Chapter 5 The second part of Buddhism

During my recuperation in Beijing, I met some people. Some of them are Buddhist disciples who have just converted, and some of them yearn for the teachings of compassion and bodhichitta in Buddhism. However, due to lack of understanding of Buddhism, they have not yet taken refuge in the Three Jewels.Therefore, I would like to tell you about "refuge" and "why we should take refuge in the Three Jewels". We live in an era where science and technology are developing rapidly, and material life is also very affluent, but people living in this world do not seem to be happy, and material affluence cannot fundamentally eliminate people's inner pain.Everyone mainly lives in the city, and I have a deeper understanding of this than I do.

We have searched the whole world and found that the Dharma can bring peace to our hearts. I have lived in Tibet since I was a child. In my hometown, the life of Tibetans is very poor.There is no difference between Tibetans and Han people in the pursuit of a prosperous life, but because the people there believe in Buddhism, and because of the blessing of Buddhism, everyone's heart is very peaceful.In summer, on the beautiful grasslands, Tibetans can be seen spontaneously gathering together to sing and dance, and they are very happy, but such a scene is rarely seen in other places. In recent years, I have also heard that in other places, many people commit suicide every year for various reasons, and the number of suicides is still increasing year by year.There may be no one in this world who is truly not afraid of death, but by ending their own lives to get rid of this world, we can see what kind of pain these people are enduring in their hearts!In Tibet, this kind of thing has never been heard before. I think it must have a lot to do with Tibetans' belief in Buddhism.Therefore, I hope that everyone, regardless of whether they believe in Buddhism or not, should at least understand Buddhism first, in order to gain temporary and ultimate peace of mind and ultimately achieve true liberation.

As a Buddhist, I know very well that Buddhism is by no means superstitious and nihilistic as some people say.On the contrary, because of the boundless compassion and profound wisdom of our original teacher Shakyamuni Buddha, his teachings will be of great help to all sentient beings, especially when we face death. If a person has not learned the Dharma, no matter how rich he is or how prominent his position is, at the moment of life and death, everything he owns will not allow him to obtain real benefits. A few days ago a girl who was studying abroad came to see me. She was only seventeen years old this year. She told me that her classmate’s father was a man of great status and prestige in the world. Arguably the best in this world.Not long ago, the father was diagnosed with leukemia, and the whole family was very sad, especially the patient himself, who lived in the shadow of death all day long, with extreme fear and pain.At this moment, the wealth and status he had accumulated throughout his life not only could not alleviate his pain in the slightest, but made him suffer even more because of his attachment.

Seeing this, the seventeen-year-old girl was deeply moved: Many people will regard wealth and status as their goals in life and strive for them, but when we have to leave this world, there will be no slight difference between wealth and status. help. So in the future, she will never try her best to pursue money and status like most people she has seen in the future. She will return to China to live a simple life, study Buddhism hard, and seek real liberation.The girl's family conditions are very good, and her growth is smooth sailing, but she is able to have such an understanding of life at this age, which really surprises me.

Most of us here today are adults with much more experience than this girl, so we should know what to choose. A person spends his whole life pursuing fame and fortune, but at the moment of life and death, fame and fortune are far less blessed than a mantra of Guanyin Bodhisattva. On the contrary, if a person truly regards the Dharma as his belief in his life, and his confidence never retreats, he will definitely receive the incredible blessing of the master and the Three Jewels, and he will be very calm when facing death. I have a disciple in Fujian. After taking refuge a few years ago, he practiced the Dharma very diligently, and his confidence in the Three Jewels increased day by day.She was diagnosed with cancer the year before last, and it was at an advanced stage.At the end of her life, because of the blessings of Buddhism, she did not panic. Instead, she used the limited time to arrange everything behind her, including the Buddha statues she usually made offerings to fellow Taoists, leaving only one The portrait of the master is placed beside the pillow.She was worried that she might be unconscious when she was dying, and she would have obstacles to rebirth, so she decided not to let the doctor give painkillers so that she could stay awake at all times.At the same time, she asked her family not to let her most persistent grandson appear in front of her hospital bed at the last moment.Although the family members do not believe in Buddhism, they still followed her request.

