Speech on the Ceremony for the Re-Opening of ¡®Magic Chick¡±
Children¡¯s Clothes Store
Closed for one and a half years, the Magic Chick Children¡¯s Clothes Store is now reappearing on Jiefang Avenue through the aid of Amitabha. During this period I was in Huangshi Buddhist House practicing for advance, making efforts to direct my heart to purity and kindness. I still remember when I first entered the Buddhist House; I got not supports form many people around me. This was because I had too many sins and enemies in the past life so that now I was doomed to be troubled by many chances. Since then I made deep confessions for my sins, realizing that shall these things, big or small were predestined. If I had made no enemies in the past life, today I would not have been pestered. All this was caused by me. There is one story in the Buddhist scripture that I shall always remember; there was a peddler who was selling melons. It was queer that he refused to sell his melons to one person but when another person came, he not only sole it to him gladly, but even picked out a good one for him. Why should he do this? Just then, Emperor Lingwu passed by and was puzzled by this. so he discussed with a monk who was standing by, who actually was an enlightened monk of high virtue. The old monk told him:¡± five hundred years ago, this peddler was a criminal condemned to death penalty on him way to the execution, many people was on looking, among them there was two, who were the tow buyers just now, one felt sympathy toward the criminal and sighed :¡± poor fellow.¡± While the other was thinking with hatred:¡± he deserved it,¡± just for these two difficult ideas the two men were received differently by the peddler. The idea of ¡°poor fellow¡± was a kind one and so it deserved a good effect. While the unkind idea deserved a bad effect (refused by the peddler¡± form this it associated us to our daily life. When we constantly have kind thinking and bad ideas, accordingly we got different effects for those thoughts. So now when we get along with other people, sometimes we have good times and sometimes we don¡¯t. This story accounts for why. When I was in the Buddhist House and found myself sometimes inhospitably confronted, who did I do? I had to confess for my sins. Today is a good chance for me to meet my past enemies. I would like to take this chance to pay back my past debts in the first the thought came to me that from now on I shall be a more scrupulous and endurance toward other people. In this way I can make my behaviors more careful. For whom I will do this? Everyone. I shall try to delight them, discover their merits and oblivion their drawback. And treat them as the Buddha. While remain myself an ordinance. I shall not only show my respect to them from the bottom of my heart but always from my actions. I often make donations from food to clothes, and my donation were not limited to few people, but for the general, thus I delighted everyone and people gradually felt kindly towards me. Therefore I consider when conflict arose between persons, if only either of them can remain the respectfulness, toward the other, then he is bound to have the forgiveness from the other side. If he is not, that is because he is not respectful enough.
Today, as we gather together to study Buddhism, I think that everybody is showing his respect for me and that makes me feel ashamed. The reason that I can be here and have everything I wished for is because of the aid of Buddha. Then, on my part how shall I reward this kindness: the best way is too share with everyone my experience. I can say that every fellow Buddhist is really very pious, which out-strengthened mine. According to the theory of Rev. Jingkong that the effect takes on in ten to fifteen years, then why I still can receive my effect successfully: I think this involved the question of approach, which can be summed up in three aspects: the first one, as Rev. Jingkong says, to be concentrated in your practice and allow no distraction. Concentration means specilizing in one direction and keeps advancing, this is the explanation: in our pure land branch, it is to chanting on Buddhist name thoroughly. Couldn¡¯t this sound very simple, but there are still many people who cannot do this. Some of them are doubtful about the power of the chanting, and would like add some flavor to it by other alterations. Like sometimes the Bohisattva Sutra, sometimes the Grand Compassion Curse. There are still other kind of people who have no idea of their own but only follow whatever others are doing. Some of them are dedicated at chanting, but committing sins when there is no chanting. In that way the rule of purity and peace are ruined and people toil in the Buddhist practice without getting any result. While in my case, what can I successful enjoy the good effect just twelve years after my practice and have whatever I wished? This is due to the fact that I honestly followed the instructions of Rev. Jingkong, which are the kings in all sutras and curses. I cherished them in my heart as a treasure, allowing nothing to stop my chanting. I remembered the time when I still worked as office stuff, I usually shut myself in the office and talked to no one, only engaged myself in writing people¡¯s names and address and chanting Amitabha while I was doing it. On my way from word to home if I came across an acquaintance I immediately turned aside before I was recognized. Why I did so? Because I didn¡¯t want my chanting was stopped by any conversation. I knew that this was the respect due to my friends, I I¡®d rather own them politeness than delay my chanting. This is what is called sole dedication. I have accomplished it, the advance in dedication. How did I do it? Rev. Jingkong says:¡± sleepiness is sinful which can be overcome. Fight it back desperately and never lie down when tired:¡± I reckoned that during the day I was making advance but during the night I wasn¡¯t. Often five to six hours slipped by before I woke up, and the chanting therefore was topped by five to six hours. Rev. Jingkong says:¡± to chant is to hatch chicken. The hen hold the eggs under her all the time only stopped by going out for picking a little food or drinking water. On returning, clutch to the eggs to her embrace in no time. By this ways the eggs are always warm for hatching out chicken.¡± it is the same for chanting, do not let the chanting be disrupted for too long, cling to it, and it will be accomplished sooner. For the problem of chanting at nights so as to advance, I came up with a method. That is, not to go to bed, not to undress. Giving myself no fixed hours for sleeping in a day, only rest a little while without undressing whenever it is necessary. Made no preference for the gestures or place, only, not getting to bed, which would be too comfortable to incur long hours of sleeping and thus disrupt the chanting for long time to keep advancing.
