Buddha crossing a predestined person: Dharma and wisdom in life

Chapter 67 Cultivating a Heart of Charity with the Buddha’s Mind——Being Compassionate and Kind (1)
Meditate with a flower, Buddha refines a heart
Talented people are mostly sharp-edged. When they are not in power, they must be unbearable and full of complaints. It seems that in today's world, who else is better than me?If I come out, at least I can compare to Zhuge Liang.Talented people often have this very serious problem!
What do modern people want?Have you ever asked yourself deep down?If so, are you satisfied with your answer?The biggest problem facing modern people is to overcome the chaos deep in their hearts and pursue a state of inner peace.

Everyone wants to have a balanced life, but in the busy modern society, the balance of life is extremely fragile.Work often takes up too much space in our lives, and there are all kinds of problems that plague us.We are exhausted trying to maintain "balance" and still not getting the point.

Too much criticism and dissatisfaction is because you have accumulated too much remaining time; too many complaints and regrets are because you have accumulated too much self-expectation.Let it go!After a long time, you will realize that life is walking in a hurry, and happiness is the plainness of abandoning extravagant expectations.

A philosopher said it well: "Only when the heart is truly harmonious can one be able to meditate and have deep affection; can one stay together and be free."

We live in a materialistic, hustle and bustle city. Faced with pressure from work, life, and family every day, people also become restless.Often inexplicably, they become others' punching bag, and even have quarrels and go to war with others over trivial matters.

A public service announcement broadcast by CCTV every night: When a young man and a woman were squeezing a bus, they had an argument because the other was squeezing them. An old man next to him said: "Young people, relax your mind and stop squeezing." The scene is repeated around us.If both parties can say "I'm sorry" with a calm mind, I think the quarrel will not happen.

Everyone is familiar with a good story about Mr. Ji Xianlin: One year when Peking University started, a freshman from other places came to report to the school with a big bag and a small bag. When he saw an old man coming, he asked the old man to look at the bag for him. The old man readily agreed. .Nearly an hour later, the freshman came back after completing the formalities, thanked the old man, and said goodbye happily.A few days later, Peking University held the opening ceremony. The young student was surprised to find that the Vice-Principal of Peking University, Ji Xianlin, was the old man who looked after his luggage!

A well-known academic master at home and abroad looks after the bag of a student who has never met before. From "happy promise" to "happy farewell", from this process, it is not difficult for us to understand what kind of old man's heart should be. Harmony.

A child gets a lollipop, and the crying stops abruptly; in the cold winter, he has a cotton coat to protect against the cold; when he is hungry, he gets a piece of bread; when he is sleepy, he lies on the bed beautifully... Our hopes are fulfilled, and we feel inner balance and happiness.Those who are content are always happy, I think, this is also a concrete manifestation of inner harmony.

Tao Yuanming, a reclusive poet in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, resigned from office twice to go back to seclusion, and lived a simple life in peace and happiness.When he really abandoned the so-called "fame and wealth", his spiritual realm was detached from leisure, and he felt free and stretched in his heart.He wrote "Planting beans under the Nanshan Mountain, the grass is full of bean seedlings and the bean sprouts are sparse. Morning revival clears up the filth, and brings the moon lotus back." , Chanting.

People's normal material needs are always limited. The ancients said: "With ten thousand hectares of fertile land, three liters of solar eclipse; one thousand mansions, eight feet of sleep at night." However, the modern society full of material desires is full of temptations and traps.People's hearts are not enough to swallow elephants.Some people can't stand the temptation of money, power, status, and beauty, and pursue a luxurious life, so they take risks and continue to grab ill-gotten gains. In the end, those who play with fire will burn themselves, embark on the road of crime, and be brought to justice Law.Such cases are too numerous to mention.These people are caused by the word "greedy", and only "greedy" can satisfy their ever-expanding desires.

"Harmony leads to harmony".To build a harmonious society, the harmony between people is the key, and the inner harmony of people is the foundation.Harmony in the heart makes a person noble in character, not deceiving himself or others, being brave enough to strive for the first place, but not caring about fame and fortune; being upright and upright, and getting along with others in harmony.Inner harmony enables people to have a normal state of mind, without inferiority, sentimentality, jealousy, or flattery.We often say that "harmony generates wealth" and "home and everything prospers" is the truth.

