Altering Our Karmic Course through Purifying the Mind and Doing Good
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人間菩提--淨心行善轉業因
Living in this world we must strive to be someone who can go to the aid of the suffering.
(and transform their lives for the better)
That's what it means to be a living bodhisattva.
(We learn to be bodhisattvas)because there are suffering beings and so, we willingly dedicate ourselves to serving those living in hardship and do so without asking anything in return.
These are our principles.
Helping people who are suffering is the vehicle or means by which we
(grow on the Buddhist path)
Doesn't the Diamond Sutra say that the Dharma is like a raft?
What it means is that the Dharma is like a raft that carries people across the river from the shore of mundane beings to the other shore of the enlightened.
Between the two shores lies a river of affliction and delusion.
It is a rapid current.
It symbolizes living beings' raging afflictions.
It is like a "spiritual tsunami"
So, when people give rise to ignorance, their inner state is in upheaval, like a tsunami.
So, when such rapid currents of affliction are surging in our minds how can we sail across the river to reach the other shore?
We must use the Dharma.
The Dharma is like the raft.
With the raft, we'll be able to cross the river and reach the other shore safely.
That other shore is the state of inner peace and tranquility, where the mind is in a state of utter purity and peace.
That other shore we aspire to is the condition of being in this state of purity and peace always free from the disturbance of afflictions.
A mind in absolute purity and tranquility and which resides in great selfless vows---
That is the inner state we should always be grounded in.
For us to never fall out of this state no matter what circumstances we encounter,
We will need to train our mind at all times.
We also need to go into the community.
(to relieve suffering)--- that is the Tzu Chi path.
That is our method for spiritual practice.
It is the "vehicle" by which we grow spiritually because everyone is a living sutra that reveals truths to us as everyone suffers a different kind of hardship.
We all know that when we leave this Earth, there is nothing we can take with us except the karma we've created.
When we were born to this Earth none of us brought a single thing with us except for one thing which is the karma we have created and accumulated over our past lives.
It wasn't up to us which family we'd be born to and neither was it up to us who our parents would be.
None of this was up to us because it is a result of the karma we created and the affinities we formed with others.
Who we end up having as parents is based on the karmic affinities we had formed and our fate in this life is a consequence of the karma we created in our past lives.
Coming into this world, all is set by our karma.
It's not up to us to choose.
So, the Buddha came to our world to help us gain awareness of the karmic law of cause and effect---
If we understand this law, we will come to recognize how causes and conditions come together to produce effects and retribution and realize that any suffering we experience is the "effect" of "causes" we created in past lives.
Some people ask why we should help the suffering when their hardship is a result of their own karmic retribution.
But every one of us came to this world carrying karma we had created.
Throughout time, we have accumulated a lot of karma be it good or bad karma.
If we're not aware of the ignorance in our mind and give rise to afflictions we'll be doing bad things at every moment and creating bad karma.
As a result, we continue to build up bad karma over the course of time.
If we don't have the affinity to meet good people then we wouldn't have a chance to turn back for the whole of our lives and we'd continue to accumulate more and more bad karma with the passing of time and it'd be hard to say how our lives would pan out in the future.
However, it is alright to have made a mistake in one's life.
What's to fear is that we don't rectify our wrong ways.
If we have the chance to meet good, wholesome people, then we can begin to change the course of our karma.
By coming across good people and following their example in doing good deeds
it'd be the starting point to sowing blessings and creating good karma.
So, by sowing blessings among mankind they bring meaning and value to their lives.
The Buddha often says that the essence of the mind, the Buddha and all beings are one and the same.
But because living beings gave rise to deluded thoughts they created impurities in this world.
As a result of the bad karma created collectively disasters occur frequently.
But, the Buddha also says that all living beings have the same pure untainted nature as the Buddha's
If everyone's mind is pure and clean the world will be a pureland.
So, be it a world filled with impurities or a pureland of living bodhisattvas all is created by the mind alone.
When the karma we've created in the past comes to fruition, and we suffer we must accept it willingly.
When we accept it without afflictions (we won't create new bad karma), and our store of bad karma will run out on its own.
In this way, with each passing day our store of bad karma diminishes.
Although we may be suffering from many troubles every day once we open up our hearts to accept what is facing us.
(then our suffering will pass) and our bad karma will peter out.
Why is it that we're continuously being affected by disasters arising form the imbalance of the Four Elements?
It's all caused by the human mind.
That's why the aim of all religions, not only Buddhism is to purify people's hearts and minds and guide people to give rise to love for others.
Greed, hatred, and ignorance have taken over our minds causing the water of Dharma nourishing our mind to gradually dry up.
This is just like how we often remind people to protect our water sources & not let them dry up.
(As people cannot live without water,) our wisdom-life cannot survive without the water of Dharma.
If the water of Dharma dries up, the field of our mind would become arid.
So, Buddhist teachings serve as a stream of purity as well as a form of education that can save people's hearts and minds.
Only with the water of Dharma can we revitalize our arid inner field and make it flourish.
Only when the love within us flourishes can the world be prosperous and at peace.
So, to better the world we live in, we must practice the Four Immeasurables carry out the Six Paramitas and encourage people to come together to create good collective karma.
While we're helping the suffering people, we should learn from everyone's experiences and gain insight and wisdom from it.
May everyone work with hearts united to create a pureland in this world.
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07:45 11:45 15:18 23:00
重播 週日
02:45 07:45 11:45 23:00
四大不調源三毒
心靈海嘯掀無明
勤行六度集福緣
法水甘霖潤蒼生
2008/11/26
Regards, Jenny
Today's Jing Si Aphorisms: We must learn to use our wisdom and lead a well-grounded life. Always reflect on issues objectively and do not blindly get caught up in hearsay.
今日靜思語:要培養智慧, 踏實地做人做事, 不能盲目聽信傳聞而不重思考
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