é™æ€è¯ Readings For Silent Reflection
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WHY WAS I BORN?
"Ask yourself, “Why was I born? What can I take with me?” Ask yourselves over and over. If you do, you’ll become wise. If you don’t, you’ll remain ignorant. If you don’t understand it all right now, maybe you will later."
Ajahn Chah (Food for the Heart) -
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The Benefits of Learning Buddhism —— Know the truth and understand life.
The greatest benefit of learning Buddhism is learning the truth regarding life and the universe. For example, how was our world formed? What is the real picture of life? Where does life come from? Where do we go after death? The Buddhist teachings instruct us about life and death, and about the formation and cessation of the world. On one hand, we realize that the world goes through stages of formation, abiding, destruction and emptiness, and that life is a process of birth, aging, sickness, and death. On the other hand, we understand that these stages and processes do not negate the existence of everything. The stages of formation, abiding, destruction and emptiness are a cycle. After the stages of destruction and emptiness, there are the stages of formation and abiding. The life process of birth, aging, sickness, and death does not mean that life ends with death. There is rebirth after death. In fact, it is worth our while to study the subject of birth within the six realms of existence. -
Very often we create unwholesome karma with our speech without even knowing it. When we start malicious rumors about others, we commit slander. Lying is not telling the whole truth about something or distorting the truth. Duplicity in speech is also a form of lying. There is a Chinese saying, A simple word can make or break a country. If we are not careful with what we say, words can hurt like knives. Words can also heal and bring peace. A few words of encouragement can have a huge influence on others. We should use our words wisely.
如何修æŒ�身å�£æ„� —— å�£èˆŒï¼Œæœ€å®¹æ˜“é€ ç½ªæ¥ï¼Œå�‡è©±èªªæˆ�真的，是妄語；真的說æˆ�å�‡çš„，挑撥離間，是兩舌。ã€�一言興邦，一言喪邦】，å�£ï¼Œèƒ½åƒ�刀åŠ�傷人；å�£ï¼Œä¹Ÿèƒ½å�šåŠŸå¾·ï¼Œå�£ï¼Œä¹Ÿèƒ½ä¿®è¡Œã€‚有時候我們讚美別人幾å�¥ï¼Œå�»ç”¢ç”Ÿç„¡çª®çš„影響力，所以我們è¦�多多用å�£ä¿®è¡Œï¼Œä¸�妄語，ä¸�說å�‡è©±ï¼Œä¸�欺騙人。
——星雲大師 Venerable Master Hsing Yun -
What are the Buddhist Teachings —— The Buddhist teachings are about individual karma.
Buddhism differs from other religions in that it does not believe in the existence of a god who directs our lives. It does not espouse the idea that there is a god who rewards or punishes us for our good or bad deeds. Buddhism believes that our own actions control our own destiny; thus it speaks of self-directing karma. When we do something good, it is like planting a good seed. This good seed will, of course, yield a good effect. Thus, karma is essentially under our control. There is nothing unique or authoritative about the workings of karma. We reap what we sow; this is essence of Buddhist teachings.
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一般人的生命是为生活，
智者的生命是为解脱；
一般人的生命是为�功，
智者的生命是为�佛。
～ 海濤法師 -
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THE WISDOM of Ajahn Chah
"A madman and an arahant both smile, but the arahant knows why ...
while the madman doesn't."
- Ajahn Chah -
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SHAKE THEM ALL OFF
"As long as you’re still alive and breathing, don’t let yourself be heedless or complacent.
Don’t let time pass you by to no purpose.
Hurry up and accelerate your efforts at developing goodness—for when there’s no more breath for you to breathe, you’ll have no more opportunity to do good ...
You should focus exclusively on whatever thoughts help make the mind firm so that it can give rise to goodness.
Don’t dally with any other kinds of thinking, regardless of whether they seem more sophisticated or less.
Shake them all off.
Don’t bring them into the mind to think about.
Keep the mind firmly set in a single preoccupation: that’s your true heart, the true heart of the Buddha’s teachings."
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「一人称念观音圣�，一人得救，百人称念观音圣�，百人得救。�
