November 26, 2003

The word "Liang-Hwang" in the Confession Ceremony of Emperor Liang refers to an emperor of the Liang dynasty in ancient China whose name was Wu.  Emperor Liang Wu studied and practiced the Buddha Dharma very diligently.  He supported Buddhism and made offering to the Three Jewels very faithfully.  His nickname was the Emperor of Buddha Mind.  Emperor Liang Wu had a queen named Chi Shi.  She was narrow-minded, evil and very jealous.  Any ladies in the palace who were favored by Emperor Liang Wu were subjected to being abused by Queen Chi Shi.  Queen Chi Shi died from illness afterwards.

One day when Emperor Liang Wu was strolling in his garden, suddenly there was a large boa constrictor climbing down from the edge of the roof.  That boa constrictor said to Emperor Liang Wu, "Emperor, please do not be scared.  I was your queen, Chi Shi.  Because of all the non-virtuous deeds that I had committed in the past, I was reborn to be a boa constrictor as my retribution.  I come to you because you are very sincere in studying and practicing the Buddha Dharma and you are the only one who can save me."  Emperor Liang Wu told his Zen Master, Bao Zhi Gong about this and asked what he should do.  The Honored Master, Bao Zhi Gong told Emperor Liang Wu, "We should invite all the great monks in our country to edit a Confession text, ask them to hold a Confession Ceremony to recite this Confession text, and dedicate all the merits to the boa constrictor."

After those great monks had completed editing and reciting the Confession Ceremony of Emperor Liang, Emperor Liang Wu smelled a heavenly scent and saw a bright and majestic view while he was strolling in his garden.  A very beautiful heavenly goddess appeared in front of him to thank him, "Thank you emperor.  Because you had invited all the great monks to write the Confession text, to hold the Confession Ceremony, and to dedicate all the merits to me, I was absolved of all my non-virtuous deeds and reborn in the good realm."  Emperor Liang's Confession Ceremony exists because of this cause and condition between the Emperor Liang Wu and his queen Chi Shi.  Originally, the Confession Ceremony of Emperor Liang could only be held inside the palace.  But later it was spread into the ordinary population, making it possible for us to hold the Confession Ceremony of Emperor Liang today.

A snake is laden with heavy Karma.  But it was able to absolve its Karmic obscuration and leave the snake body in the rebirth in a good realm after the great monks dedicated all the merits from reciting and prostrating the Confession Ceremony of Emperor Liang to it.  Our Karmic obstructions are much more less than those of the boa constrictor because we are still in the human forms.  We have wisdom.  If we know how to practice and confess our sins, the merits that we may accumulate are even more inconceivable.

Keeping good intention or faith when attending the Confession Ceremony of Emperor Liang is very important.  The Buddhism inspires us to have faith, to make vows and to take action.  If you do not have any faith all the vows that you have made were useless.  If you make the vows but do not take any actions on those vows then it was just like you have written a pile of non-cashable checks.  Doing so, you will not accumulate any merits.  Our shortcomings and bad habits lead to all the above situations.  We have so many defilements and bad habits.  We may attend the Confession Ceremonies to absolve our Karmic obstructions and our bad habits.

Buddha had already attained the Buddhahood.  We should feel ashamed of ourselves why we still have not reached the Buddhahooh and we are yet still fooling around?  We are just like ants busy with carrying rice and candies every day, so busy that we do not even realize what is wrong with being like ants.  We should realize that we do not want to be trapped in the force of Karma and that we should start to practice and to have a liberated mind.

November 27, 2003

There are many people who don't understand the connections between our practice and the Confession Ceremonies.  Who should attend those Confession Ceremonies?  We may think that we have not done any non-virtuous deeds since we were born, we have not made others miserable, we have not damaged any temples properties or dishonored the Three Jewels, and we have led a simple life.  But the Sutra said, our Karmic forces are innumerable and boundless and our wisdom is very limited.  The things that we know are only limited to this life, but Sutra has described the beginning of our existence as "From the Time Without Beginning"  It is from the countless eons ago and you do not know in which eons you might had created bad Karma that made you trapped in the Cyclic Existence.  You cannot find the beginning.  Because of our ignorance, we do not remember what have happened in our previous lives.  But we should know that whatever retributions we are facing right now are the result of our previous actions and what we are doing right now is the cause of our future result.  Cause and effect is not vanished.

If you do not have great merit you would not be able to attend any Confession Ceremonies.  Similarly if you have heavy Karmic obstructions, you could not attend any Confession Ceremonies.  Vairocana Monastery holds the Confession Ceremony of Emperor Liang every year.  There were few people that would like to attend the Confession Ceremony this year, but cannot make it due to some unexpected events.  Because the cost per bag for garbage collection will be increased next year, some people are not able to attend the ceremony because they want to clean up all the trashes in their house.  There are some people who work very hard to earn money but they are not able to enjoy the earned money because they do not have enough merit.  The Sutra says that you must to have merit to enjoy everything that you have.  Because those people have Karmic obstructions, they are not able to enjoy hard earned money.  Then how do we absolve Karmic obstructions?  By attending the Confession Ceremony we can absolve our Karmic obstructions.

