Second flower bloom

Chapter 2
Once karma has matured, no action can prevent the manifestation of karma.If pain and embarrassment are inevitable, we better prepare ourselves for it.

Guide
Homage to the great kind root guru, Dharma King Ruyibao!
"Treasure Life" is another article on Buddhism and life.There are many articles of this kind now, and I don’t know how helpful it will be if I write this one again, but anyway, I hope it will at least not add to everyone’s confusion.

Some people say that this kind of reasonable article should not be too long. If it is too long, readers will have no patience to read it. However, my articles seem to be relatively long. It seems that it really tests the perseverance of readers.I also sometimes think that if the important words have to be finished quickly and left for the second half, the effect will probably be greatly reduced.Unfortunately, this New Year's lesson turned out to be another tirade.Many people insist on reading it, but they don't understand why there is so much rambling in an article about the enlightenment of diseases.Suffering, impermanence, selflessness, karma, bodhicitta, and the rareness of leisure, all the main elements of the journey outside Dzogchen are gathered together, but what is the relationship between elements?

I originally wanted to leave this question to the readers to think about, but obviously you don’t have the time, so I have to write another short article to introduce the structure and basic ideas of "Life of Treasures". I hope that with the guide, you can feel more relaxed when reading .

The article starts with my latest illness and talks about the prevalence of suffering in samsara.When Shakyamuni Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma, the first thing he spoke was the truth of suffering.Suffering is the normal state of samsara life.Without a right, deep understanding of suffering, there will be no search for liberation.This is the content of the first part of the article: suffering.

Pain doesn't come out of nowhere.According to the teachings of the Buddha, the root cause of suffering is ego.To really stop suffering, we can only start with breaking the ego.The so-called ego refers to the belief that the self and the external world exist absolutely and constantly without the need for viewing conditions.In fact, everything does not exist as solidly as people think, but depends on various internal and external conditions to constantly arise and perish. Therefore, it has no intrinsic nature and constancy, that is, selflessness and impermanence.After having the view of no-self, through repeated meditation and realization, the ego will gradually weaken.

Impermanence is easier to understand and more obvious than anatta.Observing impermanence can make us experience selflessness relatively quickly, so the article will first talk about impermanence, and then gradually transition to selflessness.The meaning of anatta is far deeper than impermanence.When Shakyamuni Buddha turned the Dharma wheel for the second time and preached the Four Dharma Seals, he also started from the impermanence of all actions, and talked about all dharmas without self from impermanence.

Selflessness means that things do not have an absolute self, but it is not nihilism.The reason why things have no self is because they arise and die according to their conditions, they arise when they arise, and they perish when they cease. This is cause and effect.At any time and in any situation, dependent origination has two meanings at the same time: emptiness and cause and effect.To talk about selflessness is to talk about emptiness, and to talk about selflessness is also to talk about cause and effect.In view of the fact that many people ignore the issue of cause and effect when establishing the view of no-self, I specifically mentioned in the article that we understand no-self from the perspective of cause and effect.

The above is the main content of the second part of the article.

Selflessness is the most unique and profound insight of Buddhism.It is fortunate to be able to hear about the method of selflessness, but for those who are truly seeking liberation, it is not enough to only understand selflessness in theory. To completely escape suffering, one must realize selflessness, so the third part of the next article talks about How to cultivate selflessness in life.

Similarly, the practice of selflessness in life must be a two-pronged approach. It is necessary to recognize the self-nature of things, reduce suffering by consciously weakening the attachment to self and external objects, and pay attention to cause and effect.In the article, I cited some examples of eminent monks and great virtues in Tibet (Note: "Tibet" in this book refers to Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan and other Tibetan-inhabited concentrated areas), especially talking about things involving the Three Treasures causal trade-off problem.What needs to be further explained here is that if it is a common property of the Sangha, monks are not allowed to take it privately, nor can they take public property privately to give to others or donate to other sentient beings.During the puja, each member of the Sangha can only eat his own share of food.As for whether the lay family members attending the puja can also have meals with the monks, it depends on the motivation of the benefactor who makes offerings for the puja.If the object of the altar's fasting is all the people attending the puja, the lay family can enjoy the food and drink provided at the puja; if the target of the almsgiver's fasting is only monks, the lay family cannot enjoy the food provided at the puja.Regarding the choice of cause and effect, we must strictly follow the teaching evidence and reasoning, and we must not take it for granted or talk about it credibly.

As the insight and experience of selflessness continue to deepen and become stronger, bodhicitta will arise spontaneously.We are finally convinced that everything is selfless, which makes us feel the taste of freedom like never before. However, there are still so many people and so many sentient beings in the world who are still suffering in vain because they do not know selflessness and karma.Thinking of this, we can't help but help them understand the principle of dependent origination, nature and emptiness, so that they won't suffer wrongfully.This kind of motivation to hope that all living beings will get rid of suffering and achieve happiness and eventually become a Buddha is Bodhichitta.

The fourth part of the article mainly talks about how to practice bodhicitta steadily in daily life.According to the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, bodhichitta and the wisdom of emptiness are fundamentally inseparable.In practice, establishing the view of selflessness helps to stimulate and strengthen bodhicitta, which in turn is the most convenient and effective way to realize emptiness.Beginners can practice bodhicitta first without having the view of selflessness, and after a certain period of practice, they will realize emptiness.

At this point in the article, we talk about the combination of wisdom and compassion step by step from suffering. Although in order to compress the space, many questions are only touched upon, but it can be regarded as covering the main steps of Buddhist practice.We basically understand how to cultivate, and the rest is to work hard to practice.The last part of the article talks about how rare it is to have free time. I hope everyone can cherish the time and make good use of this human body to practice well.

Huadrul Rinpoche carefully listed the Eighteen Free Time, the Eight Free Time for Temporary Life, and the Eight Free Time for Severance in the "Teachings of the Samantabhadra Master".I know that when many people read "The Words of Samantabhadra Master", they skip this part and go directly to the more interesting chapters later.But why do the masters take the trouble to talk about these seemingly boring and trivial contents?

Because we really don't know how wonderful this human body is, which can be used to practice Dharma and seek liberation.We need to observe the lives of ourselves and the people around us more carefully, just like what I said in the article, and combine reality to understand that in this world, we must have a human body, not reverse karma, learn the Dharma, and have righteous faith, etc. How difficult are the conditions.

At the same time, the fifth part of the article is also a summary of the first four parts.Life is full of troubles, but if we can use troubles as an opportunity to understand the nature of all phenomena in the world, and start from troubles to achieve the ultimate goal of stopping troubles, then such a life full of troubles is the best opportunity for us to be liberated.Reversing the inertial pattern since time immemorial requires extremely hard work, and the world is impermanent, and the human body is rare and easy to lose, so we must seize the opportunity in this life to practice diligently.

