Lundeeria : Chapter Four

Chapter 4: The Terrible Truth

Suddenly, both children became very quiet. Gone was their laughter, gone their thinking that being on Lundeeria was cool. The color had drained from their faces. They looked, what, embarrassed? Scared?

Emma moved closer to Justin, reached out for his hand, and held on to it. She stared at the ground while Justin tried to speak. But now he was having trouble doing so.

Finally, he spoke very softly. “I think we might know what fear you felt. Our parents have told us about it. Since you’re all animals, and you feel the problem comes from humans, I . . .” His voice trailed off. He couldn’t speak any more.

All around Emma and he were animals like they had on Earth. There was Tortoise, Gazelle, and Nightingale. There were also elephants and monkeys and sparrows and frogs and dolphins. And so many more animals, just like at home.

Well, no, not just like at home.

Here the animals talked. And looking around, Justin and Emma could see that all the animals got along peacefully. There were animals as far as they could see, and yet every single one of them was acting like they were all friends. The crater was filled with animals of every size and shape and kind, but no one was fussing at others.

No one was hurting anyone else.

Emma looked up at Gazelle. She spoke so softly that Gazelle could barely hear her. “Gazelle, what do the animals on Lundeeria eat?”

Gazelle looked a bit puzzled but replied, “Well, the land animals eat things like grass, nuts, and fruit. The birds eat seeds and grain. The sea animals eat plants that grow in the water, like algae. Why do you ask? Oh! Are you hungry? I’m so sorry, we shouldn’t have kept you talking so much without offering you something to eat. That’s terrible of us. Please pardon our bad manners. We’d be very happy to get something for you if you tell us what humans eat.”

Justin felt like his heart was pounding so hard that the animals must be able to hear it. He couldn’t bear to look at Gazelle. He shook his head and mumbled, “We’re not hungry, thank you.”

The animals were puzzled, why were the children so upset?

Her eyes glistening with tears, Emma said in a whisper, “We’re so very, very sorry. I don’t know how to tell you. In our world some people, like our parents and us, eat only plants and nuts and fruit and stuff. But others, others . . .” Then like her brother, she too became speechless.

Gazelle looked at the two. Suddenly a feeling of dread unlike anything she had ever felt came over her. “Children, what else do humans eat?” she asked hoarsely.

Tears filled the children’s eyes and began to slowly run down their cheeks. Neither could say a word.

“No! Oh no!” Gazelle whispered huskily. Then she collapsed, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Please, children please tell me it’s not so,” she pleaded. The children still couldn’t speak.

With profound grief, Gazelle said the one word she dreaded to.

“Animals?”

Both children nodded, tears now streaming down their faces. Gazelle had spoken very softly and yet every animal had heard her. And like Gazelle, they all knew why they had felt the fear.

On a distant world where humans ruled and animals had no way to speak, humans ate animals. 

At that moment, a sense of disbelief, of grief, overwhelmed every Lundeerian. They were speechless, unable to believe what they had heard. No, it couldn’t be. It just wasn’t possible. The children had to be wrong.

(To be continued...)

Lundeeria : Chapter Three

Chapter 3: Strangers in Lundeeria

As the first rays of the sun began to lighten the sky, it happened.

As Gazelle shook the moss from her ears, Nightingale sang more softly and then became quiet. The Lundeerians ceased dreaming and began to wake up. The air next to Gazelle started to shimmer. As she and Nightingale and all of Lundeeria watched, the shimmering started to become solid.

The animals saw form and color taking shape, disappearing, and then coming together again, more clear than before. This happened several times. Then, the form and color shimmered brightly one last time, swirled as if in a tiny whirlwind, and settled to reveal two unmoving shapes!

It seemed as if everyone on Lundeeria was holding his or her breath. Indeed, in all the land, the only breathing seemed to be coming from the two forms who lay in front of them. Suddenly from the assembly a voice called out, “I’ve seen such animals before in my dreams! Those are humans!”

The Dream Seeking had really worked? Were these the humans? But they are so small! How could creatures this small cause problems? And how did they get here? How could dreams produce forms? Dreams are just that, dreams. But these creatures appear very real! And since they appear very real, and very alive, what happens now?

Gazelle called out, “Be quiet my friends. Please be quiet as we think what to do now.”

But it was too late.

The two shapes had begun to move. But not like before when they had shimmered and changed. This time the shapes moved as solid wholes. Everyone in the assembly drew back.

It looked as if the human creatures were waking up!

Tortoise came forward to stand next to Gazelle. Nightingale flew in and landed lightly on the shoulder of one of the humans. After a moment, one of the humans sat up. As he opened his eyes and then stared in delight at Nightingale, he said, “Emma, wake up! There’s a bird on your shoulder!”

