Q:
I recently read in the Buddhist Sutras that, "We must make the
vow to become reborn in the West." Does this mean that we should
make a vow about being reborn in the West or does it mean that we should
make that vow before the Buddhas?
A: We are afraid of vows because our will is too weak. Actually,
we strengthen our aspirations by making vows. If we aspire to become sages
and worthies, then we will become sages and worthies. If we aspire to
become great heroes, then we will become great heroes. If we aspire to
become Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, then we will become Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Though we may have set some goals, our will is not strong enough to achieve
them. This is why we have to make vows. By making vows, we show that we
are willing to act on them without retreating or regretting. We must be
unrelenting in striving to realize our vows, focusing on them in every
moment. We must be unrelenting in our action, behaving according to our
vows. To that end, we will obtain the one of the positions of fruition,
which is a position of non-retreat, be it the position of the first stage
arhat, second stage arhat, third stage arhat, or fourth stage arhat. We
make vows to help us with our goals. It's okay to make the vows before
the Buddhas. It's also okay to be persistent. Don't do things just for
looks, but really put things to practice.
Q: You had
once said that "We can't understand and become enlightened to our
inherent nature because we have been tainted by the burdensome objects
of the five desires in the Saha World. That is why we cannot understand
our mind and know our inherent nature." Will the Master please explain
this?
A: Being tainted means having impure thoughts. We're tainted if
we want to get rich; we're tainted if we want to become famous; we are
tainted if we want to chase after the opposite sex; we are tainted if
we want to eat good food. All these are impurities. Though our inherent
nature is fundamentally pure, with these things we have polluted and covered
our wisdom and the brilliance of our inherent nature.
Q: Are Tibetan
lamas monks?
A: The Bhikshus of Mahayana Buddhism receives 250 ordination precepts.
They can only be called Bhikshus if they adhere closely to the precepts.
They cannot be comparable to some of the Tibetan lamas. Those lamas eat
meat, eat the five pungent plants, drink alcohol, and other things that
need not be mentioned. Therefore, their application of the precepts is
completely different than what the Buddha has personally established.
Q: Well,
why then is the mantra of the Secret school so effective? For example,
they have a mantra that can kill people?
A: That's right, the power of secret mantras is terrific, but
most of its practitioners are mostly hateful and vengeful. If you defy
him or refuse to listen to him, he will recite a mantra. These mantras
could put someone to death in seven days. At the minimum, they could make
the victim sick or experience some disaster; their family could break
apart and their fortunes could be depleted. People who cultivate secret
dharmas are mostly short of compassion and are very much like asuras.
Q: The Buddhist
scriptures often talk about the shakings of the great earth. Why do earthquakes
happen?
A: Earthquakes can also be called people-quakes because people
are connected to earthquakes. When people quake, the earth also quakes.
If people were not to quake, then the earth would not quake either. Why
did the earth quake in six ways when the Buddha entered Nirvana? It is
because people panicked and were awfully scared, so their seven emotions
and six desires seep out, causing to earth to quake.
Q: Is it
considered killing to take prescribed medicine which kills viruses?
A: You are not taking that medicine because you want to, but because
you're sick and you're treating your sickness. That's why the doctor gave
you your medication. This is not something that you had wanted. It's not
that you want to kill them, but that they came to harm you. On the other
hand, we attract germs because we have too many false thoughts. You must
first reflect and introspect. Kill the germs in your mind first.
Q: If we
cannot retaliate against someone who has humiliated us, then we should
be patient according to Buddhism. But in the eyes of others, we're little
wimps. What should we do, really?
A: Don't be moved by others. Who cares whether they think we're
wimps or not. We're not being patient if we're affected by what other
people say. We must have our own guiding principles.
Q: Is the
Western civilization on its decline?
A: This depends on what people do. If everyone did good things,
then the fate of these countries will turn for the better. But if everyone
did bad things, then the destiny of these countries will certainly founder.