This is the basic idea of ​​my writing "Life of Treasures". At the request of Fa Hui and other disciples, I will give a brief introduction here.

Chiarombo
January 23rd of the Iron Tiger Year in the Tibetan calendar

Nov. 2010, 3

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Since my condition worsened, the Bodhi Island website has received a large number of letters every day asking about my condition.Apart from being grateful in my heart, I also secretly rejoiced that I had this illness at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. Many people from far and near made vows to release lives, offered lamps, and recited mantras. The illness was really worth it.

Sickness is a common thing in life. There is no one in this world who has never been sick, but most of the time, it is just that you suffer from illness and worry and worry the people around you. There is not much positive meaning.When you are in adversity, you may wish to consciously train yourself to face the test of life with a more realistic attitude, and see what benefits you can get from the adversity.In many cases, illness can be a good opportunity for us to develop renunciation and bodhicitta.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, liberation begins with the recognition of suffering.When one is ill, one may be able to realize pain more deeply than usual.There are so many causes and conditions that make people feel unsatisfactory, unhappy, sad, and troubled in daily life.360 days a year, either in sorrow or in illness.

However, people are always unwilling to admit this fact, and think that it is inappropriate to discuss the topic of dukkha.When faced with problems and troubles, the normal reaction of the average person is to try to run away or pretend nothing happened.But once you're sick, especially if you're seriously ill, you can no longer say "everything is fine, no problem" or "that's for later, don't worry about it now".We have to pause and think about what pain is, and what life is about.

Sutras divide suffering into three categories: suffering, suffering, and suffering.

The so-called suffering is the obvious and out-and-out pain, such as physical and mental trauma, illness, fear, life and death.Everyone avoids them for fear, and no one will mistake them for other things and want to pursue and get close.

Changing into suffering refers to the various experiences and phenomena that we usually understand as happiness, which will eventually change from happiness to pain because of their nature of suffering.For example, many troubles and diseases of modern people are caused by improper diet.Eating and drinking are necessary conditions for survival. A good diet will make people feel happy, but this kind of pleasure will not increase with the continuous increase of the amount of food eaten.If happiness is its essence, the more you eat and drink, the happier you should be.However, overeating makes people feel uncomfortable and even leads to many diseases, which shows that the joy of eating contains pain.

People's lifestyles and behaviors that they think are happy, such as using computers for a long time, watching TV, driving, staying up late singing, dancing, drinking, etc., will all cause diseases.

Similarly, getting together is happy, but there is no feast that never ends. The joy of getting together implies the pain of separation; love is joy, but it is easy to stay in love and difficult to stay together. The joy of love implies quarrels, suspicions, and resentment The pain of being young and beautiful is happy, but the years ruthlessly make people grow old, and the joy of youth implies the pain of aging; being a parent is happy, but how much energy is required to raise such a petite and fragile life.Worrying, not sleeping or eating, how much hard work is involved!Promotion and salary increase are joyful, but stress and anxiety also follow, office politics escalate, and dealing with various relationships is a headache.How to keep, preserve and distribute personal wealth after the increase is endless.If you think about it carefully, every pleasure in people's life contains future pain.

Comparing suffering and becoming suffering, the suffering of imitation is a deeper and more subtle suffering.It refers to the helplessness and incompleteness of the entire state of existence of beings trapped in samsara.The body and mind are restrained by karma and bound by all kinds of troubles.Ordinary people's lives come from afflictions, go to afflictions, and flow and flow completely involuntarily.

Specifically, human suffering is further divided into eight types.Whether rich or poor, strong or weak, all people inevitably experience the pain of birth, old age, sickness and death.In addition, people also experience the pain of resentment and resentment, separation of love, not getting what they want, and not wanting to come under different conditions and situations.

We can avoid certain diseases by exercising, strictly adhering to reasonable work and rest, and diet rules, but it is impossible to avoid getting sick at all. No matter how well-maintained our bodies are, sooner or later we will have problems of one kind or another.When we are sick, we have to take medicine, maybe we can’t go out, we can’t do what we want to do, we can’t eat what we want to eat; if we are seriously ill, we have to be hospitalized, undergo surgery, and undergo long and painful treatments, day and night Fighting against the pain at night, sometimes even feel that life is better than death.

Aging is also an inescapable pain.If we are lucky enough not to die young, we have to face the embarrassment of aging.Less hair and more wrinkles.Bright eyes and bright teeth become old eyes and a bunch of false teeth.I can't remember the past, and later I can't even recognize the person in front of me.When we need the care and help of others most, our aging appearance is so repulsive, disgusting, and unwilling to approach.We have to wait alone to die.Death means leaving those dear to us, what we love, everything we hold dear, and we end up looking forward to death as if it were a relief, so that we would not be alone anymore.

Acknowledging the universality of suffering may seem pessimistic, but it is not.If you see pain as purely a negative experience, try to avoid it, or think of pain as a sign of failure, if you are capable enough and everything falls into place, there will be no pain.If you think this way, there is no doubt that when problems and setbacks arise, you will feel extremely depressed, anxious and unfair. "Why is it always me who is unlucky", "Why do I suffer so much", you feel that you are the most innocent and pitiful person in the world.Or you jump up and blame, complain, and say, "It's all the fault of so-and-so, if he didn't do that, I wouldn't have this problem."

Doing so may provide temporary relief from anxiety and fear, but it won't really solve the problem.In some cases, avoidance can actually exacerbate our anxiety and fear.Lack of tolerance and tolerance for pain makes us vulnerable, blows and setbacks come one after another, and life really becomes miserable.Conversely, if we accept that pain in our lives is normal, that life is the way it is, we can better focus on the problem itself rather than needlessly dwelling on aggrieved emotions.Such emotions only increase frustration and resentment, but do nothing to help us deal with life's difficulties constructively.

After accepting the objective existence of pain, we need to understand it further.Taking diseases as an example, if we have a certain knowledge of pathology, we will know how to adjust our living habits accordingly to prevent problems before they happen or alleviate the disease.Instead of having to wait until the onset of the disease to realize the seriousness of the problem, as people often do, because they are unprepared, caught off guard or even give up in pessimism.In the face of illness and other suffering, it is entirely possible to maintain dignity and poise.

