å�—æ— åœ°è—�王è�©è�¨!
My friend informed me that today is Earth Store Bodhisattva's birthday. It will be good to remember and reflect on our filiality towards our parents and all beings, the vows we have made, and try not do eat sentient beings flesh.
The section below was extracted from part of a talk given by Ven Master Hsuan hua.
You could say that Earth Store Bodhisattva is the most dumb of Bodhisattvas and also the most intelligent. Why dumb? Because he does the things that no one else wants to do. He can bear what others can't bear and yield what others can't yield. When his parents were really mean to him, it didn't make any difference, he was filial just the same. That's why within Buddhism, Earth Store Bodhisattva is known as the Bodhisattva of great filiality and also the Bodhisattva of great vows. He said,"Until the hells are empty, I will never become a Buddha." Until every single living being is taken across, he doesn't want to attain proper and equal en lightenment. Just take a look at this kind of vow-power-doesn't it seem kind of dumb? On the other hand, we can also say he is the most intelligent Bodhisattva. That's because he stands out above everyone else. He transcends all his peers. Someone asks, "Well, is he trying to be special?" No. He does what others don't want to do and aren't able to do, and so we can say that he is the most intelligent Bodhisattva. In short, it can be said of Earth Store Bodhisattva that he has great vows, great conduct, great wisdom, and great compassion.
In Chung Kuo there are four holy mountains: Wu T'ai Mountain is the Bodhimanda of Manjushri Bodhisattva; P'u T'ou is the Bodhimanda of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva; Mei Shan is the Bodhimanda of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva; and Chiu Hua Mountain is the sacred Way Place devoted to Earth Store Bodhisattva. Earth Store Bodhisattva embodies the vow-power of all Bodhisattvas, the conduct of all Bodhisattvas, the wisdom of all Bodhisattvas, and the compassion of all Bodhisattvas. His power of vows is truly inconceivable, and so is his wisdom as well as his accomplishment.
Those of us who are living in the Dharma Ending Age should definitely recite the name of Earth Store Bodhisattva more and make vows like this Bodhisattva. In this way we can help the world avoid horrendous disasters. From times long ago until today the world has never been in such great danger. Why? Do you really need to ask? It's because every country is in the nuclear race, intent on making weapons which are designed to totally eliminate mankind. The most treacherous thing now is the laser. In Chung Wen it is called the "death ray." With this death ray, everyone is going to be destroyed, leaving no one to survive. We are going to exterminate all of humanity. Exterminate! Exterminate! This death ray has appeared in the world as a warning, telling people, "Don't continue to do evil things. If you continue to do bad things, all of humanity will be exterminated. The sea of suffering is boundless Quickly Turn around and you will reach the other shore. You should practice filiality, fraternity, loyalty, integrity, propriety, righteousness, incorruptibility, and a sense of shame. You should embody those eight virtues, and then humanity will not be exterminated. Otherwise, we have invented a weapon called the death ray and it is designed to annihilate mankind."
Not only will this weapon exterminate all of humanity, but all those in the animal realm as well. Every living thing will be exterminated. And once everything is exterminated, the world will turn into.emptiness. There will be no more people, no more material world, no creatures--what will be left? Emptiness. The world will go back to the source. So, how can you in this day and age, still be hung up on getting rich, getting some official position, seeking fame, seeking profit? You try to get a reputation at any cost and in the process you hurt a lot of people. That's really being stupid! People like this don't even recognize what day and what age they are living in. So stop and think. We have these few decades in which to live and during that time, if we don't amass some merit and virtue, then we will have lived our lives in vain.
Some of you have come especially today to bow to the Ten Thousand Buddhas at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, but it's really important that you truly bring forth the Bodhi mind. You should see that there's nothing so extraordinary or desirable about anything in this world. No matter how wealthy you become, even if you have all the gold, silver, and diamonds in this world, when the time comes for you to die, what of it can you take with you? You can't take any gold, you can't take any silver, nor can you take any diamonds and you die emptihanded. If you wait until you die to be left emptihanded, it's not as good as taking advantage of your lifetime to do useful things with your wealth and thereby amass merit and virtue. If you put your wealth to good use, then your life would not be a total waste. Since the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are helping you so that everything about your life is compliant and easy, you should certairfiy want to repay their kindness.
You should wake up from your dream. Quickly bring forth the resolve for Bodhi. Don't wait until you are old to cultivate the Way. The lonely graves are mostly filled with those who died young. And remember that an inch of time is a moment of life; and an inch of time is worth an inch of gold. If you lose the gold it's possible to get it back, but if you lose an inch of life, it's impossible to regain it.
O å�—æ— åœ°è—�王è�©è�¨!, you are such incredible and amazing :)
May all have peace of mind. May all radiate loving-kindness to all living beings by day and night.
O å�—æ— åœ°è—�王è�©è�¨! å�—æ— åœ°è—�王è�©è�¨! å�—æ— åœ°è—�王è�©è�¨!
I am very grateful to å�—æ— åœ°è—�王è�©è�¨. I've stopped chanting the sutra, instead I chant his name every day. My 3 family members are cured. Dedicating merits are real, I chant and dedicate to them and it works! However, I notice that it will be slower if the persons affected are not chanting because they will only get "1 point" and imagine I'm doing it for 3 persons so each time they are not even getting "1 point".
I encourage Buddhists to chant 地�王�� sutra or chant his name sincerely if you have diseases which are in the genes. Doctors will say there is no cure because it is in the genes and medication can only control it. It is not true. But please don't expect immediate cure, afterall our sins are not easy to reduce. Also, continue with your medication till you are totally cured.
æ„Ÿæ�© å�—æ— åœ°è—�王è�©è�¨ï¼�
Hi Dawnfirstlight,
What happened to your family members?
Originally posted by wisdomeye:Hi Dawnfirstlight,
What happened to your family members?
They have serious eczema which won't go away even when they have grown up and suffered for many years. Though they have recovered now but I'm still praying hard, asking Earth Store Bodhisattva to bless my family. Hope that this skin disease will not carry on to another generation in my family. My family has suffered for 2 generations.
Di Zang Pusa... the sutra describing Hell fascinate me alot ...
I thought Di Zang was Sun Wu Kong's teacher... But she was a brahmin girl actually
lol
�無大願地�王�薩
Homage to Great Vow Earth Store Bodhisattva
Originally posted by Dawnfirstlight:
They have serious eczema which won't go away even when they have grown up and suffered for many years. Though they have recovered now but I'm still praying hard, asking Earth Store Bodhisattva to bless my family. Hope that this skin disease will not carry on to another generation in my family. My family has suffered for 2 generations.
It may be related to Nagas. If one has offended them, the skin problems will arise. You can try to offer Naga vases out to sea and also join Naga pujas... for your family.
Nagas can be offended if let's say your ancestors have done some destruction to where they are staying... like polluting the waters, a lot of digging etc. Or intruded into their territory without permission... like building a structure on a plot of land where they are at etc.
Originally posted by wisdomeye:It may be related to Nagas. If one has offended them, the skin problems will arise. You can try to offer Naga vases out to sea and also join Naga pujas... for your family.
Nagas can be offended if let's say your ancestors have done some destruction to where they are staying... like polluting the waters, a lot of digging etc. Or intruded into their territory without permission... like building a structure on a plot of land where they are at etc.
Yeah, I've just heard of Nagas 2 months ago. I missed the puja as I was not in Singapore. If I'm not wrong the offering of Naga vases is only once a year in Singapore. Please let me know if anyone know of any future Naga vases offering.