always met upsets of one kind of another in life. When he tried to change the light bulb hanging high up on the ceiling, the stool he stood on got broken and he then fell to the ground. It never happened after he started reading the Sutra on Longevity.
Below are the 21 merits and virtues from upholding the Sutra on Longevity:
1- If you read it on a regular basis, you can live a long life of up to 120 years.
2- The offenses committed over the past 1,000 eons shall be extinguished even you listen to even just once verse of the Sutra.
3- If you read it on a regular basis, with the merits and virtues thus accumulated, you be born in the Brahman Heaven to enjoy the heavenly blessing. You won’t end up in the hell.
4- With the merits and virtues of the Sutra, the offenses of a fetus and new-born baby shall be extinguished and diseases cured.
5- With the merits and virtues of the Sutra, you shall enjoy a decent and prosperous life.
6- People with rarely-seen diseases can be cured and recover thanks to the merits and virtues from upholding the Sutra.
7- People who have committed the five extreme offenses (patricide, matricide, abortion, slander against Buddha, creating disharmony among a Sangha assembly) and yet are able to repent and read the Sutra can be exempted from the offenses.
8- People who cultivate the Buddha Dharma cwill obtain The Buddha's Vajra, Permanent and Indestructible body for upholding the Sutra of Longevity.
9- If a lot of people uphold the Sutra in a nation, it shall be a land of peace and prosperity.
10- A corrupted official is able to sincerely repent and reform, and uphold this Sutra, he will be obtain to enjoy peace, and retain his position as a High officer and enjoy the wealth.
11- With the merits and virtues from upholding the Sutra, your home shall be kept safe from evil.
12- If you have a family or marriage problem, or as parents are worried about the family affairs of your children, just read the Sutra and with the merits and virtues from upholding it, the problem can be solved. The marriage will be a happy one.
13- Sterile people can get pregnant if they can make an effort to print and circulate the Sutra. They will get what they have vowed for, either a girl or a boy.
14- If you have problems with your business, reading the Sutra helps you solve your problems; people who have the bad habits of gambling, or are too obsessive with drinking or sex, can also be saved and quit the bad habits if they can read the Sutra.
15- Animals who have the chance to hear the Sutra, for even just one sentence, can be reborn a human or into heaven after they die.
16- People with intellectual or physical problems will not suffer from them again in their next life with the merits and virtues accumulated from the Sutra.
17- The Sutra can also be used to ferry over the souls of the dead. They can be reborn immediately a human or into heaven.
18- If an area is hit by a natural disaster such as draught, the disaster shall be relieved if people there uphold and read the Sutra of Longevity.
19- People with cancer can be cured by reading the Sutra.
20- It can keep a woman from difficult labour and ensure the safety of both the mom and the newborn.
21- If you read the Sutra on a regular basis, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva will meet you and take you to the Kingdom of Buddha after you die.
The temperature is as high as 40 degrees here. I wish there were more people reading the Sutra on Longevity now. I am sure it will keep the land prosperous, cool, and without disasters.
My Master is different. Immediately when he reaches the Sutra of Longevity, he knows what it is for. There are 21 merits and virtues from upholding it. Almost all the problems and challenges that we human being faces can be solved by upholding and reading it. Isn’t it amazing?
Shakyamuni Buddha also had used the Sutra to protect himself. It is particularly efficacious in the following three areas:
1- To cure people of diseases. It is a cure-all. Be it serious diseases like cancer, paralysis, contagious disease, or minor problems like cold, headache, fever, or stomachache, you can get cured by reciting it. If a child of under 10 years old is sick, no matter how seriously, the disease can be cured of as long as his parents read the Sutra on Longevity for him. It is very miraculous.
Second, this is a Sutra that can be understood not only by all beings with their original consciousness: human beings, animals, insects, bacteria, but also those “non-beings”, such as mountains, water, earth, plants, metal, or even the furniture and electronic appliances in your home. It is just really this amazing. Don’t harbour any doubts!
