Master Honghai: The Complete Book of An Shi

(Lecture 1)

Okay, fellow practitioners, let’s put our palms together first.

Namo’s master, Sakyamuni Buddha (three titles)

The supreme and profound subtle Dharma, encountered in millions of kalpas,

Now that I have accepted and upheld what I have seen and heard, I am willing to understand the true meaning of the Tathagata.

Okay, please give me a round of applause.

Have a blessed evening everyone. All phenomena are caused by causes and conditions. It’s so late and I’m disturbing everyone. Because now is an extraordinary period, everyone is basically staying at home, no need to run around, and they are still on vacation. Taking this opportunity, we also took advantage of this external environment to motivate us to arouse our resolve. Therefore, some fellow practitioners also suggested that we start the lecture at nine o'clock for half an hour. Because idleness is idleness, and I can’t stay at home. Apart from watching TV, practicing meditation, and reciting the Buddha’s name, I can’t watch TV, eat, and chat. They are all meaningless words and things. Bar. So it is better to stay here and listen and think again to establish a cause and condition for hearing the Dharma.

This time’s theme, we plan to do this for half an hour every day. Of course, the content may also involve the current situation, some causes and conditions in our real life, and then how to use Buddhism to view it and how to correct it. Our body and mind establish the idea that we are good at choosing and acting according to cause and effect.

Of course, during this period, our plan is to talk about some of the teachings in "An Shi Quanshu" about abstaining from killing and releasing animals, cutting off desires, and even leading to the Pure Land, and talk about them in different categories. Maybe in this content in the future, we will give special answers to the specific things that happened, or our learning experience, or the questions that you can ask in the comments below. Anyway, it only takes half an hour, and I don’t have time every day. Get over it. Because you see, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva of Putuo Mountain often says, "Thoughts that are not empty can eliminate all suffering." Then we also say, "If you don't live in vain every day, you can establish correct views." We hope it will have such a function.

Today, where should I start? Let’s start with the word “kind”. Because I have been talking about great sutras and great treatises, either about the afterlife, or about the Dharma of the mind, about emptiness, about knowing the mind and seeing its nature. But for all the splendid Dharma, if we didn’t start from the human level, human ethics and morality, as a direction, it would be difficult to transcend such a kind of human Dharma and jump directly to this endless world. The clear legal realm. Of course there may be such people, but especially in this era, there are very few.

Furthermore, in fact, we do not say that we are non-Buddha disciples. As far as Buddhist disciples are concerned, in many cases, our current good Dharma cultivation is not enough. Sometimes I have the feeling that empty dharma is easy to cultivate, but virtuous dharma is difficult to perfect. It means being kind, doing the ten good deeds with body, speech and mind. This seems to be a very, very difficult thing in our time.

So we may have lost it for too long. You can think about it. On the one hand, for example, we no longer have a standard to define it. In terms of this outlook that everyone agrees on, this outlook on life, we now often use a term called three outlooks. It is often said that the three views are different. The three views are different, which means that he still has views, conflicts, and has his own opinions and opinions.

Nowadays, we often fall into a situation where there seems to be no defined standard for the collective, which is the collective unconscious. I can’t figure out what good and evil are anymore, and I keep slipping away. Then at this time, we will blindly indulge in our own karma and habits, because our alaya consciousness must have more seeds of bad karma. There are no defined standards.

Another point is that you are not good at reflecting, looking back, and treating your own body and mind. Everyone is a Taoist, and they all claim to practice. Including myself, we all have this kind of helplessness. The closer to the end of the Dharma, the closer to the realm, it is very difficult, just look at what others can do, but don't take it personally. It is difficult for me to turn this around. I rarely have the ability to change my thoughts, career, or current aspirations.

This aspect requires us, especially Buddhists, to improve some of our own qualities, even civility and courtesy, the quality of life, the most fundamental quality. Many times, we are in a collective decline, or we collectively comfort each other, and collectively make excuses for each other, saying that this is okay, don’t be attached, be harmonious, and be at ease.

However, precisely because we do not care about each other and improve each other, we often lack civilized qualities. Even when his ugliness appears, he will seek favors and use the teachings of Buddhism to make excuses for himself. In fact, even your humane behavior is no longer enough at this time.

Moreover, many times, in the ordinary realm, it is possible, and it can still be pretentious, or pretending, but once the realm comes, it cannot be done.

The most fundamental one is the issue of collective values. There is also a saying in the Buddhist teachings, which is called "I once thought it was wrong, but now I think it is right." It turns out that everyone thinks how can such a thing be done? Not to mention Buddhists, non-Buddhists will not do it. That gradually slipped down to the point where non-Buddhists might not care anymore, but Buddhists you can't do it and still keep it.

