One Step at a Time

Question: As a former Christian, when I chant "Amituofo" feelings of doubt, guilt and fears arise in my mind. While chanting can clear these thoughts away in the moment, my question is...how long should it take for these "bad seeds" to be burned? Will there always be such feelings periodically, or should I expect them to vanish permanently after a time?

Response: Once in Malaysia, we went to climb a small mountain. Some of the climbers even referred to it as "hill." To me it was abundantly clear from my perspective at the bottom that it was a BIG MOUNTAIN and for some unfathomable reason we were climbing up the side that went straight up. (Fortunately, we got there before dawn and I could only see a little way up. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.)

But whatever it was--a small mountain, hill, big mountain--we were supposed to climb it.

After years of computer work, I was definitely not in shape to undertake such a climb. But there was no way that I was going to give up and admit defeat. (Probably a combination of perseverance with a healthy dash of ego here. ;-))

Rather than look up and try to see how much further I had to go, I just focused on taking the next step. No more than that. Just the next step. I thus climbed one step at a time. Eventually, I reached the top of the mountain.

It was an invaluable lesson.

Don't try to do the calculations of how long it will take, don't look too far ahead and give in to doubt, just keep taking the next step. Gradually doubts, fears, and worries will recede. And with time, we will reach our goal.

A Hot Coal

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal

with the intent of throwing it at someone else;

you are the one who gets burned

~ Buddha ~

Thoughts on Sincerity

• Do we have the mind to help all? To help those we fear, dislike, hate? To help regardless of how we feel? 

• Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are around us all the time. In our lives when we encounter hardships someone may walk by and give us exactly the advice we needed to hear. If we ask them why they said it, they would say they didn't know. This is how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas help us. 

• If we can accept all sentient beings as future Buddhas then we will see Buddhas all around us, all the time. 

• The first vow of the Universal Vows of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is to help all sentient beings.  The other three vows to sever all afflictions, learn all methods and attain Buddhahood are the ways to accomplish the first. 

• It is more important to have a cup of water on the Buddha Table than either flowers or incense.  The water represents the stillness, the purity that is the mind of the Buddha.

~ Based on the teachings of Venerable Master Chin Kung



Update on March 31, 2010 by Venerable Wuling

(I received an email from a friend who graciously gave me permission to post the following...)

All my life I lived with a parent who was in a constant state of anger. Nothing was ever good enough.  As they reached the end, I still visited them in the hospital. Again, nothing but a wall of anger.
 
As they went into the final siezure, I asked the doctor to give morphine to reduce the suffering. That was my "Aha Moment". I remembered 8 years ago, in spite of a full life of fear, torment, anger and yelling, I was able to ask they not suffer. I now feel at peace with my karma concerning my parent.
 
I feel I "passed the test". I asked for compassion for someone who caused me misery my whole life.
 
I can't tell you how much lighter I feel.  :-)

You're Very Welcome

I'm currently at the homestead at the Amitabha Buddhist Retreat Centre in Nanango. About a week ago, Celine and Charles went out for an appointment and I opted to stay here and work on the practice booklet for the centre.

Two brothers who have been helping at the centre came by to do some work. While they were here, as requested, they placed a large, heavy box in the carport where it would be safe from any rain. After they did so, I said thank you. In return I received a smile and "You're very welcome."

Wow.

Not a mumbled "welcome" or even a "you're welcome." But a sincerely said "You're very welcome." And a smile.

If anyone thinks a smile and sincere expressions of appreciation don't matter very much, they need to meet Woody and Clay.

Failing that, please take it from me. This event happened a week ago and I still smile as I think back on the sincerity and naturalness of that simple reply. Sincerity and simple courtesy can brighten a person's whole day. And that's the giving of fearlessness.

Taking a Ship to the Other Shore

Our true nature is the same as that of Buddhas. But simply because we became deluded and violated this nature, we have been trapped in the endless cycle of reincarnation. The Buddhas took pity on us and taught us the Dharma according to sentient beings’ conditions so that we might all return to our true nature.  

There are many methods to practice; the two most important [for us] are Zen and the Pure Land. They offer us the easiest ways to transcend endless reincarnation. For the Zen method, one relies solely on one’s own effort. For the Pure Land method, one relies on both one’s own effort and Amitabha Buddha’s help. Comparing the two, the Pure Land method suits our characters the best.  

Just like a person who wishes to cross a sea must expediently and comfortably take a ship to the other side, sentient beings in the Dharma-ending stage will find the Pure Land method is the only reliable method. Other methods do not suit our characters and are difficult to succeed in.

One makes up one’s great Bodhi mind, establishes one’s sincere faith and vow, practices being mindful of Amitabha Buddha, and upholds it throughout one’s lifetime. When one practices this method this deeply, all attachments in one’s mind will drop. The exact and profound state of the Zen practice thus completely surfaces, as well.

At the end of one’s present life, one will be escorted by Amitabha Buddha to be reborn in the Pure Land in a high grade and with the attainment of no-birth and no-death. There is a key secret I want to advise sincerely, that is, to practice with one’s utmost sincerity and respect is immensely wondrous, tremendously wondrous.

~ Great Master Yin Guang