Third, the Sutra can be our “scrubber”. By reading the Sutra on Longevity once a day, we can wife off the dust in our heart. This is what Buddha refers to as that “it is protective”. We wipe with it every day, and our heart gets purified, and our life gets better, with less challenges.
Master Zhen Lin once told us of an example. A layman practicing Buddhism in Dongyue Temple (his focus of learning is the Lotus Sutra) always met upsets of one kind of another in life. When he tried to change the light bulb hanging high up on the ceiling, the stool he stood on got broken and he then fell to the ground. It never happened after he started reading the Sutra on Longevity.
Below are the 21 merits and virtues from upholding the Sutra on Longevity:
1- If you read it on a regular basis, you can live a long life of up to 120 years.
2- The offenses committed over the past 1,000 eons shall be extinguished even you listen to even just once verse of the Sutra.
3- If you read it on a regular basis, with the merits and virtues thus accumulated, you be born in the Brahman Heaven to enjoy the heavenly blessing. You won’t end up in the hell.
4- With the merits and virtues of the Sutra, the offenses of a fetus and new-born baby shall be extinguished and diseases cured.
5- With the merits and virtues of the Sutra, you shall enjoy a decent and prosperous life.
6- People with rarely-seen diseases can be cured and recover thanks to the merits and virtues from upholding the Sutra.
7- People who have committed the five extreme offenses (patricide, matricide, abortion, slander against Buddha, creating disharmony among a Sangha assembly) and yet are able to repent and read the Sutra can be exempted from the offenses.
8- People who cultivate the Buddha Dharma cwill obtain The Buddha's Vajra, Permanent and Indestructible body for upholding the Sutra of Longevity.
9- If a lot of people uphold the Sutra in a nation, it shall be a land of peace and prosperity.
10- A corrupted official is able to sincerely repent and reform, and uphold this Sutra, he will be obtain to enjoy peace, and retain his position as a High officer and enjoy the wealth.
11- With the merits and virtues from upholding the Sutra, your home shall be kept safe from evil.
12- If you have a family or marriage problem, or as parents are worried about the family affairs of your children, just read the Sutra and with the merits and virtues from upholding it, the problem can be solved. The marriage will be a happy one.
13- Sterile people can get pregnant if they can make an effort to print and circulate the Sutra. They will get what they have vowed for, either a girl or a boy.
14- If you have problems with your business, reading the Sutra helps you solve your problems; people who have the bad habits of gambling, or are too obsessive with drinking or sex, can also be saved and quit the bad habits if they can read the Sutra.
15- Animals who have the chance to hear the Sutra, for even just one sentence, can be reborn a human or into heaven after they die.
16- People with intellectual or physical problems will not suffer from them again in their next life with the merits and virtues accumulated from the Sutra.
17- The Sutra can also be used to ferry over the souls of the dead. They can be reborn immediately a human or into heaven.
18- If an area is hit by a natural disaster such as draught, the disaster shall be relieved if people there uphold and read the Sutra of Longevity.
19- People with cancer can be cured by reading the Sutra.
20- It can keep a woman from difficult labour and ensure the safety of both the mom and the newborn.
21- If you read the Sutra on a regular basis, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva will meet you and take you to the Kingdom of Buddha after you die.
The temperature is as high as 40 degrees here. I wish there were more people reading the Sutra on Longevity now. I am sure it will keep the land prosperous, cool, and without disasters.
Back to Work Tomorrow----Lingxi
June 1, 2008
I am not an outgoing person by nature. I have worked for 20 years, but dislike it more and more. I have been on sick leave over the past three years. Though almost tortured to death by cancer, I felt it a relief that I didn’t have to work. This is perhaps optimistic side of me.
