Teachings from , recorded by Venerable HaiZe on March 12, 2022.
My children, as Buddhist practitioners, you must hold a metaphorical ruler within your heart. This ruler is not a physical object, but a standard of measure that you develop through your daily efforts to listen to sutras and hear the . It is refined by the guidance of true spiritual friends and teachers, and it is even shaped by the foundations of your early family life and your formal education.
The Seeds of Character and the Light of Awareness
A wholesome upbringing in a supportive family and school environment provides a positive, constructive foundation for your future personality development. It creates a fertile ground for your later journey into Buddhism and your commitment to practice. Conversely, if your early education was marked by negativity, harm, or unhealthy influences, it can leave deep imprints on your character. These negative imprints often manifest as stubborn habits and selfishness, which can create significant obstacles to your spiritual progress.
When you carry such burdens, you must rely on your inherent awareness to transform your . This is the very essence of why we must put in the work during our practice. It is not enough to simply exist; you must actively engage in the process of purification to overcome the conditioning of the past.
The Unceasing Flow of the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way
Regardless of the stage of your life, you are currently living in the Five Turbidities and Evil World. When you possess the capacity for discernment and the ability to make wise choices, you must remember this: see what is good and learn from it, but see what is not good and do not learn from it. This is vital because everything in this universe is governed by the laws of karma and cause and effect.
Good causes lead to good fruit.
Negative causes lead to evil consequences.
This is the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. No matter the time or the space you occupy, these laws are constantly in motion; they have never ceased for even a single moment. The standard for what is good and what is not good is found in the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way.
The Compassionate Boundaries of the
The laws of karma manifest through your karma, your mental notes, and your actions. They are clearly visible in the cycle of birth, old age, sickness, and death. No matter where you are, the ruler in your heart must be aligned with the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. If you find that your actions have deviated from this, you must immediately change your ways and adjust your course. Only then will you avoid the suffering that comes from creating negative karma.
To guide us in this, there are various structures in place to protect us:
National laws protect the stability of the country.
Family rules maintain the harmony of the home.
School regulations ensure a safe environment for learning.
The temple and bodhimanda have their own rules and guidelines to ensure the purity of the practice.
For the practitioner, there are the Precepts.
These are not meant to restrict you, but to protect you. They provide a framework for your heart, your actions, and your speech, ensuring that you do not commit errors that lead to suffering.
Walking the Path Toward
My children, as you practise here in the temple, you must learn to clearly distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, and what is worth learning and what is not. Do not imitate negative behaviour, do not follow wrong paths, and do not indulge in selfishness. If you violate the Precepts or the rules of the temple, you waste the precious time you have for your spiritual practice. You will inevitably create negative causes and reap the bitter fruit of suffering.
Instead, you must strive to learn goodness and stop all that is wrong. Focus on what you should learn, cultivate selflessness, and uphold the Precepts. By creating good causes, you will reap good fruit and avoid unnecessary suffering. This is the path to purification, where you surround yourself with goodness. This is the essential understanding and the necessary adjustment for every practitioner who truly wishes to realise their true nature and attain Awakening.
