WE NEED TO PLUG ALL LEAKAGES CAUSED BY OUR SHORTCOMINGS
Master Jun Hong Lu: When a person truly wishes to learn Buddhism and changes his bad habits, he must plug all ‘leakages’ caused by his shortcomings. He is someone who goes, “Today, I have decided to be a good person. Hence, I cannot allow myself to do even the slightest bad deed. Otherwise, I cannot be considered a good person”. While performing good deeds, if you are also doing some bad things, then you cannot be considered an absolute good person.
To illustrate, when a hot air balloon takes off, in what circumstances would it fall from the sky? All it takes is a hole to cause it to come crashing down. Similarly, aeroplane windows are sealed tightly. But, the moment the door is open or there is a gap, the plane will plummet to the ground.
It is the same with humans. Since you have started on this path of Buddhist practice, there must not be a slightest unwholesomeness in your thoughts and conduct. If this morning you perform good deeds, but at night you badmouth someone, you will not be able to make it in your Buddhist practice, and clearly, you are not a good Buddhist practitioner and there is definitely going to be ‘leakages’ in your merits. At the initial stages, you will not sense the ‘leakages’, and by the time you know about it, it may have reached the point when your merits have been completely depleted.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Volume 8 Chapter 27
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