Master Zhen Lin told me that I should be back to work now—he told me this when he saw me off at the railway station the other day after my visit to Dongyue Temple. I immediately felt headache when thinking of having to get back to work. “Does it have to be so soon? I still have some fear”. Master Zhen Lin told me, “Yes. You have fully recovered now. You need to get back to work.” Now in retrospect, I remember Master once said to us that when we practice Buddhism, we need to work on the areas where we are the weakest.
So, for the challenge of “getting back to work” tomorrow, I’ll just read the Sutra on the Eight-Sun Mantra for three times. Now I am blessed by Master, and protected by the Magic Treasure. I am fearless. Thank you for your bless, Master!!!
I am not an outgoing person by nature. I have worked for 20 years, but dislike it more and more. I have been on sick leave over the past three years. Though almost tortured to death by cancer, I felt it a relief that I didn’t have to work. This is perhaps optimistic side of me.
Master Zhen Lin told me that I should be back to work now—he told me this when he saw me off at the railway station the other day after my visit to Dongyue Temple. I immediately felt headache when thinking of having to get back to work. “Does it have to be so soon? I still have some fear”. Master Zhen Lin told me, “Yes. You have fully recovered now. You need to get back to work.” Now in retrospect, I remember Master once said to us that when we practice Buddhism, we need to work on the areas where we are the weakest.
So, for the challenge of “getting back to work” tomorrow, I’ll just read the Sutra on the Eight-Sun Mantra for three times. Now I am blessed by Master, and protected by the Magic Treasure. I am fearless. Thank you for your bless, Master!!!
I Have Fully Recovered----Lingxi
May 31, 2008
I have fully recovered. A dream of three years has been realized. It is time for sweet after all the sweat.
It had been my wish to get recovered before April 9th, and I only got disappointed one time after the other. Finally, it is all over. I can now rid myself of the nightmare. I can say proudly and without fear: I have fully recovered!!!
There are altogether 235 stone steps leading from the House of Four Heaven Kings up to the Main Hall of Dongyue Temple. I can now walk up the steps in one breath. On May 24th, Master Zhen Lin had a walk with Ling Yue, Zhi Cai, Zhi Guang, Ling Qiao, Ling Xu, Zhi Xin, Ling Shan, Ling Bai, and me, all the way from the House of Great Compassion up to Mouth of Mandarin Duck and then back again. It took us 2 and a half hours and I was following Master along the way without feeling tired, nor much sweating. Zhi Guang and Zhi Cai said to me, “Ling Xi, you are more energetic than us. You certainly have fully recovered.” Master Zhen Lin followed and said, “ who says she is sick?” I feel like my left lung is back to my body again. When I went back home today, I again could walk up to the six floor with one breath (my flat is on the sixth floor).
Wow! I have not only fully recovered, but my lung is back with me again.
I want to say Master saved my life, but he doesn’t allow me to say so. The fact is that he indeed has saved my life, and my family.
I have fully recovered. A dream of three years has been realized. It is time for sweet after all the sweat.
It had been my wish to get recovered before April 9th, and I only got disappointed one time after the other. Finally, it is all over. I can now rid myself of the nightmare. I can say proudly and without fear: I have fully recovered!!!
There are altogether 235 stone steps leading from the House of Four Heaven Kings up to the Main Hall of Dongyue Temple. I can now walk up the steps in one breath. On May 24th, Master Zhen Lin had a walk with Ling Yue, Zhi Cai, Zhi Guang, Ling Qiao, Ling Xu, Zhi Xin, Ling Shan, Ling Bai, and me, all the way from the House of Great Compassion up to Mouth of Mandarin Duck and then back again. It took us 2 and a half hours and I was following Master along the way without feeling tired, nor much sweating. Zhi Guang and Zhi Cai said to me, “Ling Xi, you are more energetic than us. You certainly have fully recovered.” Master Zhen Lin followed and said, “ who says she is sick?” I feel like my left lung is back to my body again. When I went back home today, I again could walk up to the six floor with one breath (my flat is on the sixth floor).