When she was dying, her daughter called me and said that her mother was going to die soon. I asked her daughter to put the phone to her ear, and recited the Powa method and the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for her over the phone. Thirty minutes later, the family members saw her clasped her hands together, with a peaceful expression, and passed away smoothly.Seeing this scene, her daughter, son-in-law and other family members who did not believe in Buddhism also developed great confidence in Buddhism. When I went to Fujian again, their whole family converted to the Three Jewels and became devout Buddhists like her.

The purpose of telling these two stories is to tell everyone that in the near future, all of us will have to face death, and from the performance of the above two people in the face of death, it can be seen that the Dharma is true and true. The blessings are incredible, especially when we are at the most critical time in our lives, relying on Buddhism can help us move towards liberation. Therefore, in order to obtain true happiness in this life and to be reborn in the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss in the future, I sincerely hope that everyone can earnestly study Buddhism. To learn Buddhism, one should first take refuge in the Three Jewels.

I have also heard many people say: I just need to have a Buddha in my heart, and there is no need to take a form of refuge. "Having a Buddha in your heart" is very good. This must be a manifestation of having formed a relationship with Buddhism in the past and accumulated a lot of good karma.But just having a Buddha in your heart cannot be counted as a true disciple of the Buddha. The ceremony of conversion cannot be omitted for a person who has just entered Buddhism. You can think about it, when we come to the master with a pious heart, we bow to the solemn Buddha statue for the first time in our lives. , and then put our hands together, while following the guru to recite the rituals of taking refuge, and at the same time vowing in our hearts that from now on, when we take refuge in the guru, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, great changes will definitely occur in our hearts at this time. change.And if you don't take refuge, you can't be regarded as a true Buddhist, and you can't get the precepts of refuge.

Venerable Atisha, the great achiever of India, said: "The body of precepts for conversion is the foundation of layman, Bodhisattva and Tantric precepts (Note: Layman, Bodhisattva and Tantric precepts must also be accepted in accordance with rituals. uphold).” Without the precepts of refuge, all the precepts cannot be obtained, and without these precepts, many dharmas cannot be practiced.If you don't practice the Dharma, the Dharma will not flow into your own continuum without cause or condition, so you will not be able to get liberation.Therefore, taking refuge in accordance with the Dharma is to open the door to all Dharma.

Venerable Atisha also said: "The inner and outer paths are separated by refuge." After the Venerable came to Tibet, he would first preach refuge in almost all Dharma meetings, so that he was called "refuge Pandita". ".Venerable Atisha is a recognized teaching master in both India and Tibet. He is also the leader who initiated the post-spread period of Buddhism in Tibetan Buddhism. Such great achievers attach so much importance to conversion. It can be seen that conversion is very important for a Buddhist student. how important it is. There are also some people who dare not take refuge because they are worried that they will be unable to do anything like a monk after taking refuge.Such thinking is due to ignorance of the precepts of taking refuge.