Q: I had
heard that it's wrong to have abortions according to Buddhism. But I had
done so without any idea of this before, what can I do to make it up now?
A: The greatest good is but to change the mistakes that one has
made. Offenses large enough to fill up the universe vanish through repentance.
Disciple: It's really a hard life for monastics who only eat one meal
a day and do so much work.
A: It's no longer hard once you die.
Q: Buddhist
precepts are very strict, but just as you have said, "Don't commit
sexual misconduct; don't have thoughts of sexual desire." However,
most people are likely to disagree, saying, "This is inhuman!"
Will the Venerable Master explain this?
A: If you want to learn to be like a Buddha, then you cannot be
human. If you want to be like a human being, then be a good person. In
general, this is the way you must be if you want to cultivate.
Q: Is there
anything we can do if our son is not filial and beats and scolds his parents?
A: Just take the beating! Who told you to have given birth to
this son in this lifetime? People are intimately connected. You've probably
hit your parents in some of your previous lives; therefore you have to
undergo this retribution in this lifetime. If you think along these lines,
then you wouldn't be so sad. If you want to turn things around, then recite
the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva. Ask Guanyin Bodhisattva to please dissolve
your resentment, but you must be very sincere.
Q: What kind
of expedient practices can we use to influence people who kill chickens
and ducks for a living?
A: They should change any mistakes that they've committed in the
past once they realize that they have been wrong. As it is said, "Changing
the errors of our ways, those errors vanish."
Q: Will the
Venerable Master please explain the Great Compassion Mantra. One book
says, "Serious physical diseases disappear instantly." But some
people say, "That's impossible! Will your sickness get better just
by reciting the Great Compassion Mantra?"
A: It's effective if you're sincere. If you're insincere, then
it cannot be effective. As the saying goes, "When anger turns into
joy, the dead man returns to life. If you claim this is false, you should
know that Buddhas don't lie." Once you have faith, there will definitely
be some response. The Great Compassion Mantra can cure 84,000 kinds of
illnesses in the world, but that's for people with roots of goodness.
People who don't have any good roots cannot read it even if he wants to.
And try as he might, his sickness cannot be cured
Q: Meditators
see illusions, as most people call it. Could you please explain this phenomenon
that occurs during meditation?
A: Any phenomenon is illusory and false. What you see are just
the fifty kinds of transformations according to the Shurangama Sutra.
It would be very sad of you to consider any of these a form of accomplishment.
Q: How come
Buddhism doesn't encourage people to enjoy themselves?
A: "To suffer is to end suffering; to enjoy blessings is
to end blessings." The money in the bank is always yours if you don't
spend it. If you eat, drink, and be merry, then you will use up your saving
very quickly.
Q: Confucianism
talks about humaneness while Buddhism talks about compassion. There are
numerous similarities between the two, please explain their differences
and similarities to us.
A: To be extremely humane is to be compassionate. Compassion embodies
humaneness. Humaneness is the seed to a good person; it is the seed of
goodness for practicing Buddhist precepts.
Q: Why should
I adhere to the Five Precepts if I haven't received them?
A: The Five Precepts are the precepts of our inherent nature.
You should keep them whether you have received them or otherwise. Receiving
the precepts is a phenomenon while keeping the precepts is a noumenon.
You must keep the precepts purely so that the noumenon becomes perfected.
Q: The Heart
Sutra has this passage, "Form is emptiness and emptiness is form."
Is this talking about women or men? It's not necessarily an explanation
of male and female forms only, right? Will the Venerable Master please
explain?
A: All female and male forms are included here. True emptiness
contains wonderful existence while wonderfulness contains true emptiness.
True emptiness is not empty, therefore, it is wonderful existence. Wonderful
existence is not existent, therefore, it is true emptiness. "Form
is emptiness," is simply about not looking outside for happiness
because it is actually inherent to our nature. We don't need to dwell
on form. There's true happiness in emptiness. Therefore, "Form is
emptiness and emptiness is form."
Q: Is meditation
and the "investigation of Dhyana" the same thing, or are they
two different things?
