First, cherish happiness.
"Cherish" means cherish, and "blessing" means blessing. Even if we are blessed, we should cherish it and never waste it. You know, in the last days of France, people's blessings were very meager; If you don't cherish and enjoy this thin blessing, you will suffer great pain. The ancients said that "joy begets sorrow" is what it means! I remember when I was a child, my father asked someone to write a couplet, which was written by Liu Wen in the Qing Dynasty and hung high on the pillar of the hall. The couplet is "cherish food and clothes, not for wealth, but for luck." My brother often teaches me to read this sentence, and I am familiar with it. I will pay great attention to dressing or eating in the future. Don't even dare to spoil a grain of rice. And my mother often taught me that the clothes I wore at that time should be careful, and there should be no damage and pollution. This is because my mother and brother are afraid that I don't care about food and clothing, lose my blessings and die short-lived, so I often tell them so.
You know, when I was five years old, my father died! At the age of seven, I began to practice calligraphy and scribbled with a whole piece of paper. I didn't care at all. My mother looked at it and said solemnly, "Son! You should know! When your father was alive, he didn't say that such a big piece of paper wouldn't be wasted, and even an inch of paper wouldn't be thrown away casually! " Mom, this is also the meaning of cherishing happiness!
Because of this kind of family education, I was deeply impressed in my mind. Later, when I was old, I had no worries about food and clothing for a while. Even after becoming a monk, I have kept this habit until now. Please look at a pair of yellow shoes on my feet. They were given to me by a monk who missed seven buddha when I was in Hangzhou in 1990. You can come to my room when you are free. I still use the quilt face before I became a monk. There is also an umbrella, which was also bought in the early years of the Republic of China. These things, even if they are damaged, are as good as new if they are sewn with needle and thread. It can be used for a lifetime! However, the underwear and Lohan sandals I wear have to be changed every five or six years. In addition, most of the clothes were made at home or when I first became a monk.
In the past, people gave me good clothes or other precious things, and I mostly gave them to others. Because I know my blessings, good things are not courageous. Another example is eating. I only eat some good food when I am sick. Besides, I never dare to buy good things casually.
I am not the only one who advocates cherishing my blessings, even the old mage of Dadeyin, Pure Land Sect. Someone gave him supplements such as tremella, but he always refused to eat them himself. He turned to Guanzong Temple to support the idle mage. Someone asked him, "Master! Why not make up for it? " He said, "I am so lucky that I can't stand it." 」
His old man, an Indian mage, is honest and straightforward. He usually only asks people what is right and proper, but he doesn't respect others. A few years ago, a converted disciple, a famous layman in Gulangyu, visited him and had dinner with him. The lay man ate well first. When the old mage saw that there was still one or two grains of rice in his bowl, he shouted rudely, "How lucky you are to waste food like this! You have to eat it up! 」
Everybody! Remember everything said above. You should know: even if we are lucky, we should enjoy two or three points, and the rest can be saved for later. You can kindly give my blessing to all sentient beings and enjoy it together, so much the better.
Second, study hard.
"Learning" is practice, and "labor" is labor. Now let's talk about learning from the old:
Please look at your health. There are two hands on the top and two feet on the bottom, both of which are laborers. If you don't use him to practice well, you will not only have two hands and two feet, but also be harmful to your health. In other words: if you work often, you will be healthy. Moreover, we should know that labor is a human duty. It's not just us ordinary monks who want to practice and work, but even when we reach the status of Buddha, we should always work. Now I will tell the story of Buddha's labor:
The so-called Buddha is the Buddha of Sakyamuni. Ordinary people think that when the Buddha was alive, he always thought that, like the abbot and monks now, there were waiters and waiters who often waited on him, and the Buddha himself didn't have to do anything. But otherwise, one day, the Buddha saw that the underground was not very clean, so he picked up a broom to sweep the floor. Many big disciples came to help sweep the floor when they saw it. Soon, they swept the floor clean. The Buddha was very happy and immediately went to the lecture hall to explain, saying, "A person who sweeps the floor can get five kinds of merits. ……」
On another occasion, the Buddha and Ananda went out for a parade and met a drunken disciple on the road, drunk and unconscious. The Buddha ordered Ananda to lift his feet, lift his head himself, carry it all the way to the well, draw water with a bucket, and let Ananda wash him clean.
One day, the Buddha saw that the wooden lintel in front of the door was broken and repaired it himself.
Once, a disciple fell ill and no one took care of him. The Buddha asked him, "You are sick, why is no one taking care of you?" Disciple said, "I didn't take care of a sick person with my heart before." Now I'm sick, so nobody takes care of me. The Buddha listened and said, "People don't take care of you, I'll take care of you!" " ! "I washed away all the filth of the sick man's urine and urine; And he cleaned his bed and helped him to bed. This shows how hard Buddhism has been studied. Buddha is not like people now, who want others to serve and enjoy themselves. These facts, out of law, are not made out of thin air.
Now I'll tell you two more things: A Shao Lou Tuo, the great disciple in the Amitabha Sutra, is blind and can't take care of himself. The Buddha cut clothes for him and asked other disciples to help him.
Once, the Buddha saw an old monk with blurred eyes. He wanted to sew clothes with needles, but his eyes could not see clearly. He cried and said, "Who can needle me?" The Buddha immediately promised: "I will put it on you." 」
The above examples are enough to prove that Buddha often works. I hope you can follow the example of Buddha, do everything yourself and don't rely on others.
Third, keep the precepts
I think you always understand the meaning of the word "keep precepts"! We don't want to be a bodhisattva or a Buddha, but to live and turn over a new leaf. At the very least, you must be able to keep the five commandments. Unfortunately, although there are many people who are ordained now, they are just hanging names, and few people can really keep them. You know, after being ordained, if you don't keep it, you will commit twice as many crimes as those who don't, so I often advise people not to be ordained casually. As for the prevailing preaching situation, it is really hard to see it. I really can't bear to say it! I think it's best to quit by our own strength, and we must not be perfunctory and ask for trouble.
Needless to say, the most important commandments are killing, stealing, smashing and jumping. In addition, drinking and eating meat is also easy to make people laugh. As for smoking, although there is no explicit provision in the law, it is easy to be ridiculed in the habits of our country, and it is always natural not to eat.
Fourth, self-esteem.
"Respect" means respect, and "self-esteem" means respect for yourself. But everyone likes others to respect me, but I don't know that I respect myself; I don't know if people want to respect themselves, they must start from respecting themselves. How to respect yourself? I always say to myself: I am a great man, I am a great man. For example, if we want to be a clean monk, we will read a biography of a monk and see how they behave. I will do the same. The so-called "I am also my husband". For example, if I want to be a great bodhisattva in the future, I must follow the bodhisattva line in the scriptures and follow the practice. This is self-esteem. But self-esteem is different from high arch. High arch is arrogant and arrogant. Self-esteem is to improve one's moral career, and there is nothing to look down on others.
You must not think that you are a child, but a young monk. You'd better be casual. I can't say that I am an ordinary monk. How dare I hope to be a monk or a great bodhisattva? Everything is done by yourself, and you can have great ambitions. Nothing is impossible.
If you think like this, "I dare not expect to be a monk or a great bodhisattva." "Then do things casually, even give up on yourself, and go to the road of depravity. Isn't that dangerous? You know, although you are young, your ambition is not high!
I have one more thing to say to you. We are now a Buddhist monk, and our status is very high. As far as the form of shaving our heads and wearing robes is concerned, we are also teachers. When the king and the people from the sky come to worship, we can all sit up and accept it. Do you know this truth? From now on, you should respect yourself and never be casual.
The above four items are what monks should pay most attention to, and I won't say anything else. I'm going to close soon, and I'm sorry I can't chat with you often. But I still want to talk about the law at the customs, about four times a week. If you have a holiday, you might as well come and listen!
Nice to meet you today. I only hope that you can remember these four things I said as a permanent memorial!
Long time no see, thank you. Excuse me! Excuse me!