Inner harmony is golden.How to achieve inner harmony, I think that in life, we should be more grateful, less complaining, more understanding, less scolding, more praise, and less demanding.Contentment is always happy, let nature take its course, and always be grateful.It is the highest state of life to tirelessly seek knowledge, cultivate one's moral character, and achieve and maintain eternal inner harmony.

The way of life in this society is diversified. Social classes and members live in different circles. Some people are in very good conditions, but they are very distressed. .I realized a truth, that happiness depends on inner balance and harmony.A scholar's formula for happiness is as follows: Happiness = realistic enjoyment/ownership/subjective desire and pursuit.The bigger the numerator, the happier you are, of course, but the bigger the denominator, the bigger the discount of happiness, the less happiness you will have.Only inner balance and harmony is the source of happiness and joy.

There is a man with very good conditions. He is dual-employee and has a good employment unit. His son is going to college and his family is happy. When he was punished, he became insane in the end, and was sent to a mental hospital for treatment.The wives, elderly and children in the family were all dragged down by this and fell into the quagmire of pain.According to the formula of happiness, the numerator shrinks and the denominator becomes zero.Happiness is also out of the question. There is also a middle-aged man with a good income. He drives a car to and from get off work every day. Recently, he has had a mistress, and there are constant noises at home. His wife is going to divorce, and the old man is anxious. , where can we talk about happiness.According to the formula of happiness, the numerator becomes smaller, and the denominator increases even more because the mistress spends a lot of money, and the desire is out of line, so the value of happiness is small for him.There is also a couple, although they are poor, they respect and love each other. The house of more than ten square meters in their home is cleaned and organized. The couple work during the day and go for a walk to visit friends at night.The happiness value is much higher than that of the above two people with good conditions.

What is the measure of the value of human life?Work performance, generous salary, luxurious villas, and high-end cars have become the goals pursued by modern people at all costs.However, the essence of life is different for everyone. Farmers work hard under the scorching sun, and mothers measure life with sweet milk and nightless sleep.How important is enviable work?Or is it important to have a happy life?Which is right and which is wrong, this is a question worth thinking about, so you have to put a seesaw in your heart and keep your inner balance in order to maintain the balance between work and life.People who know how to grasp the principle of balance know how to adjust their life rhythm and work status, how to appreciate the sentiment and interest in life, and maintain a calm and demeanor under no matter how intense their work is.Attitude determines everything, and internal factors determine external performance. Always maintain a normal and balanced mind, which can make your career flourish and your life happy.

All diseases are born from the heart, not from the outside world

According to Buddhism, most of the physical diseases of people are caused by the mind. The so-called heart is not right, the heart is not clean, and the human body is often sick.What is a pure heart?Absolutely pure without delusions and distracting thoughts is the pure heart.There are delusions, distracting thoughts, and afflictions, which come from emotions, anger, sorrow, and others.

What is the value of life?
What do you really want?What is dispensable?
What should I get?What is it that I don't deserve?

What can I possibly get?What is impossible for oneself?

These are some difficult questions to answer.

If you figure out these problems, you will know what to do, calm and calm, and not in a hurry.If you can’t figure out these issues, it’s inevitable that you’ll be restless and confused. Sometimes you want to fight, sometimes you want to give up, sometimes you want to be a good person, sometimes you want to be a bad person, sometimes you want to show your ambitions, and sometimes you want to retreat bravely.As Zhu Xi said: "Concentration is reason, and the mind is calm. Once it is determined by reason, the mind will be calm. If it is not determined by reason, then the mind will just go here and there."

For human beings, the greatest truth is not to find out the cause of the universe and when the earth will be destroyed, but to find out the value of life.The happiest heart is not to take the whole world for oneself, not to trample others underfoot, but to ask for exactly what you get.If you don’t know the value of life, don’t know what you want and what you can get, you will inevitably worry about gains and losses, do a lot of stupid things, make a lot of ugliness, which not only disgusts others, but also hurts yourself.

Confucius said: "Is it contemptible to serve the king? If you don't get it, you worry about it; if you get it, you worry about losing it. If you worry about losing it, you will do everything." It means: the kind of person who has no wisdom and no cultivation Man, is it possible to work with him?When he didn't get it, he was afraid of not getting it; after he got it, he was afraid of losing it.If you are afraid of losing, there is nothing you can't do.