In some cases, we can use our familiarity with pain to prevent a pain from occurring by disrupting the conditions for its formation.However, we should also understand that many situations in life are beyond our control, nor can they be changed when things happen.Once karma has matured, no action can prevent the manifestation of karma.If pain and embarrassment are inevitable, we better prepare ourselves for it.The advantage of this is that although the problems that should be faced and the pain that should be experienced must be experienced, we no longer feel the same pain, and we no longer have to bear additional fear and anxiety.

Shantideva Bodhisattva once said: "If there is a solution to the problem, there is no need to worry; if there is no solution, worrying is useless."

When illness strikes, we can try to use Shantideva's tricks to deal with the problem.From a medical point of view, both traditional and modern medical research have proved that a healthy and relaxed state of mind is beneficial to healing, while negative attitudes and emotions, such as anger, resentment, and worry, can cause damage to the body.

Suffering is rife, and life cannot be perfect or always what you want.Because of this insight, we can finally relax, no longer eager to escape and blame, and even no longer try to resolve it, because we know that as long as we have this body, we will definitely experience aging, sickness, and death; Attachment, hatred, confusion, arrogance, we are bound to experience pain.

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In the face of a life full of pain, it would be foolish for us to give up hope and hang our heads in despair.The reason why observing and thinking about pain is meaningful is that it is possible and hopeful for us to be free from pain.

The purpose of the Buddha's preaching of the truth of suffering is to let us know the nature of suffering in life in samsara.The deeper and more comprehensive our understanding of suffering, the more motivated we are to practice ways of attaining happiness from suffering.

Pain and happiness do not come out of thin air, they have their own reasons and conditions for their formation.

The Buddha said that the root of all suffering lies in our long-term deep-rooted misunderstanding of ourselves and the external world, and our persistence in illusion.

Everything depends on various internal and external conditions to arise and die, so it has no inherent nature and constancy. In Buddhist terms, it means selflessness and impermanence.

Impermanence was not an invention of the Buddha; he merely pointed out an obvious fact that is often overlooked.Time goes by in an instant, winter goes and spring comes, flowers bloom and wither, people have sorrows and joys, moons have cloudy and sunny waxes and wanes, everything is changing, this is impermanence.Impermanence is a universal property of things, but people often pay attention to its existence only when they have to suffer sudden accidents, illnesses, or separations. Therefore, people mistakenly believe that impermanence brings pain, but in fact it is the cause of pain. Not impermanence, but the fear of impermanence.

There are two ways to overcome this fear, one is to become familiar with impermanence, and the other is to understand the reason of fear of impermanence.

Probably many people have had a similar experience: the more you are afraid of something, the less you dare to look at it, the more afraid you are to look at it, the more afraid you are.This is how people relate to impermanence.If you can turn around and look at it face to face, you will find that impermanence is not as terrible as you imagined.If there is no impermanence, the parted people will never have the opportunity to meet, the sick body will never recover, the night will never wait for the day, and the depressed mood will never be happy.Isn't such a world bad?

Regularly observing the changes in ourselves and the people around us will make us familiar with and gradually accept impermanence.We no longer try to reduce the wrinkles on our faces, worry about our sagging bellies, break our hearts at parting, and brood over our successes and failures.We have finally begun to learn to look at the flow of life calmly and rationally, and realize that we are not the only ones who are losing, aging, getting sick, experiencing setbacks, and feeling insecure.Everyone's life is full of ups and downs, gains and losses, which is universal and natural.

Familiarity with impermanence makes our hearts truly relaxed and open. Another benefit is that we cherish life more and understand the meaning of Buddhist practice.

Although we often say that life is short, the real feeling in our hearts is that the future will last forever. What to do, there will be opportunities in the future, so what is the rush?People always think that impermanence is far away from themselves. Don’t say that the life and death of others has nothing to do with them. Even if they encounter major changes, such as illness, death of relatives and friends, it is difficult to fundamentally change their habitual ignorance of the basic fact of impermanence.The people at the mahjong table will not stop the siege of the city because of the footage of the earthquake disaster being broadcast on the TV beside them.People who have recovered from their illnesses seldom realize that the fame and wealth they are pursuing with all their strength is not very meaningful to life because of the pain and danger they have experienced. Behavior, etc. are more helpful to yourself, and it is easier to generate a sense of happiness.

We are a bunch of people suffering from severe amnesia.Suffering, crying and wiping away tears, feeling disheartened, unable to hold back forgetfulness, in a blink of an eye, where the excitement is going.It's not that everyone can't be positive and optimistic, but that while being optimistic, we should realize how fragile and short life is.Our body is aging year by year, and will eventually die. Between birth and death, there are still diseases and various accidents. There is not much free time in our life to accumulate blessings and wisdom, and to pursue liberation. This precious life is wasted on trivial, frivolous things, trying to maintain what is passing away, and even creating bad karma for it.

When life comes to an end, nothing can help you except Fa-rectification.Even if you are rich all over the world, you can't take away a stitch; you can't take away your slaves if you are high and powerful, and you have to give up even the most cherished and carefully protected body.At that time, only bad karma is harmful to you, and even if the whole world is against you, they will not be able to shoot a shining arrow at you.

We don't like impermanence, because it always tries to convey another deeply threatening message to us: that everything, including ourselves, is "selfless" and has no eternal, inherent, or existing nature.All things arise and perish depending on causes and conditions.

karma refers to the various material and non-material conditions that lead to the formation of things.If there are sufficient causes and conditions, phenomena will arise; if causes and conditions are lacking, phenomena will not arise; when causes and conditions change, phenomena will change; when causes and conditions disappear, phenomena will disappear. This is what we usually call dependent origination.

"This exists because that exists; this does not exist because that does not exist; what ceases to exist causes that to cease."

Because everything is dependent, it is impossible to be constant, and it is impossible to have a self-generated and completely independent "self" without conditions.This completely shatters our illusion of security, how hopeless it is!
However, like impermanence, anatta is just a universal property of things. It is neither good nor bad in itself. It is only because people insist that things are inherent and exist, and that only in this way can life have a foothold. Happiness, so strongly resist the "no-self" point of view.

Indeed, it is extremely difficult to understand "selflessness" conceptually, not to mention realizing selflessness.Don’t we and everything around us obviously exist? We have our own bodies and minds. I am not you, you are not him. Tables, walls, and water are all visible and tangible. How can there be no self?

Nagarjuna made a complete and detailed exposition of anatta in the "On the Middle Way" and Shantideva in the wisdom articles of "Entrance to the Practice".Here, we only give a brief introduction to the viewpoint of selflessness in combination with the daily life of modern people.

