are we morally obligated to be happy?
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One way to create merits is being a happy person; spreading joy and cheerfulness to the people around you.
am i right to say there?
Do u think you are morally obligated to be a happy person ? -
Originally posted by Isis:
sure...we reap what we sow.
One way to create merits is being a happy person; spreading joy and cheerfulness to the people around you.
am i right to say there?Do u think you are morally obligated to be a happy person ?
do u mean, am i required to be happy?
i heard a discussion/talk regard people nowaday on tv. the host(hu gua) said something which i find it true and quite wakening. he was required by the producer to preform some dangerous act that involve fire or burning charcoal . but there was an accident or something like that, and the charcoal was all over his body. but everything was okay though it was a unfortunate event. hu gua went back home thinking that he could "sainai" with his wife, or holding to find love/kindness/care from a close family/partner, so that he can feel better and forget the unhappy event. However, the wife scolded him for sitting and dirting the sofa set. already very unlucky liao, some more get scolding. i kind of feel sorry for him.
kind of think of it, our enviroment lack loving kindness and care. added with stress in work. double the unhappiness.
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Depends on how you do it, afterall good deeds that you've do could very often not being noticed and appreciated. I personally feel that creating merits should be secondary to our intention, and we should act on compassion towards the receiving party.Originally posted by Isis:One way to create merits is being a happy person; spreading joy and cheerfulness to the people around you.
am i right to say there?Do u think you are morally obligated to be a happy person ?
No, we are not morally obliged to be happy because being happy is an individual choice. But you definitely have happiness when you have compassion and have rightful thoughts (ie. managing your desires). If you could eradicate the negative thoughts, you'll be happy. -
We are not morally obligated to be happy, but we are morally obligated not to spread our unhapiness around...Originally posted by Isis:One way to create merits is being a happy person; spreading joy and cheerfulness to the people around you.
am i right to say there?
Do u think you are morally obligated to be a happy person ?
And indeed, being happy and spreading joy is a form of giving. That is why I always say, giving does not necessarily mean donation, even a smile is giving... you smile, the others smile too. -
Merits is also an attachment...take it off
Just do and don't keep thinking of how many merits you will get...
Thinking of how many merits that one can have is also a form of suffering...as you cannot reach your target you will feel sad... -
We must cultivate the virtues and do all virtuous deeds, this is a way of cultivating our blessings. However if we are attached to the fruits of the actions, or the act itself, then it cannot be considered as Merits anymore. Real Merits come from Dharmakaya, it comes from spontaneity and naturalness, non-arising is 'Gong', non-cessation is 'De'. Therefore my taiwanese teacher said - to an enlightened person, everything he does creates merits.Originally posted by maggot:Merits is also an attachment...take it off
Just do and don't keep thinking of how many merits you will get...
Thinking of how many merits that one can have is also a form of suffering...as you cannot reach your target you will feel sad...
My Shi Fu, Master Shen Kai says - Merits are consequences of the non-orignation and non-cessation of the mind. During the Tang Dynasty in ancient China, Emperor Liang Wu-Ti asked the patriarch Bodhidharma, "Venerable One, I have built many monasteries for the well being of the Sangha and I have also performed many virtuous deeds. What merits have I accumulated? Bodhidharma answered, "You have no merits." Why is that so? It is because when Emperor Liang Wu-Ti performed those acts of giving, he was attached to them. Thus, even though he had performed many virtuous deeds, because he had not cultivated the purity of his mind, he did not attain "non-origination and non-cessation". Therefore, his actions can only be considered as cultivation of blessings, not merits. Without liberation there are no merits. On the other hand, when there is liberation, all virtuous deeds will reap merits.
More info that can also be found in Platform Sutra, Chapter 3, Q&A answered by the 6th Zen Patriarch Hui Neng.
Furthermore... if we give with expectations of getting something in return, it can only be called 'Leaking Blessings', and the results is very little compared to true merits. -
Give because of care can?
And not because of "MUST" when you need to observe some rules can? -
Yes. Giving out of care should spring out of compassion, naturalness, spontaneity, and wisdom (so that what you give is appropriate), if it is as such then nothing wrong.Originally posted by maggot:Give because of care can?
And not because of "MUST" when you need to observe some rules can? 
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Give from the heart without any intention but only care to the receiver/s
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middle way is good to go able this.
That say, Shakyamuni Buddha took 100 mahakaplas/great aeons to cultivate merits. if not nobody would want to listen to Him preach, as they do not have the affinity with Him. unless u only want to become arahats.
as the expression goes: without merits/virtue and all study, u are like a arahat/monk with an empty bowl. and without wisdom and all merits, u are like an elephant with jewels all over it's body.
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Did Zen Master Hui Neng quote that?Originally posted by maggot:Merits is also an attachment...take it off
Just do and don't keep thinking of how many merits you will get...
Thinking of how many merits that one can have is also a form of suffering...as you cannot reach your target you will feel sad... -
No.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Did Zen Master Hui Neng quote that? -
I thought I heard that quote somewhere in Hong Kong movie version of Master Hui Neng life'story "The Last Zen Master". It was the last part of the story before Master Hui Neng attained bodily release, the part when Empress Wu Zetian was asking Master Hui Neng to come to court.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:No. -
I found this phrase by venerable Xuan Hua :
Translated to :
Learning about buddhism is not to gain merits for future, but to be liberated from suffering. If you can't recognise this truth, you can't proceed on to cultivate. To appreciate this problem, you need to seek awakening. This is the basic of Buddhadharma, the lifeline of Ch'an. No matter which technique of Ch'an you've chose to undertake, they arosed because of this problem. Without this clear goal, you will never be liberated.
Do forgive my translatioin if it's not that accurate. Feel free to give comments. -
agree, it's not to gain 'merit' in term of wealth/fortune so as to enjoy life in samsara. my post on the analogy of arahat/elephant is for those who seek bodhisattva path toward buddhahood. a little bit of 'useful merit' for them is not for their own enjoyment but for the benefit of sentient beings to have a chance to learn Dharma per se.
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Well I only read sutrasOriginally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Did Zen Master Hui Neng quote that?
I have not read the books regarding Zen masters
Maybe the sutras that I read is very different from what you all have
Or my understandings of the sutras is different from you all?