Today is Guanyin Bodhisattva's Renunciation Day. As a Buddhist, I will spend the day meditating and reading the Heart Sutra. Most will just eat vegetarian food. Whenever I feel sad or needs clarity, I will go to Singapore popular Kuan Imm Temple at Waterloo Street to pray and I feel better. Sadly due to Covid19, the temple is now closed to the public. I haven't visit the temple for quite some time now. So now I spend more time reading Buddhist books and Buddha's teaching.
Do I understand all of Heart Sutra? Not really but it is helpful to me. Just understanding one of the verses like 照见五蕴皆空，渡一切苦厄 - (Clearly perceived the empty nature of the five skandhas ( form, feeling, conception, volition and consciousness) and transcended all suffering.) helps me not to cling to sadness for too long.
Most of the time, I just see things from another perspective, upset for a while, reflect and then let go of unhappiness. Since all give aggregates are empty in nature and dependent on causes and conditions, why cling to unhappiness for long. Just let go. If it's meant to be, it will happen.
By accepting that all the five aggregates are empty, we are able to embrace difficulties bravely and therefore will reduce our suffering.
Three Important Days Related to Guanyin Bodhisattva
In Buddhist classics, Avalokiteśvara, or Guanyin Bodhisattva, is described as a great Bodhisattva with compassion and wisdom, because she vowed to alleviate suffering, respond to any prayers, and deliver sentient beings anywhere in the Saha World. Through The Stories of Guanyin's Efficacious Responses and her biography published centuries ago, Guanyin has been integrated into Chinese folk beliefs and has become a well-known Bodhisattva.
In the lunar calendar, there are three important dates celebrating Guanyin's Birthday, Enlightenment Day, and Renunciation Day, which take place on February 19th, June 19th, and September 19th respectively. Guanyin is widely accepted and worshipped. Therefore, not only would Buddhist temples hold assemblies for dharma services, but also Daoist temples make offerings with vegetarian meals or provide a vegetarian feast inviting devotees to celebrate these special dates, also known as the "vegetarian days" in Chinese folk religion.
I like this story about how Buddha interacted with an angry man and was not affected by his insulting words. From my workplace, I see a lot of angry outburst because people are easily affected by what others say and thus they kept thinking about the unhappy thoughts. I be affected for a while but will just let go since I don't accept what they said after learning from this story.
In this story, as Buddha was walking in a village, a very angry man insulted the Buddha and said that he had no right to teach others. Buddha was calm and serene as usual and he asked the man, “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?”
The young man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, “It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.”
The Buddha smiled and said, “That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is hurt yourself.”
I enjoy listening Dharma talk by Venerable Master Sheng Yen whenever I have doubts or feel sad. After listening, I feel much better. By understandings that all the five aggregates are empty, dependent on causes and conditions, one will not cling to feelings and irrational thoughts. All good and bad things will pass.
照见五蕴皆空，渡一切苦厄
Clearly perceived the empty nature of the five skandhas ( form, feeling, conception, volition and consciousness) and transcended all suffering.
By accepting that all the five aggregates are empty, we are able to embrace difficulties bravely and therefore will reduce our suffering.
Today is the last day of Hungry Ghost Festival. In this video, Ajahn Keng shared true cases of transfer of merits to help his father.
Ajahn Keng's father was a pig butcher. At his father later stage of life, he screamed and crawled like a pig at the ICU. Ajahn Keng made a vow in front of the Buddha statue that with his merit as a monk to help pay back his father's karma debts of slaughtering pigs. Ajahn Keng also transferred merit through meditation by walking and sitting.
During meditation, Ajahn Keng saw a human body with a pig head holding a gigantic sword behind him. The pig was furious with tears flowing from his red eyes. Ajahn Keng reminded the pig that he is a monk. In the end, the pig threw away his sword. During meditation, Ajahn Keng saw angry pigs in his mind eye rushing towards him but when he transferred merit to them, they disappeared.
Ajahn Keng also saw a woman with two young children hanging on both her legs. He knew that the woman who experienced pain on both her legs went for two abortions previously instead of one abortion as claimed by her. He taught her to transfer merit to her aborted children.
His stories remind us of Right Livelihood and Right Action. You reap what you sow. Thank you for the Dharma talk Ajahn Keng.
I work in a job that requires both physical and mental energy. I realised to help me destress and stay calm, meditation is helpful. For me, I use mantra to help in meditation. In this talk, Venerable Chao Khun Keng shares on how to calm our mind.
For 49 years, the Buddha had dedicated his life to teaching sentient beings the Four Noble Truth and the Noble Eightfold path to help them end endless suffering from the sea of samsara.
Buddha said that everyone can attain enlightenment, even for slow learner. He used differentiated teaching to teach his many disciples with different abilities and interests. The following stories showed the different methods the Buddha used to help his many disciples to attain enlightenment.
