Second, what is repair?What is a certificate?

What is "repair"?Removing the false and returning to the true, fighting evil and returning to the righteous, is the entire process of cultivation.What is a certificate?Staying away from ignorance and abiding in blessings and wisdom is the state after attaining enlightenment.To put it simply, correcting the wrong mental conduct is practice. After correcting it, the body and mind can always rest in the state of true goodness and beauty of the self-nature. This is the state of attaining fruition.Cultivation and certification are two sides of the same body.The realm of realization must be revealed one by one in the process of cultivation.Therefore, the Buddha taught us that we must pay equal attention to both understanding and practice in our practice, and that we must learn a sentence at the same time.Studying the teachings of the sutras is to learn the methods of cultivation. Once you know the methods, you have to practice them immediately. Only after you practice can you reflect the realm in the teachings. This is "evidence".

Many people have entered Buddhism, watched many masters explain the scriptures, or left home and studied in Buddhist academies and research institutes for a few years. Without actual practice, the Buddhist knowledge that you read will be lost along with karma and memory. In more serious cases, it will become an obstacle to the knowledge of the path. As a result, you have been earnestly working on theories for decades, and in the end, not only have you achieved nothing , but also aggravate the karma.And for those obedient and honest people, no matter how blunt their roots are, they can honestly do a single sentence of their teacher's teaching, and they will be able to attain the corresponding realm at the moment and gradually improve.Cultivation, walking on the right path is a very simple matter, practicing one thing is enough to attain one.If you go the wrong way, after a few lifetimes of repairs, the Twelve Tripitakas will be thoroughly cooked, and they will still stay where they are.Therefore, practitioners must have the spirit of experimentation. They must use their own body and mind as props to experiment in person, so that they can obtain the realm after the realization.

For me, having been in Buddhism for nearly XNUMX years, I deeply realized that the practice of Buddhism is not difficult, and it can be said to be very, very simple, because it is a treasure that is inherent in my family, and I can have it with a single thought.But it can also be said that he was very difficult, because even if he looked back, the evil habit that has been showing up from time to time since the beginningless kalpa is really terrible, so the Buddha said in the sutra: "The good roots of all living beings are inconceivable, and the karma of all living beings is inconceivable. It is also inconceivable.” It means that it is not difficult for sentient beings to realize it, because the roots of goodness are inconceivable, but the karma from beginningless time is also inconceivable, so the difficulty of practice is the difficulty here.Therefore, in our Buddhist practice, we must start with cultivating blessings, which is the easiest and can be done by everyone.It is also called blessing to the mind. Cultivation of blessings can also increase the good roots of all sentient beings. If the good roots are deep and good fortune is deep, the mind will be opened, which will help to enter the Tao and realize the fruit.On the other hand, it is necessary to learn to be honest.In fact, the sentient beings in the end of the Dharma are not weaker than the ancients, but their good roots and morality are inferior. Look at the advanced technology now, and you can see that human beings can go to other planets, but these abilities are only outside the heart to seek the law, not the heart. Liberation has nothing to do with opening one's own treasures.Therefore, the more intelligent and talented people are, because it is not easy to be honest, and instead, these abilities become the cause of their own obstacles. This is the so-called "obstruction of knowledge".

Looking at the fundamental reason why it is difficult for most people to enter the Dao today is the lack of practical skills.Nowadays, people who generally like to pursue materialistic desires outside, it is really not easy to go back and learn from their hearts. This is far more difficult than going to the mountains and the sea, developing technology, and landing on other planets.However, in practice, you can only find the entry point by following this path. This is a deep feeling that I have practiced for nearly XNUMX years.If you want to ask me, what have I cultivated and realized in Buddhism over the years?In addition to having personally experienced that there is a treasure of one's own, the second is to deeply realize that the karma of all beings is incredible, that habits and faults cannot be eliminated within a year or a half, and the boundless skillful wisdom cannot be achieved within a few lifetimes. Consummation, so there will be a feeling of lack of knowledge.Therefore, if we really want to achieve something, we must first learn to be honest, we must be honest and then honest, have a long-term vision, and be honest until the end, and finally we can hope to return to our hometown. This is what I have experienced. As far as human nature is concerned, this is also the only path leading to realization.