The human named Emma stretched, also sat up, and opened her eyes. She didn’t notice a bird. But she saw a gazelle! And a tortoise!! And that wasn’t all. There were other animals standing behind the gazelle and the tortoise. She was too scared to move. All she could do was point and stammer, “Justin, loo-look!”

But Justin didn’t turn to look where Emma was pointing. He couldn’t. He too was frozen as he looked out on a sea of animals. All staring back at him!

Seeing that the two humans were alarmed, Nightingale began to sing a soothing song, and Gazelle began to softly speak.

“Please don’t be afraid. We mean you no harm.”

Gazelle’s eyes were so warm and gentle that Emma felt herself begin to breathe again. And the way Nightingale blinked her brown eyes and cocked her head made Justin smile a bit in spite of his fear.

“That’s better. Are you okay? You’re not hurt in any way, are you?”

Gazelle’s soothing voice seemed to further calm the two humans. But even so, all they could do was shake their heads in reply.

“My name is Gazelle. This is Tortoise, and the bird on your shoulder is called Nightingale. Am I to understand that you are a Justin and that you are an Emma?”

Gazelle looked from one to the other as she said their names.

By now Justin was also staring at Gazelle. “Uh-huh,” he said as he nodded his head.

“Yes,” added the other. “I’m Emma. This, this is my brother Justin,” she managed to add. 

“I’m very happy to meet you. We’ve never met a Justin or an Emma before,” Gazelle replied as she gazed serenely back at the two, who stared open-mouthed at her.

“Wait a minute! You’re talking! How? Animals can’t talk!” Justin’s curiosity was winning out over his fear.

 “Animals can’t talk in your world? In our world, all animals can talk just like we are doing.” Gazelle took a deep breath. This was going to take a bit of explaining.

“You are humans, right?” Gazelle asked.

“Of course,” Justin replied, somewhat confused. How could anyone not know they were humans?

Curious himself, and sensing that Justin and Emma were getting over their initial shock, Tortoise asked, “Please excuse my ignorance, but are all humans like you?”

Unsure what he meant, Emma replied, “Well, yes. But we’re children, not adults. Is that what you mean? We’re twins actually.”

Emma then looked at Gazelle. “Earlier when you referred to ‘our world,’ you meant the animal world, right?”

“In a way,” Gazelle answered.

Nightingale spoke next. “Our world is an animal world, yes. But it’s more than that. Our world is called Lundeeria. And while I don’t want to shock you any more than I’m afraid we already have, I have to ask, is your world called Earth?”

The children were again speechless. Justin managed to blurt out, “Our world? Are you saying this isn’t Earth?”

“Are you saying we’re on another planet?” Emma squeaked.

“Umm, yes dear. Lundeeria is another planet. Have you never heard of it?”

From the children’s faces, the Lundeerians realized the children hadn’t. The animals all held their breath waiting to see how the two small humans would react to this news.

“Cool!” suddenly laughed both children.

The Lundeerians were greatly relieved. Also, they were rather impressed. The two children were remarkably okay with the fact they were on another planet.

“How did we get here?” Justin asked.

“We dreamed you here,” replied Nightingale.

“Super cool!” giggled the two children.

“What do you mean dreamed? How did you dream us here? And why?”

“Well, it’s rather a long story,” Tortoise replied.

And with that, he began to tell Justin and Emma how the dreams started, how confused and worried the Lundeerians had become, and how they all dreamed together and two human children appeared.

After listening to all this, Justin said, “But we still don’t know why we’re here.”

Thoughtfully, Gazelle spoke. “We dreamed you here because we sensed trouble in your world. We felt much fear there. That’s not something we feel often in our world. If something unusual happens, we might become anxious. But the fear we felt from your world seemed much more than that.”

“Oh!” Justin and Emma looked at each other. They were also at a loss to explain what was going on.

Trying to be helpful, Justin spoke up. “Well, sure, there’s fear in our world, but that’s normal. Things can happen and people get scared, but it’s okay in the end. Things work out. It’s no big deal. Right Emma?”

Emma looked thoughtful and then said, “Justin, wait a minute. We’re humans so we’re thinking of human fear. But the Lundeerians are animals.”

“Maybe they’re talking about animal fear?”

(To be continued...)

Lundeeria : Chapter Two

Chapter 2: Dream Seekers

When at last everyone was settled and quiet, the council members came to the center of the crater. They took their places and the meeting began.

Being the oldest member of the council, Tortoise spoke first. He walked in a dignified manner to the spot reserved for the speaker. In a deep, strong voice, he began.