Confucius said that people who worry about gain and loss are terrible: they will do everything they can.There are indeed such people in life, who will use any despicable means for their own selfishness.But this kind of people usually can't make a fortune, even if they are lucky enough to achieve great things, they can't last long, and the ending is often tragic.

But there is one person who seems to be an exception, and that is Cao Cao in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".After killing Lu Boshe's family by mistake and killing Lu Boshe himself, he even said: "I would rather bear the people of the world than the people of the world bear me." Great cause, and not a bad ending.What is the reason?Because this is Luo Guanzhong's need to create a character image, not the true logic of history.According to the records of "Three Kingdoms", what Cao Cao said at the time was: "It is better for me to bear others than to let others bear me." The word "person" means "he". .What's more, even if Cao Cao really had the idea of ​​"rather defeating the world", he did not do so.On the contrary, he also did a lot of good things for the common people. When his horse stepped into the wheat field, he also punished himself by "cutting the hair and replacing the head", and he did not ignore the interests of others.When he sincerely hired Mi Heng, Mi Heng took off his trousers and scolded him, which made him unable to step down. He obviously failed him, and he did not vent his anger by killing Mi Heng.It can be seen that he can tolerate the occasional "people bear me".

Therefore, the example of Cao Cao does not show that those who worry about gains and losses and use everything to the extreme can have good results.

However, not all people who worry about gains and losses will use everything to the extreme as Confucius said.Each of us is more or less concerned about gains and losses, and the vast majority of people will not use improper means. The direct harm of this kind of problem is often not others, but ourselves.why?This kind of defect makes us hesitate when we should make a decision, so we miss the opportunity; it makes us make mistakes that should not be made due to nervousness when we do things, and lead to unexpected failures.

The Art of War says: "The calamity of the three armies arises from suspicion." Worry about this and worry about that. Attacking is afraid that the enemy will steal the rear, defending is afraid that the enemy will run out of food, and retreating is afraid of being ambushed. In that way, hesitantly, even if the battle can be won, it will be won or lost.

The same is true in life. The reason why many things fail is not because of insufficient ability, insufficient conditions, or bad opportunities, but because of consideration of gains and losses, resulting in abnormal mentality, out-of-the-ordinary actions, and failure to exert normal abilities.

There is a story:
Hou Yi of the Xia Dynasty was a world-famous archer—this Hou Yi was not the one who shot down nine suns in the myth, but the king of a vassal state.He has a good ability to shoot through Yang with a hundred steps, no matter standing, kneeling or riding, he never misses a hundred shots.

After King Xia heard about his reputation, he wanted to see his supernatural skills, so he recruited him and ordered people to set up an animal skin archery target in the imperial garden. In order to prevent this performance from being boring because there are no prizes, I will set up a reward and punishment rule for you: if you hit the target, I will reward you with ten thousand taels of gold; Now sir, please begin!"

After Hou Yi heard this, his complexion suddenly became serious.Slowly he took out an arrow, put it on the bowstring, and took aim carefully.If it was normal, he could hit the bull's-eye with just one arrow, but when he thought of how important the relationship would be, he would either get ten thousand taels of gold or lose the land of a thousand households, his mood suddenly became tense, and the hand that drew the bow slightly trembling.He aimed for a long time, and tried to shoot the arrow several times, but then retracted it and continued to aim.Finally made up his mind, he let go of the string, and the arrow shot out, but it was a few inches away from the bull's-eye.If so, counting the arrows, none of them hit the bull's-eye.

Hou Yi had no choice but to pack up his bow and arrows with shame on his face, reluctantly smiled and said goodbye to King Xia, and left the palace angrily.Disappointed by this result, King Xia was puzzled at the same time, so he asked his subordinates: "I heard that this man's arrow skills are supernatural, and he is sure to hit with every shot. Today, it seems to be very normal. Could it be that he has earned his reputation? "

A minister explained: "Hou Yi shoots arrows on weekdays, because there is no pressure of bets, he relaxes, and he can naturally perform normally. But today his archery results are directly related to his vital interests. How can he calm down? It seems that only when a person truly disregards gains and losses can he become a well-deserved archer!"

