Buddhist Verses & Silent Readings For Reflection (静思语） - Part 6

[lingusthefungus]

used to work in facility management. pest control and fogging is not required by law but is recommended in times when there is increased mosquito borne diseases. until recently when the wolbachia method is used, fogging seems to be the most effective.
to put in another perspective, mosquito are killed to save human sufferings.
the question remains: is it worth it? is there negative karma involved?

i recall 2 different masters teaching:
1. if someone killed a snake will he have bad karma? yes. the act of killing will have negative karma, but if the intention was to save other lives, he will have in the process, accumulate good merits.
however that is not to say we should disrupt nature balance by killing all the predators.

2. someone saw a snail shell, thinking the snail had died, so he threw the shell into a pond. it happens that the snail had not died but was hiding in the shell. so the snail drowned, he had killed a life but there is no negative karma because the intention of killing was not there.

I think the principle of three pure meat 三淨肉 is here. can eat but there is no desire.
however as layperson, when we go to the market and purposely pick up the chicken or fish, our intention is already there. so vegetarian is preferred and advocated.

阿彌陀佛

 

[lingusthefungus]

recall 2 masters teaching why they accept or don't accept gifts and meals from devotees:

1. accept. let the devotees accumulate merits.

2. don't accept. because don't want to let them have the habit of comparing and also don't let non-believers gossip 造口業
if Master accepts one devotee cafe meal/angpao/casio watch/xiaomi phone etc, the next one may try to outdo the first devotee by giving restaurant meal/bigger angpao/rolex/iphone 16 etc.
if Master accepts one devotee meal at restaurant, the non-believers will see and may criticise the master, the lay people or even buddhism as a whole. therefore master totally forbade his disciples from accepting any personal gifts

i think this is the same situation as a company. can accepts gifts but not excessively.
if take, people may say got bribery, if don't take, people also may say not friendly.

阿彌陀佛

 

[AUTUMN&WINTER]

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NAMO AMITUOFO 南无阿弥陀佛

By reciting Namo Amitabha Buddha, we are protected by the Buddhas and Sages.

念佛佛圣护


......In short, all humans are bound to age and fall ill - some dying even before old age arrives. Even those blessed with longevity cannot escape death, as demonstrated by these four spiritually accomplished practitioners......

......We take Amitabha as our life’s anchor and the Land of Ultimate Bliss as our true home of joy and peace. Through reciting the Buddha’s name, we forge our connection to this ultimate reality.


Calling upon the sacred name "Namo Amituofo".

NAMO KUAN SHI YIN PUSA 南无大慈大悲观世音菩萨

Only merit can be relied upon.
No matter which life or world we are born in, our merit will assist us, just like our shadow that follows. - LP Viriyang Sirintharo

 

[heymee]

 

[waterbright]

17. Does forgiveness have any effect on kamma?

It can’t erase the effects of old bad kamma, but it can help prevent new bad kamma.

When people wrong you, it’s always wise to forgive them. Although this won’t negate the bad kamma of their actions, it does remove you from what the Buddha called vera, or animosity: the kammic mud fight of trying to settle old scores. You console yourself with the thought that, if you didn’t have that kind of kamma in your own background, you wouldn’t have been wronged that way in the first place. In fact, in light of rebirth, you don’t know how long the back-and-forth of that kind of kamma has already been going on. If you tried to get back at the people who’ve wronged you, you’d simply be continuing the mud fight, creating more of that kamma, which would tend to lead to another round of the same sort of thing. Do you want that? If not, forgive the other side. This doesn’t mean that you have to love them. You simply promise yourself that you won’t try to get back at them.

By being generous with your forgiveness, you pose no danger to others, even those who have wronged you, and in that way you pose no danger to yourself. And by setting a good example in this way, you might also inspire others to be forgiving as well. This will help them pose no danger to themselves, either. In this way, you not only think thoughts of goodwill, but also show goodwill in action to all sides. As the Buddha said, animosities aren’t ended by more animosity, but by putting animosity aside [§13].

 

[waterbright]

I strongly believe in Amituofo's power.

Me too, 深信阿彌陀佛

 

[scheng1]

開了寺廟封印的寮房 半夜竟有女鬼穿薄紗試定力 河邊洗臉被鬼抓 念阿彌陀佛逃過一劫！ 情慾.小三都談 法藏和尚:佛教解決人的事｜豈有此呂 EP74 精華​

 

[Elnoxv]

Beautiful Animated Dhamma Talk on the Six Animals​

 

[viethai]

人啊，不要想太多，

想太多了，心就疲憊了；
煩的太久了，人就憔悴了；
壓力太大了，健康就丟了；
心情太差了，笑容就沒了。

到了一定的年紀，
會釋懷所有的人和事，

即使滿身風雨，
也會微笑著走下去。

人間的路，深一腳淺一腳，
步步都是故事；

人間緣，善一段，
惡一段，段段皆是註定；

人間的事，明白一陣，
糊塗一陣，陣陣都有因果。

活著活著就活明白了，
跟任何人較勁都是在消耗自己。

 

[viethai]

࿐福報大的人跟福報不夠的人區別有多大？࿐

福報大的人，身體健康、經濟非常好，面相莊嚴，六根圓滿具足。福報不夠的人，一出生，沒錢、殘廢、聾啞、智障，生意怎麼做怎麼賠錢，所交的朋友沒有一個是好朋友的，都是酒肉朋友，這個就是有修福跟沒有修福的人，是天壤之別的，是天壤之別的。所以，在座諸位！你千萬不要說：我只有念佛。這個福是很重要的。

為什麼福很重要？你有這個福來支撐你，你修行才不會有障礙。譬如說你今天你沒有福報，一出生跑到非洲，非洲都是基督教、天主教的，生出來後全身黑黝黝的；我們不是說黑人不好，而是說你生長在非洲的偏遠地方，第一、你中文不懂、巴利文不懂、藏文不懂，那你怎麼聽佛法呢？又生在非洲、又窮，三餐都有問題，你哪來聽到佛法？所以，諸位！千萬不要小看修福的重要，修福跟修慧是等同重要的，沒有福報，你沒有辦法持續修慧，沒有辦法。

譬如說你今天你是買早餐店的，我要去繳這個稅金，孩子要讀書，我只有開一個早餐店，只能維持我的生計，那一定要拼啊，家無恆產，老公死了，剩下自己一個人，好！那你看看，她有聽到佛法，但是問題：沒辦法來，她非得靠這一攤早餐店來維持她的生計，沒辦法，這就福報就只有到這個地方。哪個說在座諸位你能夠生活無憂無慮，還坐在這個地方來念佛，這可是大福德因緣。所以，勸導大家：當我們來到常住的時候，你一定要發歡喜心，掃廁所歡喜心，這是修福的機會，禮敬佛、敬法、敬僧，這個起歡喜心，這個是好機會、好因緣。所以因此福跟慧，他叫做兩足尊，你只有慧，懂佛法沒有錯，但是他沒有福，沒有福，那不行的，福就是要能捨。

三藏十二部經典修行最重要的、最簡單的幾個字來告訴我，修行的重點在哪裡？修行的重點在二個字：能捨，身能捨、心能捨，身外之物、財產統統能捨，就包括三藏十二部經典，你就懂得修行了。要不能捨，什麼都有私心；要能捨，都是無我，就這麼簡單，看你做得來做不來？是不是？我們一般人就是：看到可憐的人，就是拿一塊麵包，拿一塊麵包，這個麵包，在飢荒的時候，大家都沒飯吃的時候，是不是？要能捨的人，看到快死掉了，這一塊麵包，他就會直接就給他，要能捨，我死沒有關係，讓你吃。

要是不能捨的人，他麵包要拿給他，他會先咬一半，剩下一半給你，我自己都快死了、沒得吃了，還分給你？這個捨，我告訴你：你看起來很簡單，但是真的要去做，很難！你碰到關鍵的時候，你就會很難。

 

[viethai]

修行的因果
聖嚴法師

佛說一切法，為治一切心，
若無一切心，何用一切法？

凡夫修行，從心有餘而力不足開始。樂法與信心，是覺悟過程中最關鍵的正向特性，引導我們克服煩惱障與所知障，加深對自己、對善知識、對法門的信賴；不但可以減輕自我中心，最終還能放下妄想、分別、執著，與諸佛菩薩同願同行。
⠀
放鬆的感官體驗與修行入門的方法非常相似，但因基本的信念與學習態度不同，果報也就天差地遠。缺乏內在自信心的人，很容易誤解慚愧與懺悔的本質，於是忽略教法之間的關聯性和必要性。
⠀
三世因果與業感緣起，是禪修最重要的依據。我們的身、心、環境源自個人的業力，苦、樂、憂、喜都是自作自受，與他人沒有關係。因此，懺悔業障不是情緒的宣洩，也不是苦肉計，而是認清自己的過失，並決心改變。坦承錯誤的轉化，便是愈來愈表裡一致，面對善、惡、順、逆，漸漸地心平氣和。
⠀
驕慢與邪見，是共生的強悍習氣。「驕」是自命不凡，與生俱來的自滿性格，所以《禮記》強調：傲不可長，慾不可縱，志不可滿，樂不可極。「慢」則專指修行者對於戒、定、慧等成就，感應能力或法緣殊勝，產生虛榮感或嫉妒心。慚愧心與因緣觀的整合，即是對治自我意識及權力慾望的解藥。
⠀
當禪者不再關注個人利益，法喜與禪悅的感受就會深刻。常常練習制心一處，六根便不放逸，思想及生活都會安於簡樸；若能以空為自我，則能以菩提心發願，讓修行、功德、眾生緊密相連。唯有與般若波羅蜜相應，願心才會起真實作用。

 

[W1n7f1r3]

 

[waterbright]

18. Can we know who we’ve had kammic relations with in previous lifetimes?

There are some people who can develop that ability in their meditation. However, the Buddha didn’t encourage speculation in this area, because it would get in the way of trying to free yourself from kamma, which is what his teaching is all about. And he commented once that—given how very, very long the process of rebirth has been going on—it would be hard to find someone who hadn’t been your mother, your father, your sister, your brother, your daughter, or your son in a previous life. Our roles have switched around that much. He made this comment, not to encourage sentimental feelings toward everyone you meet, but to encourage a sense of dismay over how ephemeral our relationships are, and to encourage a desire to be released from the whole show [§41].

 

[AUTUMN&WINTER]

1 min Dharma talk. Namo Amituofo.

 

[waterbright]

19. Is there such a thing as group kamma?

It’s not the case that first you’re born into a particular group of people at a particular point in time and then, as a result of joining them, you assume the kamma committed by earlier members of that group. It’s actually the other way around: First, through your own individual intentions, you develop a particular type of kamma. Then you’re born into a group of people who have similar kamma in their individual backgrounds. In the Buddha’s terms, we’re “kamma-related,” or related through our kamma [§26].

What this means is that if a particular group—a family, a nation—suffers hardships, it’s not because earlier members of that group created bad kamma. It’s because the individuals currently in that group have bad kamma in their own individual backgrounds. And remember: People are not always reborn, life after life, in the same family, ethnic group, nation, gender, or even species. Sometimes a person goes from a class of oppressors to a class of the oppressed, and sometimes back. The Buddha’s image is of a stick thrown up into the air: Sometimes it lands on its base, sometimes on its tip, sometimes smack on its middle. We’re slippery characters, changing roles all the time [§41].

 

[Foetid]

Unrelated to Buddhism

However, i think this wisdom is important, maybe i am dumb dumb, so when i wasnt down and out i never realised.

 

[heymee]

 

[AUTUMN&WINTER]

Please use the side entrance which is between Lorong 27A and 29 because the main entrance is having renovation.

 

[Lchlch]

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSryRgdMu/

 

[AUTUMN&WINTER]

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NAMO AMITUOFO 南无阿弥陀佛

By reciting Namo Amitabha Buddha, we are protected by the Buddhas and Sages.

念佛佛圣护

"Those who recite Amitabha Buddha’s name with the aspiration for rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are constantly protected and remembered by the Buddhas from the six directions, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River. Hence, it is called the "Sutra of Protection and Remembrance."


Calling upon the sacred name "Namo Amituofo".

NAMO KUAN SHI YIN PUSA 南无大慈大悲观世音菩萨

Simply resting
“The only difference between meditation and the ordinary, everyday process of thinking, feeling, and sensation is the application of the simple, bare awareness that occurs when you allow your mind to rest simply as it is-without chasing after thoughts or becoming distracted by feelings or sensations.”

~ Mingyur Rinpoche

hare Good Words: {How to Live?} VII

1. • • Cultivate Wisdom:
       Each person is allotted the same twenty-four hours in a day. Yet, some live fully and meaningfully, while others drift through life in confusion or suffer in distress. The greatest difference between them lies in whether they possess wisdom or not. Today, many people feel unable to go on; in their despair, they may choose suicide because they lack the wisdom to resolve their difficulties. This underscores the paramount importance of wisdom.

Reflections:
{By earnestly studying the Buddha, the Dharma, and the mind, one can nurture and deepen the prajna wisdom.}

Experiencing without getting involved
“A great meditator can experience everything and view all the impressions of the senses without getting involved and entangled, without making anything up. The point is how we deal with and react to appearances. ...
And Tilopa said to Naropa, 'My son, appearance does not bind you, it's your grasping that binds you.'”
~ Ringu Tulku Rinpoche