Wow! I have not only fully recovered, but my lung is back with me again.
I want to say Master saved my life, but he doesn’t allow me to say so. The fact is that he indeed has saved my life, and my family.
Faith is the Key:On How to Get Cured by Reading the Sutra on Longevity – By Ling Xi
June 4, 2008
When I first decided to read the Sutra on Longevity, Master Zhen Lin had already warned me that that would be a long process in which my condition might get worse for sometime. It turned out to be true. One week after I started reading the Sutra, I felt very bad as if it had become more serious. Sometimes I felt so painful that I forgot what Master had warned me. I asked him whether I had read it in the wrong way, or otherwise how come I felt so uncomfortable. Master Zhen Lin told me, with great patience, that I was doing it in the right way except that it took time. Again, it turned out to be true. I placed my focus on reading the Sutra and gradually it got better. I felt ashamed of myself for the suspicion. It never happened again, though, and nothing could shake my faith. My mind was all focused on reading the Sutra on Longevity. I would do it for three months first and wouldn’t care what’s going to happen in between that three months. Gradually and before I knew it, I could feel Master’s power in me and I was recovering very quickly. Actually, I also came to realize that the truth was from the moment when I met Master Zhen Lin, the moment when I put my faith in him and the Sutra, I had already recovered. Just as what Master said, “no, you were not sick. Never!”
That is just how amazing it is to cure ourselves of diseases by practicing Buddhism!!!
No wonder Master tells us that it is a piece of cake to get cured by practicing Buddhism. Even you are headless, it will grow again—as long as you put real faith in it, and practice it exactly as what Master has told you to do. Faith is the key! There is nothing that Buddhism cannot make. You can save yourself with it, and then share your experience with others. By doing so you shall be like a fish swimming freely in water. Buddha says “mercy on all beings”. With the bless of Buddha, Bodhisattva and empowered masters, we are always immersed in love and bathed in sunshine. It is like a mirror. To receive their bless and love, however, we need first to wipe off the dust on the mirror. The dust is like the suspicion we have. The mirror shines once there is sunlight on it, and reflects the light. Light wipes of darkness which is like the diseases and hardship we face. This is the truth. As long as we believe in it, it absorbs light fast and we get cured fast.
Two points to share with you: 1- to sit cross-legged when reading the Sutra. Master says doing so helps keep us focused. When I first did so, I could do it for only 5 pages. Now 50 pages. 2-to read the mantras contained in the Sutra of Longevity whenever I get the time. Now I can read it without I myself realizing it. This helps to pure our heart.
When I first decided to read the Sutra on Longevity, Master Zhen Lin had already warned me that that would be a long process in which my condition might get worse for sometime. It turned out to be true. One week after I started reading the Sutra, I felt very bad as if it had become more serious. Sometimes I felt so painful that I forgot what Master had warned me. I asked him whether I had read it in the wrong way, or otherwise how come I felt so uncomfortable. Master Zhen Lin told me, with great patience, that I was doing it in the right way except that it took time. Again, it turned out to be true. I placed my focus on reading the Sutra and gradually it got better. I felt ashamed of myself for the suspicion. It never happened again, though, and nothing could shake my faith. My mind was all focused on reading the Sutra on Longevity. I would do it for three months first and wouldn’t care what’s going to happen in between that three months. Gradually and before I knew it, I could feel Master’s power in me and I was recovering very quickly. Actually, I also came to realize that the truth was from the moment when I met Master Zhen Lin, the moment when I put my faith in him and the Sutra, I had already recovered. Just as what Master said, “no, you were not sick. Never!”
That is just how amazing it is to cure ourselves of diseases by practicing Buddhism!!!