It is an illusion to think that things are stable and durable. If you analyze them, you will understand the fallacy.Taking ourselves as an example, we only talk about "I" and "self" for the convenience of pointing things out and communicating. In fact, we cannot find an inherent and existing "I".If the physical body is me, then after losing weight, am I incomplete and no longer the original me?If so, where did a part of "I" go?In fact, after losing weight, we feel that we are of course still the original self, not only without defects, but more perfect.Whether the body is increasing or decreasing, that is to say, whether it is a fat body or a thin body, we all think that it is "I", then "I" is changeable, and changeable things do not have eternity. Instead, it changes from time to time as external conditions and internal components change.Since it is changing from time to time, how can there be a real me?It can be seen that taking the body as the self is just an illusion.

If blood, body fluids, and internal secretions are me, then every time I sweat and cry, does "I" get smaller?If Zhang San's blood is Zhang San, then when he transfused blood to Li Si, according to the assumption that the blood is "I", the newly infused blood is Li Si, and this blood comes from Zhang San. As mentioned earlier, Zhang San's blood It's Zhang San. In this way, isn't Li Si the same as Zhang San?On the other hand, the same blood can flow in Zhang San's body and Li Si's body, which just shows that the blood is not "I".The four elements of earth, fire, water, and wind that make up the human body can be analyzed in the same way.

In fact, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that "the body is not me".Looking at the previous photos, is that child who is being held in the hands, has no teeth, and only knows how to giggle, is it really me?Where did that one go?If that was me, who is this person looking at the photo now?
Generally speaking, a person's body, as an aggregate in continuous and endless gradual changes, will exist for several years, decades, or hundreds of years, while thoughts, emotions, feelings, etc. Extinguished, let alone permanent.If the body is not me, the mind that changes in an instant is even less likely to be me.

Anatta, however, is not annihilation.Life is similar and continuous, non-stop.The "I" of the present and the "I" of the past are not the same thing, but they continue continuously.Why?Cause and effect are not false.The flow of life can be understood as a series of causal relationships that pass forward and backward.The previous physical and mental behaviors affect the subsequent behaviors, and the emergence of each state depends on the previous state, which is endless and constantly changing.Death is nothing but a more profound change.The transmission of cause and effect does not end with death.

People are selfless, and things are also selfless.The development of natural science has made the concept of selflessness easier to understand.All objects can be decomposed again and again, and are composed of molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons, electrons and other things called dust in Buddhist scriptures.According to certain structures and proportions, these dusts are constantly rotating and moving at a high speed, and the trajectory drawn by them is mistaken for real objects by people.It's like holding a lighted incense in your hand and drawing a circle quickly at night, you will see a halo, but the halo does not exist, it is just a visual illusion produced by the trajectory drawn by the incense head.

If you put the human body under a microscope and observe it, you will find that the body that ordinary people perceive as real has disappeared and turned into minerals such as water, calcium, phosphorus, and iron, various gases, and carbohydrates.If the magnification of the microscope is further increased, the above-mentioned substances disappear again and become a pile of molecules.Molecules decompose again, and atoms appear, and the decomposition goes on endlessly...

The Madhyamika School of Mahayana Buddhism has discussed this in detail, and believes that ordinary people's seemingly real things are no different from emptiness.Of course, the development of modern physics has not yet confirmed this point of view, and there are different views within Buddhism, but anyway, the results of scientific research so far have been convincing enough to make people believe that there is no real existence, and the eternal one, even if At the end of the decomposition of matter, it is not void, but there is an ultimate tiny material unit, and this unit cannot be "I", otherwise, there will be countless "I" in each person's body, and at the same time, "I" also exist in Air, water, mud, so back to the original question: If there is a real me, which one is me?
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It is fortunate to be able to hear the viewpoint of selflessness. It gives us a new perspective to observe the real face of life in the universe, and it is also a panacea for relieving pain.However, it is not enough to only understand the selflessness in theory. To get rid of suffering completely, one must personally realize the selflessness.

The purpose of exploring the issue of selflessness is not to play intellectual games, but to effectively eliminate suffering.

There is a metaphor of ropes and snakes in Buddhist scriptures: A person walks into a room in the dark, mistook the ropes on the ground for poisonous snakes, and is terrified.At this time, if someone told him that it was just a rope, not a poisonous snake, he might be skeptical, but the fear in his heart would not completely disappear.If he turned on the light, the moment he saw with his own eyes that there were ropes on the ground instead of poisonous snakes, he would have no fear at all.

In the same way, in samsara, because of illusions and misunderstandings, we cling to the combination of causes and conditions and the arising and extinction of thoughts as real existence and permanent existence, and we experience all kinds of pain.Now, although we have heard the Buddha preach the principle of no-self, and theoretically know that the root of suffering is ego, we still have suffering.Only when selflessness is realized, the suffering that has plagued us for countless eons disappears in this very moment.

If we don’t work hard to realize selflessness, but just store the view of selflessness in our minds as a kind of knowledge, it’s like a patient appreciates the life-saving prescription prescribed by a doctor as an article, instead of taking medicine according to the prescription and treating it. Sick help.Reading prescriptions alone cannot cure diseases.After understanding the principle of selflessness, you should apply it to your daily life and practice, and recognize selflessness at all times, so that you can truly and effectively treat suffering.

It is difficult for beginners to directly experience selflessness, but they can often remind themselves: everything is selflessness.Continually reinforcing this idea can also be quite helpful.For example, when we are sick, we usually say: "I'm not feeling well! I'm in pain! I'm miserable!" At this time, if we remind ourselves: without me, it's just that some parts and functions of this body have problems. Pain is only a temporary feeling, and the feeling is changing at any time.Just knowing that there is no self that exists is sick and suffering will relieve the anxiety and fear in my heart a lot.

I have a student who accidentally cut his finger. He gasped in pain and said to himself: "The ego is really strong!" This gave me great inspiration.Whenever you feel pain, whether physical or mental, tell yourself it's ego, and don't make it a big deal.This can help us face and bear pain more easily.

Many times, we tend to expand the pure suffering of the moment and interpret it into a tragic story, or even a serial drama, mixed with too many irrelevant plots, judgments and discussions.

Originally, if I cut my finger, I found a Band-Aid and bandaged it myself, and it was fine.But some people don't look for a Band-Aid, but sit there thinking: It hurts too much!bleeding!If the wound becomes infected you will get tetanus.Tetanus can kill!What should my child do if something goes wrong?What about the house?There are people who owe me money, and he probably won't pay it back.I still have a lot of plans that have not been realized. It is too unfair to die so early... Thinking about it this way, the man who cut his finger may be really frightened, sad and angry, and have a heart attack.

This example may sound extreme, but isn't our reaction to many things similar to this in everyday life?
Selflessness helps to weaken attachment to external objects.

