How should a Buddhist practitioner approach the Scientific Concept of Development--Master Zhenlin
To practice the scientific concept of development requires that we stay practical, down-to-earth, and hold on to the principle of seeking truth from facts. It requires that we refrain from formalism but should focus on finding the facts through study and investigation while at the same time taking into consideration our own capability and nature of the work. It requires that we stay in compliance with the law that governs how everything evolves, while making our due efforts towards the goals without getting deviated from the law.
A Buddhist practitioner should, first of all, keep reflecting inwardly, and find out the weaknesses in his personality and characters. He should cultivate with a singular focus, and make a conscious effort to control his mind and attitude so that weaknesses won’t create afflictions for him in life, work, and cultivation.
Second, he should refrain from emulating others out of vanity or jealousy, but should have a clear understanding about himself. Be practical, and keep cultivating in a step-by-step manner. Do not get impatient or anxious to achieve something. Such a negative attitude can breed distress.
Last but not least, undertake charitable actions according to his capability. He shall get a better understanding of “practicing giving and giving up” from the charitable deeds!
May 7, 2009
May 5, 2009
Verse for Opening a Sutra --with commentary by Master Zhenlin
Verse for Opening a Sutra --with commentary by Master Zhenlin
The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma,
Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons,
I now see and hera it, receive and uphold it,
And I vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning.
You must have recited before.. Most of you present at the Dharma Assembly today have done so.
Who wrote the four-line verse? It was written by Wu Zetian, the Empress in Tang Dynasty. The Verse is so well-written, so wonderful, so sublime and so classic that it is used by all of us. We need to cherish the same sincerity as she did when reciting it, though. Don’t just recite it without using the mind, or as is described in the saying, “the little monk who simply mumbles the prayers without showing his sincerity.” We won’t evoke any response if without sincerity.
“The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma”: The Buddhist sutra is beyond comparison. Nothing surpasses it! It is so supreme! So profound! So helpful to us! This is what the line means.
“wonderful Dharma”: It is very subtle. You can’t even feel just exactly how wondeful it is. It can be applied in every aspect of our life! It is so useful! Inexpressibly wondeful! You need to express the feelings when reciting it!
“Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons”:
That you are able to listen to Dharma talks in the present life does not mean you get to hear it again in the next life. If you do not apply good efforts to cultivating the Buddha Dharma, you will not be reborn a human! Perhaps you’d fall into the Avici Hell and stay there fore one thousand eons, which equals to one thousand lives, and get reborn as a dog, cat, earthworm, or maggot…Will you still get the chance to hear Dharma talks? You won’t! “in hundreds of millions of eons”: it is very rare that we encounter the Buddha Dharma in a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand lives!
“I now see and hera it, receive and uphold it”:
So lucky that we get born as humans in the present life and get to hear the Dharma today! It is so great! What’s next since we are now able to hear it, receive and uphold it?
“And I vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning”:
I wish I could understand truly what the Buddha has said. It is rather difficult to understand the Buddhist scriptures. Why are there so few masters explaining the scriptures nowadays? Most masters do not understand the true meaning. This is so because there is in fact nothing to be said of the Buddha Dharma. Shakyamuni Buddha expounded it by drawing analogies. If we study it literally, we only get to know the literal meanings. We don’t get the truth behind the lines. That’s why we want to vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning.
Take the offerings of incense sticks for example. Many of you are told that you may burn five incense sticks before the Buddha image. In fact, it is not the incense sticks that matter but rather the incense in your heart. To be specific, they represent precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and liberation of wisdom. If you don’t get the point, you not only pollute the air, but will never reach Buddhahood. Nevertheless, I don’t mean it is useless to offer incense sticks. People do accumulate merits and virtues doing so. By the time they fall into the ghost realm, the merits and virtues shall make it easier for them.
The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma,
Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons,
I now see and hera it, receive and uphold it,
And I vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning.
You must have recited before.. Most of you present at the Dharma Assembly today have done so.
Who wrote the four-line verse? It was written by Wu Zetian, the Empress in Tang Dynasty. The Verse is so well-written, so wonderful, so sublime and so classic that it is used by all of us. We need to cherish the same sincerity as she did when reciting it, though. Don’t just recite it without using the mind, or as is described in the saying, “the little monk who simply mumbles the prayers without showing his sincerity.” We won’t evoke any response if without sincerity.
“The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma”: The Buddhist sutra is beyond comparison. Nothing surpasses it! It is so supreme! So profound! So helpful to us! This is what the line means.
“wonderful Dharma”: It is very subtle. You can’t even feel just exactly how wondeful it is. It can be applied in every aspect of our life! It is so useful! Inexpressibly wondeful! You need to express the feelings when reciting it!
“Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons”:
That you are able to listen to Dharma talks in the present life does not mean you get to hear it again in the next life. If you do not apply good efforts to cultivating the Buddha Dharma, you will not be reborn a human! Perhaps you’d fall into the Avici Hell and stay there fore one thousand eons, which equals to one thousand lives, and get reborn as a dog, cat, earthworm, or maggot…Will you still get the chance to hear Dharma talks? You won’t! “in hundreds of millions of eons”: it is very rare that we encounter the Buddha Dharma in a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand lives!
“I now see and hera it, receive and uphold it”:
So lucky that we get born as humans in the present life and get to hear the Dharma today! It is so great! What’s next since we are now able to hear it, receive and uphold it?
“And I vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning”:
I wish I could understand truly what the Buddha has said. It is rather difficult to understand the Buddhist scriptures. Why are there so few masters explaining the scriptures nowadays? Most masters do not understand the true meaning. This is so because there is in fact nothing to be said of the Buddha Dharma. Shakyamuni Buddha expounded it by drawing analogies. If we study it literally, we only get to know the literal meanings. We don’t get the truth behind the lines. That’s why we want to vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning.
Take the offerings of incense sticks for example. Many of you are told that you may burn five incense sticks before the Buddha image. In fact, it is not the incense sticks that matter but rather the incense in your heart. To be specific, they represent precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and liberation of wisdom. If you don’t get the point, you not only pollute the air, but will never reach Buddhahood. Nevertheless, I don’t mean it is useless to offer incense sticks. People do accumulate merits and virtues doing so. By the time they fall into the ghost realm, the merits and virtues shall make it easier for them.
The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma,
Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons,
I now see and hera it, receive and uphold it,
And I vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning.
You must have recited before.. Most of you present at the Dharma Assembly today have done so.
Who wrote the four-line verse? It was written by Wu Zetian, the Empress in Tang Dynasty. The Verse is so well-written, so wonderful, so sublime and so classic that it is used by all of us. We need to cherish the same sincerity as she did when reciting it, though. Don’t just recite it without using the mind, or as is described in the saying, “the little monk who simply mumbles the prayers without showing his sincerity.” We won’t evoke any response if without sincerity.
“The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma”: The Buddhist sutra is beyond comparison. Nothing surpasses it! It is so supreme! So profound! So helpful to us! This is what the line means.
“wonderful Dharma”: It is very subtle. You can’t even feel just exactly how wondeful it is. It can be applied in every aspect of our life! It is so useful! Inexpressibly wondeful! You need to express the feelings when reciting it!
“Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons”:
That you are able to listen to Dharma talks in the present life does not mean you get to hear it again in the next life. If you do not apply good efforts to cultivating the Buddha Dharma, you will not be reborn a human! Perhaps you’d fall into the Avici Hell and stay there fore one thousand eons, which equals to one thousand lives, and get reborn as a dog, cat, earthworm, or maggot…Will you still get the chance to hear Dharma talks? You won’t! “in hundreds of millions of eons”: it is very rare that we encounter the Buddha Dharma in a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand lives!
“I now see and hera it, receive and uphold it”:
So lucky that we get born as humans in the present life and get to hear the Dharma today! It is so great! What’s next since we are now able to hear it, receive and uphold it?
“And I vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning”:
I wish I could understand truly what the Buddha has said. It is rather difficult to understand the Buddhist scriptures. Why are there so few masters explaining the scriptures nowadays? Most masters do not understand the true meaning. This is so because there is in fact nothing to be said of the Buddha Dharma. Shakyamuni Buddha expounded it by drawing analogies. If we study it literally, we only get to know the literal meanings. We don’t get the truth behind the lines. That’s why we want to vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning.
Take the offerings of incense sticks for example. Many of you are told that you may burn five incense sticks before the Buddha image. In fact, it is not the incense sticks that matter but rather the incense in your heart. To be specific, they represent precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and liberation of wisdom. If you don’t get the point, you not only pollute the air, but will never reach Buddhahood. Nevertheless, I don’t mean it is useless to offer incense sticks. People do accumulate merits and virtues doing so. By the time they fall into the ghost realm, the merits and virtues shall make it easier for them.
The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma,
Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons,
I now see and hera it, receive and uphold it,
And I vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning.
You must have recited before.. Most of you present at the Dharma Assembly today have done so.
Who wrote the four-line verse? It was written by Wu Zetian, the Empress in Tang Dynasty. The Verse is so well-written, so wonderful, so sublime and so classic that it is used by all of us. We need to cherish the same sincerity as she did when reciting it, though. Don’t just recite it without using the mind, or as is described in the saying, “the little monk who simply mumbles the prayers without showing his sincerity.” We won’t evoke any response if without sincerity.