No wonder Master tells us that it is a piece of cake to get cured by practicing Buddhism. Even you are headless, it will grow again—as long as you put real faith in it, and practice it exactly as what Master has told you to do. Faith is the key! There is nothing that Buddhism cannot make. You can save yourself with it, and then share your experience with others. By doing so you shall be like a fish swimming freely in water. Buddha says “mercy on all beings”. With the bless of Buddha, Bodhisattva and empowered masters, we are always immersed in love and bathed in sunshine. It is like a mirror. To receive their bless and love, however, we need first to wipe off the dust on the mirror. The dust is like the suspicion we have. The mirror shines once there is sunlight on it, and reflects the light. Light wipes of darkness which is like the diseases and hardship we face. This is the truth. As long as we believe in it, it absorbs light fast and we get cured fast.
Two points to share with you: 1- to sit cross-legged when reading the Sutra. Master says doing so helps keep us focused. When I first did so, I could do it for only 5 pages. Now 50 pages. 2-to read the mantras contained in the Sutra of Longevity whenever I get the time. Now I can read it without I myself realizing it. This helps to pure our heart.
Dec 5, 2008
How did I get to study the Sutra on Longevity -- By Ling Xi
April 15, 2008
I took a long sick leave after I fell ill. When at home, I would browse the internet from time to time. (There is no cable TV connection in my home. I cut it off after my child was born. I know how harmful TV can be to children. It has been seven years now and my child does not like watching TV either). I liked talking on line to people who were also sick like me. I then launched my Sina blog, and joined a Cancer Patient Forum. Some of them were Buddhist believers. Perhaps it was all predestined. I just accepted and believed what they told me. I then got linked to many Buddhist websites through Baidu.com. When alone at home, I would read the Great Dharani, the Sutra of Heart, the Diamond Sutra, etc. I also started reading the Shurangama Mantra. It was too long for me, so I later chose to listen to it—I did it whenever I went online. Gradually, I went vegetarian before I knew it. That was just how amazing it was! I am still very proud of the choice to stay vegetarian.
I also applied for an OICQ account. Someone suggested to me that I visit the website of Shanxixiaoyuan (http://www.shxxy.cn/.) I am really grateful to this friend. I read through the website and started to read The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows. I also enjoyed listening to lectures by Master Chin Kung. The more I read it, the more I enjoyed it, and the more I came to feel guilty for the sins I had committed.
Nevertheless, my condition continued to worsen. I received chemo-therapy every year, and it simply got worse and worse. I had had chemo-therapy for ten times in three years and the more I had it, the more despaired I felt. The torturing pain from receiving chemo-therapy got more and more unbearable for me. Worse, I felt hopeless about future. Often I just wanted to die. I even prayed to Buddha: can you just end my life now and take me to your world. Nevertheless, no matter how sick I was, I never lost faith in Buddha. I know I could only have been worse without learning Buddhism.
I keep visiting http://www.shxxy.cn/, reading The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows, and praying to Buddha (more than ever). Later I reached the website of Lion http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/manjulion. She is from Hong Kong, also a Buddhist practitioner, and can see many things that ordinary people don’t. She practices Buddhism from a great master, and is followed by a big-eyed rooster with superpower to protect her. I asked her of many questions, and she always answered me patiently. She asked me to keep reading The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows, and keep praying to Buddha. She also told me it was important to do “life liberation”, and do it everyday, regardless of the number. When I get the time, I also read the Mantra of the Great Peahen King. By the way, I did do “life liberation” everyday, and it certainly felt good.
At that time I didn’t want to receive chemo-therapy anymore because it was not effective on me. I wanted to go to practice Buddhist meditation very much. It was only upon the advice of Lion that I went back to the hospital for another round of chemo-therapy while still kept doing “life liberation” at the same time.
I felt much better from this round. My face got swollen only on the 8th day. In previous treatments, my face went swollen on the third day. The doctors had no idea of what to do about it and just asked me to believe in miracle. (My goodness, what the doctors were saying was driving me crazy!). I felt very bad, because my family didn’t believe in Buddhism, and simply kept urging me to receive more chemo-therapy.
