Cutting off the bondage of anger and craving in the heart:
Two Brahmins in Shawati each own a bull. They all think that their own bull is better and stronger than the other's bull. Finally, they decided to have a showdown, they went to the river, filled the ox cart with sand, and then asked their bulls to pull the ox cart in sequence, but every time the rope was broken, the ox cart did not move. .
After seeing the match between them, some bhikkhus reported to the Buddha. The Buddha warned them: "Bhikkhus! It is easy to see the break of the rope which is visible to the naked eye, anyone can do it, but what the bhikkhu should cut off is the bondage of anger and craving in the heart."
The enlightened person who understands the Four Noble Truths after removing the belt, reins, ropes, other appendages, and door bolts (note), I call it Brahman. ------"Dhammapada 398 verses"
(Note) Belt: anger; rein: craving; rope: sixty-two evil views; appendages: latent habit, the old translation is sleep, there are seven kinds; door latch: ignorance.
People are blessed because they have virtue. After life is shortened, everything is reduced. His moral values gradually weakened and his blessings gradually diminished.
For example, treasure gradually disappears, grains gradually fail, clothes and food are gradually difficult, human appearance looks gradually ugly, aptitude gradually becomes ignorant, spirit gradually weakens, customs gradually becomes arrogant and arrogant, six relatives gradually become discordant, taxes and labor gradually become heavy, flood and fire and thieves are gradually prosperity, the Dharma gradually withered and decayed, the good people gradually became rare, the true Confucian gradually became rare, the people who spoke slander of the Buddhism gradually became respected, and the rich gradually became vulgar and mean.
Secular words can sometimes not be verified. If the Buddhist scriptures come out, there is evidence for every word. For example, during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, the currency was all used in gold and white gold, and it was often calculated with a hundred pairs of ten thousand yam, instead of pure silver.
After the Han Dynasty, although silver was mixed, treasures such as pearl that can light up the room are still common to see in small countries. How rare are they today?
Nowadays, the impurity silver is mostly mixed with red copper, because silver is not sufficient, and copper is used instead. Isn’t it a verification of the disappearance of the treasures?
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty said: "A hundred gold is equivalent to the property of ten middle-class households." "The Art of War of Sun Tzu" said: "One hundred thousand of soldiers will cost a thousand gold a day." If one gold is only 50 gram, then a middle-class household in the Han Dynasty has a property of only 500 gram gold. And a soldier’s food and equipment only uses one silver per day. Does this make sense?
One mu is 0.17 acre. In the Zhou Dynasty, the 100 mu of land is equal to 22 mu at present. The harvest of 22 mu can feed nine farmers for one year. The ancients used a bucket of rice for each meal. One person's ration for a year is equivalent to more than seventy stones today (120 catties is one stone), and nine people should have six hundred and dozens of stones. In this way, 30 stone of rice per mu can be collected.
When I was young, I saw that my hometown had three or four stone per mu of brown grains. Since the reign of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty, all those who had collected more than three stones in the past are now less than three stones. Isn't it a verification of the poor harvest of grains?
During the Longqing and Wanli reigns of the Ming Dynasty, when someone repaired the Jianyan Temple in Kunshan, they took out the rice beam stuffed in the tile room, which was grown in the Tang Dynasty. Its ears are more than one foot long, and calculating the harvest at that time, there must be more than ten stones per mu. The ear of rice today is less than four inches long.
In ancient times, if a country’s money and food had no savings for ten years, it was called insufficient. Without six years of savings, it is called emergency. When the Han and Tang dynasties flourished, they were comparable to the shortcomings of ancient times. Nowadays, it is impossible to reach the urgency of ancient times. Isn't it a test of hard food and clothing?
In ancient times, people with noble status like princes could also associate with hermits who lived in caves. A person of honor and status like a prince, prefers to walk tired rather than take a car. Nowadays, when someone has just been appointed as an official, he despises his friends soon. Even the servants in the government dared to ride the head officer’s car. Isn't it a testament to the arrogance of customs?
