The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.128)

TZU CHI 128 49 REMINDERS UNDER THE SALA TREES we should share our blessings and not become greedy for more and store up our favourite things. We must avoid greed. Greed will cover the brightness and purity of our hearts and will produce ignorance. As Buddhist practitioners, we need to be vigilant of greed and prevent it. I often say that as Buddhist practitioners, we must constantly be mindful of the Buddha. What this means is not to pray for him to protect us, to save us from calamity, or eliminate our negative karma. In fact, being mindful of the Buddha means to emulate the mind of the Buddha in order to eliminate our unenlightened mindset and return to our pure and radiant intrinsic nature. If we can accomplish this, each one of us will be a Buddha. The Buddha’s mission depends on the FourfoldAssembly to promote it. Monastic practitioners in particular must take on the responsibility for the Tathagata’s mission. Within the Sangha, everyone should live in harmony with each other, and this harmony needs to be perfect and complete. This can only be achieved when the Threefold Karma of body, speech and mind is pure. When it comes to our behaviour, we need to pay attention to our manners, speak with care, and meticulously purify our own thoughts; in this way, the Sangha will be an image of harmony and unity. Actively do good deeds and cultivate wisdom The Buddha divides his teachings into several levels. Starting with a “general teaching”, he then analyses how to practise and uphold the precepts one by one. Although there are many precepts, the way to uphold them is very simple: as long as we are careful with our Threefold Karma of body, speech and mind, we will be able to uphold all the precepts. Upholding the precepts is not a passive activity. Though resisting unwholesome thoughts and actions may seem passive, having good thoughts and doing good deeds are very active practices. For example, the first of the five precepts is: “Do not kill”. Not only should we practise “not killing”, but we must also actively “protect lives”. Spiritual practitioners do not take issue with others, do not steal, do not kill, do not fight, and do not bicker with people. From a lay point of view, this may seem passive, but in fact, the primary intention is to avoid creating “new misfortunes”. “This briefly provides descriptions for how to uphold the precepts.” The fundamental pure precepts and the expedient precepts of abstinence stated in the preceding text are “descriptions for how to uphold the precepts”. There are many things in the world that can lure us into committing wrongdoings; we must carefully prevent this from happening by “upholding precepts”. The law only punishes a person when evidence of his or her crime is sufficient.