By them, I was reading mostly the articles published at http://www.shxxy.cn/, http://www.xuanhuafb.com/, http://www.bskk.com/, and the videos with lectures by Master Chin-Kung. I also often visited the blog of Lion(http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/manjulion), and Firing Red Lotus (http://blog.sina.com.cn/xuzuzhi), etc. They are also Buddhist practitioners, and from their articles I can tell they are people of great integrity.
I was surfing the Internet as usual when I found the website of Master Zhen Lin (http://blog.sina.com.cn/lz271009127). I learnt from the blog articles that there are lectures on Buddhist Sutra at a Sina UC forum. I applied for a UC account and joined.
I couldn’t quit once I was in the room. Master Zhen Lin is just great! Every word he said was like exactly prepared for me. There are lectures from 8 am to midnight, sometimes live broadcast by Master Zhen Lin, others recorded videos.
I was too shy to say or ask anything at the beginning. I just kept listening. The administrators of the Forum would greet me first. They were really nice people. Gradually I got bolder. Sister Ling Zhi kept encouraging me to talk. I then told her my situation. I didn’t have the courage to tell Master Zhen Lin for fear that he might be too busy. Still, encouraged by Sister Ling Zhi, I talked to Master.
Master Zhen Lin is really nice and totally different from what I had thought. When he started talking to me (by typing), I felt numb all over, especially my head. It was quite amazing. Master talked to me very patiently. The more I listened, the more touched I was. I was reminded of all the torture I had suffered from all these years and I could not help crying before the computer.
I went to look for Master the second day again. I told him of how I felt after listening to his lectures. All the brothers and sisters showed great care to me, and kept encouraging me. I felt as warm as being at home.
After listening to Master Zhen Lin’s lectures for a few days and talked to him several times, and having talked to my dear brothers and sisters, I developed a strong wish: I want to be a disciple of Master Zhen Lin.
Finally, I mustered up courage, and told Master Zhen Lin of my wish. Master asked: “Are you serious? Do you really want to be a Buddhist practitioner, and be my disciple?”
“Yes!”, I answered firmly.
Master Zhen Lin accepted me as his disciple, and told me of why I got sick. He asked me to read the Sutra on Longevity, and told me that it can help me recover fully.
I have now started reading the Sutra. Most of the time I listen to the lectures by Master at Sina UC and read it.
Now my face is no longer swollen, and I am feeling better and better day by day. I am so happy!
I took a long sick leave after I fell ill. When at home, I would browse the internet from time to time. (There is no cable TV connection in my home. I cut it off after my child was born. I know how harmful TV can be to children. It has been seven years now and my child does not like watching TV either). I liked talking on line to people who were also sick like me. I then launched my Sina blog, and joined a Cancer Patient Forum. Some of them were Buddhist believers. Perhaps it was all predestined. I just accepted and believed what they told me. I then got linked to many Buddhist websites through Baidu.com. When alone at home, I would read the Great Dharani, the Sutra of Heart, the Diamond Sutra, etc. I also started reading the Shurangama Mantra. It was too long for me, so I later chose to listen to it—I did it whenever I went online. Gradually, I went vegetarian before I knew it. That was just how amazing it was! I am still very proud of the choice to stay vegetarian.
I also applied for an OICQ account. Someone suggested to me that I visit the website of Shanxixiaoyuan (http://www.shxxy.cn/.) I am really grateful to this friend. I read through the website and started to read The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows. I also enjoyed listening to lectures by Master Chin Kung. The more I read it, the more I enjoyed it, and the more I came to feel guilty for the sins I had committed.
Nevertheless, my condition continued to worsen. I received chemo-therapy every year, and it simply got worse and worse. I had had chemo-therapy for ten times in three years and the more I had it, the more despaired I felt. The torturing pain from receiving chemo-therapy got more and more unbearable for me. Worse, I felt hopeless about future. Often I just wanted to die. I even prayed to Buddha: can you just end my life now and take me to your world. Nevertheless, no matter how sick I was, I never lost faith in Buddha. I know I could only have been worse without learning Buddhism.