So how does one practice to be honest?First of all, if you don’t cling to relationships, not only do you not greedy for the world’s laws, but you also cannot be greedy for the Buddha’s teachings. At the same time, you must have the spirit of the idiot to move mountains, and complete the current karma step by step.Learn the same thing and do the same thing. Once you have learned the same thing, you must continue to learn the same thing to be perfect, and you must not be greedy for merit or fast.For example, if we recite the Buddha’s name, we should study hard every day to learn how to recite this Buddha’s name well, recite it well, recite it until it reaches the state, recite it without thinking, recite it without hindrance, and recite it without hindrance. All sentient beings in the Void Dharma Realm become one.When we follow a teacher to learn a Dharma, we should no longer think about the opportunity to be greedy for other Dharma practices, and we must devote ourselves to the practice until it is achieved.If you still vaguely want to crave miscellaneous cultivation, it will only distract your mind and ignore the effort that you should work hard at the moment, which will make your cultivation and realization more difficult. , this is letting the habit of greed take the lead without realizing it.And this kind of habit has been there since the beginningless kalpa, and from time to time it will quietly appear to play tricks on practitioners, so we should always be vigilant. Buddha's name to fight, seek Buddha's blessing, and then continue to learn honesty.Since ancient times, there has been no one who has made great achievements and great virtues. There is no one who does not honestly live in the Dharma door he majored in. It is not until he has achieved success that he can learn widely and save sentient beings according to circumstances.

But there are many people who always feel that it is very difficult to practice honestly, because their troubles and habits are very heavy, and they cannot do it at all, and it takes countless eons of time to achieve it. When they think about it, they are exhausted.It does seem to be difficult, but if you find a way, it will be very easy, such as Yugong moving mountains, is it difficult?It's hard.I don't know how long it will take to move a mountain. Just imagining it feels impossible.But if we understand that we only focus on the present step and don’t care how long we need to do it, then time will not exist, and the meaning of time to practitioners is just this small step in the present.As long as you follow this method honestly, you will be able to break the concept of time and enter the realm of reality before you know it.In reality, indeed, time and space do not exist, everything is only in a moment, coexisting at the same time.Therefore, if we know how to use this principle to practice any Dharma and do anything, then there will be no difficulty in the world, and everything we want will come true.In every thought, you only need to take this step, and there is no such thing as a long journey. How can there be difficulties and long-term problems?

In fact, the methods of various schools of Buddhism, whether it is reciting the Buddha, practicing meditation, or reciting mantras, are nothing but to help us learn to use the mind of the present moment.Usually our minds are too scattered, and there are more than thousands of thoughts, so time and space and all the troubles appear one by one.If you can capture the six faculties and return to the present moment from time to time, then you will naturally be able to directly return to your own treasures, and all your troubles will be unceasingly eliminated. This is the realm achieved through practice.For example, a person who recites the Buddha’s name only has one Buddha’s name in his recitation to capture all thoughts, and the cultivation time for so long has become just this Buddha’s name. Therefore, the process of reciting the Buddha’s name is the same as the rebirth in the West and becoming a Buddha. It is only so close outside the land of the billion Buddhas.If you can truly understand this, you can at least be said to be an enlightened person right now, and you just need to do the rest honestly until you can master this thought and not let it get lost, and you will realize your own nature before you know it.In order to achieve this, it is very important to focus on the key principles of the practice. Only one subject can be deepened. If you cultivate many subjects at the same time, you will definitely not be able to specialize. Learning to be single-minded, rather than eager to learn cleverness and skillfulness, is all to help us truly enter the Tao.

So what is the state of use of the practice in life?As far as I am concerned, it is not enough to explain it in three or two sentences.Here are just a few to share with you.In the past, when I didn’t learn Buddhism, I didn’t understand the cause and effect of the three worlds, and I would see many injustices in my life that made me troubled.Why is always being kind and not rewarding?Why are wicked people always in power, and good people deceived by others?After understanding the cause and effect of the three times from the scriptures and teachings, you will no longer be troubled by this life, because everything has a cause and an effect, everything is self-inflicted and self-inflicted, and the cause and effect are connected to the three times.Therefore, after we truly understand, our hearts will be at peace now, and we will naturally accept all the adversities before us, and we can cultivate the causes more honestly, hoping that we can feel good results in the next life, and we will not dare to do evil willfully, so as not to feel the consequences in the next life. bitter fruit.Just understanding the root cause and effect of the three lives will enable us to cut off evil and cultivate goodness in our lives. Naturally, we can also change our fate and turn bad luck into good luck. The retribution does not necessarily appear in the next life, and we can also feel great benefits in this life.

