The reason why we have been wandering in the great sea of ??suffering in samsara since time immemorial is that we have no "I" and are attached to "I", and we have no self but are attached to ourselves. We always put ourselves in the most important position, doubling down. cherish.
"The Lankavatara Sutra" also says: "There is no self in the five yins, and there are no living beings." Originally, as stated in "The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way", I do not exist, and neither do you. It does not exist, and the whole world appears like an illusory dream, but ordinary people cling to what is not there and cling to everything in front of them very firmly. This is the only reason for the reincarnation of sentient beings.
Buddhism, through various choices, develops the view of selflessness and allows countless practitioners to understand selflessness. If you look at the world at this time, you will feel that it is very rare. Why? Because sentient beings do not have "I" in the first place, this is not a mandatory rule, but after you use the Madhyamaka method of separation of multiple causes, existence and non-birth causes, diamond dust causes, etc. to observe, you can indeed find no "I". ”’s ontology. However, countless pitiful sentient beings do not understand this, but instead keep clinging to "me" and what I want, wandering in endless reincarnation. This is indeed very pitiful!
After understanding this truth, everyone needs to observe this: No matter when and where I am now, the only thing I want is my own happiness, and I don’t want to feel any pain. Even if a small thorn is pricked on the body, or a spark falls, the pain will be unbearable, and the person can't help but cry out "It hurts, it hurts".
That day, I saw a layman in yellow clothes - he is still there today. His foot was pierced by a small nail, and he kept screaming there. I thought something serious had happened, but it turned out that the nail was very, very small. When get out of class was over, he was still walking normally. Of course, he is like this, and so am I, even better than him. When a small needle is inserted into my body, such as infusion or injection, some doctors' hands are very heavy, and it feels very painful at this time. Why is this? Because we are very attached to "me".
For this reason, some people will get very angry if they have a tick bite on their back. They will reach out and scratch it, put it on one fingernail, and use the other fingernail to scratch it. extrusion. Even though the louse was dead, he was still angry and kept scratching his nails. The Han people may not have this situation, but some people who were bitten by mosquitoes would crush it until it was broken into pieces. This is a kind of self-protection of human beings, but it does not care at all about the lives of other sentient beings.
Currently, most people believe that killing lice, mosquitoes, cockroaches, mice, and insects is not sinful. Even some Buddhists have said on different occasions that poison can be sprayed on pests. But in fact, this behavior is entirely caused by anger, and therefore is definitely the cause of falling into hell.
In Buddhism, killing all sentient beings is never advocated. No matter how lice infest the body, according to the requirements of the precepts, one cannot poison them with medicine. In the past, some other religions also took great care of lice. For example, Lu Xun's brother Zhou Zuoren quoted a passage from Russell's "Marriage and Morality" in his article "Lice": "At that time, the (Christian) church attacked the habit of bathing, thinking that all those who wanted to clean the body and be lovers had Sinful tendencies occur. Dirtyness and impurity are praised, so the odor of the saints becomes stronger. Saint Paula says that the purity of the body and clothes is the impurity of the soul. Lice are called the pearls of God. Being full of these things is an indispensable sign of a saint."
William also said in "The History of European Morals" that medieval Europe was particularly protective of lice. Christian asceticism was prevalent at that time, and bathing was almost a sin. They believe: "The cleanliness of the body is a blasphemy to the soul. The most worshiped saints are those whose clothes are in knots." Lice are regarded as "pearls of God", and being covered with lice is not only not a shame , on the contrary, it is an indispensable symbol of the saint. This moral concept ruled Europe for more than a thousand years.
Including individual practitioners in Tibet in the past, they didn’t care much about physical hygiene. I don't think these are necessary. Because the precepts place great emphasis on physical cleanliness, the Tantric Department of Affairs and Practice also states that whether it is the house you live in or your own body, you need to "clean" it frequently. This principle is very clear. So, in the famous saying, it is necessary to protect the body.
But this kind of protection does not mean taking special care of every bit of yourself. If others harm you even a little bit, you will be intolerable; if a louse or mosquito bites you, you will kill it; if a dog bites you, Then you kill it with a gun. This attitude is completely contrary to the teachings of Mahayana Bodhicitta. For us, ordinary small pain is unbearable, but in turn, we make all sentient beings feel such huge pain. This behavior is really shameful.
You must know that all sentient beings in the three realms desire all kinds of happiness and do not want to suffer the slightest pain. This is exactly the same as yourself. (The compassion of Buddhism involves all living beings. What is gratifying is that many people now have the opportunity to receive such education. Although they may not fully understand or practice it, they at least understand that Buddhism is indeed very great.
) Although they desire happiness and do not want to suffer, they do not know that the ten virtuous karma are the causes of pursuing happiness. Instead, they blindly focus on the ten unwholesome karmas that are the cause of suffering. What they think and what they do are completely opposite. This is A kind of ignorance of all living beings.