Everything is selfless.  Because of our clinging to self, we are not able to see the complete picture.  It is just like a frog living in the bottom of a well that can only see a part of the sky defined by the entrance of that well and thinks that is the whole sky.  We could not see the whole picture of causes and conditions because we manage and analyze things all according to our form, feeling, ideation, formation, and consciousness.  We always judge the right and wrong or good and bad by our own standard and interpret cause and effect from our own angle.  Our self-centered habits result in vexations and obstacles.  People, who are able to come here and prostrate to the Buddhas, must have precious causes and conditions.  Therefore, we should feel precious to prostrate to the Buddhas with our grateful mind.

Time passes quickly. Time is so impermanent.  But we do not want to face the impermanence.  We wish everything would remain permanent and we want to hold on to things.  But we should understand that money does not really belong to us.  Part of it belongs to the government and part of it belongs to natural disasters, hurricanes, flood and fire.  If you have some unruly descendents, they could spend all of your saving in just few days.  Therefore, your properties are not exactly yours.  There is nothing that really belongs to you, not even your own body.

We Buddhists should try to examine our body, speech and mind to see whether we are making any mistakes and to look inwards.  Some people think that we attend the Confession Ceremonies for our own blessings.  That is a wrong view.  The contents of the confession text were put together based on the Sutras.  They are all Buddha's teachings.  All the methods described in the confession text are designed to teach us how to practice.  After we have confessed our non-virtue deeds through the ceremony, we will have more courage to face our Karmic forces that produce bad results.  The Karmic force itself is not that terrible.  The most terrible thing is if you do not understand it and you do not want to face it.  When you have the courage to face the Karmic force, you will realize that it is only so.  You should face the Karmic force with your ease and clam mind in order to absolve your bad Karmas accumulated from your former lives.  The purpose of practicing the Buddha Dharma is to lighten your body and mind, to face your future, and to face your path of attaining the Buddhahood.  Therefore, everybody should attend Confession Ceremonies.

November 28, 2003

Once there was a king who went to visit the residence of Buddha and Sangha.  There were five hundred monks living with the Buddha.  The king was afraid to enter the residence when he arrived because he did not hear a single sound.  He concerned that it could be a trap, therefore he was very afraid.  From this story, we can tell that the Buddha had trained those five hundred monks very well.  Buddhists should be conscientious, efficient and sincere with their thoughts, speeches and actions.  For example, our hand should follow the door all the way when we close a door.

There was a saying in Buddhism: "We would rather stir the water of one thousand rivers than disturb the mind of a practitioner."  Once a practitioner reaches enlightenment, he can benefit innumerable sentient beings.  It would be a grave mistake if you disturb a practitioner's mind with even a slight noise of moving a plate when the practitioner is at the precise moment of reaching enlightenment.  This is something that we should be very mindful of.

Offering of Bodhi Mind accumulates ultimate merit.  Bodhi Mind is to cultivate the Bodhisattva Path, to be the same as the Bodhisattvas.  Even if your giving has accumulated as much merits as the sands of the River Ganga, they still cannot compare to the merits that would be accumulated by offering your Bodhi Mind.  When a practitioner initiates the Bodhi Mind, all the sentient beings will benefit by that practitioner.  Because once a practitioner initiates the Bodhi Mind, he or she will cultivate the Bodhisattva Path to deliver pervasive sentient beings.  All the Buddhas will rejoice and all the Dharma Protectors will support because there is one more person joining in the cultivation of the Bodhisattva Path.

If you understand the way of practicing and do your daily practice sincerely, you can accomplish a lot with very little time.  Can a practitioner who practices the Pure Land Method truly be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Amitabha?  The Amitabha Sutra describes that if you recite the sacred name of the Amitabha in seven days with a still and one pointed mind, you will be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Amitabha.  If we can keep a still and thoughtless mind just for few minutes, it is a start of our practice.  You should practice faithfully because there is no short cut for practicing.  You should not try to compare whose instinct is better and whose perception is better, because our worldly knowledge is only an operation of our senses and does not indicate a good practice.  We practice because we want to reveal our wisdom.  Just as suggested by the character of the Chinese words for wisdom, you not only "know" but also your mind as brightly and clearly as the "sun".  The worldly knowledge gained through the perception of our senses will fade but your wisdom remains unaffected.  If you have wisdom, it will stay with you even after you have taken your retribution and be reborn as a human being in the Cyclic Existence.  Wisdom does not change while worldly knowledge varies.