Now let¡¯s go down to the next point, having made the first point of dedication and advance clear.
The next point is cultivation of long hours. Dedication need to go further. To go further is to listen to the teaching of sutra more. I have been very attentive to those purpose, in not only listened but took down note. The good point of noting down is that it enabled you to review what you have had before and to check whether your deeds are up to the instructions. My piety in this ways wined me Buddha¡¯s direction. That showed me what was right and what was wrong day after day, my good deeds increased while my sins decreased. For instance, Xiao Yang, one of my pupils in Qingshan just called me and informed me she was going to call to me on Saturday. He asked me what I would like to eat. I answered: ¡°I like Zongzi.¡± hanging up the phone and referred to my note, I found that I was wrong. I should feel ashamed in the first place, who was I to demand anything from people? ?I should have declined it politely, if she insisted. I should also have made it agreeable, open to her preference. This should be the right attitude. For this I really feel grateful toward Buddha. Who indicated to me how to behave all the time, and help to correct my mistakes all the time. This exemplified basically how to go further in practice. Then how to keep long hour¡¯s cultivation? The long hours mean long dedications. Chanting should be carried out throughout your life. This is called long time¡¯s cultivation.
The third point is, committing no ill endeavors and following all kindness. How did I achieve this? At times when I am unable to concentrate on chanting, I also keep myself in control. For instance, not to spit at public surroundings, not to litter, not to break the traffic light, etc. those seem to be trifle things, but equally restricted for any violation. Disciplines in Buddhism also contain rules and regulations from the state to the corporate und even to the families that shall all be observed. Many people are saying now: ¡°every day I am doing good and getting no paying.¡¯ This is because what he thinks to be a good thing is in fact a bad one, all because he even cannot tell right from wrong.
How did I conduct myself in this aspect, committing no sin and regarding only good deeds? It is nothing but to constantly find consultation in this book. For example, one day I met a vendor who sold peaches. Among the fresh peaches, I found those are on top were really big ones, so naturally I bought them as sacrifice to Buddha. After I the ritual was over I opened the notebook, the thoughts came to me that what I did was really selfishness. I should have given more considerations to the peach seller that if I was only picking big preaches, the rest of your small peaches hard to sell. From this incident I thought my goodness was manifested, but in fact the way I thought about myself was not good. Being kind its to bring true benefit for the mass. It is easy to say than to do. That is why I always make consultation after the thing I said or did. My scrupulousness has accounted for the increase of goodness and decrease of sins, that is to say, it was this note that enables me to have what I wished for twelve years after my practice in Buddhism.
In conclusion, the ways of how to get to the bliss as soon as possible are as follows: first, to be concentrated on one direction. What I have been doing is to carry out the chanting thoroughly without any distraction or interruption, even no regular bedtime. Secondly, long hours¡¯ meditation. Chanting and listening to the teaching of sutra continuously. Take down notes when listening to the teaching and review daily. Making reference for everything at anytime, correcting mistakes immediately. Thirdly, committing no sins and regarding only goodness. Loss not on trifle goodness and dare not on small mischief. By this way you can really reach the state of ¡°walking on the ice¡±. Imagine that you are walking on the thin ice on the sea; each step is possible to break away under your feet, only carefulness and scrupulous will save you.
To further emphasize, these three points are the only what it should take you to do. They can be tough, they can be easy, and all is about the matter of taking up habits. Once you take them as habits, things will get along. I was born a child much protected and spoiled, having no strength to endure any hardship. Just for this reason I place myself in the service of Buddhism for the purpose of avoiding the torture of six cycles. Therefore what I can do everybody also can do, only depending on how serious is your determinations. Where there is will there is way. I look forward to seeing your success in the recent future with happy and blissful life.
That is all I wish to say.? Thank you all.
Chen Nanzheng