Question: I am more and more happy to recite the Buddha's name, and feel that my mind can easily become calm when I recite the Buddha's name. But as time goes by, I won’t want to do anything, not even the books I usually like to read. If a disciple is worried that something will go wrong if things continue like this, he will have the urge to withdraw. Is this the right thing to do? If not, how can we combine chanting, working, reading, and studying together?
Master Da’an answered: Be careful not to separate spiritual practice and daily work life into two parts. They are the same thing! Because the mind of reciting Buddha's name and the mind of working, reading and studying are the same mind.
If you really recite the Buddha's name effectively, you won't say that I don't want to do anything or read books. On the contrary, through chanting the Buddha's name, your inner light will appear, you will see more clearly when you read books, and you will be more successful in doing things!
"A gentleman has no tools", it lies in understanding. A person who understands morality has this wisdom and energy, and he is not limited to one talent or one skill. What does this intelligent energy do? Focus! Just focus on one thing and you can do it well.
Last time we talked about "gentlemen have no tools", Wang Yangming is a representative, he is very successful in everything he does. He is a scholar, but he is so good at leading troops in war. Whenever the imperial court encounters bandits or something that cannot be defeated, it always thinks of him and sends him out to lead troops to fight. He can deal with it as soon as he goes.
When Wang Yangming quelled the rebellion of Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao, there was no regular army of the Communist Party. He just brought a group of volunteers. The whole process took forty-two days. If we count from the time he entered the front line directly, it actually only took twelve days.
Wang Yangming is a mastermind! He was able to lead Zhu Chenhao by the nose and knew how Zhu Chenhao would escape. He imagined that Zhu Chenhao would escape in a boat, so he asked the county magistrate to send a dozen boats and hide in the reeds.
Hey! Really, when Zhu Chenhao was escaping, he saw the boat and called out: Come here, come here quickly and ferry me to the other side. I will give you a big reward! As a result, he was caught as soon as he jumped on board.
Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty was so happy that Zhu Chenhao had already been arrested. He wanted to lead the northern army on a personal expedition. In order to show that he was capable, he had Zhu Chenhao released and wanted to arrest him again. Alas, these political battles.
These northern armies are coming, disturbing the people very much, and they are arrogant and domineering. The sergeant from the north wants to challenge Wang Yangming's soldiers to a martial arts competition. They thought that archery should be the specialty of the northern army, so they proposed to compete with Wang Yangming in archery.
They set up a target in the distance. The three generals of the northern army were so confident that they shot three arrows each. How are the results? Only one arrow hit the bullseye, and one arrow hit the edge. Only these two arrows hit the target. This is the result of the three of them and nine arrows.
They themselves felt embarrassed, but when they thought that Wang Yangming might not be able to do it at all, they had to insist on Wang Yangming continuing to shoot. Wang Yangming declined at first: I've never ejaculated before, why...just step back very humbly. When they saw this, they thought he was not good at all and insisted that he continue to shoot.
Wang Yangming was forced to do nothing, so he said: Then I will show my shame! He stood there, calmly and calmly, and fired the arrows. The first arrow, wow, hit the bull's eye, the second arrow hit the bull's eye, the third arrow hit the bull's eye, three out of three! The northern army roared with joy. I never expected that Wang Yangming was so good at archery!
Wang Yangming has a concept of "developing conscience". All his successes in politics, military affairs, calligraphy, spiritual practice and enlightenment can be summarized as "developing conscience"! He believes that conscience is inherent in everyone. As long as one "gets rid of human desires, retains natural principles, and develops conscience," he will be able to accomplish anything.
Sometimes when I look at the legend of Wang Yangming and his concept of "leading to conscience", I often think: When we uphold the precepts and recite the Buddha's name, we are leading to conscience!
If a person who upholds the precepts and chants the name of Buddha can connect with the light of Amitabha’s name, he should be better than before in everything he does. How can he be lazy and carefree? This shows that reciting the Buddha's name is not on track yet, you know?
The mind of a person who recites Buddha’s name is a bright mind, a strong and brave mind, rather than a mind that doesn’t want to do anything or read any books.
Reading and reciting Mahayana classics is to establish the right knowledge and views for us to achieve the Perfect Teaching. If you don’t read the classics, how can you establish knowledge and views? If you don't do things, how can you accumulate merit? The Bodhisattva path requires six perfections!
You don’t have to do anything if you don’t practice Buddhism. These six perfections: giving, observing precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom, all require the full use of your mind! Therefore, if you recite the Buddha's name well, your career, study, and study will be better!
If you recite the Buddha's name but don't want to do anything or read, it means you are still not on track. This is the truth. Therefore, you must change the current situation.