For example, in the values ​​of ordinary people, diamonds and graphite can be said to be very different, but in fact the two are not as different as people imagine. They are allotropes, different forms of the same element.

Both diamond and graphite are purely composed of carbon atoms, but the difference in hardness and crystal color is due to the different arrangement of carbon atoms.Diamond is currently the hardest substance, but graphite is one of the softest substances. Diamond shines brightly, but graphite has no luster.However, diamonds do not have constant diamond properties, and graphite does not have constant graphitic properties. Fundamentally speaking, they are both carbon elements.

However, due to people's delusions, the two are given different values.Diamonds are set on crowns and necklaces, becoming a symbol of wealth and luxury, while graphite is only ground into powder and used with clay to make pencil leads.Many people dream of diamonds, happy when they get it, and sad when they lose it, but they don't care about graphite, which is also composed of carbon.

This is how we project our clinging minds, discrimination thoughts, and illusions on objects, clinging to high and low, beauty and ugliness, and suffer in vain.

Things have no self, but they can appear according to conditions.An important law at play here is the law of causality.

Someone who didn’t understand Buddhism at all once asked me: “If you were asked to summarize the belief in Buddhism in one sentence, what would you say?” I thought for a while and said, “Believing in Buddhism means believing in cause and effect.”

Although the viewpoints of non-self and emptiness in Buddhism are excellent, it is not easy for ordinary people to understand. If you fall into the viewpoint of annihilation and obstinacy, your views and actions will run counter to the Dharma. In that case, enlightenment and liberation will be far away.I think it will be safer and more effective for beginners to start with the most basic, most important, easiest to implement, and also the most profound cause and effect.

Simply put, from a practical point of view, believing in cause and effect means refraining from doing all evil, doing all good, and purifying one's mind.If you don't want to feel pain, then give up the thoughts and actions that bring pain; if you want to be happy, cultivate the thoughts and actions that bring happiness.

Some people will say: "I study Buddhism diligently and do good deeds actively, but why do I still encounter misfortunes and ups and downs, while some people do bad things, but they are happy and happy. Isn't there no cause and effect?"

I have mentioned in previous teachings that every word, deed, and thought of people will have corresponding consequences. The consequences of some actions will appear soon, while the results of some actions will not be seen until a long time later.Just like the seeds of weeds are sown in the soil, grass will grow soon, but the highland barley will not bloom and bear fruit until the next year after sowing.

Cause and effect are real.If the result of an action does not ripen in this life, and you do nothing to prevent it from ripening, it will surely ripen in the next life or later.Therefore, what we encounter in this life is not all the cause and effect of this life, some of it is the fruit of the cause of the previous life ripening in this life, and some of the results of the cause of this life will not appear until the next life.

Doing good and accumulating virtue but encountering misfortune, there is a passage in the "Diamond Sutra" that can be used as an answer: "Good men and good women, accept, uphold, read and recite this sutra. Because of contempt and lowliness, the sins of previous lives will be wiped out, and one should attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi."

Doing good deeds creates new causes and conditions and changes the original causes and effects, so heavy crimes are lightly punished.The karma that should have been manifested in a more tragic way in later generations matured in this life when you still have the freedom to choose and choose as a human being, and you will not suffer this karma again in the future.

Causal trade-offs in daily life should be cautious, especially the causal trade-offs involving the Three Jewels, especially the diet of the monks must be more nuanced.

When the Larung Wuming Buddhist Academy offered fast, Dharma King Ruyibao once specially convened the khenpos and living Buddhas of the entire academy to discuss how to deal with the unfinished food of the monks.Because the food for fasting is the common property of the Sangha, if it is not handled properly, it will lead to serious retribution.If you throw away the leftover food, it is a waste and it is not legal.If you feed unfinished food to small animals, both the giver and the receiving animal will cause karma to go to hell.Similarly, if you give someone unfinished food, both the giver and the receiver will create the karma of going to hell.

Everyone consulted various scriptures and after in-depth discussions, they finally decided: during the fasting period, the uneaten food should be sold, and the money obtained should be used to buy food for the fasting the next day, and this cycle will continue until exhaustion.

Dharma King Ruyibao once said: Sometimes I feel that I will be reborn without any problem, and I am very happy about it; but sometimes I think that when I was a child in Luoruo Temple, everyone loved him very much. They often give him extra food.Because of this reason, I sometimes fear that I will not be able to pass away. I also feel very sad for the housekeepers at that time. They also bear serious karma, and I don’t know where they are now.Dharma King Ruyibao often asked the monks of the college to chant scriptures for the housekeepers at that time, blessing them to be liberated as soon as possible.

Influenced by the Dharma King Ruyi Jewel, I am also very cautious about the cause and effect of things involving the Three Jewels. I never eat any food from the Sangha when I go to the temple to give lectures or visits. money.

There is a saying in the Buddhist scriptures: Among the things involving the Three Jewels, the food karma of the Sangha is the most severe.If someone uses the clothes and ornaments on the Buddha statue for his own use, and later feels ashamed and remorseful, and then buys new clothes and accessories to decorate the Buddha statue, and repents vigorously, his sin karma may be purified.However, if a layman eats the food of the monks, or a monk eats the food shared by the monks outside his duty, even if he returns and repents later, this sin cannot be completely purified.

In the past, Khenpo Pema Wangzha, a disciple of Toga Ruyibao, gave lectures at Zhaxi Monastery, especially emphasizing that practitioners should pay attention to the cause and effect of choice.His own actions set a good example for everyone.

Khenpo has nothing, and he only carries a basket of books with him wherever he goes.The monastery held a Dharma meeting in winter, and the monks lit a fire to cook tea and porridge.After a day's puja, some monks took the unburned charcoal back to their huts for heating.Khenpo Pema Wangzha will exchange the same amount of firewood for the charcoal that has been used but not burned every time.He said: "Not to mention the food of the monks, it is hard to say whether the charcoal shared by the monks and used for their own use will bear the retribution. It is better to be cautious."

We usually speak, even when discussing Buddhism, we should be very careful to choose cause and effect.

When I was young, I studied with Caiwang Jigme Khenpo, and Khenpo often said that he had created a serious bad karma, for which he has been repenting.Sometimes when he talked to us in class, he would cry with regret.