Direct Instruction Teaching: Most of the time, the Buddha will give Dharma talk to the monks in the open field and verbally explain to all. This is like direct teaching in the classroom. The benefit is many disciples can hear his teaching.
Body Kinesthetic and Verbal: (The story is from Fo Guang Shan)
In the following story, Buddha taught Ksudranpanthaka using kinesthetic and verbal method. As he sweeps the floor holding the broom using his hands, he repeats sweep and clean till one day he attained enlightenment.
One day the Buddha heard Ksudrapanthaka sobbing loudly. The Buddha approached Ksudrapanthaka and asked him why he was crying.
“What has made you cry so hard?” he asked.
“Oh, Lord Buddha,” He said. “I am just a stupid person. I followed my brother into the monastic life, but I seem to be unable to remember anything I am taught. My brother has tried to teach me the Dharma many times, but I always forget what he tells me. Today he told me that since I have such a bad memory, I should leave the monastery and go back home. Oh, Lord Buddha! I don’t want to leave. Please help me!”
When he finished speaking, the Buddha replied very softly, “Don’t worry about how much you know or don’t know. That’s not important. It is a form of wisdom to realize that one is ignorant, and it is a form of ignorance to believe one is wise.Come with me now.”
He began to teach him to repeat the phrase, “Sweep and clean, sweep and clean.” Ksudrapanthaka, however, proved unable to remember even these simple words. When the other monks learned of this, they decided that Ksudrapanthaka was beyond all hope. The Buddha, however, having unending compassion, continued trying to teach him the phrase.
“Take this broom,” the Buddha said to him. “As you sweep the ground, say the words I have taught you over and over again.”
Ksudrapanthaka did as the Buddha told him, He worked at it day after day until he was able to say it without any help from anyone. Then, slowly, he began to really think about the words as he swept back and forth across the grounds of the monastery. He thought to himself, “There are really two things that must be swept and cleaned. One of them is outside and the other is inside. The dirt and dust outside of us is easy to clean away, but the dust and dirt inside of us requires great wisdom to clean away. The dirt and dust inside us is nothing other than our suffering, our greed, our anger and our selfishness.”
“As soon as we get rid ourselves of all desire, however, our minds will be pure. We will see the Truth and we will be free forever.”
As Ksudrapanthaka continued sweeping and thinking like that, he slowly managed to clean his mind of all its impurities. Gradually, he entered a state of complete equanimity wherein he had neither desire nor aversion, wherein he saw neither good nor bad, and wherein all his previous ignorance was entirely eradicated.
Ksudrapanthaka became enlightened.
With his new understanding, he went joyfully to the Buddha and said, “Lord Buddha, I am liberated! I have swept and cleaned just as you told me, and by doing so I have swept away all the impurities in my mind!”
Buddha was full of joy to hear that Ksudrapanthaka had said, and from that day on Ksudrapanthaka became one of Buddha’s most respected disciples.
Motivation through Interests
Since his half-brother, Nanda was ordained, he had not been practising the Dhamma but was thinking of his beautiful wife Janapada Kalyān.
Learning of this, the Buddha took Nanda on a journey to Tavatimsa Heaven. Nanda saw beautiful Apsara goddesses.
The Buddha asked Nanda: "Which do you consider more beautiful? Those nymphs or Janapada Kalyāni?"
Nanda said the Apasara are more beautiful as compared to his wife.
The Buddha said: "Nanda, can you see that what you thought to be exceedingly beautiful now pales in comparison to greater beauty?"
Upon hearing this, Nanda practiced diligently and eventually attainedArhatship.
Investigative and Questioning
The Buddha never expected people to accept his Teaching out of blind faith and superstition. He encouraged people to investigate the truth of His Teaching for themselves before accepting it. People should only practise what they find to be beneficial physically and mentally. The following story is taken from Fo Guang Shan FB.
The Buddha was strict with his son Rahula. Rahula, the first sramanera to join the Sangha, was intelligent but liked to tell lies. After the Buddha found out, he ordered Rahula to bring him some water. The Buddha then washed his feet, pointed at the water, and asked, “Is the water in this basin fit for drinking?” Rahula responded, “This water is dirty and thus undrinkable.” The Buddha said, “You are like this water. Originally pure, but because of your dishonesty, you have become just like dirty water.” After Rahula emptied the basin, the Buddha asked, “Can this basin be used to hold food?” Rahula responded, “No, this basin is not clean and thus not fit to hold food.” The Buddha said, “You are like this basin. Although you have become a monk, you do not purify your body, speech, and mind, so how can the Dharma enter your heart?”
After this, Rahula abandoned his mischievous habits, strictly upheld the precepts, and practice diligently. Eventually he also became an Arahant.
There are different ways to attain the fruit of enlightenment.