In the past, when I didn’t know how to chant the Buddha and practice the Dharma, my heart always wanted to be scattered and clinging to relationships, and all kinds of delusional thoughts and uneasy emotions could not be subdued. .Ever since I settled my mind on the Buddha’s name and handed over my body and mind to Amitabha, all the troubles and karma, big and small, seemed to be borne by Amitabha for me for a while.No matter what you encounter on weekdays, inner emotions or external adverse conditions, as long as you recite Buddha honestly and seek solutions to Buddha Amitabha, there is really nothing that cannot be resolved and improved.Shakyamuni taught us to "take suffering as a teacher and precepts as a teacher" in our practice. When my practice level has gone from believing in cause and effect, breaking up evil and cultivating goodness, to the stage after leaning over the body and feeling the blessing of Buddha's power, at that time, because in the The more serious afflictions in the body and mind have been resolved, so if you go further, you will naturally develop a heart of gratitude and diligence, and you will naturally want to improve your precepts, concentration, and wisdom to give yourself more training. The practice at this stage is actually Suffering has become less and less, on the contrary, when you practice more, it is just a new challenge and fun.For example, I decided to go to Taitung by myself to buy land and build a house. When I went to a strange city, from buying land, preparing the land, building it, and even all the big and small things, cooking, sweeping, and growing vegetables. Fake someone else's hand, so as to exercise their abilities in all aspects, this is the tempering of labor.

There is also the need to overcome inner fears, which is even more difficult.I remember that there was a great practitioner Ajahn Chah in the Southern Tradition. When he was practicing, he would deliberately go to the tomb to meditate, in order to overcome the deep fear in his heart.The land I bought here in Beinan Township, Taitung is not far from the military cemetery, and there are not many families living nearby.There are many living beings living in the cemetery, and not only soldiers but also the dead in the nearby villages are buried.And I live alone in this dojo, which is more than XNUMX square meters and consists of eight container houses.I remember the first night I stayed here. I really didn’t dare to come alone, so I asked a female lay Buddhist to accompany me. The next day she told me a bunch of stories about how she felt with all beings the night before. I myself I also seemed to hear someone calling "Master", and even opened the door to respond, thinking it was the lay lady calling me, but when I opened the door, there was no one.Then I decided to muster the courage to overcome this fear, and decided to live alone.For the first few months, I could hear the cries of a group of dogs raised by nearby people almost every day. The cries were quite miserable and gloomy. There was a neighbor next door who would come to the dojo almost every day and didn’t understand why it was so long. The dogs would bark so terribly ever since.Occasionally at night I would hear the sound of someone clapping hands outside the door, but I ignored them, and sometimes I hurriedly chant Buddha when I was afraid.One time, it was not very late. At about ten o'clock, I heard a loud clapping near the gate again. On a whim, I immediately opened the door to take a look. As soon as the door opened, the sound stopped immediately, and the outside But I didn't see anything. At that time, I thought to myself that fortunately I didn't see anything, but if I wanted to say that there were no living beings, it would not make sense, because the cemetery was nearby, and the sound of the clapping was so clear and loud. , and it's impossible that someone would come and clap around our dojo at that time.Regarding these things, I myself feel that because of the Buddha's name in my heart, my fear can be subdued very quickly. At the same time, because of the strength of belief in my spiritual practice, I have been supported to actively overcome these realms, so what I have experienced after breaking through When you receive the Dharma joy, you will feel more and more strong and brave, and you will become more and more able to be a sangha for sentient beings to rely on.

In addition, through the practice and implementation of the scriptures and teachings, one can gradually see through and let go in life, because we understand that all realms are illusions, the body is empty, even the physical body is empty, life and death are also empty, so everything in life is empty. People and things will become more and more non-attached, more and more able to live according to fate, and life will become more and more plain and simple, but full of taste, and can really taste the inner happiness and enjoyment without feeling the need. Go after the outside world.Wealth, fame and fortune are not to mention the grosser troubles, even saving sentient beings and building a big temple are not forced, and gradually become less attached to them. All these benefits are felt after long-term cultivation. be used.The so-called realm of cultivation and realization in the Buddhist scriptures actually looks like a normal state from the outside. It does not necessarily have to be some kind of sublime and mysterious phenomenon of supernatural powers to be called realization and fruition. Being able to feel the joy of the Dharma and being able to live in the tranquil Dharma Realm is the result of self-cultivation.We need to observe ourselves or others, and we need to look at every bit of life with an ordinary mind, not from the outside to see whether this person can have supernatural powers and how much he has done in spreading the Dharma. Those things cannot represent our own cultivation. However, it is easy to deviate from the center of the Buddha Dharma because of seeking the Dharma outside the heart and cannot see the truth.