Hou Yi is an ordinary person, and he will inevitably perform abnormally in the face of gains and losses.If you want to avoid the harm of worrying about gains and losses, you must work hard to cultivate a sense of normalcy, so that you can reach the realm of "eight winds can't be blown by you" in Buddhism, or the realm of "Mount Tai collapses in front of you without changing color" in military strategists. The ability has been brought to the extreme.Korean Go genius Lee Chang-ho is such a person. No matter how important the game is, he can maintain a calm mind, as if nothing can disturb his mind, so he is known as the "Stone Buddha".With such determination, no wonder he became the No.1 Go player in the world.

How to maintain normal mind?First of all, you need to be "intellectual" and figure out what you want; secondly, you need to be "knowledgeable" and figure out what you can get.To be "intellectual", one must torture one's own mind and force it to give the most honest answer.Some people feel ashamed of some of their thoughts, and if they don’t want to embarrass themselves, they cannot be “intellectual”.To "know your fate", in addition to making an accurate assessment of your own talents and growth potential, you must also be free and easy, regard what you get as what you should enjoy in your "fate", and regard what you can't get as your "fate". "There is no blessing in the middle of the world, so you won't worry about gains and losses.

Master Huineng was born in a poor family and lost his father when he was three years old.When he grew up, he supported his mother by selling firewood and hunting.After listening to people recite the "Diamond Sutra", he became enlightened and determined to learn Buddhism and become a monk, thus becoming the greatest Zen master in Chinese history.

In [-] AD, Master Huineng decided to go out to preach Buddhism.He didn't know that in the next few years, the Zen principles he spread would bring such a huge shock to the whole world. He only knew that he was a Zen master, and he had the responsibility to pass on the Dao of his own enlightenment to the ignorant and paranoid people. .

The master first went to the Faxing Temple.There, he saw two monks arguing beneath a flagpole with a fluttering Fafan (a small Buddhist flag with the name of the Buddha written on it).

A monk shouted: "The flag is obviously moving! What's there to argue about?"

Another monk retorted: "If there is no wind, how can the flag move? Obviously the wind is moving!"

The two argued endlessly, and neither of them convinced the other. Soon, a group of spectators gathered around, and everyone talked and couldn't agree on what to do.

The master shook his head and sighed, stepped forward and said to the people: "It's neither the wind nor the flag, but your hearts!"

Someone joked and reported this to the abbot, the abbot.The abbot was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly led all his disciples to pay respect to Master Huineng, and said: "Amitabha Buddha! I hope the master can stay here forever and guide the disciples in the confusion."

Therefore, Master Huineng set up an altar here to give lectures, and soon the thoughts of Zen Buddhism spread all over the country, and today it is even more popular all over the world.

For the viewpoint of things outside the mind, one should return to one's own mind instead of staying on the appearance of things.

The existence of phenomena is one-sided.The reason why there is a difference is entirely because of one's own thoughts.When the mind is calm, everything is content.When the heart is moving, the difference in everything is self-evident.The mind is calm and naturally cool, and the heart is far from the side.Keep a pure heart, "out of the mud" can also be "untainted".

Peace of mind is the greatest freedom
Liang Qichao said in his article "On Freedom" that people have "true freedom" and "pseudo-freedom".What is true freedom?Freedom of mind is true freedom.The body can be autonomous, but the mind is not free. It is just "pseudo-freedom".Liang Qichao believes that "there is no humiliation greater than being a slave to the heart". It is not worth being afraid of others enslaving me, but what is even more painful is being enslaved by others.However, actively being enslaved by others is not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing is that I enslave myself.When others enslave me, if I don’t want to, I can rise up and resist, and it is possible to break free from the shackles; I am enslaved by others on my own initiative, and others may rescue me out of compassion or a sense of justice.If I enslave myself, then I will not think of resistance, and no one else can save me. This is the most terrible thing.

Therefore, in order to obtain true freedom and liberation, one must keep the inner state of mind free from external influences forever.There are four main points:

First, "the inner state of mind is not affected by the ancients".There is no need for Liang Qichao to remind us of this point. Modern Chinese people do not take the ancients too seriously.Since the "smashing of the Confucian family shop", the status of ancient sages in people's minds is not too high, but too low.Standing on the shoulders of predecessors is more conducive to self-growth.Liang Qichao said: "As for the ancients, I sometimes learn from them, sometimes make friends with them, and sometimes make enemies with them." This may be a more appropriate criterion for treating the ancients.

(End of this chapter)