The precepts of taking refuge are formulated by Shakyamuni Buddha to allow ordinary people to enter the Dharma first. The content is very simple and easy to keep. It can be said that anyone who seeks liberation in his heart should be able to do it. The most important condition for taking refuge is to have unrelenting confidence in the Guru and the Three Jewels. Under any circumstances, even if your life is threatened, you will not abandon the Guru and the Three Jewels of Buddhism, Dharma, and Sangha.With such confidence and determination, the basic conditions for taking refuge are met and you can take refuge. If you do not have true faith in the Triple Gem when you take refuge, but only formally kowtow, get a refuge certificate, get a dharma name, etc., I don’t think this can be considered a real refuge.In Tibet, people do not have refuge certificates in their hands, but most of them are very devout Buddhist disciples and have firm confidence in the Guru Triple Gem.Therefore, when you take refuge, you should first let yourself truly have confidence in the Three Jewels, and not overemphasize the formal things. When we usually talk about taking refuge in the Three Jewels, we mean taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha: Refuge to Buddha is to take Shakyamuni Buddha as the teacher and the Buddhas of the ten directions and three times who have attained the same enlightenment as Sakyamuni Buddha, such as Amitabha Buddha and Medicine Buddha, as the only mentors on the road of self-cultivation. Do not seek and take refuge in any other teacher. Refuge to the Dharma is to take the 84,000 Dharma-doors passed down by Shakyamuni Buddha for the benefit of all beings, all of which are used as the methods and paths of self-cultivation, including all the teachings of Chinese, Tibetan and Theravada Buddhism. Seek other ways and paths. Refuge Sangha refers to taking monks under Sakyamuni's Buddhist teachings as fellows on the road of practice, and not seeking other fellows.Specifically, in Hinayana Buddhism, four or more monks can be called a Sangha; in Mahayana Buddhism, an enlightened monk or layman can also be called a Sangha. After taking refuge in the Three Jewels, you will officially enter the Buddhist gate and become a true Buddhist disciple. To enter the Buddhist gate, one should start to practice the Dharma. If one just enters the Buddhist gate without listening, contemplating and practicing, it will be difficult for the Dharma to integrate into our continuum. When practicing the Dharma, one should first develop renunciation.Renunciation means that there is no desire or greed for all the enjoyment and happiness in the six realms, but only the desire for liberation.This is very important, without renunciation, the good deeds we do will not be the cause of liberation. After the generation of renunciation, it is of course the best if you can let go of all worldly things like Venerable Milarepa and concentrate on practicing, but it is difficult for ordinary people to do it, not only for lay people, but also for some monks It is also difficult.If you cannot let go of all the worldly things, you must understand in your heart that liberation is the most important and ultimate goal of your life.Then, practice step by step, and if you persist in this way, your attachment and attachment to the world will be gradually reduced, and you will finally be freed. For example, when we go to Lhasa, we must first make reaching Lhasa the ultimate goal, and then move towards Lhasa step by step. No matter what obstacles we encounter, we will not change our original intention. In this way, we will arrive in Lhasa one day.On the contrary, if a person regards wealth, status, etc. as his life goals, no matter what dharma you practice on the surface, there is definitely no hope for liberation. After generating renunciation, one should also cultivate bodhicitta on the basis of renunciation.Bodhicitta refers to taking refuge in the Three Jewels and practicing the Dharma not only for your own liberation and well-being, but also for all sentient beings to achieve Buddhahood.Without bodhicitta, we will not become Buddhas. It may be difficult for people who have just entered Buddhism to immediately generate bodhichitta.Huadrul Rinpoche told us some methods of practicing bodhicitta in "The Words of the Samantabhadra Master". For example, you can start with your family and friends, and generate bodhicitta and compassion for them; For people who have nothing to do with you, you should also generate bodhicitta and compassion towards them; finally, you should also practice bodhicitta and compassion towards your enemies who have hurt you. If you practice step by step in this way, you will eventually generate true bodhicitta in your continuum. If we can practice under the support of Bodhicitta, then all the good roots we do will become the seeds of our Buddhahood. Renunciation and Bodhicitta are the motivations we should possess when taking refuge.If when you take refuge, your motivation is for the success of your own wealth, family harmony, smooth career, etc. in this life, such aspiration has deviated from the correct way of taking refuge and learning Buddhism. Just because renunciation and bodhicitta are very important, Master Tsongkhapa, known as the "true Manjushri Bodhisattva in the snowy land", also preached the three most important conditions for achieving Buddhahood in the famous "Ode to the Three Main Paths": Renunciation, bodhicitta and nonduality wisdom.From the teachings of Master Tsongkhapa, we can see how important it is for us to become a Buddha to renounce renunciation and bodhicitta! After you take refuge in the Guru Triple Gem, you will become disciples of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, so I hope you will be able to refrain from killing in the future.Because the act of killing is directly contrary to compassion and bodhicitta. Some people think that we should indeed be equal to each other, but not necessarily when we treat animals.In fact, people who think like this just haven’t observed carefully. As long as we observe carefully, we will