IN THE FACE OF AN IMMINENT SIGNIFICANT KARMIC CALAMITY, SHOULD WE FOCUS ON REPAYING OUR KARMIC DEBTS THROUGH RECITING LITTLE HOUSES OR ACCRUING MORE MERITS FROM DHARMA PROPAGATION?
Question: A Buddhist friend is facing a major karmic calamity and his life is at stake. Master has advised him about the number of Little Houses required and the deadline that he needs to complete the recitation. To meet the stipulated requirements, this Buddhist friend practically has to recite Little Houses from morning till late at night.
As a result, this leaves him with no time at all to propagate Buddhism to others. We would like to seek Master’s advice whether the Buddhist friend should solely focus on the recitation of Little Houses to ward off the karmic calamities or recite Little Houses alongside with propagating the dharma to others? To do the latter, he will resolutely set aside a certain time in a week to propagate Buddhism to others and use the merits to shield him from harm. By doing so, he may not be able to recite the required number of Little Houses, but still able to navigate through the calamity safely. In this regard, what should he do to strike a good balance?
Answer: First and foremost, it really depends. My advice for those with hefty karmic obstacles is to stay at home and just focus on reciting Little Houses. Dharma propagation is undoubtedly important but think about it, how many people would you be able to introduce the dharma to at a time when you are still laden with karmic obstacles?
Furthermore, you run the risk of shouldering the karmic obstacles of others. If you feel that you have hefty karmic obstacles, you must first recite Little Houses to pay off your karmic debts. You should only consider propagating the dharma to those with predestined affinity with Buddhism when your karmic calamities and karmic obstacles are substantially reduced.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Discourse to Disciples (Q&A Session) – Question 24, Singapore, 19 February 2017
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