T337 The Five Directional Fortune Gods Dharma蓮生活佛傳五路財神法(1)
- 詳細內容
- 分類：大燈新書上市
■Book 103 - The Great Spiritual Response Of Tantrayana
■Written by master Sheng-yen Lu
For more information, please call +1(510)473-4818 or fax +1(510)437-1987.
Contact Address: 3440 Foothill Blvd. Oakland CA 94601, U.S.A.
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-
T336 蓮生活佛英文文集103－True Buddha Tantric Talks真佛密語二則(3)
- 詳細內容
- 分類：大燈新書上市
■Book 103 - The Great Spiritual Response Of Tantrayana
■Written by master Sheng-yen Lu
For more information, please call +1(510)473-4818 or fax +1(510)437-1987.
Contact Address: 3440 Foothill Blvd. Oakland CA 94601, U.S.A.
1. He should have very few sickness if any.
2. He should have adequate Qi in his body, and be very energetic.
3. He should not feel tired easily. It is a sign that he is not experiencing spiritual response if he always looks tired and fatigued.
4. His body will radiate all kinds of lights. His brightness may be in certain form or even formless.
5. His body will emit a certain kind of nature fragrance; and his body odour is lessened.
6. He himself will actively cultivate the Tantra. He is not compelled to do so, or treat the cultivation as a chore. He will do the cultivation happily, rejoice at doing good deeds, and enjoy dharma bliss.
7. He will recall his root deity at all times not just during cultivation. As a minimum, a cultivator must remember his root deity, guru and space-travelling protectors at three specific periods of time.
Our sect has reduced the cultivation session to once a day, and yet many disciples could not do it. Surely they will not experience any spiritual response.
If a person always falls sick, and looks tired and fatigued all the while. And he does not radiate any light. Or his body odour is very strong, and never recalls his root deity, worse still he forgets to do cultivation. Or he is simply lazy and have many nightmares, in which others wanted to kill him, or he wanted to kill others, or just did bad things in his dream, i.e. he never have any good dream at all. These phenomena will show he is not experiencing any spiritual response.
The true signs of spiritual response are those just mentioned by me. A cultivator will have auspicious signs; be full of dharma bliss; like to do good deeds; and is fond of cultivation. His body will radiate lights and emit fragrance. He will have good dreams. These are mentioned in the Susiddhi Sutra.
We know that Buddhism is an accommodating and flexible religion that is why it can be divided into five vehicles (forms of practice).
The earliest form is human realm, which teaches us how to be a human－－ a kind and perfect human being. Human realm is considered the foundation of Heaven realm. As a perfect human being can be uplifted and be born as a god; and can continue to cultivate and eventually become a deity. This is the Heaven realm. If a deity in the heaven realm continues his cultivation, he may become a realizer by hearing, and be in that realm. Generally speaking, heaven realm is also the foundation of realizer realm. Once in the realizer realm, and able to get rid of attachment of ego, a person can reach the Bodhisattva realm. A bodhisattva will succour other sentient beings. The Bodhisattva realm stems from the realizer realm. A person in the Bodhisattva realm will have very little karma to stop him from enlightenment. We can say Bodhisattva realm lays the foundation for Buddhahood. Buddhism classifies the five levels of achievement as five vehicles.
These five realms are considered righteous and not the evil ways. A perfect person is considered righteous; so is the cultivation of god and deity. When I first follow the faith of Taoism, I always think of gods and deities. I enshrined the image of Peach Pond Golden Mother, a great deity, in fact the deity of highest order in the eyes of Taoists. Her mission is the same as a Bodhisattva i.e. to succour all the sentient beings. Most people and religious sects consider themselves following the right belief , and yet they reject the Peach Pond Golden Mother and other deities. In the eyes of Buddhism, this is incorrect. A lot of Buddhists, and dharma masters who claimed to be following the right belief dislike the idea of enshrining gods and deities. But the fact is that from Buddhism point of view, it is within the purview of Buddha. There should not be any difference. The so called difference if any is mainly created by human beings themselves.
What is the only thing left in the universe?
If we have to define what is really the right vehicle then only Buddhahood that is perfect can be considered. The remaining vehicles such as Bodhisattvas, realizers, arhats, all the deities and gods, saints are considered incorrect ways - heresy, since they are not perfect yet.
Buddhism is flexible and accommodating to consider all sentient beings as Buddhas. Deity that comes to liberate us therefore deserves our full respect. The True Buddha School advocates all vehicles are right beliefs. There is no such thing as evil way, and heresy. In other words, there are no evil ways, or heresy in my mind. Everybody is a Buddha, the only difference is what level of perfection each has achieved.
Only Buddha has achieved the true perfection. Bodhisattva is less perfect. And a realizer is less perfect than a Bodhisattva. Likewise a being in the heaven realm is less perfect than a realizer; and a human being is less perfect than a heaven being. As long as they are from the five realms just mentioned, we must respect them. Even those that are not from the five realms, we must still show our respect. The most important word in this world is \”Respect\”, other words are immaterial. In other words, if we need a word to describe the universe, the word should be \”Buddha\”, all other words should not exist.
