AWAKENING COMES TO THOSE WHO SINCERELY REPENT AND MEND THEIR WAYS
Master Jun Hong Lu: One must learn to sincerely repent to be awakened. No matter what mistakes you have committed, you must be able to admit “I was wrong”. This is because only when you are able to admit your mistakes will you be awakened and truly understand the truth about this world. When you are stubborn and insist that what you do is right, you will fail to differentiate the right from the wrong. With this, you have, in fact, made a mistake of grasping onto your opinion.
Repentance is as necessary as doing one’s laundry. Just like if you do not wash your clothes, they will become dirty. Similarly, if a person does not repent, he will become impure. Impure thoughts are far worse than stains on one’s clothes. This is because the impurities of the mind may provoke intense negative reactions, causing one to make a chain of mistakes, without even realising the need to repent.
Many people go through life thinking that they are right. Even on their deathbeds, feeling wronged, they still hold onto their grievances, bottled up their resentment and cannot bring themselves to forgive others. With an ominous glint in their eyes and compassion clearly lacking, they can never accept others’ advice and will never admit that they are wrong. This is a display of an extremely terrible personal character.
Source: Baihuafofa160503, Buddhism In Plain Terms (Radio Program), 3 May 2016
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