HsinTao

Necessary Criteria of Enlightened One

 The Sixth Bodhi knows about the poor and the suffering that has caused numerous complaints and has created wicked harsh karma. Bodhisattva has given alms equally to those who grieved her and to those to whom she is related.. She doesn’t carry vendettas and doesn’t think about wicked men.
What is the sixth Awakening? Once men become impoverished, they have many complaints and bemoan to one another. We often can see this between husband and wife.   Initially their relationship is fine when there are no distractions. If there is too much money, however, everyone minds their own business.

Q & A About Insects (III)

 Q: How does Master know about these? Where do you find this information?

A: Practice Buddhism will give you these answers.

Q: Can you find them in the dictionary?

A: No, you can’t find it. You have to think and learn to make Buddha dharma into part of your daily activities. Buddha dharma is about enlightenment.

Q: Where does enlightenment come from?

A: Enlightenment comes from observation.

Q: From observation, can it be experienced?

A: Experienced is the action that comes after observation. Once it is verified then can it be called experienced. Verification is experiencing. That is why I like to observe nature, and seeing all these things. I can see a tree, and I can also observe a little bug to view the changing life.

Q: Master, how much time do you spend on watching it?

Q & A About Insects (II)

 Q: If in previous life, I have been an animal, would I take that animal’s habits to this life?

A: Yes, he would bring his previous habits to the present which will become his behavior. For example, previously, if a person had been a bee, then he would have that bee’s behavior.

Q: What kind of behavior if that person’s previous life was a caterpillar?

A: As a former caterpillar, he would not be active, his energy level would not be high, and behaves slowly.

 Q: What about butterfly? What kind of a person would that be?

A: He likes to show-off.

Q: Show-off, lol, but isn’t peacock likes to show-off?

Q & A About Insects

 Q: Master, I enjoy great outdoors, and especially fond of observing little insects. When I come up to the mountain, I see plenty of plants and animals. I like to ask Maser, what are the difference between them and us?

A: Back when I was in seclusion and didn’t have much contact with other people. I often observed little bugs, butterflies, spiders, and various other insects around me. And I developed this habit of observing and seeing their behavior. I have discovered something interesting in that they also thought of themselves as people; they do not consider themselves as little creatures. Therefore, when some of us are being hypnotized, we said that in our previous lives, we were also human. Very few of us claimed to have been a pig or a sheep. No matter what our previous lives have been, we always thought of ourselves as human. Therefore, I am fascinated by animals and wanted to observe them to see how they are different from us.

Q: What are differences between human and insects?

Impermanence Winds within Mountain Monk’s Sleeves

 Last month, I took several disciples back to Jiguangsi for a visit. Jiguangsi is located by Yílán’s Lóngtán Lake where the scenery is very elegant. It has been a while since I last returned to Jiguangsi but I still remembered that it was in 1977 when I arrived at Lóngtán.

Prior to 1977, I lived at Yílán’s Cizilun Lingshanta. Lingshanta was right next to pauper’s graves which were very desolated. Linggǔtǎ was seven story tall with the ground floor housed Kṣitigarbha and urns of ashes. I lived on second floor. Third floor and above were all empty. This entire tower could represent Buddha’s maxim: the sensuous world is illusory, for there was not even a bed to be found. I found couple wooden boards and placed them together to form a temporary bed. Due to years long of neglect, second floor windows lattices were already rotten away. All that remains were four gaping holes that stopped neither winds nor rains. In a tower that contained only four walls with a bunch of urns of ashes that no one claimed, and mournful sounds of insects from outside as my companions, I lonely contemplated enlightenment of the living and the dying.