Slowly and slowly, everyone is doing it regardless of whether they are Buddhists or not. If you keep doing it and get used to it, you will find excuses for yourself.

So this is why we *** come together to set up such a nine-hour half-hour listening to the Dharma. Although the time is not long, we can take the opportunity to gain a little blessing and wisdom, and repent that each of us has no beginning. The bad karma has always been hidden there, stored there, and may be unleashed at any time. Because if bad karma develops, it will be very terrible.

Look at what we are doing now, why do we say that the theme of these lectures is called "correcting past mistakes and improving for the better"? In other words, we are afraid that the more we practice, the more persistent we will become. . Through the teachings of such great masters and the good books of such classics. This time, we are talking about the "Anshi Complete Book" written by Zhou Anshi in the Qing Dynasty.

There are roughly four contents in the whole part. One is to make some allusions and rhetoric in "Wenchang Emperor Yin Zhiwen". Another one is to abstain from killing, "The Preface of All Good Things". There is also a "Desire", because the easiest thing to commit is killing, and the hardest thing to guard is desire. Therefore, Yinzu regarded the "An Shi Quan Shu" written by Zhou Anshi as the best book to restore people's hearts in the world. During the Republic of China, its influence was actually very wide.

Nowadays, because our minds are too impatient and we do not have such blessings in our karma, many times we can no longer understand books with a little bit of ancient Chinese style, and we don’t have the heart to read them. There are articles one by one. So, why do we have to make it half an hour to teach the Fa? It’s too long now, and we don’t have the concentration or patience to watch. Such half an hour is just right, as long as you can enjoy it.

Yinzu once used "The Complete Book of An Shi" as a reserved and standing circulation book at a well-known Buddhist book circulation center in Suzhou, the Honghua Society in Suzhou. Because it can perfectly blend the good dharma of the world, the emptiness of the transcendent world, the dharma of the heart, and even the dharma of rebirth in the Pure Land.

So, let’s learn a few such allusions or this kind of teaching, which can be said to be a lesson from history and apply it in our lives. The other is to say that you should do something and refrain from doing something, be able to abandon bad karma, practice good deeds, especially abstain from killing and protect living beings, abstain from sexual intercourse to protect yourself, and finally lead to the Pure Land Dharma.

In fact, in our age, it is true that only by taking care of these two first-class things, not being too overwhelming, and having a little bit of restraint, it is possible to learn Buddhism and practice Buddhism. The Pure Land only has some connections and qualifications.

Of course, when we are learning, we should also ask everyone to share some thoughts. Because motivation is the most important. If we all stay on the path, you will find more and more that the core method of all is motivation.

This cause and effect, this seed is planted, where it goes, where it grows, and what it grows, all depends on this intention. The same thing may have different intentions, but it is a world of difference.

So why are we increasingly able to realize that only those who believe deeply in cause and effect can understand their nature of mind? It is said that Bodhisattvas are afraid of causes, while ordinary people only care about effects. We often hear these words, but have you tasted this? The taste, or how strong the taste is in your heart, depends on whether we have our intentions. Be motivated.

The first is that we must have a heart of respect and hope. Why do we say this? In this way, we can make it a wish with sufficient concentration. Why do we talk about fixed karma? Once fixed karma is formed, it means that we are very fierce when we set our minds, and we are very intense and diligent when we create.

So, everyone should take it seriously, don’t talk about it, and don’t say it in a general way, oh, just half an hour, then click on it and look, oh, what are you talking about, talk for a while, Listen to it, that's it, it's over, okay, it's an understatement and it's over. I hope that we can benefit from it and be able to inspire ourselves, just take it seriously.

As the saying goes, you must take it seriously. If you are absent-minded, or if you love someone, you will not get the merit at all.

The second one is that we should be happy. You see, it is repeatedly said in the classics that we are now in an era where people are jealous of the good and slander the good. That's true. Stop bragging as if you are practicing Dharma and believing in Buddhism. That is, almost all people, as soon as they see that others are better than themselves, they will immediately become angry, jealous, disapproving, and scornful, and all these emotions will follow immediately.

This has become a habit of Ren Yun, which is terrible. Actually, pretty scary. So we have to admire, seeing that there are such great benevolent people, such great benevolent books, we still have half an hour to promote the good Dharma, uphold the good Dharma, and practice the good Dharma, so because we It is difficult to have this heart of joyful recognition right now.

