Practical Practice

Sayings of

Zen Master Kyong Ho
(1849-1912)

1. Don't wish for perfect health. In perfect health there is greed and wanting. So an ancient said, "Make good medicine from the suffering of sickness."
2. Don't hope for a life without problems. An easy life results in a judgmental and lazy mind. So an ancient once said, "Accept the anxieties and difficulties of this life."
3. Don't expect your practice to be always clear of obstacles. Without hindrances the mind that seeks enlightenment may be burnt out. So an ancient once said, "Attain deliverance in disturbances."
4. Don't expect to practice hard and not experience the weird. Hard practice that evades the unknown makes for a weak commitment. So an ancient once said, "Help hard practice by befriending every demon."
5. Don't expect to finish doing something easily. If you happen to acquire something easily the will is made weaker. So an ancient once said, "Try again and again to complete what you are doing."
6. Make friends but don't expect any benefit for yourself. Friendship only for oneself harms trust. So an ancient once said, "Have an enduring friendship with purity in heart."'
7. Don't expect others to follow your direction. When it happens that others go along with you, it results in pride. So an ancient once said, "Use your will to bring peace between people."
8. Expect no reward for an act of charity. Expecting something in return leads to a scheming mind. So an ancient once said, "Throw false spirituality away like a pair of old shoes."
9. Don't seek profit over and above what your work is worth. Acquiring false profit makes a fool (of oneself). So an ancient once said, "Be rich in honesty."
10. Don't try to make clarity of mind with severe practice. Every mind comes to hate severity, and where is clarity in mortification? So an ancient once said, "Clear a passageway through severe practice."

The Health Effects of Losing One's Temper

When I speak to people about Buddhism and mention the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance, it is that mention of anger that gets people's heads nodding in agreement. Ideally, we want to control our own tempers for the sake of all beings. An angry person cannot help others.

But what if we're not at that point? What if we have enough trouble just trying to do what is right for ourselves? If the only person we can think of helping at this moment is ourselves, we still need to realize the harm becoming angry does.

Losing one’s temper hurts both oneself and others. It is particularly harmful to one’s physical health. When one loses one’s temper, even for only a minute, it takes three days for all the cells in the body to return to normal. Imagine how much worse it is to lose one’s temper every day. Clearly, losing one’s temper is the same as gradually committing suicide.

Now that we know this, we should not lose our temper no matter what provocation we encounter. Why? Because we must protect our bodies and minds from being affected by the external environment. We should gradually reduce emotional afflictions for they are harmful to our bodies and minds. This way, we will be able to maintain mental and physical well-being. With the reduction of afflictions our wisdom will naturally increase. We should know that the true way of maintaining good health is nurturing a loving heart. We should never dislike anyone or anything. Doing this is the fulfillment of the paramita of patience. We will be living in gratitude and enjoying a life of the utmost happiness.

~ Ven. Master Chin Kung

Infinite Life Sutra Excerpt

Wherever the Buddha’s teachings flourish,

either in cities or countrysides,

people will gain inconceivable benefits.

The land and people will be enveloped in peace.

The sun and moon will shine clear and bright.

Wind and rain will appear accordingly

and there will be no disasters.

Nations will be prosperous

and there will be no need for soldiers or weapons.

People will abide by morality and accord with laws.

They will be courteous and humble,

and everyone will be content without injustices.

There will be no thefts or violence.

The strong will not dominate the weak

and everyone will get their fair share.

Don't Judge, be Quiet, Observe

I'm looking out yet another window. This one is in my room in one of the two nun's dormitories at the Pure Land Learning College, in Toowoomba, Australia. Across the road is a church with an attached school. It's Sunday morning and young children are in the playground. Over a dozen of them are holding what might be a marquee cover. It is multicolored and about twenty yards long. I can't see how wide. There is a slight breeze with periodic gusts of wind.

The children are raising their arms and lowering them so the marquee cover is rising and falling, and billowing as it catches the wind. I can hear the children laughing as they play. A children's game I think and return to working on my computer.

I look up a few more times and then notice there's a pattern to the movement. It's more than just letting the cover catch the wind and playing with it. On more careful observation and trying not to jump to another hasty conclusion, I realize the children are all moving their arms in unison. There must be someone telling them when to raise or lower their arms and when to let the cover settle down on the ground and then make it rise again.

And I realize this is no mere game. This is a lesson in teamwork because the children all have to work together to get the cover to catch the wind and billow. It is a lesson in patience because they have to wait for the wind to calm down. It is a lesson in diligence because they have to keep practicing to learn how to work with the constantly changing wind.

So my initial hasty, dismissive conclusion about what was happening outside my window was all wrong.

I only realized what was really happening when my mind was quiet, when I wasn't making judgments, when I was carefully observing what was happening, and when I allowed the truth to come bubbling up from inside me.

Love

With their true sincerity, purity, equality,

Ultimate wisdom and compassion,

Saints and gods of all religions

Benefit all people in acting as

Leaders by guiding,

Parents by nurturing and

Teachers by educating.

Saints and gods teach all people

The relationships between

Humans,

Humans and nature, and

Humans and spirits of Heaven and Earth;

To change from bad to good,

Deluded to awakened,

Ordinary to sage;

To have kind hearts and thoughts, and do kind deeds;

To differentiate neither by nationality, belief or race,

Nor between self and others.

Coexist harmoniously,

Regard each other with equality and respect, and

Love one another.

Work together,

Care for each other and accord with all,

Unceasingly and forever.

Through true honesty, deeply believe that

All sentient-beings are one with the

Same true nature, wisdom and virtue.

One who achieves these teachings is a saint.

A manifestation of a

PerfectlyEnlightened Being of Infinite Life and Light.

~ Venerable Master Chin Kung ~