Nothing Is Real

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Ancient sages said that a wise and virtuous person knows that everything including "one sip and one bite" is destined. However, foolish people relentlessly pursue things that are already destined to be their.

There is no need to be overly serious or to criticize everything. As we have learned in the Diamond Sutra, "All phenomena are illusory, like dreams, mirages, bubbles, shadows". Nothing is real. As the ancient sages also said, all phenomena are as fleeting as clouds.

There is nothing worthy of anger or dispute. There is no point of dwelling on things for this will hinder our cultivation of purity of mind.

In Venerable Ouyi's commentary on the Amitabha Sutra, we read "One let go of the phenomena one sees and keeps in mind and never reminisces about them". Letting go refers to how we are to react to our external environments.

Outside stimuli often tempt us. But, ideally, when we see or hear these stimuli, we should not be attached to them. When they are over, we should not reminisce about them anymore. Every time we recall the event, a seed is plant in our Alaya consciousness and we create a karmic cause.

Our mouths are not creating a karmic cause, neither are our bodies. It is our thoughts that are creating these karmic causes.

Helping and Life Encounters

Boddhisattvas cherish the heart to help all sentient beings. They not only know their own suffering and try to help themselves, but they also want to help other sentient beings. To equally wish to help all beings is the great bodhi mind.

The Infinite Life Sutra tells us that Bodhisattvas "befriend and voluntarily help all living beings". Even if we do not request it, they will come to help and to voluntarily introduce Buddhism to all is the pure cause of a Bodhisattvas.

To help all beings, we first must know how to help ourselves. To do this, we need to free ourselves from worries and afflictions first.

All of us encounters in life, whether good fortune, bad fortune, good luck, bad luck, wealthy or poor - all are destined. Ordinary people cannot change this. If we are not supposed to have something, no amounts of trying to hold on to it will succeed for long.

Conversely, we will naturally receive what we are supposed to. It is not worth the effort to do what is wrong and to RISK all in the hope of attaining self-satisfaction. 

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