find that compared with humans, animals just can’t speak human language, and their feelings of pain and happiness are no different from humans.When the weather is cold, they will gather together to keep warm, and when the weather is hot, they will find a cool place to cool off.Over the years, I have released animals in Tibet and other places, and saw those cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered in slaughterhouses.When they saw the same kind in front of them being killed, they were terrified, and they would cry out of fear just like humans, and some even knelt down and prayed to humans.Therefore, thinking that only human beings should be equal, and that human beings and animals should not be equal, is not a true sense of equality from a Buddhist point of view. Killing sentient beings is not only contrary to compassion and bodhicitta, but also has very serious consequences.Huadrul Rinpoche once said: "If you kill a sentient being, you will have to pay for five hundred lives." The "Hundred Karma Sutra" says: "The karma of a sentient being will not be destroyed for a hundred kalpas. When the conditions are met, the fruit will mature." If you hurt the lives of sentient beings without repentance, the retribution will definitely fall on you in the future.Think about it, everyone, we may not be able to stand being pricked by a needle, how can we bear it then?In order to benefit ourselves and others, everyone should try to avoid killing in the future. In addition, it is best for you to be vegetarian after taking refuge.Vegetarianism is not only advocated by Chinese Buddhism, but also by Tibetan Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism. Now, there are plenty of reasons for being a vegetarian, and modern science has also proved that being a vegetarian has great benefits for human health.Buddhism believes that being a vegetarian can not only lead to health and longevity in this life, but also be of great help to future lives.If you cannot become a vegetarian temporarily due to various reasons, you can only eat some clean meat.The three clean meats refer to the meat that has not been heard, seen, or suspected to be killed for oneself.Although the retribution of eating the three clean meats is great, it is much better than killing animals. Some people may eat meat every day because of habits. Such people should start by eating less meat every day, and then become vegetarians every month when Buddhas and Bodhisattvas celebrate festivals. The last step is to completely stop eating meat.Reducing meat consumption will also save the lives of many sentient beings. This is my hope for everyone. After taking refuge, everyone should practice the Dharma diligently, otherwise, it will be like putting aside the medicine prescribed by a doctor, and it will be difficult to truly benefit from the Dharma. What you are this year will remain the same next year, and in the end you will not make any progress when you die.At the moment of death, you will definitely regret it. Some people say that I have been very busy these past few years, and I will practice again when I have time to retire.Human life is impermanent. Let alone retirement, it is hard to say whether all the dozens of people here will be alive next year.If you don’t take advantage of the time when your mind and body are free to practice now, it’s hard to say whether you will have the opportunity when your bad karma matures in the future. A few months ago, Dasen Khenpo of Tashi Chiling went to chant sutras for a dying old man.Seeing Dasen Khenpo, the old man said that he regretted it very much, because he did not practice Buddhism when he was young, and he did a lot of bad karma.Now he has felt incomparable pain, if he dies like this, he will probably fall into an even more painful evil realm.The old man desperately prayed for the blessing of Khenpo, so that his life would last for another year, and he promised that he would put down all the mundane affairs and concentrate on practicing the Dharma during the year, so that he might not fall into the evil realm.But the karma of sentient beings is inconceivable. Not long after Dasen Khenpo returned to Tashi Chiling, the old man passed away. I was also very saddened to hear this story.I think all of you here will definitely face death in the future. We have searched the entire Nanzhan Buzhou and found that Buddhism can bring us peace in this life and escape from the sea of ​​suffering.We are destined to encounter Buddhism in this life, so we must seize the time to practice it well. Finally, I want to say one more thing.This afternoon, a lady came to see me.She said that she originally had great confidence in the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and thought about taking refuge in the Three Jewels, but many people around her who had already taken refuge talked about the Dharma well, but they were poor in their daily life. An ordinary person who studies Buddhism, she does not want to take refuge after seeing these things.I explained to her that what she saw was only superficial conversion, and no one who truly integrated the Dharma into the continuum. As disciples of the Buddha, while practicing the Dharma, we must also pay attention to improving our personality and self-cultivation, so that those who have not yet taken refuge in the Three Jewels can see the blessing and power of the Dharma from the changes in our body and mind.In this way, more and more people will convert to Buddhism, gain liberation and peace, and Buddhism will flourish day by day.Otherwise, when others see that although we are studying Buddhism on the surface, but our worldly personality is very low, they will have prejudice and misunderstanding of Buddhism like this lady.In this case, we are sorry to our teacher Sakyamuni Buddha! Now we are in the relationship between master and disciple. As a master, I have no other requirements for you. I only hope that after you take refuge, you will not cause damage to Buddhism because of your unlawful behavior. Chiarombo In early 2008, he gave a lecture to the believers Arrangement of disciples' on-site transcripts