“My dear fellow Lundeerians, some of you may already know why this meeting has been called. For a while now, we have been hearing reports of dreams. These are not ordinary dreams. They are not dreams of what happened during the day or of friends and family. Apparently, these are not even dreams of life here on Lundeeria! These are dreams of another land. A land called Earth.”

“Needless to say, this is all very strange. How can so many of our fellow citizens be dreaming of the same things? We have heard that in the dreams there are creatures like us: animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects.”

As Tortoise spoke, the listeners nodded their heads in agreement. Soft murmurs and the rustling of many creatures being together were the only sounds coming from the audience.

“There does seem to be one difference, however. In the dreams, there is an animal who appears to be causing problems. Very serious problems. But very honestly my friends, it’s confusing. How can these animals, which we have heard being called “humans,” cause so much trouble? It’s hard to understand because we know nothing of this animal. It does not exist here.”

“Many of you are having the same dreams. How can that be happening? And why is it happening? It must mean something, but what? And what, if anything, can we do about the dreams?”

“We members of the council have given this matter much serious thought. We have decided that there is only one way open to us. We will try to find the answers to these questions using an ancient practice. My fellow Lundeerians, the problem is dreams. So we will seek the answers through dreams.”

“We will engage in Dream Seeking.”

The Lundeerians looked at one another in disbelief.

Tortoise continued, “My friends, Dream Seeking, as you all know, has been done only once in all of Lundeeria’s long history. It was done at the time of great danger and much fear. It was a time of uncertainty, the time before peace between all animals—all Lundeerians—became our way of life.”

“My friends, a sense of unease is again entering our lives. We all feel it. We need to quickly find out what is happening. Then, hopefully, we will know what we can do about it.”

With this, Tortoise returned to his place among the other council members. He nodded to Gazelle, who walked gracefully forward to stand before the assembly.

In a warm, lilting voice, she began. “Dearest friends, once we saw that we had to do Dream Seeking, we realized we would need someone to guide us. We would need a creature who is of the night, a creature used to calling out when most others dreamt. Someone skilled at catching and holding our thoughts with her songs.”

“We need Nightingale.”

As Gazelle looked up, Nightingale flew down, passed over Gazelle’s head, and perched on a nearby tree branch. She sang one long beautiful note, her voice clear and pure. It was heard by every Lundeerian.

“With Nightingale singing to us, everyone will fall asleep. Everyone, that is, but Nightingale and myself. She will place moss in my ears so I that cannot hear her singing. This way, I will be able to stay awake to see what happens. When the time is right for all of you to wake up, Nightingale will stop singing.”

“But my friends, I must first ask, is there anyone who does not wish to join in the Dream Seeking? No one is required to do so. But please understand that for this to work, we need as many Dream Seekers as possible.”

“Frankly, we are worried that something is very wrong. We do not know what it is. We do not know what we will learn in our dream seeking. But everyone on the council feels we must find out. We fear that some being desperately needs our help. And even worse, we fear that many beings may be in need of our help.”

Gazelle stopped talking, looked out over the assembly, and waited patiently for their answers. The crater was filled with the murmuring of all the creatures of Lundeeria. Gradually, the sounds faded away until all was perfectly silent.

“Dearest friends, are there any among you who do not wish to join in the Dreaming?” Gazelle asked.

No one said no. No one shook their head. Not one Lundeerian left the assembly. Gazelle turned and looked at Nightingale, as did everyone else.

First, Nightingale carefully placed some moss in Gazelle’s ears so she would stay awake. Then, Nightingale closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to sing.

She sang of the beauty of the night. She sang of the courage and concern of all her friends. She sang of the peace of Lundeeria and the happiness of all who lived there.

Then Nightingale began to sing of sleeping, and of dreaming. Finally, she sang of Earth and those who lived there. Soon, with the sole exception of Gazelle and Nightingale, every living creature on Lundeeria was dreaming. Through the night, they all slept and, as one, they dreamed of Earth.

And throughout that long night, Nightingale sang and guided them in their dreaming.

(To be continued...)

Lundeeria : Chapter One

Lundeeria:

The Tale of a Journey to Another Land,

Courage, and the Way to Love All Beings

Told by Justin and Emma to Venerable Wuling

Chapter 1: The Dreams

No one was sure exactly when the dreams began. At first no one paid much attention to them. After all, they were just dreams. But gradually, as more animals had them, they began to talk about their dreams—and how similar they were.

The animals seemed to be dreaming of another land. No one knew for sure because they didn’t recognize it. But in the dreams the name of the land was always the same. 

The land was called “Earth.”  