If you don’t have this sense of participation and admiration, you will feel like, what does it have to do with me? Right? Anyway, it’s just such a thing. What does it have to do with me? Little did I know that it was just to educate myself. To be honest, I am telling you this, actually, to educate myself.

Then, we also need to feel a little ashamed and repent, and we also need to feel a little ashamed and repent. I all feel, including what I have been reminding, including myself, that when we talk about this many times, the wind is blowing on the sheepskin. That is to say, you really have to follow this and stir up this emotion. Now let’s not talk about this liberation, but only this good method.

You have to stir up your emotions with this, why, people cultivate so well, why are they so virtuous, as a person, why can they do so well, with class and quality? What about taste. However, since we have done so poorly, our repentance should be the motivation for us to practice good deeds.

Of course, while repenting, we should also have this joyful heart. Why? Because we can still meet such good people and good deeds, which is really good. To be honest, if you are able to have this joy in the end of your cultivation, it can be considered to be somewhat karmic, that’s what it means.

So today, we start to talk about yes. The first one is about killing. Because this time, we are experiencing an unprecedented crisis and plague, and everyone is seeing this.

Really, the Chinese people are very great, and our country can carry out this orderly and step-by-step isolation and search in such a short period of time and very quickly. It is true that sometimes, we often say "patriotism and love of religion". This is not just a slogan. Sometimes we really need to have some sense of pride and love these sentient beings for whom we have this vocation. We are all Chinese.

But we have to say that this kind of karmic retribution, whether we are talking about an act in this life, or even in three lifetimes, it must be related to killing karma. Yes, it must be related to this killing karma.

So when we talk about "The Master of All Good Things" here, let's start with the plots of killing. You see, our content today is called "Cause and Effect Persuasion," which means that this guideline of abstaining from killing advises us to pay attention to the karma of killing if we hear it or see it.

Let me tell you, as you can see here in the "An Shi Quan Shu", it is said that the original intentions of the saints of the three religions in teaching are generally the same. We often talk about Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and we all encourage people to do good. All legal religions, and even heretics, start from persuading people to do good. It starts with this.

However, why do we dare to say that Buddhism is the highest, most ultimate, and most Dharma-like? Instead of talking about its most sublime meaning, the profound and wonderful meaning of the scriptures, the supreme and profound subtle Dharma. , just talking about the Buddha, the Great Perfect Enlightenment, if he can control this precept and this one precept of killing, he can definitely be regarded as a person of great merit and virtue in the sea of ??perfect omniscience. Why? He makes decisions entirely based on the present cause and effect. Killing karma.

We have also listened to the Shurangama Sutra, and we all wonder why, after activating ignorance in the sea of ??pure mind, we fall into the creation of killing karma. Sometimes, when we think about it, we just say, how should I put it, originally we were ignorant and wanted to jump outside the wall to play and look at the scenery. As a result, as we walked along, we fell into an abyss-like collective karma of mutual destruction of lives. This is the karma of killing. Once we begin to retaliate against each other, there will be no end.

Therefore, when the Buddha prohibits killing, the best merit is not to kill. Why, all living beings are afraid of death. As soon as there is any trouble, we immediately go to see how it is, whether it is OK, whether it is auspicious or not, we all want to be lucky, and we want to avoid this unlucky or bad thing. This is all human instinct.

Well, everyone needs to know that animals, we often watched programs when we were children, animals also have their own world and their views on life and death. However, because we are controlled by human beings in terms of karma and habits, in this world where all things are one with me, we are at a loss to understand why we should die in order to have enough food. Of course, we don’t need to trace back to the first cause of this karma, or when this bad habit started in reincarnation.

But everyone should know that in ancient times, you see, in ancient times, whenever there was a drought or a flood, the court would issue a notice telling the people not to slaughter anything. He has been such a person since ancient times. As we all know in Buddhism, the person with the greatest blessings is the Wheel-turning Holy King.

Once the Holy King of Wheels is reincarnated and appears in our world, he can rule the world for a day or four. But when the Holy King Chakravartin is born, he will also tell the world to eradicate the karma of killing. When there was the Holy King Chakravartin, there were no weapons or famines in our world, and we could not even hear his name. His blessings were great, and everyone was enjoying the happiness of longevity.

But now we are born into this era of turmoil. The era of turmoil is the most common manifestation of the basics. Cows and sheep are just a dish on our table. If you don’t eat them, where do the nutrients come from and how do you supplement fiber? This is the view. So it is said Very scary.

Today we will first look at a story in "The Master of All Good Things" and tell it to you. This story happened in the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a man named Meng Zhaoxiang. He went to take the imperial examination during the Wanli period. During the exam, what was the problem? Suddenly his spleen became seriously ill. After the spleen becomes sick, it becomes very uncomfortable.

