20200130謙卑齋戒聚福緣Cleansing Our Minds to Prevent Disease Outbreak
Do we know that the novel coronavirus has not been previously identified in humans? Wild animals were its original hosts. Because of the animals immunity, the virus is harmless to them. Yet, du to unwholesome thoughts, which are like viruses to the minds, many people have been harming other living creatures. In doing so, they come in contact with the viruses in the animals.
This is an example of causes and conditions. The viruses are a cause of diseases. Look at the epidemic of SARS. Back then, as the source of the disease had been identified, we kept reminding others to heighten their vigilance.
As the epidemic had broken out, Instead of feeling worried and afraid, we must be vigilant, humble, and sincerely pious as well as go vegetarian.
We must guide everyone to stay humble as there is always something we can not control and we are not as strong as we may seem. See, once an epidemic breaks out, panic and anxiety will arise in many countries and many people’s lives will become chaotic.
All this is caused by viruses, which are invisible to naked eyes and seem insignificant. Much about viruses still remains unknown. There are still many things in the world that are unknown to us humans. We should keep this in mind and humble ourselves.
We must not be arrogant. There is nothing to be arrogant about, for all matter in life arises and ceases due to causes and conditions. Now that life is impermanent, how can we be arrogant and boast of ourselves? We must not do so. So, I often say that we must humble ourselves.
To cultivate, we must practice humility within and respectful courteousness without. This is what humility truly means. When we cultivate ourselves, apart from practicing humanity, we must always live with vigilant care as well.
We must understand that in many disasters around the world, be it natural or man-made ones, mostly arise from human activities. Humans are the main source of many natural disasters. And, since humans are responsible for man-made disasters, aren’t humans creating bad karma?
We‘ve been creating enmities and disasters over countless eons of time. Over a very long time, we‘ve been cycling through the six realms. Carrying the karmic seeds with us and continually giving rise to ignorance and committing evil, we’ve created and accumulated much bad karma.
In a time like this, the Dharma is in decline and the world is truly filled with many impurities. Morality and ethics are no longer upheld. So, in our times, many disasters have befallen humans and the environment. We must all reflect on ourselves.
The Buddha encouraged us to remain pure in our hearts and minds. Even if the World is one filled with impurities, we must not let our minds to be tainted. We must practice repentance constantly and illuminate our bad habitual tendencies and our afflictions quickly. We must cleanse our minds of defilements by practicing repentance.
This is why we‘ve been promoting vegetarianism. We must go vegetarian so as to stop the killing of living beings. When fewer people eat meat, few animals will suffer from being killed. When more people go vegetarian, animals can live freely and happily in the world.
As the bad karma of killing affects everyone, we shouldn’t just go vegetarian only for a few months or a year. Our lives diminish as time passes. We are just like fish in a tank that is leaking water drop by drop. As days pass by, the fish become closer to the moment of death.
The universe that we all live in is like a big water tank, and time is like water. Each person’s life is also a universe, so it is also like a tank. There is also water in each person’s universe. The water is like the duration of our karmic affinity with the world. Once our affinities with the world end, our lives will end.
What is most frightening is the time between the moments of birth and death, for living in this world, we humans are led by ignorance and keep creating bad karma. When bad karma accumulates, there will be more and more disasters and suffering in the world.
On the other hand, the more good karma we create, along with good causes and conditions, the more favorable circumstances we will have. When good causes are met with good conditions, the world will truly become a pure land.
However, there are many unwholesome causes and conditions. With many unwholesome conditions, A lot of bad karma has been created. So, I often speak of karmic causes, conditions, and retributions. As Buddhists, we must take them seriously. Given the bad karma of killing, we truly must go vegetarian.
首頁 