Different Situations, Different Methods

Many practitioners have voiced the concern over what they should do because it was hard to maintain their aspiration for enlightenment and they often retrogressed. These practitioners stated the truth. It is indeed very easy to retrogress. It is up to oneself to think of a way to prevent oneself from retrogressing. Because people have different capacities and karmas, there is no one fixed method. If there were a specific method suitable for everyone despite their different capacities, then Sakyamuni Buddha would not have needed to teach eighty-four Dharma doors, or countless Dharma doors. He would only have needed to teach one Dharma door!

We each have to use different methods in different situations. For example, when we encounter a roadblock, we go around it. We should adapt ourselves to the circumstances. We will encounter many obstacles. When we do, we should use wisdom and expediency to overcome the obstacles in order to succeed in our practice. An expediency is the most suitable method. Master Chin Kung says that the method he uses to prevent himself from retrogressing is to give lectures. This is the method he has been using in this lifetime.

Some people say that Master Chin Kung likes giving lectures. He explains that giving lectures can help him from retrogressing. When he first started learning to give lectures, he spent forty hours preparing for one hour of lecture. He devoted all his energy and efforts to the preparation. Therefore, he had no time or energy for wandering thoughts. It is a very good method for him. One has to use a method that is effective in driving oneself if one wants to succeed in one’s practice. One should not relax one’s efforts.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

You Just Never Know

Bill worked in a factory on a production line, he was a big, awkward, homely guy. He dressed oddly with ill-fitting clothes. There were several fellow workers who thought it smart to make fun of him.

One day one fellow worker noticed a small tear in his shirt and gave it a small rip. Another worker in the factory added his bit, and before long there was quite a ribbon of cloth dangling. Bill went on about his work and as he passed too near a moving belt the shirt strip was sucked into the machinery. In a split second the sleeve and Bill was in trouble. Alarms were sounded, switches pulled, and trouble was avoided.

The foreman then summoned all the workers and related this story:

In my younger days I worked in a small factory. That's when I first met Mike. He was big and witty, was always making jokes, and playing little pranks. Mike was a leader. Then there was Peter who was a follower. He always went along with Mike. And then there was a man named Murray. He was a little older than the rest of us - quiet, harmless, apart. He always ate his lunch by himself.

He wore the same patched trousers for three years straight. He never entered into the games we played at noon, wrestling, horseshoes and such. He appeared to be indifferent, always sitting quietly alone under a tree instead. Murray was a natural target for practical jokes.

He might find a live frog in his lunch box, or a dead spider in his hat. But he always took it in good humour. Then one autumn, when things were quiet in the factory, Mike took off a few days to go hunting. Peter went along, of course. And they promised all of us that if they got anything they'd bring us each a piece.

So we were all quite excited when we heard that they'd returned and that Mike had got a really big buck. We heard more than that. Peter could never keep anything to himself, and it leaked out that they had real whopper to play on Murray. Mike had cut up the buck and had made a nice package for each of us. And, for the laugh, for the joke of it, he had saved the ears, the tail, the hoofs - it would be so funny when Murray unwrapped them.

Mike distributed his packages during the lunch break. We each got a nice piece, opened it, and thanked him. The biggest package of all he saved until last. It was for Murray. Peter was all but bursting; and Mike looked very smug. Like always, Murray sat by himself; he was on the far side of the big table. Mike pushed the package over to where he could reach it; and we all sat and waited.

Murray was never one to say much. You might never know that he was around for all the talking he did. In three years he'd never said more than hundred words. So we were all quite astounded with what happened next. He took the package firmly in his grip and rose slowly to his feet. He smiled broadly at Mike - and it was then we noticed that his eyes were glistening. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down for a moment and then he got control of himself.

'I knew you wouldn't forget me,' he said gratefully, 'I knew you'd come through! You're big and you're playful, but I knew all along that you had a good heart.'