Attending a Confession Ceremony is a beginning of lighting the light in your mind.  A lightened mind enables you to see more clearly.  We attend the Confession Ceremony in order to sincerely absolve our bad Karmic obstructions and uncover our original ature.  Our original nature is the Buddha nature and it is pure and clear.

November 29, 2003

The first step in the procedure of learning and practicing the Buddha Dharma is to understand what Buddhism is.  We should go to the temples to take refuges in the Three Jewels, which are Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.  Taking refuges in the Three Jewels is like registering in a school.  We register in front of the Buddha to become a Buddhist so that we can do our practice faithfully.  After taking refuges in the Three Jewels we hsould take precepts.  Five Precepts are the most basic precepts for lay people.  They are: not to kill, not to steal, not to engage in sexual misconduct, not to tell lies, and not to drink alcohol and not to use drugs.  The lay people should keep these Five Precepts truthfully.  The best is to become a vegetarian.  If you cause killings for the satisfaction of your mouth and stomach, your practice will be negatively affected.

Although Buddha had entered Nirvana, his teachings still remain.  We should follow Buddha's teachings to practice.  Sangha, monks and nuns, are the ones to propagate Buddha's teachings.  Monks and nuns are supported by lay people and live in temples to concentrate in the study and practice of the Buddha Dharma in order to propagate Buddha Dharma.

Offering to the Three Jewels does not require expensive things but must be made with a pure mind.  There was a little kid who made an offering to me with a quarter, which was her pocket money.  Although it was a small amount of money, which can be easily found in everybody's purse, no body's quarter can compare with this girl's quarter because she offered this quarter to me with great happiness.  She also told me, "I am too young to have lots of money right now.  When I grow up, I will make a lot of money to offer to Shi Fu."  Although it was only a quarter, it was the greatest offering.  When we make offering to Three Jewels, we should keep the concept of no giver, no receiver and no object in order to aximize the merit.  If we make offering to Three Jewels with an impure mind, the merit will be blemished.

Once there was a little girl who was playing with the mud when Buddha came to her village.  This little girl was very happy to see Buddha when Buddha passed by.  She held up a mud ball with her both hands to make an offering to Buddha.  Buddha's attendants, thinking that since the mud ball cannot be eaten and it should not be offered to Buddha, were going to stop the little girl.  But the Buddha said to his attendants: "Do not stop her.  Today if you let her make this offering to me happily, she will have ultimate merit.  Because in the mind of the little girl it is not a mud ball but the best thing in the world and she is offering it to the Buddha.  She will accumulate the ultimate merit because of it.  If you stop her from making this offering to me, she could damage Buddhism afterwards because of the unhappy experience with Buddha."

The Bodhisattvas worry about the causes while sentient beings fear the results.  We the sentient beings always wait until we face the retribution then begin to think about what we have done in the past to cause the consequences in the present.  Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can see a seed and know how big the tree will grow, what colors of the flowers the tree will have, and what kind of fruits the tree will bear.  Some people have a good seed (the cause) but don't know how to plant it.  It is just like you have a seed of learning the Buddha Dharma but are not willing to practice the Buddha Dharma diligently.  If you have good roots but do not practice Buddha Dharma in accordance with various causes and conditions, it is just like a seed being planted in a wrong place.  Therefore, our each step in practicing the Buddha Dharma is very important.

The "Four Unbreakable Faiths" in Buddhism are Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and Precepts.  The "Four Unbreakable Faiths" will assist you in your practice.  Having a temple with the Three Jewels for us to practice together is strength.  You should keep your Precepts whether you are a monk, a nun, a layman or a laywoman.  Precept is a regulation and a way of protecting our merit.  We should understand the spirits of the Precepts.  Precepts keep us not to be engaged in greed, hatred, ignorance, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lies, and alcohol and drugs.  Although time is different, the spirits of the Precepts remain the same.  Precepts are very important and you must keep them.  However, the Precepts are for the regulation of oneself.  We should regulate ourselves strictly and be kind to others.  We should not use the Precepts to find the faults of others.

We practice and do lessons to smooth our sharp edges.  As our sharp edges get rounded, we become a flexible person.  Everyone will like you and want to become a friend with you.  Learning the Buddha Dharma is a most difficult thing to do in Buddhism.  We frequently say that we are learning the Buddha Dharma.  But we should examine ourselves honestly.  Buddha became a monk, and have we become a monk or a nun yet?  Buddha attained the Buddhahood, and have we attained the Buddhahood yet?  Buddha became a pure person without any greed, hatred, and ignorance, and have we become a pure person without any greed, hatred, and ignorance yet?  In this way, when we aware of any rising thoughts that we are having and any actions that we are taking that may produce Karma, the words "Learning the Buddha Dharma" will remind ourselves to act like the Buddha.  Constantly keeping the words "Learning the Buddha Dharma" in our mind will help our practice and assist us in the path to attain the Boddhahood.