In many ways, Earth was like the animals’ own beloved Lundeeria. There were birds and fish and insects and many other kinds of animals. There were trees and flowers and mountains and seas. In fact, there was really only one difference—an animal that was not found on Lundeeria.

Earth had an animal called “humans.”

Unlike on Lundeeria, where all the animals shared equal status, humans were the sole rulers on Earth. And on Earth, because of the humans, something was wrong. Those Lundeerians who had the dreams could feel it. But they couldn’t put a finger on what the problem was.

As more and more animals dreamed of Earth, the Lundeerian Council began to hear about it. But even the wise council members didn’t know why Lundeerians were dreaming of a land called Earth and its creatures called humans. So the council decided to hold a meeting to discuss what was happening. After all, they had always solved their problems by talking and working together.

And so news of the meeting was sent throughout the land. The swifts and the eagles cried out word of it as they flew through the sky. The cheetahs and the antelopes announced it as they ran through the forests, valleys, and mountains. The whales and salmon sang of the meeting as they swam in the seas and rivers. Even the badgers and groundhogs rumbled out the message deep underground. All the creatures of Lundeeria were asked to come to a meeting of the utmost importance.

As usual, no one was to be left out. Used to helping one another, all the animals of Lundeeria began the journey. They travelled, as if one, to the ancient volcano crater that served as Lundeeria’s assembly place. The birds flew and the land animals walked, hopped, and ran. The reptiles crawled and the fish swam. The insects came as well. Those who were younger and stronger carried those who were older and weaker. Larger or faster Lundeerians helped those who were smaller or slower.

 By land, air, and water, they all came. Land animals sat on the ground and the rocks. The birds perched in the trees, butterflies on the bushes, and insects in the grass. The creatures of the water swam into the crater’s lake from the great sea that was fed by all the rivers in Lundeeria. As they all settled down in the volcano crater waiting for the meeting to start, they talked of little else but the dreams.

Was this what the meeting was about?

(To be continued...)

Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra, Excerpt Seventeen

Always using the practice of the Six Paramitas of giving, precept observation, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom, he taught and transformed beings to help them steadfastly establish a bodhi mind.

“Always” means forever and never changing. One should follow these six principles at all times.

The first paramita is giving. For us, this means letting go and helping others. There are three kinds of giving: the giving of wealth, the giving of teachings, and the giving of fearlessness. Giving is a karmic cause. If we want to have wealth, we should practice the giving of wealth. If we want to be intelligent and wise, we should practice the giving of teachings. If we wish to have good health and a long life, we should practice the giving of fearlessness. In the giving of fearlessness, the most important thing is not to harm any being. In addition to not killing beings, we should not even cause them to have afflictions. A vegetarian diet is a form of the giving of fearlessness: We do not eat the flesh of animals or cause them to have afflictions. To be more proactive, we should free captured animals.

I was supposed to be a person with little good fortune and a short life span. But I have lived to this age and my good fortune seems to increase year by year. Both are the rewards from my learning the Buddha’s teaching and practicing it accordingly in this lifetime.

One should not enjoy the good fortune oneself because one will use it up very quickly. When one has good fortune, one should share it with others. This way, one’s good fortune will never be used up. This is the truth.

As I gained more wisdom, I saw the ins and outs of everything more clearly than before. Thus, I was able to do things that benefited others in a more appropriate and perfect way. Moreover, I did not ask to have my life extended but it was. This is true freedom!

In the bodhisattva practice, giving is listed first. My rewards from the three kinds of giving can be clearly seen by everyone.

The second paramita is precept observation. We should observe the precepts and codes of behavior that the Buddha laid out. The teachings in the sutras that the Buddha earnestly and patiently taught us should be followed too. We should also abide by the laws and customs of our countries. If we abandon the precepts, then the practice and upholding of the Buddha’s teachings will disappear. So even if we lecture on the Dharma, and study and discuss it every day, it will be futile. Why? Because our lives are disconnected from the teachings, we are not applying what we are learning. No matter how profoundly or how well we can lecture on Buddhism, nothing will be achieved. That is why Buddhism has always emphasized practice.

The Buddha taught “three cumulative pure precepts.” “Three cumulative” means three main categories.

The first category is “uphold precepts and codes of behavior.” This encompasses all the teachings that the Buddha taught in the sutras. We should practice all that the Buddha wants us to do and not otherwise.

The second category is “uphold precepts by practicing virtuous dharmas.” A deed that is good should be done. A deed that is bad should not be done. We should know that the spirit of the precepts is to prevent wrongdoing or stop evil conduct; it helps us to end wrongdoings and to practice virtuous conduct.

