■Book 103 - The Great Spiritual Response Of Tantrayana
■Written by master Sheng-yen Lu
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Good afternoon gurus, fellow cultivators (applause)
The first half of today's session was devoted to ”Great Compassion Repentance”. You must be very tired, after sitting and prostrating for so long. The second half will be more difficult to endure. Your feet must have no more feeling now, after sitting there without moving for more than two hours. But you have to endure, we must carry on with the second half.
Today, I am going to talk about the dharma of Five Directional Fortune Gods (applause). I can see so many eyes are bickering now - once you hear the words five directional fortune gods. (laughter) That is why you must be patient.
There are three difficulties in the Samsara world.
This morning we did the Great Compassion Repentance ritual, ideally it must be followed by the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva empowerment. But this morning I went to Hanki restaurant for my breakfast, I saw four sentences at the back of the menu. Inspired by the words, I have decided to teach you the Five Directional Fortune Gods dharma.(applause)
The first sentence reads ”Big pow is easy to sell, but big money is difficult to make”. The second is ”The nose of a needle is used to cut the iron” meaning the profit is marginal. The third is ”Few people come with their fathers, but more come with their sons.” The last sentence reads ”Water flows from the roof, it never flows back”.
I don't quite understand some of the sentences, as my foundation on Buddhism must be very elementary. (laughter) Shao Dong is a business man, he knows more. He told me the Cantonese likes to eat big pow, which has many ingredients. The pow is big, but you have to sell it cheap.
Since the profit is small, it is difficult to make a lot of money. The second sentence using a tiny needle to cut the iron signifies the small benefit we are able to get.
The third sentence is even more wonderful. Few people treated their fathers to the restaurants, but more fathers brought their children there. The implication is clear: there are more loving fathers than filial sons.
The last sentence:”Water flows from the roof and it never flows back.” hints that if you lend your money out ,it is seldom returned. The moral is clear, it is difficult to live in this world. There are three major difficulties we have to face in our life.
The first is the difficulty in going to heaven, i.e. difficulty in our cultivation.
The second is the difficulty in being a human being. We must live with others harmoniously. It is difficult to be perfect and yet be well-liked by others.
The third is difficulty in making money, our topic today.
To make money in Hong Kong and Taiwan is easier. I feel it is more difficult to make money in Canada and U.S.A. Many dharma masters thought by coming to these places, everything will change for the better, they will receive more offerings. But the truth is the opposite, we are hitting against an iron plate.
People here are very stingy, unlike other oriental people who really offer a lot to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. People from Seattle and Vancouver become stingy because they have to worry about their daily life.
They have to work very hard in order to earn a decent living, that is the reason I must teach the Five Directional Fortune Gods dharma (applause) In future, I hope they are able to make the same vows as those from the South East Asia.
Our material well-being in this life depends on the law of karma. During consultation, many disciples like to ask about their fortune.(laughter) I look at their faces, and make a prediction. Sometime I dare not speak the truth, I just tell them their luck is so-so. With deva-eyes, I can take a look at them and know immediately how much wealth they have accumulated in their previous life.
Of course, some of them may come with a fortune god which has a smooth face, I know at once they are very rich. But this is rare occasion during my consultation. Most of them come with poor ghosts, some even come with ghosts that are asking for repayment.(laughter) As a cultivator, we must learn to drive away all the poor ghosts and attract the fortune gods.
The secret mantra of the Five Directional Fortune Gods
The Five Directional Fortune Gods Dharma implies that they are from five directions. We must use five colours to indicate them:
Red is for the Western fortune god
Black is for the Northern fortune god
Yellow is for the Eastern fortune god
Green is for the Southern fortune god
White is for the central fortune god
-To be continued-