In ancient times, the eminent monk saw the emperor, but the emperor did not directly call the eminent monk by his name. The emperor must call the eminent monk as a teacher. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty wrote "The Preface to the Holy Religion of Sanzang", admiring Buddhism strongly. Master Xuanzang passed away, and Tang Gaozong said to the people on the left and right: "I have lost my national treasure!" Therefore, he stopped going to court for five days to express his condolences. In the second year of Emperor Jinglong of the Tang Dynasty, Gao An ordered Cui Siliang to welcome the Sangha master to Chang'an. Both emperor Zhongzong and all the officers claimed to be disciples of Buddha. In the first year of Emperor Gaozong’s Xianqing of the Tang Dynasty, the emperor ordered that if monks or nuns violated the national law, they would not be sentenced to the same level as ordinary people. The Taizu, Taizong, Zhenzong, Renzong, Gaozong, and Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty all vigorously prospered and defended the Dharma. Sometimes they visited Buddhist temples, and sometimes welcomed the eminent monks to the imperial palace and asked them for advice on the Dharma. These are grand events in Buddhism. Today's cultural people are very arrogant, and many see Buddha statues do not kneel down and worship high monks. Isn't this a testament to the decay of Dharma?
The establishment of education by Confucius and Yan Yuan is only the practice in person, and verbal talk is not advocated. Be strict with yourself and treat others with tolerance. Mencius refutes Yang Zhu and Mo Di as a last resort. For example, laxatives such as rhubarb and croton are used occasionally by good doctors, and they are not a daily necessity. Nowadays, there are scholars in white clothes, who have not achieved fame, accidentally picked up a few slanderous comments about the Buddhism and thought that he was Cheng Zhu (the collective name of Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi brothers and Zhu Xi) came back. There are also some yellow-mouthed children who simply rely on a habit of boasting and arrogant. Isn't it a testament to the scarcity of true scholarship?
Excerpted from An Shi Quan Book "Lord Superior Wen Chang's Tract On The First Step Towards Non Abidance ”Generalized Excerpt: The ancients were more blessed and the moderns were less blessed
The Buddha Shakyamuni marched to Malla and arrived at a village called Tuna. The locals did not understand the Dharma and disrespect the Buddha, and even filled the well with grass and chaff to prevent the Buddha from drinking.
After the Buddha arrived there, Venerable Ananda was invited to get water from the well. Venerable Ananda told the Buddha that the villagers had blocked the well head, and the grass and chaff stuffed in the well were level with the well head.
The Buddha still asked Venerable Ananda to fetch water. Venerable Ananda came to the well and found that water from the well was gushing out of the well. The grass and chaff had been washed out of the well. The water in the well was full and it was clarified. The water was flush with the well head. Venerable Ananda took the water back and dedicated the water to the Buddha.
The Buddha said: "There is water at any time, and it has nothing to do with the well. The Buddha has cut off desire and craving, and it has nothing to do with the water."
-"Well Sutra"
The attainment of Nirvāṇa is realizable by many methods whose essentials do not go beyond the practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā. Śamatha is the first step to untie all bonds and vipaśyanā is essential to root out delusion. Śamatha provides nourishment for the preservation of the knowing mind, and vipaśyanā is the skillful art of promoting spiritual understanding. Śamatha is the unsurpassed cause of samādhi, while vipaśyanā begets wisdom.
Stop stealing with the heart of stop killing. Stop prostitution with the heart of stop stealing. Avoid false speech with the heart of abstinence. Quit drinking alcohol with the heart to refrain from lying. There is no difficulty in holding the five vinayas with the bravery of holding one vinaya.
If a person sits in the cabin and looks at the phone, he cannot feel that the boat is driving on the water. Only people standing on the shore can clearly see the boat moving on the water. In other words, people in the static can faithfully observe things in motion.
If a person's senses and thoughts are constantly changing with desires and constantly chasing outside things, then the person's mood is not static, and he cannot observe things truthfully. If a person abandons the feelings gained from the senses and thoughts, in other words, abandons desires,then his mind is quiet and he can observe things truthfully. This is like the relationship between the boat and the shore. This is also the special meaning of meditation. Entering the static of our mind is the true meaning.