I was ordained under Master MiuKing back in 2002 and spent 3~4 years in Fa Yun Monastery, NM, US. How does Fa Yun Monastery look like from space? Just how deep in the forest is it? Take a look …
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A rsoe by ayn nmae wuold smlel teh smae, btu wuodl cnofsue teh flroist toatlly fi ouy strat aksign fro a bnuch fo “ppale pei”. (scorll dwon) The Mouse Merchant [Diligence and Gratitude] The Khuddaka Nikaya is the fifth of the Nikayas found in the Sutta Pitaka, and consist of a collection of short suttas. Amongst them is the Jataka, which contain the birth stories told by the Buddha. In one such sutta, CULLAKA-SEṬṬHI-JĀTAKA, the Mouse Merchant, the Buddha tells of a rags-to-riches story of a young man who takes on the advice of a King’s adviser he overheard, and becomes wealthy through his hard work and determination. The young man began with a dead mouse and in the end of the story, he returns the favour to the adviser out of gratitude by offering half his fortune to the adviser. I’ll leave you to read the sutta with the link below. ^_< Now, I’ve shared with many people those wonderful stories found in the suttas, and many often dismiss them as being more of a fairy tale or legend that having anything in parallel. Well, a while back, I read of a man who had a similar experience of starting off with something small (a red paper clip) and ending with a tidy fortune (I’ll leave it to you to read about it as well). Amazing? Truly. . . . → Read More: A Mouse Merchant in real life or the Red Paper Clip Man Dear friends, Let us take a moment to remember those who suffered and perish in the recent spate of disasters. Earthquake in Samoa, Indonesia, and Typhoon in Manila, Indonesia. May they receive help swiftly and find peace and comfort where ever they are. May those who perished have good conditions to be reborn in the human realms where they can learn and practise the Buddha-Dharma and in due time attain Final Liberation, Nibbana. With so much suffering around already, may the rest of the world find peace in their mind and lay their arms to rest. May they not incur any more suffering onto others through mindless wars. I often have people asking two questions in a row, with the first one being “Ven, can I ask a stupid question?”, followed by their actual question. Sometimes I’m like, can I say No? I sometimes will tell people this: “The only ‘stupid’ questions are those that are not asked!” Sometimes we really do not know enough to ask questions; other times we are unconsciously stifled by ourselves to ask questions. We should learn more like kids. Kids will ask anything that comes to mind. There may be many reasons for this, and I reckon, is in part due to A) an openness of their mind to see various aspects of the subject matter and B) the absence of embarrassment of asking. Their openness is in turn likely due to an absence of assumptions about how things should or should not be while their absence of embarrassment is due to an absence of assumption of who they are and what they should or should not know. As kids grow up, they learn more and more about this world. What they learn become part of their experience of how things are. These become patterns that . . . → Read More: The only 'stupid' questions are … … |
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