Elder Cittala asked the monks: "There are various views in the world, some about the self, some about sentient beings, some about life span, and some about good and bad luck. How do these views come about?"
Venerable Rishidatta replied: "All these views are based on the 'cognition of the self'. Because of the 'self', there is 'this is me, this is not me, here exists my interests, my interests exist here. There is me in various feelings and cognitions, I have various feelings and cognitions... This is the self-cognition of most people. "
Elder Cittala asked again: "How can we not have this cognition?"
Venerable Rishidatta replied: "When a person does not see the self in external objects, nor does he see any difference between external objects and me, does not see anything in the self, does not see an I in the realm, does not regard cognition and feelings as the self, and does not distinguish the self from any realm, then there is no (wrong) self-cognition.”
In Buddhism, "faith" is at most a preliminary method for cultivating and verifying wisdom. The focus of Buddhism is self-verification rather than faith.
Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra says: If we in the world read and recite Buddhist scriptures and make offerings, one seventh of the merits can benefit our deceased relatives. Read more Buddhist scriptures during the Qingming Festival.
The "缘" in "无缘大慈" refers to the condition. "大慈" means to love all living beings without any conditions. It means to love all living beings without making any distinction, regardless of gender, age, rich or poor, noble or humble, whether loved or hated, an enemy, or even animals, plants, minerals, etc., all should be treated equally, without distinction and without attachment. This is called "无缘大慈".
The Zhou Li says: In the first month of each lunar year, animals are most likely to get pregnant. At this time, female animals should not be used as sacrifices. This is because we should be kind and avoid using animals with fetuses for sacrifice.
Mencius said: A gentleman will not live near a kitchen. This is to preserve his compassion. Therefore, the predecessors have four taboos on not eating meat: First, do not eat when you hear the sound of an animal being killed. Second, do not eat when you see it being killed. Third, do not eat if it is raised by yourself. Fourth, do not eat if it is killed specifically for you. If the younger generation wants to learn the kindness of the predecessors, if they cannot stop eating meat all at once, they should also follow the predecessors' methods and abstain from eating less.
According to Buddhism, all living things are reincarnated as animals because of their sins in the previous life; after their sins are paid off, they can still be reincarnated as humans. If they are willing to practice after becoming humans, they can also become Buddhas. So the meat I eat in this life is the meat of the future Buddha. Furthermore, the animals of today must have been human beings in countless past lives. So they may have been my parents, wives, relatives, and friends in my past lives. The meat I eat today may be the meat of my parents, wives, relatives, and friends in my past lives. Today, I am a human being and they are animals. If I eat them, I will have committed the sin of killing and will have a grudge against them. If the animals I eat pay off their sins in the next life and are reborn as humans, but I have committed the sin of killing and am reborn as animals, I am afraid that they will come to kill and eat me in revenge for my killing them. In this case, can I still kill? Can I still eat meat? Moreover, even if meat tastes good, it only tastes good when it passes through my mouth and throat. Once it is swallowed, what taste is there? It is no different from vegetarian dishes. Why must I commit sin by killing?
Although it is not possible to stop eating meat at once, we should gradually reduce the amount of meat we eat until we stop eating it completely. In this way, our compassion will increase more and more. Not only should we avoid killing, but we should also avoid harming the lives of those very small creatures, whether they are stupid or spiritual. For example, if we want to make clothes with silk, we put the cocoons in water and burn them. How many silkworms will be killed? How many insects will be killed when we dig the ground to plant crops? Think about where the clothes we wear and the food we eat come from? They are all killed to feed ourselves. Therefore, the sin of wasting food and wasting things should be equal to the sin of killing. As for the lives that are accidentally injured or trampled to death, we don’t know how many lives are killed. We should try to prevent this. Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty wrote a poem: The swallows return to their nests after the curtains are hooked, and the flies come out of the holes of windows. I always leave food for the mice I love, and I don’t light the lamp for the moths I pity.
It means: pull up the curtains so that the little swallows can fly back to their nests; tear the window paper so that the flies can fly out; fear that the mice will starve to death, so leave some food for them; pity the moths that will be burned to death by flying into the lamp, so don't light the oil lamp.
-Excerpt from "Liaofan's Four Lessons"
Zhou Shiyuan, a villager from Linchuan, Jiangxi, went into the mountains to pick tea. His clothes were caught by thorns and he fell forward. Then a tree pierced his flesh and he bled profusely. He thought that his companions would pass by this road and he was afraid that they would also be injured by the thorns. He sat on the ground and pulled out the thorns with all his strength. When he was pulling out the thorns, he found a flash of light under the roots of the thorns. He looked carefully and found that it was a gold ingot. He used the gold ingot to buy business. Three years later, he became a wealthy man.
If a Bodhisattva wishes to learn the Surangama Samadhi, he should first learn the heart of love and joy. After learning the heart of love and joy, he should learn the deep heart. After learning the deep heart, he should learn great loving-kindness. After learning great loving-kindness, he should learn great compassion. After learning great compassion, he should learn the Four Noble Brahma Vipassanas, namely loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. After learning the four noble Brahma practices, he should learn to obtain the highest five, which are always with him. After learning this, he will be able to achieve the six paramitas. After achieving the six paramitas, he will be able to understand the expedient means. After understanding the expedient means, he will be able to abide in the third level of gentle patience. After abiding in the third level of gentle patience, he will be able to achieve the patience of the law of non-birth. After achieving the patience of the law of non-birth, all Buddhas will give him predictions. After being given predictions by all Buddhas, he will be able to enter the eighth bodhisattva stage. After entering the eighth bodhisattva stage, he will obtain the samadhi of the Buddhas’ presence. After obtaining the samadhi of the Buddhas’ presence, he will always see the Buddhas. , can be complete with all the causes and conditions of the Buddha Dharma; after being complete with all the causes and conditions of the Buddha Dharma, can perform the merits of adorning the Buddha land; after being able to perform the merits of adorning the Buddha land, can be born with a family lineage; after being born with a family lineage, can be born with the ten stages; after being born with the ten stages, then can receive the title of Buddha; after receiving the title of Buddha, can obtain all Bodhisattva Samadhi; after obtaining all Bodhisattva Samadhi, then can obtain Shurangama Samadhi; after obtaining Shurangama Samadhi, can perform Buddhist works for sentient beings, and also does not abandon the Bodhisattva practice. - "Surangama Samadhi Sutra"