A: Although the terms are different, they mean the same. If we
really understand the investigation of Dhyana, then we wouldn't be confused
any longer.
Q: Are charms
and the spells of the eight diagrams effective?
A: Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism in China started out the
same. So why do we still believe in Buddhism now? It is because the teachings
of Taoism, Confucianism, and other religions are not ultimate; while that
of Buddhism is ultimate. I told you earlier about the great functions
of the entire substance (that which is ultimate is complete), so Confucianism
is very similar Buddhism. In fact, Lao Tzu of Taoism is an incarnation
of Venerable Mahakasyapa of Buddhism and Confucius is a transformed incarnation
of the Youth of Water and Moon according to Buddhism.
Q: How can
we eliminate our karmic obstacles?
A: Any karmic obstacle can be annulled if people could just not
get angry. Just be patient for an extra second before we get angry.
Q: The Sutras
say "To the Buddha I return and rely, vowing that all living beings
understand the great Way profoundly, and bring forth the Bodhi mind. To
the Dharma I return and rely, vowing that all livng beings deeply enter
the Sutra Treasury, and have wisdom like the sea. To the Sangha I return
and rely, vowing that all living beings form together a great assembly,
one and all in harmony." Since monks or nuns have to manage the great
assembly, everything that they do must accord with the Buddha's way. But
people are not perfect. People are still people, if they can't even upheld
the rules themselves, aren't they misleading living beings by managing
the great assembly.
A: There's good and bad in the world; there are those who cultivate
and there are those who don't. There are those who truly support Buddhism
and there are those who only use Buddhism to supply themselves with clothing
and food. To the latter, Buddhism is a business. They try to fool people
into believing that fish eyes are pearls. Whether people are fooled depend
on whether they have the ability to select the right Dharma, the understanding
of what is right and what is wrong. Without such an ability, people mistake
the thief for their son, misery for joy, and black for white.
Q: Why can't
Buddhism be simpler so that lots of people can understand it all at once?
A: Why don't we think of ways for kids to work as soon as they're
born?
Q: What happens
if we are illiterate and understand the words to the text?
A: This is easy, just learn! You can ask others if you don't understand!
To draw near good teachers is to find good friends!
Q: How can
we tell who is truly a teacher who understands?
A: To tell, just check and see if he contends and if he is greedy?
Check and see if he is selfish or self-benefiting? See if he always lies
but claims that he is being expedient. If you still consider people like
that to be good advisors, then you can't tell right from wrong.
Q: Some people
think that Buddhism is a religion that is very passive, could you please
explain their point of view.
A: It would be wrong to think that Buddhism is passive. Buddhism
is most proactive. It's just that most of us don't understand this kind
this proactivity. In today's world that is fragile, chaotic, and wartorn,
people are in a daze all day, oblivious to the fact that their lives could
end the next day. Buddhists, however, remain completely calm in this state
of affairs, still cultivating and doing the work that they should be doing.
Take the Sangha at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, for instance, which
grounds itself on Buddhist traditions, getting up at 3:30 a.m. to participate
in the 4 a.m. service. There may be universal bowing, meditation, Sutra
recitation, repentance ceremony or individual work after the morning service.
Think about it, is it passive to get up so early and work hard on cultivation
all day long?
Q: Some people
say that they're sick because they have inherited their ancestors' karma.
How do they eliminate that kind of karmic obstacle?
A: "We get full only when you eat; we end our own karma."
We don't need to shoulder the offensive karma of those generations before
us. It would be enough if we just stop creating more karma.
Q: Are there
really hells?
A: I'll tell you, we're in the hells when we're alive: most people
are troubled, fighting and arguing with each other without a break. Isn't
that like being in the hells? How is a life like that meaningful? There
are also floods, typhoons, wars, and other manmade disasters that make
life here like living in the hells! Furthermore, disasters plague us so
that we're miserable beyond words. We would rather die when we our cancer
acts up. Isn't that like being in the hells?
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