I keep visiting http://www.shxxy.cn/, reading The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows, and praying to Buddha (more than ever). Later I reached the website of Lion http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/manjulion. She is from Hong Kong, also a Buddhist practitioner, and can see many things that ordinary people don’t. She practices Buddhism from a great master, and is followed by a big-eyed rooster with superpower to protect her. I asked her of many questions, and she always answered me patiently. She asked me to keep reading The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows, and keep praying to Buddha. She also told me it was important to do “life liberation”, and do it everyday, regardless of the number. When I get the time, I also read the Mantra of the Great Peahen King. By the way, I did do “life liberation” everyday, and it certainly felt good.
At that time I didn’t want to receive chemo-therapy anymore because it was not effective on me. I wanted to go to practice Buddhist meditation very much. It was only upon the advice of Lion that I went back to the hospital for another round of chemo-therapy while still kept doing “life liberation” at the same time.
I felt much better from this round. My face got swollen only on the 8th day. In previous treatments, my face went swollen on the third day. The doctors had no idea of what to do about it and just asked me to believe in miracle. (My goodness, what the doctors were saying was driving me crazy!). I felt very bad, because my family didn’t believe in Buddhism, and simply kept urging me to receive more chemo-therapy.
By them, I was reading mostly the articles published at http://www.shxxy.cn/, http://www.xuanhuafb.com/, http://www.bskk.com/, and the videos with lectures by Master Chin-Kung. I also often visited the blog of Lion(http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/manjulion), and Firing Red Lotus (http://blog.sina.com.cn/xuzuzhi), etc. They are also Buddhist practitioners, and from their articles I can tell they are people of great integrity.
I was surfing the Internet as usual when I found the website of Master Zhen Lin (http://blog.sina.com.cn/lz271009127). I learnt from the blog articles that there are lectures on Buddhist Sutra at a Sina UC forum. I applied for a UC account and joined.
I couldn’t quit once I was in the room. Master Zhen Lin is just great! Every word he said was like exactly prepared for me. There are lectures from 8 am to midnight, sometimes live broadcast by Master Zhen Lin, others recorded videos.
I was too shy to say or ask anything at the beginning. I just kept listening. The administrators of the Forum would greet me first. They were really nice people. Gradually I got bolder. Sister Ling Zhi kept encouraging me to talk. I then told her my situation. I didn’t have the courage to tell Master Zhen Lin for fear that he might be too busy. Still, encouraged by Sister Ling Zhi, I talked to Master.
Master Zhen Lin is really nice and totally different from what I had thought. When he started talking to me (by typing), I felt numb all over, especially my head. It was quite amazing. Master talked to me very patiently. The more I listened, the more touched I was. I was reminded of all the torture I had suffered from all these years and I could not help crying before the computer.
I went to look for Master the second day again. I told him of how I felt after listening to his lectures. All the brothers and sisters showed great care to me, and kept encouraging me. I felt as warm as being at home.
After listening to Master Zhen Lin’s lectures for a few days and talked to him several times, and having talked to my dear brothers and sisters, I developed a strong wish: I want to be a disciple of Master Zhen Lin.
Finally, I mustered up courage, and told Master Zhen Lin of my wish. Master asked: “Are you serious? Do you really want to be a Buddhist practitioner, and be my disciple?”
“Yes!”, I answered firmly.
Master Zhen Lin accepted me as his disciple, and told me of why I got sick. He asked me to read the Sutra on Longevity, and told me that it can help me recover fully.
I have now started reading the Sutra. Most of the time I listen to the lectures by Master at Sina UC and read it.
Now my face is no longer swollen, and I am feeling better and better day by day. I am so happy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