One night, I arrived in this underworld in my dream. Then when I said this, everyone said, "Oh, this is the Yin and Yang Realm, what I'm talking about today." Where is the underworld? The underworld is also a world, and it also has their karma. They also have their kings, human kings and Dharma kings there. In the underworld, King Yama, Pluto said to him, your future is bright.

Everyone needs to understand that although this matter is a matter of the Ming Dynasty, people who have the same business as him are everywhere in our world and in this era. It is said that you have a great future, but you kill too many lives. What is the act of killing? It is to cut off lives continuously.

Think about it, everyone, in the ocean of our hearts and minds, your consciousness, body, speech, and mind are constantly being cut off, and you are constantly cutting off this life.

No matter whose life it is, or all sentient beings, if you continue to cut off this life, your life span will inevitably be shortened, and your life will be shortened. So if you are able to abstain from killing and release animals now, the most important thing is that you have to tell you what I told you in my dream, and you have to circulate these words in the world.

Everyone found that this is also one of the reasons why we are determined to live broadcast today. Because this is the most meritorious thing. Let him circulate in the world and persuade the world, and he can atone for your sins before it's too late. Of course, to atone for your sins is actually to extend his life, because you cannot escape the cause and effect, and everyone is responsible for their merits and demerits. Now that the fault is present, it is time to make up for it. If you want to make up for it, push it back and let it disappear slowly. No one can escape it.

You see, even though he saw Hades, King Yama, King Yama is also called the King of Two Worlds, he also has retribution. In hell, he is also different during the day and night. Not the same. When he was enjoying his blessings, he would be enthroned there to judge the sentient beings who would be reborn in hell and condemn them.

What does it look like when he is suffering? There is also this oil pot. Naturally, there is Ah Pong in hell, an Ah Pong who is bigger than him. This oil pot is all the way to the palace where he lives. He was in the bedroom, and he himself had to boil and fry him in the oil pan for a long time. After the suffering was over, he came out immediately and started enjoying himself again. The cause and effect cannot be overcome.

Then you see, he also wants to persuade others to do good, and Meng Zhaoxiang agreed wholeheartedly. Just like when many of us come to ask for help now, they say: OK, OK, OK, I will definitely promise this, and I will do whatever I want from now on. However, I forgot it when I woke up, and I forgot it when I looked back. Sometimes we talk about reciting sutras, reciting Buddha's name, and doing meritorious deeds, but once the scar is healed, we no longer believe it. Under such circumstances, one night, he had the same dream as before, and he was shocked. Hey, he took it seriously.

So he was taking the exam in the capital at that time, but failed. In order to fulfill the promise he made in his dream, on the night when Meng Zhaoxiang came home, it turned out that he was originally in The dormitory where he stayed for the exam in Beijing, this beam, snapped with a bang, smashing the bed he was sleeping on into pieces. But because he was in a hurry to engrave, print, and circulate the plate, he was able to rush back to do it, so he was spared this difficulty.

Later, he printed this book and circulated it everywhere to persuade people to do good. He also passed the Jinshi examination and became the Minister of Dali. So you see, the word "Yisun" (meaning "wasted life"), many people, because they were on the ground of causes at that time, when the retribution was about to come, they did not make a decisive change immediately, and as a result, the retribution was not avoided.

But this Meng Zhaoxiang is a teachable person. You see, he listened to Pluto’s advice, twice of course, and he went back and made this intention. Immediately, you take a look and become motivated, this Difficulty is avoided. That night, if he didn't take it seriously and still lived there, if the beam broke down, he would be the one hit, and he wouldn't be able to survive. So what is talked about here is, one, killing, the retribution of past killings. The other thing is that the great desire in this life will immediately bring about the consequences.

Speaking of this, we often encounter people like this asking. In fact, when we create this killing karma, there are many different aspects. Some people are motivated by this hatred. Because old debts from the past are reunited, enemies are extremely jealous when they meet. But some people eat it just to fill their appetites. They eat it and do it while talking and laughing. There are some that are even more pitiful, such as Wu Ji, whose job is to kill this thing, you say this is pitiful or not. So the various differences and phases are also different.

I also met some people who came to open restaurants and came to ask the Master, saying that what I am doing now is a business, and I still have to support my family. That’s right, there is nothing I can do, and I don’t know what kind of business I had in the past. Li, if you have to do this job, then you open a restaurant, a restaurant, or even a seafood restaurant, and you have to kill people every day. This depends on each person's good roots and will never be discussed.

