Once the fetters of lust and malevolence, and the delusion of separateness are cast off, man is no longer imprisoned within the cycle of birth, decay, death and rebirth, either here or hereafter, for he has found his being within the immortal.
Reading the Vedas, making offerings to priests, or sacrifices to the gods, self-mortification by heat or cold, and many such penances performed for the sake of immortality, these do not cleanse the man who is not free from delusions.
The repetition of the name Amitabha Buddha is meritorious only if you speak it with such a devout attitude of mind as will cleanse your heart and attune your will to do works of righteousness.
Beware of misdeeds of the mind, and control thy mind; Renounce the sins of the mind, and practise virtue with thy mind.
Beware of misdeeds of the tongue, and control thy tongue; Renounce the sins of the tongue and practise virtue with thy tongue.
Beware of bodily misdeeds, and control thy body, renounce the sins of the body, and with thy body practise virtue.
A man may be an intellectual giant endowed with the power to perceive quickly and express clearly and accurately, but if he pays no attention to his actions and if he is only bent on fulfilling his own longings and inclinations at any cost he is, according to the Buddha, a fool, a man of inferior intelligence and he indeed destroys his own progress here and hereafter.
Seeing that we are better than others is not right. Seeing that we are equal to others is not right. Seeing that we are inferior to others is not right. If we think we are better than others, pride arises. If we think we are equal to others, we fail to show respect and humility at the proper times. If we think we are inferior to others, we get depressed thinking we are inferior, born under a bad sign and so on. Just let all of that go.
Merit is not burnt by fire, by wind too it cannot be broken asunder, and not by water be rotten, and it is able to sustain the world. Merit can bravely withstand, both the king and the thief, and cannot be taken away by humans and non-humans.
Delusions, errors and lies are like huge, gaudy vessels, the rafters of which are rotten and worm-eaten, and those who embark on them are fated to be shipwrecked.
Just as the great ocean has only one taste, the taste of salt, so has my doctrine and discipline only one taste - the taste of emancipation.
However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them?
Let a man avoid evil deeds as a man who loves life avoids poison.
Like a beautiful flower that is colorful but has no fragrance, even well spoken words bear no fruit in one who does not put them into practice.
No comments:
Post a Comment