If you can understand this, you will have the thought of Yoga, which is itself a form of spiritual response.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
-End-
T336 蓮生活佛英文文集103－True Buddha Tantric Talks真佛密語二則(2)
- 詳細內容
- 分類：大燈新書上市
■Book 103 - The Great Spiritual Response Of Tantrayana
■Written by master Sheng-yen Lu
For more information, please call +1(510)473-4818 or fax +1(510)437-1987.
Contact Address: 3440 Foothill Blvd. Oakland CA 94601, U.S.A.
1. He should have very few sickness if any.
2. He should have adequate Qi in his body, and be very energetic.
3. He should not feel tired easily. It is a sign that he is not experiencing spiritual response if he always looks tired and fatigued.
4. His body will radiate all kinds of lights. His brightness may be in certain form or even formless.
5. His body will emit a certain kind of nature fragrance; and his body odour is lessened.
6. He himself will actively cultivate the Tantra. He is not compelled to do so, or treat the cultivation as a chore. He will do the cultivation happily, rejoice at doing good deeds, and enjoy dharma bliss.
7. He will recall his root deity at all times not just during cultivation. As a minimum, a cultivator must remember his root deity, guru and space-travelling protectors at three specific periods of time.
Our sect has reduced the cultivation session to once a day, and yet many disciples could not do it. Surely they will not experience any spiritual response.
If a person always falls sick, and looks tired and fatigued all the while. And he does not radiate any light. Or his body odour is very strong, and never recalls his root deity, worse still he forgets to do cultivation. Or he is simply lazy and have many nightmares, in which others wanted to kill him, or he wanted to kill others, or just did bad things in his dream, i.e. he never have any good dream at all. These phenomena will show he is not experiencing any spiritual response.
The true signs of spiritual response are those just mentioned by me. A cultivator will have auspicious signs; be full of dharma bliss; like to do good deeds; and is fond of cultivation. His body will radiate lights and emit fragrance. He will have good dreams. These are mentioned in the Susiddhi Sutra.
We know that Buddhism is an accommodating and flexible religion that is why it can be divided into five vehicles (forms of practice).
The earliest form is human realm, which teaches us how to be a human－－ a kind and perfect human being. Human realm is considered the foundation of Heaven realm. As a perfect human being can be uplifted and be born as a god; and can continue to cultivate and eventually become a deity. This is the Heaven realm. If a deity in the heaven realm continues his cultivation, he may become a realizer by hearing, and be in that realm. Generally speaking, heaven realm is also the foundation of realizer realm. Once in the realizer realm, and able to get rid of attachment of ego, a person can reach the Bodhisattva realm. A bodhisattva will succour other sentient beings. The Bodhisattva realm stems from the realizer realm. A person in the Bodhisattva realm will have very little karma to stop him from enlightenment. We can say Bodhisattva realm lays the foundation for Buddhahood. Buddhism classifies the five levels of achievement as five vehicles.
These five realms are considered righteous and not the evil ways. A perfect person is considered righteous; so is the cultivation of god and deity. When I first follow the faith of Taoism, I always think of gods and deities. I enshrined the image of Peach Pond Golden Mother, a great deity, in fact the deity of highest order in the eyes of Taoists. Her mission is the same as a Bodhisattva i.e. to succour all the sentient beings. Most people and religious sects consider themselves following the right belief , and yet they reject the Peach Pond Golden Mother and other deities. In the eyes of Buddhism, this is incorrect. A lot of Buddhists, and dharma masters who claimed to be following the right belief dislike the idea of enshrining gods and deities. But the fact is that from Buddhism point of view, it is within the purview of Buddha. There should not be any difference. The so called difference if any is mainly created by human beings themselves.
What is the only thing left in the universe?
If we have to define what is really the right vehicle then only Buddhahood that is perfect can be considered. The remaining vehicles such as Bodhisattvas, realizers, arhats, all the deities and gods, saints are considered incorrect ways - heresy, since they are not perfect yet.
Buddhism is flexible and accommodating to consider all sentient beings as Buddhas. Deity that comes to liberate us therefore deserves our full respect. The True Buddha School advocates all vehicles are right beliefs. There is no such thing as evil way, and heresy. In other words, there are no evil ways, or heresy in my mind. Everybody is a Buddha, the only difference is what level of perfection each has achieved.
Only Buddha has achieved the true perfection. Bodhisattva is less perfect. And a realizer is less perfect than a Bodhisattva. Likewise a being in the heaven realm is less perfect than a realizer; and a human being is less perfect than a heaven being. As long as they are from the five realms just mentioned, we must respect them. Even those that are not from the five realms, we must still show our respect. The most important word in this world is \”Respect\”, other words are immaterial. In other words, if we need a word to describe the universe, the word should be \”Buddha\”, all other words should not exist.
If you can understand this, you will have the thought of Yoga, which is itself a form of spiritual response.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
-End-