"The Great Convenience Buddha's Repaying Benevolence Sutra" also says: "The five realms of life and death are like falling into the mud, entangled in love and desire, and ignorant and confused by the world." The six realms of reincarnation are like beings trapped in the deep sea. Just like in the mud, sinking in the sea of ??life and death. The reason for this is that they are entangled in lust and lack wisdom, so that they are confused by various confusing phenomena.
Sometimes when I see what many people in big cities do, I feel indescribable sadness and feel that they are really pitiful. So many people do not know that "I" does not exist in the ultimate sense, and they run around all day long for this "I"; in the secular world, the value of my life is completely equal to that of other living beings, but they protect themselves and harm others. , this approach is very unreasonable. But there is nothing we can do, society has become like this now.
In fact, among all the sentient beings who have suffered, in the long time since beginningless time, none of them has not been their own parents. We are now fortunate enough to meet a master with Dharma characteristics, step into the door of righteous Dharma, and understand the difference between benefits and harms through listening and thinking, and know the harm of doing bad karma and the merits of practicing good dharma. At this time, we cannot ignore the people around us. Suffering sentient beings only hope to be liberated through their own practice. For all the old sentient beings who are bound by ignorance and delusion, we should love and rescue them without distinction from ourselves, endure their evil behavior and paranoia, practice equality between relatives and resentments, and do everything possible to relieve their pain.
Some other religions now add hundreds of clubs, hundreds of churches, and thousands or even tens of thousands of believers in a city every year. They rely on their own efforts to promote in an organized and planned manner, resulting in a growing team. As for us Buddhists, according to statistics, in some cities, there are fewer and fewer Buddhists year by year, and many people have gradually integrated into other religious groups. Although the number of Buddhists in some cities has increased, the number of ashrams has basically remained unchanged. How many are still like this? I know from various sources that the number of Buddhists only increases by a few hundred a year. Why? It is because many Mahayana Buddhists only like to hold rosary beads by themselves, close their eyes and recite "Om Mani Prame Hum" and "Namo Amitabha". They only care about themselves all day long, but rarely think about sentient beings.
If you don’t care about anything and rely on the blessings of the Three Jewels, you will definitely be able to have food and clothing. You will not be like those suffering people who wonder every day: "What should I eat? What should I wear? Where should I live?" Where?” But if your motivation is only about yourself and you ignore all living beings around you, then a lot of space will be occupied by others.
Of course, we are not trying to compete with other religions. However, if you look at the spirit of others promoting religion and compare it with yourself, don’t you feel ashamed? Originally, the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism far surpassed other religions in terms of wisdom and compassion. I often tell intellectuals and pagans this way, and in the process of speaking, it can also arouse their screams. But the mentality of many Buddhists today was the same ten years ago, and it will still be the same ten years later. The goal of many people in learning Buddhism is just to eliminate their own worries. They don’t even have the intention of being a Hinayana Arhat to be liberated from samsara. They just want to temporarily stay away from greed, anger, and delusion and make themselves happy. Sitting in meditation and chanting Buddha’s name are all for this goal, but in this way Studying Buddhism is not enough.
You know, the sentient beings around us are very pitiful. Just as the Sutra Sutra says: "Sentient beings are not at ease and often do bad deeds. Because they tolerate it and increase their sorrow, they have no worries and no violations." All living beings are influenced by worries and commit evil deeds such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, etc. all day long. , the heart is not at ease for a moment. As a Mahayana practitioner who has developed bodhicitta, we should endure their evil deeds with compassion, follow the world with convenience, and not be assimilated by their wrong knowledge and views.
After understanding the above principles, no matter when and where we want ourselves to have benefit and happiness, we also want other sentient beings to have the same; no matter how hard we work for our own happiness, we will also benefit for unrelated sentient beings. You should pay the same price; you should strive to give up even minor pains, and you should also try your best to relieve the minor sufferings of others; you should be happy to enjoy happiness, comfort, abundant benefits, etc., and you should also have these things for others from the same heart The land rejoices.
Shantideva Bodhisattva also said in "The Theory of Entrance": "Since the suffering is the same between ourselves and others, what's the difference between us and others? Why should we only protect ourselves?" I and all living beings are unwilling to accept suffering. , are exactly the same, I am afraid of pain, afraid of death, afraid of others hitting me, and all living beings are the same. In this case, what is the difference between me and all living beings? Why don't you love others, but only love yourself?
We say every day: "As the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have the intention, I will also have the intention." It sounds nice to say it, but in fact, if we don't even think about it, we are definitely deceiving everyone. Buddha and Bodhisattva. Sometimes when we look back at ourselves, we feel really ashamed. Therefore, we must treat all sentient beings in the three realms without distinction, treat them as ourselves, and go all out to achieve their immediate and long-term interests.