If you can make a sudden stop, your life will change.

But some people came to ask, and it was obvious that he would not be able to close the restaurant immediately. Then we say, take your time, make a wish first, and hope that the Bodhisattva will arrange for good causes and conditions to come out, and then do what we talked about called righteous deeds, and use righteous deeds to support our right livelihood, the Eightfold Path. Inside. As for butchers, running a butcher's restaurant is not considered a serious occupation.

Killing karma to support one's life, this is what happened in the past. However, you must know that when the retribution comes, it will be your disaster. There is no way to do it, not in this life, but in the next life, or the next life.

So this is the difference, and the cause and effect comes out. If you make a sudden decision, turn around, and close the door when you say it, I will believe this cause and effect, and I will never do it again, and stop it immediately. Then when you repay, the disaster will disappear.

If you take a roundabout way and slowly develop your intention, gradually, your disasters will gradually disappear. This is cause and effect, so in short, you care about one intention. If we are destined to meet someone in the future and he is in this situation, I would like to suggest that first of all, you should not remain silent and just talk about it, which will make you feel guilty.

Tell me why you did this, and why in this life, your karma dictates that you have to kill to feed yourself, whether actively, passively, directly or indirectly. All the same. On the other hand, if you ask the Bodhisattva to be blessed, and I believe you have this wish, then you may really support your family now, and you will quit working soon. How will you live your life?

Then you beg the Bodhisattva to turn you around, and beg the Bodhisattva desperately and desperately to turn you around. "If you keep thinking about it, there will be a response." Another one, and the third one is that we must cultivate our own faith. You have to believe that you are about to make a choice. When you want to end this matter, you have to believe that once you end it, it will have a corresponding continuation. The consequences of doing good deeds must be beneficial to us. Good deeds and good consequences will come rolling in if we do good deeds.

Of course, if you say that you stop killing and do not create this karma in order to benefit sentient beings, then it means that if you do it for the benefit of sentient beings, your heart will be stronger, so it can be said that you can be more powerful. is getting better.

So regarding this killing karma, I hope everyone can do it. Of course, sometimes in order to seize the opportunity, we will also say, to those who have just come to convert, just tell them, and you will I can’t eat meat anymore, so what?

But in fact, the original intention of Buddhism and the spirit of compassion is to not cut off the lives of living beings. It is not that difficult to abstain from killing and eat vegetarian food. If you have good intentions, be more fair and compassionate, be less greedy, be more objective, and even be more sensible, then you can change the matter of killing and this karma.

This retribution is, you see why it is said in the scriptures that if a net catches a baby, there will also be retribution. I went to release animals again two days ago. It was a good deed and I felt very touched. Originally, people said that during these two days, we should not run around because of the epidemic. Hey, some people saw this and said it was a prayer for blessings and a dedication to the end of the epidemic as soon as possible. , and said to you: Oh, good, good, good, and I also praised it with joy. This is a karma. The karma is immediate and we can clearly feel and touch it. It is constantly rhythmic and has various possibilities, and then it is up to us to control it.

Look at the release, some people are still fishing there. I heard a story about a time when we were fishing. After I caught the fish, I didn’t eat it, fry it or boil it. I put it away again, as if I could confidently say that I wasn’t killing anything.

Well, do you know that there is another kind of injustice in this world? You think you’ve caught it all by fishing, so let it go. Anyway, you don’t kill. There is another kind of thing in the world. It wasn’t you who did it. He unjustly accused you of doing it. He caught you and let you sit in vain for several months. This is cause and effect. , can’t be wrong.

So today we start with the first story, which talks about killing too many creatures and shortening one’s lifespan, but with a single thought, disasters can be eliminated and one’s lifespan can be extended, and things can change immediately.

I hope that our motivation to make this Dharma offering tonight can also reverse many of the evil retributions that should have occurred in the current causes and conditions and future retributions, allowing them to be eliminated by our motivation and good intentions. middle.

Okay, please put your hands together. For half an hour every day, we must not forget that we are returning to the Pure Land. At half past nine, we take the opportunity to chant the Buddha's name ten times, dedicating ourselves to rebirth in the Western Paradise. Every time we recite it, we will count it. Every time we recite it, we will recite it. Speaking of which, even these ten sounds may be the material for our future rebirth.

Okay, everyone, please come together.

Namo Amitabha (ten names)

I wish to be born in the Western Pure Land, with nine-grade lotus flowers as my parents.

When the flowers bloom, I will see the Buddha and realize that there is no life and no retreat. Bodhisattvas are companions.

Okay, that’s it for today, see you tomorrow.

Amitabha.