When he was studying at Zuoqingxi Risen Buddhist College, a Geshe came from Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, who was eloquent and good at debating.One day, when Guru Geri Khenpo was giving a lecture on Madhyamaka, Geshe came in and sat listening to the lecture, not very respectful.Geri Khenpo's lecture style is not eloquent and eloquent, but slow and eloquent.When the master talked about the non-existence, non-nonexistence, non-non-existence, and non-non-existence of emptiness, Geshe, who was sitting next to Khenpo Caiwang Jigme, repeated the master's words, shaking his head as he spoke, disapproving.Khenpo Caiwang Jigme was not very happy about this, so he went to find Geshe after class and wanted to debate the "Kusha Lun" with him.Geshe made a mistake in the middle of the debate, and was caught by Khenpo.Khenpo proudly said: "Bodhisattva Shiqin and all the followers of his sect have never said that. You black skin (because Geshe is darker) is really talking nonsense!" For this sentence, Caiwang Jimei Khenpo regretted Endless, and no longer argue with others for life.

four

All things and phenomena in the world depend on various causes and conditions, and thoughts arise and perish. Nothing is completely isolated and self-sufficient.

Understanding no-self can help us dilute the notion of discrimination and realize that it is not only painful but also futile to try our best to build a fortress of self and stick to the distinction and boundary between others and self.Therefore, we can better understand and consider others, and it is easier to form a harmonious relationship with the outside world.

The training of bodhichitta is possible precisely because we see the fact that all things are interdependent and interconnected.

Every time I go to the hospital, I see people everywhere in the wards, corridors, and halls. The old, the young, the sick, those who accompany the patients, those who cry, and those who are silent, everyone is suffering.My heart is filled with sadness, and I wish I could do something to make them happier.Illness makes people more vulnerable and sensitive than usual.At this time, care from others, even if it is just a sincere greeting, a considerate smile, and an expression of humility, will also be helpful to the patient.

The last time I went to the hospital, some disciples helped me contact the fast track, and I received the medical examination directly without queuing up.I am very grateful to this disciple. He was very busy with work, but he put aside all his affairs that day, accompanied me to the hospital early in the morning, and took care of the arrangements back and forth.

After the examination, I heard that the physical examination center of this hospital can only receive a dozen patients a day. Ordinary patients usually need to make an appointment several weeks or even months in advance and queue up to get an examination and an interview with the doctor. I My mood suddenly became heavy.Thinking that because of my jumping in the queue, the patients behind had to wait longer. Some critically ill patients would get worse if they were delayed for one more day. Every extra day of stay will cost an extra day of accommodation fees. For many poor families, one day of accommodation fees is also a big burden.I feel so sad that instead of helping to alleviate the suffering of others, I have inadvertently added to their pain and trouble.

We often talk about benefiting all beings, however, "all beings" will become an abstract collective term in our minds if we are not careful, instead of a single entity that appears in our lives in different shapes but has the same awareness, can feel pain and happiness a life.

We often worry about paying too much attention to the individual in front of us because of big mistakes and small mistakes, which will lead to losing the overall perspective and heart.Therefore, in words, they are full of affection for "all beings", but in actions, they turn a blind eye to the physical pain and spiritual loneliness of relatives, friends and colleagues who are close to them.

Indeed, as disciples of the Mahayana Buddha, we should never forget the well-being of the immeasurable and boundless sentient beings in the void world, but it is also important that we cannot ignore every sentient being who comes to us due to various reasons and needs help and care. And happiness in this life, in the future, and in front of you.

Many scriptures in Buddhism talk about pain and its significance to enlightenment. In history, there are also a large number of practitioners who choose a more difficult life style than ordinary people.

However, this does not mean that we think that pain is good and must be sought after by all people.There is no doubt that all living beings want to be happy.I believe that the purpose of our existence is to find happiness, to find fulfillment.Always reminding ourselves of the commonality of all beings at this level will help us develop empathy and compassion, and also allow us to develop bodhicitta more smoothly.In the third part of this book, "Getting Out of Misunderstandings in Practice - Bodhicitta", I talked about the specific methods to generate and strengthen Bodhicitta, so I won't go into details here.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva once made a wish: All sentient beings in the ten directions may be free from worries and sufferings, be in peace and happiness, obtain profound and righteous Dharma benefits, and eliminate all afflictions.This is the specific interpretation of Bodhicitta: first, I hope that all living beings will stay away from setbacks, pains, and tribulations, and always feel happy; Let go of troubles and achieve supreme enlightenment.Perhaps most of the people we meet do not seek to get rid of samsara, but only seek happiness from suffering in front of them.In any case, we should do our best to help them, to make the poor free from want, the sick to be cared for, the lonely to be loved, the despised to be respected, and the wronged to be understood. .This is part of bodhicitta.

We can ask ourselves to aim at liberation and give up the desire for comfort in this life and the next life, but we cannot disrespect others' understanding of happiness and pursuit of happiness in this world.

For practitioners, being ill makes us feel more clearly the suffering of sentient beings and their longing for health and happiness.Things that I usually think I should have for granted, such as being able to see the colorful world, hear the birdsong, smell the flowers, taste the ups and downs, feel the coolness of the wind, cry, laugh, run, Jumping, even eating when you are hungry, and sleeping when you are sleepy... These are not things you can have whenever you want.People who are in good health often ignore the value of health, and don't know how free, easy and enviable a body without disease is.

Because I don't know how valuable it is, I don't know what to desire.No wonder sentient beings in the heavenly realm are blessed with abundant supplies, no decay, no disease, no worries, and much greater blessings than human beings, but they rarely have the fate of liberation.They live too comfortably, do not know what suffering and lack are, and are accustomed to happiness and abundance, so it is difficult to generate the desire to seek liberation.Only when the long life is about to end, the heavenly beings suddenly wake up. It turns out that the pain and fall are approaching all the time, and it is too late to do anything to get rid of the pain.

People are different.It is inevitable that a person will experience hardships and vicissitudes in a short life, and he will instinctively fear and avoid pain, and hope for peace.If he has the right guidance, he will further realize that the fame, wealth, health and longevity that people pursue are also impermanent and ultimately inseparable from suffering.

Suffering is common in samsara, and the only way to get rid of suffering and get happiness is to get rid of samsara.

五

Although everything we have is not perfect, no matter how much we care about maintenance, the body will inevitably get sick and aging; no matter how carefully we plan, life will always be unpredictable, good and bad. And a life full of troubles, the Buddha said, is the best chance for us to be free.

Life is bittersweet, there is enough pain to make us yearn for liberation, but not too painful to be unable to work towards liberation.

Birth, old age, sickness, death, joys and sorrows, happiness, misery, success, and frustration, all kinds of experiences in life inspire us to awaken.

For such a precious life, its enlightenment, and the opportunities it creates, we are often too busy to understand, use and cherish it.

How rare it is to be human, we didn't know it before.The Buddhist scriptures say: If there is an ocean as vast and limitless as the three thousand great thousand worlds, a wooden yoke with small holes floats on the surface of the sea, and there is a blind turtle on the bottom of the sea, which rises to the surface of the sea every 100 years.The wooden yoke drifts with the current, east and west, and it has no intention of looking for the blind turtle.The blind tortoise lives deep in the sea and only comes to the surface once every 100 years. Even if it comes, it can't see the wooden yoke, so naturally it won't deliberately chase the wooden yoke.The chance of the blind tortoise meeting the wooden yoke is very small, but due to chance, the moment the blind tortoise surfaced once in a hundred years, it may just hit its head into the small hole on the wooden yoke that happened to drift there either sooner or later. , and it is more difficult for us to obtain a human life than this.

We always take it for granted that all the conditions that we currently have that are conducive to practice can be easily obtained, which is not surprising.Little do they know that there are really eight kinds of leisure and ten kinds of consummation in this world, and very few people can use this rare human body to seek liberation.

As human beings, we are temporarily free from the pain and ignorance of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals in the three evil realms, and we will not lose the opportunity to practice Dharma because we mistakenly believe that meditation without good or evil thoughts is liberation like the gods of longevity.However, the same people, some people were born in wild, uncivilized lands or dark kalpas when no Buddha came into the world. ; Some people live in a social environment and traditions that prevent them from having the opportunity to contact Buddhism throughout their lives.

In contrast, we are much luckier.In the long cycle of reincarnation, when we are reborn as human beings, there is Buddhadharma in the world, and because of the karma in previous lives, we can hear the Buddhadharma and have joyful faith in our hearts. When we enter Buddhism, we can get guidance from good teachers, and our survival and lifestyle do not violate the true Dharma.This kind of human body that has the favorable conditions for practicing the Dharma and is really used for practicing is called a precious and rare human body full of leisure.If you make good use of this human body, you will be liberated in that body.

Pay attention to observation, and we will find that there are too many people who either lack this condition or that condition, and cannot truly get rid of suffering and achieve happiness.Only when the karma is sufficient can one enter the Buddhist gate and seek liberation.Although from a secular point of view, some people may be smart and capable, but this kind of smart and capable is only used to seek food and clothing, and even to do evil. , and also become the cause and condition for rebirth in evil realms.

When releasing animals, I dealt with and talked with people who sold and slaughtered livestock, fish and shrimp.Some people themselves don’t want to take killing as a career, it’s hard work and shameful, but some of them were born in families where killing has been a profession for generations, and their sons inherited their father’s profession. Killing animals to feed their families.

How pitiful it is to think about them, also in order to survive, many people can do more relaxed and decent jobs, but they have to live for years in the disgusting stench of the poultry and meat section of the market.I also know that it is difficult to change life and lifestyle all at once, but as long as possible, I will always persuade them to join in the release of life, even if it is just a little bit of effort.

Like them in this world, there are not a few people who make a living by killing, cheating, stealing, fornicating, etc.They need to create a lot of bad karma in exchange for a little food and clothing.Although some great achievers in history also displayed images of ready-made hunters, butchers, thieves, prostitutes, etc., they were for the purpose of saving and guiding sentient beings of different roots and different karma, out of bodhicitta rather than because of their own greed, hatred, ignorance and Only sinners do that.As ordinary people, we should be thankful that we don't have to engage in occupations that violate the Fa-rectification, whether we want to or not, and we can still eat and clothe ourselves.

In the past few months, I have often walked around the hospital. First, a family member fell ill and was admitted to the hospital. Later, my own heart problem worsened and I had to go to the hospital for treatment.This gave me the opportunity to meet some doctors, nurses, patients and make friends with them.

Most of them do not believe in Buddhism. The reason is not that they do not agree with the teachings of the Buddha, but that they have never had the opportunity to understand the Buddha's teachings before. Therefore, although they have an understanding of suffering and impermanence, they are helpless. Possibly complete relief from pain.

I can't help feeling grateful for my blessings again. I was born in a place where Buddhism is flourishing. I have believed in cause and effect since I was a child, and I know that as long as I work hard to do good and practice, I can be liberated.When I was a teenager, I left home and excitedly went to a different place to study Buddhism with my master.At that time, I firmly believed that the most meaningful thing I could do in my life was to seek relief.

This kind of understanding, this kind of belief is very important to us, because in this era of materialistic desires and moral and value confusion, it is difficult to be a kind and upright person from beginning to end, there are too many temptations, too many specious Reasons that make us wonder whether it really makes sense to cling to the goodness in our hearts.

Sometimes, acts of kindness can be questioned or even slandered.If our goal is not liberation, if the way of liberation is not to be free from greed, hatred, and ignorance, to refrain from doing all evil, and to do all good, we can easily get lost in the fear of poverty, contempt, blame, and humiliation and the fear of wealth, honor, and wealth. Yearning for respect, glory, and praise.

This time when I was ill, I thought that I might have to leave this world.The experts in the hospital consulted on my illness. Looking at the withered winter scenery outside the window of the consultation room, I thought that many people would suffer because of my departure.My mother had a rough life, but at the age of 80, she still suffers from the pain of bereavement!My disciples are kind, devout, eager and cherishing the Dharma, and practicing diligently.How happy I am to be their buddy on the road to enlightenment and help them move forward with my meager strength!If I go, they will be sad.There are many other things that have not been done, how I wish I could give an account of those involved, the people involved...

When people reach this kind of moment, they often feel a little worried and sad, and I am no exception.However, the long-term Buddhist practice made me realize almost immediately that this kind of sadness is meaningless. Life is like this, and it cannot be fulfilled. , whether you are sure of liberation.

My niece, Gam, fell ill and was hospitalized a few days ago. When the notice of critical illness was issued, she was extremely calm.She said that she had been in poor health since she was a child, and she was always worried that her illness would affect her family. If she really couldn't pass this test this time, she hoped that she could leave as soon as possible without procrastinating or burdening her family.

Although life is short, she is very happy that she has achieved the purity of precepts, so she does not panic at all in the face of death. She believes that the three treasures of the guru will definitely bless her and guide her to be reborn in the pure land smoothly.I admire Gam very much, he can be so calm at such a young age.She is really not attached to this world at all, even though she never complains, she is always gentle and gentle, with a contented and contented look.Since her admission to the hospital, her condition has improved and she has changed wards three times.Every time, the patients in the same room will be moved by the unusual calmness and gentleness of this little monk, and then develop confidence in Buddhism.At that time, I thought that when illness and death came, I hoped that I could be as calm and calm as Gamu and other true practitioners, without complaint or regret.Unexpectedly, the time to test me came soon.

Obtaining a human body in samsara is like a flash in the pan. Once the hard-won human body is lost, it is extremely difficult to regain it.

Many people believe that reincarnation is a romantic thing for no reason, and take it for granted that they will still be human in the next life, and they can even return to the various karma in this life and continue the story of love, hate, and hatred.This kind of thinking is really wishful thinking.If I could decide for myself, I think most people would not die throughout the ages, but this is not the case.It can be seen that at the end of life, most people cannot be their own masters.

"If you want to know the cause of the past life, you must find the fruit in this life; if you want to know the fruit of the future life, you must do it in this life."

Whether you will continue to be a human being in the next life depends on your behavior in this life.If you want to receive the rewards of human and heaven blessings in the next life, you must stay away from the ten evil karmas and perform the ten good karmas in this life.In order to further obtain a full human body, one needs to guard the pure precepts in order to obtain the leisure that can be used for practicing the Dharma. It is necessary to accumulate a large amount of blessings such as almsgiving in order to achieve consummation, and one must also have a pure vow.

Examining our daily words and deeds, not to mention the Bodhisattva vows and tantric vows, but also the basic layman vows of lay people, novice vows of monks and monks, etc., can we keep them satisfactorily?When you think of this, you will know that the chances of gaining leisure are very small.Even if the precepts are pure, with the cause of leisure and the cause of consummation—making offerings to the Three Jewels, helping the poor and begging, how much can you do on a daily basis?Even if it is possible to strictly abide by the precepts and be generous, is there still a pure vow?That is to say, one should make a vow to obtain a perfect human body in the next life, which is conducive to practice and liberation, or one should not forget to use bodhichitta to support one's words and deeds in doing all good things.Only when the three aspects of karma are fulfilled can one obtain a human body full of leisure.

If we don't seize the present opportunity and let the precious time go by, then we may not be able to have such perfect cultivation conditions for a long time to come.In that case, when can we truly stop suffering and gain liberation?
People who have read the book "The Mandala of Joy" probably have the impression:

In the autumn of 1993, when I went from Larung Wuming Buddhist Academy to Dege Sutra Printing House to get Buddhist scriptures, when passing through my hometown Yulongkuo, an old man offered me the ancestral land to build a monastery (later Tashi Chi Forest). The three people who were traveling with me made vows one after another. After the ashram was completed, they were willing to provide me with tsampa, serve as drivers, and serve as waiters.

Dele, who vowed to be a waiter, is from Guoluo, Qinghai Province. I met him when I was lecturing at the Golodunda Monastery the previous year.He had great confidence in Dharma King Ruyibao, and he followed me when I returned to Wuming Buddhist Academy after my lecture.At that time, he talked about his study plan to me with great joy, but unexpectedly, he died less than three years later at the age of 23.I have seen many young people like Dele who are full of confidence in the Triple Gem and full of enthusiasm for practice, but the god of death does not give them much time for practice.

It is never too early to practice.

Back then, I was studying at the Larung Wuming Buddhist College with Ribu Dorje Living Buddha from Luhuo.We often say that we hope to go to Qingpu Shenshan, the sacred place where Guru Rinpoche practiced, to retreat together.Later, following the teachings of the great kind root master Dharma Wang Ruyibao, I spread the Dharma everywhere, and the time flew by in the busy time, and I still have no chance to fulfill my long-cherished wish.I'm afraid it will be very difficult to have a chance in this life.Although my best friend and brother, Ribu Dorje Living Buddha, did not go to Qingpu Mountain according to his original plan, he continued to practice in retreat at the back mountain of Wuming Buddhist Academy for more than ten years. up.This makes me admire and envy.

Life is full of ups and downs, and many times your own ideas and plans cannot be realized, but no matter what the situation is, you must remind yourself: leisure is rare, but now is already, life is impermanent, and death is uncertain. You must practice diligently to live up to it. This precious life.

Since last November, my health has been deteriorating, with increased angina and sleepless nights.Because I was busy with various affairs, I was unable to separate myself. I didn't go to the hospital for a physical examination until the beginning of this year, and the result was worrying.After the Bodhi Island website announced the news, Buddhists from all over the world signed up to participate in the release of life, lamp offerings, and Vajrasattva Hundred-Syllable Mantra practice.

In order to express my gratitude to you all, I have completed this article one after another during the interval of treatment, hoping to share with you some of my experiences and feelings since I got sick.Due to illness and poor physical strength, the article is inevitably upside down and messy, and the words do not express the meaning.If there is something wrong, I hereby ask the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to forgive me, and readers to understand.There are so many long-winded words, if there are one or two sentences in it that can be helpful to Buddhist disciples, I will be very pleased.

In the past, I often warned others: "Don't slacken your practice when you are sick. Just use this opportunity to observe and experience pain and impermanence, cultivate renunciation and Bodhicitta, and turn illness into an opportunity for liberation." It is indeed difficult to understand how much patience and insight are needed for a person to practice continuously while sick.Especially heart disease, caught off guard, it is almost impossible to live in a sudden situation!I really admire those Taoist friends who face the disease optimistically and persist in practicing while sick, and thank them for setting an example for me.At the same time, I also wish that all sentient beings will stay away from the troubles of sudden diseases such as heart disease, and that they can live peacefully and practice Dharma even in the moment of illness.

I would like to thank all the people who cared and helped me, including the doctors, nurses who treated me, and the disciples who took care of me and accompanied me.As soon as the report on my illness came out, a disciple immediately vowed to release 1000 million lives in this life.Later, through the website to sign up for group practice, many people made a vow to release 100 million lives in this life, some made a vow to offer hundreds of thousands of lamps, and some made a vow to recite the hundred-character mantra 1000 million times.A child named Xiangbacuo, who was only a few years old, made a vow to recite the hundred-character mantra [-] million times after hearing the news of my illness, and she also vowed to release animals from now on, hoping that she would be released in this life. [-] million lives.Some disciples told me that this year's Spring Festival will be the most meaningful and happiest in his life, because he will release animals every day from New Year's Eve to the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

I sincerely rejoice in the merits of releasing lives, offering lamps, and reciting mantras.

I have no virtue and incompetence, and I don't regret my illness.Please don't just dedicate the merits of practicing good dharma to me, but dedicate it to all living beings, wishing all sentient beings to get rid of suffering and find happiness, and eventually become Buddhas.

Chiarombo
December [-]th of the Iron Tiger Year in the Tibetan calendar

Nov. 2010, 2

Coincides with the special festival of Sakyamuni Buddha

(End of this chapter)