Master Jun Hong Lu’s
Public Talk
Hong Kong
1 July 2016
USING WISDOM AND ADOPTING INGENIOUS APPROACHES TO HELPING PEOPLE
Master Jun Hong Lu: As winter approaches, many people are saying, “I would like to save people, but I’m worried that they might not believe in Buddhist teachings, or he is wicked. Instead of saving him, I might bear the consequences of his karmic debts and land myself in deep water.”
I would like to tell everyone this story that happened during a cold winter day.
A Buddhist monk and his disciple found a snake stiff and frozen with cold, lying beside the road. The monk would have liked to save the snake, but was stopped by his disciple who said, “Master, have you forgotten the story of the Farmer and the Snake? The monk replied, “Of course not.” “Then why do you still want to save it?” asked his disciple. The monk answered, “There are many ways to save the snake. I may not use the same way as the farmer did. I don’t necessarily have to put the snake in my arms in order to save it.” Soon after, the monk picked up some firewood and lit a fire beside the road, and the snake was gradually revived by the warmth. The monk said, “There are always multiple ways to perform good deeds. The same applies to how we introduce Buddhism to people, we have to adopt diversified methods for helping people.”
When we encounter an evil person, we should not hold ourselves back from doing good deeds for fear of bearing negative consequences. As Buddhist practitioners, we should instead choose our approach to introducing Buddhist teachings to all sentient beings wisely, so that we will not be penalised for our kind-heartedness. This is what the miraculous Dharma is about; an ingenious approach. It is wisdom that enables us to help more people to attain enlightenment.
< Words of Wisdom