“The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma”: The Buddhist sutra is beyond comparison. Nothing surpasses it! It is so supreme! So profound! So helpful to us! This is what the line means.
“wonderful Dharma”: It is very subtle. You can’t even feel just exactly how wondeful it is. It can be applied in every aspect of our life! It is so useful! Inexpressibly wondeful! You need to express the feelings when reciting it!
“Is difficult to encounter in hundreds of millions of eons”:
That you are able to listen to Dharma talks in the present life does not mean you get to hear it again in the next life. If you do not apply good efforts to cultivating the Buddha Dharma, you will not be reborn a human! Perhaps you’d fall into the Avici Hell and stay there fore one thousand eons, which equals to one thousand lives, and get reborn as a dog, cat, earthworm, or maggot…Will you still get the chance to hear Dharma talks? You won’t! “in hundreds of millions of eons”: it is very rare that we encounter the Buddha Dharma in a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand lives!
“I now see and hera it, receive and uphold it”:
So lucky that we get born as humans in the present life and get to hear the Dharma today! It is so great! What’s next since we are now able to hear it, receive and uphold it?
“And I vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning”:
I wish I could understand truly what the Buddha has said. It is rather difficult to understand the Buddhist scriptures. Why are there so few masters explaining the scriptures nowadays? Most masters do not understand the true meaning. This is so because there is in fact nothing to be said of the Buddha Dharma. Shakyamuni Buddha expounded it by drawing analogies. If we study it literally, we only get to know the literal meanings. We don’t get the truth behind the lines. That’s why we want to vow to fathom the Tathagata’s true meaning.
Take the offerings of incense sticks for example. Many of you are told that you may burn five incense sticks before the Buddha image. In fact, it is not the incense sticks that matter but rather the incense in your heart. To be specific, they represent precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and liberation of wisdom. If you don’t get the point, you not only pollute the air, but will never reach Buddhahood. Nevertheless, I don’t mean it is useless to offer incense sticks. People do accumulate merits and virtues doing so. By the time they fall into the ghost realm, the merits and virtues shall make it easier for them.
May 2, 2009
On Kowtown and 32 Marks --Master Zhenlin
Casting the five limbs to the earth: to put down the five skandhas, which results in the emptiness of forms, feelings, cognition, formation, and consciousness.
Three kowtows: to put down the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance.
One kowtow: to cast away the mind of arrogance by touching one’s forehead on the ground.
Placing the palms together: to achieve One by integrating Ying and Yang. Single-mindfulness brings out the Bodhi mind.
People are attached to the mark. They imitate others without knowing the meanings behind it. That is why many have kowtowed to the extent of hurting their head and still yet to attain enlightenment. They do accumulate merits and virtues by doing so, though.
Standing with one palm erect: to hold on to single-mindfulness and bring forth the Bodhi resolve.
Christian rituals also speak the Dharma. They say Amen and make the sign of cross to remind people to keep their mind at peace and put it down.
The 32 marks: the 32 marks do not manifest any specific physical features. Whoever endowed with the 32 marks is always liked, admired, and revered.
Only the Buddha and the Wheel-turning King are endowed with the 32 marks. They come to the secular world to rescue the beings from suffering.
When a Buddha is born in the secular world, He manifests as a left-home person and cuts off from the five desires.
The Wheel-turning King comes to the world not as a left-home but a householder cultivator who does not cut off the five desires in appearance.
People with good roots are filled with joy once they encounter the Buddha Dharma. People without the roots are not.
Three kowtows: to put down the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance.
One kowtow: to cast away the mind of arrogance by touching one’s forehead on the ground.
Placing the palms together: to achieve One by integrating Ying and Yang. Single-mindfulness brings out the Bodhi mind.
People are attached to the mark. They imitate others without knowing the meanings behind it. That is why many have kowtowed to the extent of hurting their head and still yet to attain enlightenment. They do accumulate merits and virtues by doing so, though.
Standing with one palm erect: to hold on to single-mindfulness and bring forth the Bodhi resolve.
Christian rituals also speak the Dharma. They say Amen and make the sign of cross to remind people to keep their mind at peace and put it down.
The 32 marks: the 32 marks do not manifest any specific physical features. Whoever endowed with the 32 marks is always liked, admired, and revered.
Only the Buddha and the Wheel-turning King are endowed with the 32 marks. They come to the secular world to rescue the beings from suffering.
When a Buddha is born in the secular world, He manifests as a left-home person and cuts off from the five desires.
The Wheel-turning King comes to the world not as a left-home but a householder cultivator who does not cut off the five desires in appearance.
People with good roots are filled with joy once they encounter the Buddha Dharma. People without the roots are not.
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