Even though the Buddha did not list everything we should or should not do, we need to adhere to the spirit of his teachings. For example, the Buddha did not tell us not to smoke, but we know that smoking is not good for us or for others. Therefore, we should not smoke. Things of this nature fall under “uphold precepts by practicing virtuous dharmas.”

The third category is “uphold precepts by bringing lasting benefits to all sentient beings.” When a deed benefits beings, we should do it. There are three kinds of beneficial deeds. The first kind is the deed that will bring immediate benefit but will have a harmful effect in the future. This kind of deed should not be done. The second kind is the deed that will bring benefit not only now but also in the future. This kind of deed is truly beneficial. The third kind is the deed that will not bring immediate benefit but will bring great benefit in the future. This kind of deed is also beneficial.

This shows that Buddhas and bodhisattvas look far ahead, not only at the immediate future.

The third paramita is patience.[1] To accomplish any undertaking, one needs to bear any hardship that one encounters. In the process of cultivation, one will surely encounter frustration. The more diligent one is, the greater the amount of frustration one faces. Why is there so much frustration? Because of the evil karmas that one has committed over countless kalpas, obstacles from karmic forces are unavoidable. The only solution is to tolerate any hardship. This will decrease karmas. If one has meditative concentration, it can eliminate karmas. One should face obstacles with wisdom, resolve them with forbearance, acquiesce, and make diligent progress. Only with the paramita of patience will one be able to improve. If one is not patient, one will encounter obstacles.

The fourth paramita is diligence.[2] The Chinese term for “diligence” is jingjin. Jing means “pure and unadulterated” and jin means “making progress.” For bodhisattvas, diligence is their only good root.[3]

Nowadays, many Buddhist practitioners make the mistake of learning too many different things, resulting in a mixture. Although they make progress every day, their progress is adulterated. They spend a lot of time and effort but their accomplishment is very limited.

The little achievement I have in this lifetime is due to having a good teacher. He forbade me to proceed in an unfocused and random way. I learned from Mr. Li Bingnan in Taichung for ten years. His teaching method was that even if a student was very smart and had an exceptional capability, he or she could simultaneously learn only two sutras at most. If the student wanted to learn three sutras [at one time], he would not teach this student. Students who did not have a good capability learned only one sutra. Only when Mr. Li considered that a student had learned a sutra well enough would he teach the student a new one. Otherwise, he would not allow the student to learn a new sutra. During my ten years with Mr. Li, I learned five sutras, whereas in a Buddhist college, the students study more than five sutras in one semester.

The first sutra I learned was the Sutra on Ananda Asking about the Good Fortune and Misfortune of Learning the Buddha’s Teachings; the second was the Amitabha Sutra; the third was the “Chapter of the Vows and Practices of Samantabhadra”; the fourth was the Diamond Sutra; and the fifth was the Surangama Sutra. I spent ten years learning only these sutras. Mr. Li’s criterion was that only when one learned one sutra well enough could one learn a new one. “Well enough” meant that the student could explain the sutra thoroughly on stage to an audience. When the student lectured on stage, Mr. Li would sit in the last row. Without using a microphone, the student had to talk loud enough for Mr. Li to hear. Heading toward one direction and one goal, his students were thus laying a good foundation and would naturally understand the other sutras.

“When one masters one sutra, one naturally masters all sutras.” The question is whether one has truly learned and understood the sutra and entered into the states described in the sutra.

The fifth paramita is meditative concentration. It means being in control of one’s mind. Within, the mind is unmoved; without, the mind is not attached to phenomena. One should not be easily tempted by any external phenomena. For example, when one learns a sutra, one concentrates on this sutra. This way, one would be in control of one’s mind.

The sixth paramita is wisdom. Simply put, when one interacts with people and engages in tasks, one should do so based on reason, not on emotions.

This excerpt teaches us the six principles for interacting with people and engaging in tasks in daily life. These are also the guidelines that bodhisattvas use in teaching and transforming beings to help them be steadfastly established [in the bodhi mind].

---

[1] The cultivation of this virtue involves two aspects: to be patient without anger in the face of harm done by others and to endure various afflictions and suffering and to be unafraid of the implications of such Mahayana teachings as emptiness.— Damien Keown, Dictionary of Buddhism (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003), 148.

[2] Diligence means to courageously cultivate good dharmas and end evil dharmas. It is to focus and to progress tirelessly.—Trans.

[3] Diligence is the only good root of the bodhisattvas because they are already replete with worldly good roots of no greed, no anger, and no ignorance. This good root of diligence allows the bodhisattvas to advance in cultivation without regression until they attain enlightenment.—Trans.    

~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung.