The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.116)

2019 • 11 54 B uddha spent a period of time preaching in the Jetavana Garden in Sravasti. “You must watch over your bodies and your minds,” he often said to his disciples. “If you cultivate your morality but break any of the precepts, then you won’t attain any degree of wisdom. We cultivate morality in order to cultivate wisdom, and in order to obtain wisdom you must start by abiding by the precepts.” Buddha told a story. “There was once a good drummer, and he had an excellent drum whose sound could travel thousands of miles. But after a long time, the drum head finally broke. The drummer wanted to repair it, so he stitched on a few layers of cowhide. When he was finished, the drum did not sound very good. He did not know what was wrong, so he again added more layers of cowhide, but the sound became more and more dull.” “Why was that so?” Buddha asked the disciples. “The drum was originally made with cowhide, which was quite proper, but why did the sound become so dull?” The monks replied, “The sound was dull because he was unwise and did not know how to repair the drum properly.” “That’s right,” Buddha said. “It’s the same with spiritual formation. You won’t gain wisdom if you don’t know how to go about it. So I want you to abide by the precepts in order to guard your minds and manifest your wisdom.” “All karma come from the mind. If your minds have bad thoughts and you act upon them, you will receive much suffering in the future. So you must abide by the precepts. If you follow them strictly, you will become compassionate and dignified. Otherwise, how will you be able to help others? Therefore, you must maintain decorum and abide by the precepts.” “Everyone hopes to eliminate bad karma, and to do that, you must first cultivate your minds and get rid of your muddled and evil thoughts. So don’t keep thinking about the past, because the past is confusion. Don’t think about the future either. The best time for spiritual formation is every moment of the here and now.” There was another story. Buddha asked the monks if they had heard a fox The Drum and the Fox The most important thing in cultivating morality is to cultivate wisdom, bringing the body and the mind together. Abide by the precepts in order to guard our minds and manifest our wisdom. The best time for spiritual formation is every moment of the here and now. aster Cheng Yen Tells Stories