WHERE WEEDS ARE OVERGROWN, NO FRUIT GROWS
Master Jun Hong Lu: Fourth question. Don’t get too anxious. So brilliant are the words of Bodhisattva. My question to Guan Yin Bodhisattva was, “Guan Yin Bodhisattva, while many people are able to accrue meritorious blessings, there are others who, despite having performed many good deeds, don’t seem to have accrued any merits?”
Guan Yin Bodhisattva replied, “Where weeds are overgrown, no fruit grows”. This explains why we should not let ‘weeds’ take root in our mind, that is, our mind should be free from distracting thoughts. Having distracting thoughts is when you brood over unhappy episodes day in, day out. In this case, do you think you will be happy or will your exertion bear fruits? Basically, what Guan Yin Bodhisattva means is that a soul overwhelmed by distracting thoughts will never be able to accrue any merits. This is because on one hand, you may be performing merits but in essence, you are up to no good and doing something bad on the other.
So finally, I asked Guan Yin Bodhisattva a question, “Guan Yin Bodhisattva, can you teach us a method that will help make our prayers more efficacious? You have earlier mentioned a ‘calm state of mind’, how do we achieve this state for our prayers to be answered?”.
Guan Yin Bodhisattva replied, “After completing your prostration before the Buddha and Bodhisattvas but, right before you put forth your prayer, enunciate, “The Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva, silence…”.
When you say the word ‘silence’, your mind will be emptied, without any thought whatsoever. You should sincerely express your deepest gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Public Talk, Sydney, Australia, 8 April 2012
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