Chapter 48 Buddha's Lightning Rod

I took my children to play in the southern countryside and visited temples in southern Taiwan, only to find that there are more and more giant Buddhas in Taiwan, and it seems that there are more than ten storeys of giant Buddhas everywhere.Some small temples also have big Buddhas built in front of them, which creates a sense of absurdity visually. One day, I took my children to visit a newly completed Buddha, which was as tall as a ten-story building.The child suddenly pointed to the big Buddha statue and said, "Dad, there is a lightning rod on the big Buddha's head."The child asked me: "Why is there a lightning rod on the Buddha's head?" I said: "Because the Buddha is also afraid of being struck by lightning!" The child said: "Why is the Buddha afraid of being struck by lightning? In the sky, is it the biggest thunderbolt?" Woolen cloth?"

The child's words made me unable to answer and fell into deep thought. We have come all the way to worship the Buddha statue, praying for the Buddha statue that can bless us, and we are also afraid of being struck by lightning!Buddha statues can't protect their own safety, how can they protect us who are more fragile than Buddha statues? I remembered that Su Dongpo once went to a temple with Chan Master Foyin and saw Guanyin Bodhisattva wearing rosary beads. Su Dongpo couldn't help feeling suspicious and asked Chan Master Foyin: "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is already a Buddha, why is he still wearing rosary beads? Who is she thinking about?" Foyin said: "She is reciting the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva." Su Dongpo asked again: "Isn't she herself Guanshiyin Bodhisattva?" Zen Master Foyin said: "It is better to ask for yourself than to ask others!"

Looking at the lightning rod on the head of the big Buddha statue in front of us, it is probably like the rosary in the hands of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, which enlightens us: "It is better to ask for others than to ask for yourself!" Because people deceive their own Buddha heart, many people use Buddha statues as lightning rods; if people open their Buddha hearts, they don't need lightning rods, and they don't need Buddha statues either.The Buddha statue needs a lightning rod because the Buddha statue is too huge.People need lightning rods because ego and greed are too big.

We make Buddha statues huge because we desire to be huge and disdain to pay homage to small things.Few people know that smallness is actually good. Only those who feel small can see the world so open and vast.Make the Buddha statue very large, that is the state of "trance".Know that Buddha is omnipresent.Everywhere, that is the realm of "humanization". Power, fame, and wealth are very large, that is "trance".Take power.People who are famous and wealthy can still feel very small, which is "humanization".The Buddha statue does not need to be too large, because there is a Buddha in the heart, and the Buddha is everywhere and always.If there is no Buddha in mind, what is the difference between a huge Buddha statue and a skyscraper?

Once ordinary ordinary people have a Buddha in their hearts, their minds will be infinitely broad, and they will have no worries or fears in their hearts.Stay away from reversing dreams, how can worldly power, fame and fortune become his desire.What about restricting his freedom?Once the high-ranking princes and princes have no Buddha in their hearts, their hearts are narrow, and their desires will never end, fame, fortune and power just become What joy is there in the brick wall that surrounds him?Therefore, Buddha statues have lightning rods on their heads, and people should keep lightning rods in their hearts, so as to avoid being hit by the temptation of interests and power at all times.As long as you can be content with being ordinary, be at ease in an ordinary life, and have fun in ordinary life, then the silver needle for lightning protection has been installed.