He swallowed again, and then took in the rest of us. 'I know I haven't seemed too chummy with you men; but I never meant to be rude. You see, I've got nine kids at home - and a wife that's been an invalid - bedridden now for four years. She ain't ever going to get any better. And sometimes when she's real bad off, I have to sit up all night to take care of her. And most of my wages have had to go for doctors and medicine.

The kids do all they can to help out, but at times it's been hard to keep food in their mouths. Maybe you think it's funny that I go off by myself to eat my lunch. Well, I guess I've been a little ashamed, because I don't always have anything between my sandwich. Or like today - maybe there's only a raw turnip in my lunch box. But I want you to know that this meat really means a lot to me. Maybe more than to anybody here because tonight my kids' ... as he wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand ... 'tonight my kids will have a really good meal.'

He tugged at the string. We'd been watching Murray so intently we hadn't paid much notice to Mike and Peter. But we all noticed them now, because they both tried to grab the package. But they were too late. Murray had broken the wrapper and was already surveying his present. He examined each hoof, each ear, and then he held up the tail. It wiggled limply. It should have been so funny, but nobody laughed - nobody at all.

But the hardest part was when Murray looked up and said 'Thank you' while trying to smile. Silently one by one each man moved forward carrying his package and quietly placed it in front of Murray for they had suddenly realised how little their own gift had really meant to them, until now.

This was where the foreman left the story and the men. He didn't need to say any more; but it was gratifying to notice that as each man ate his lunch that day, they shared part with Bill and one fellow even took off his shirt and gave it to him.

From BTV - posted by Voyager

Watch What You Say

Last Friday, a government official made a statement to a newspaper reporter regarding another country having nuclear weapons. There were doubtless other factors also at work, but the statement by one man contributed a lot to crude oil increasing by $11 to $139 a barrel in just one day. 

I am not qualified to say what the karmic retribution from this will be. But this incident is a particularly good example of how what is said can have the potential to bring about major outcomes.

The general principle is that what we say to others can lead to them taking particular actions. We will then, at some point, have to undergo the consequences of what we set into motion. Those with more influence have the potential to set into motion much greater outcomes.  For example,  as petroleum is either a component of almost everything produced and is also used to transport goods, such a large price increase can affect all but the most isolated people on earth. That's an enormous amount of karmic retributions.

Fortunately, most of us do not have such enormous influence. But even if we only negatively influence five or ten people with our speech, that will still incur a great deal of painful karmic consequences for us. 

The Toothache

When in pain and suffering, we are very aware of the intensity of both. We go around thinking, "I have such pain! And such terrible suffering because of this toothache!" But when we go to the dentist or the toothache goes away on its own and the pain is no longer, we happily say "The pain has stopped! I'm no longer suffering! This is really such a relief. I'm so happy!"

Then, we forget about both. Forgetting both, we do not realize how fortunate we are to no longer have that terrible pain.

So the next time you're feeling blah or thinking that you're just not feeling happy, tell yourself "Life is wonderful! I don't have a toothache!"

We Are All Human

All human beings have weaknesses and are prone to making mistakes. All human beings have the basic weaknesses of desire, hatred, and ignorance. These weaknesses are within human beings in varying degrees. Unless you are a perfect man or a Arahant, you are no exception.

Man is not satisfied with his life and never finds the purpose of life even after gaining the whole world.

Let us take a closer look at the weakness of delusion or ignorance: man is enveloped in ignorance. His mind is clouded by disturbances, difficulties and darkness. Out of ignorance, man creates suffering and he shares this suffering with his fellow man. The miseries and the worries that come to man are due to worldly condition, man’s unbalanced, uncultured mind and the reaction to the evil practices perpetrated by man.

Nobody is perfect in this world; everybody is liable to commit certain evil actions either intentionally or unintentionally. How can you think that you are free from evil?

“Fear and worry disappear when ignorance is dispelled by knowledge.”

If you can understand the nature of the weaknesses that are within man’s mind, then there is no reason for you to grumble ever your sufferings and miseries. You will have the courage to face and to tolerate all miseries and worries and sufferings that come to you.

“Nothing happens to man that is not contained within man.”(C. Jung)

~ Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, You are Responsible