SAMANTABHADRA BODHISATTVA’S FIRST GREAT VOW: PAY HOMAGE TO ALL BUDDHAS Master Jun Hong Lu: The first great vow is to pay homage to all Buddhas. To pay homage means to have a heart of deference. With great respect, your mind contemplates, your body bows and your mouth praises. You prostrate to Guan Yin Bodhisattva because […]
CULTIVATE ALL GOODNESS WITHOUT ATTACHMENT TO ANY PERCEPTION Master Jun Hong Lu: The “Diamond Sutra” says “To cultivate all goodness without attachment to any perception”. To be detached from all perception means to go away from all the things you like. This detachment is not the kind of detachment on the outside, but rather from […]
SEEKING THE BUDDHA’S WAY ABOVE AND TRANSFORMING LIVING BEINGS BELOW Master Jun Hong Lu: Along the path of Buddhism practice, one should, all the more, make great vows. The greater your vows, the more you will advance in your spiritual cultivation. When you say, “Guan Yin Bodhisattva, I will be diligent and steadfast in my […]
SUSPICION CAUSES A FAMILY BREAKUP Master Jun Hong Lu: This is a real-life story. There was once a wealthy lady, who reared a pet parrot at home. For a period of time, whenever she got home, the parrot would, without fail, regurgitate this phrase, “Be patient…hang on right there, be more patient…” This evoked her […]
SAMANTABHADRA BODHISATTVA’S TEN GREAT VOWS Master Jun Hong Lu: Samantabhadra Bodhisattva has made ten great vows, therefore He is known as “Universal Worthy Bodhisattva”. When you recite the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance (LIFO), what are you actually reciting? It is in fact about your intention to change your behaviour. When you are determined to do […]
REPENTANCE WITHOUT FORM Master Jun Hong Lu: Repentance without form is in reality not repenting in any way. If ‘the perception of formlessness’ is felt deep in one’s mind, this is in itself one method of self-correction. This is a seamless self-transformation process, a type of repentance that cannot be seen because such an act […]
HOW TO ELIMINATE THE UNHEALTHY MENTALITY OF BEING SAD WHEN SEEING OTHERS SUCCEED? Caller: Master Lu has mentioned multiple times that nowadays people have a bad mentality: they feel sad when seeing others do better than them, and feel happy when others are worse than them. How can one eradicate this kind of unhealthy mentality? […]
MASTER JUN HONG LU’S DISCOURSE ON GUAN YIN BODHISATTVA’S RENUNCIATION DAY Caller: Master, tomorrow is the renunciation day of our great Guan Yin Bodhisattva. Could you give a word or two in commemoration of this special day? Master Jun Hong Lu: Renunciation day is a day when one makes a resolution. To fulfil Her resolution […]
WHAT IS REPENTANCE WITH FORM? Master Jun Hong Lu: Repentance with attachment to form will lead to ignorance, delusion and derangement. After committing a mistake, if you merely say, “I’m sorry, Bodhisattva”, and make no attempt to mend your ways, there will be jealousy in you, and you are arrogant and idiotic. On the other […]
HOW TO BALANCE WORLDLY PURSUITS WITH DETACHMENT IN BUDDHISM? Caller: We live in a world where it is a norm to chase one’s dreams, aspire to get into the best school and find a good job, earn more money, etc. In fact, these ambitions help to propel us forward. Buddhism, on the other hand, teaches […]
BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS ARE ETERNALLY COMPASSIONATE TOWARDS ALL SENTIENT BEINGS Master Jun Hong Lu: The compassion that the Buddha has for all sentient beings is ever-present. As a Buddhist practitioner, bear in mind that as long as you pray to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, be it Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Shakyamuni Buddha, or any other Bodhisattvas, Their […]
DO NOT JUDGE OTHERS WITH EVIL KNOWLEDGE AND THOUGHTS As a true-blue Buddhist practitioner, we must learn to forgive. We must not judge others with our evil knowledge and thoughts because if our view is biased, we will misjudge people. If you can’t take control of your heart and fail to see others with a […]
YOUR ABILITY TO ELIMINATE YOUR KARMIC OBSTACLES REDUCES IF YOU KEEP REPEATING THE SAME MISTAKE Master Jun Hong Lu: There are many people who have the misconception that “It’s alright for me to do some bad things today. I can recite a few times of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance (LIFO) to repent and all […]
SINCERELY REPENT TO AWAKEN YOUR TRUE SELF Master Jun Hong Lu: When someone apologises to you and you refuse to accept his apology, you are actually breaking the code of morality. Hence, when forgiveness is sought, you must grant it or else, you are deemed not a true Buddhist practitioner who has broken the precepts. […]
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REPENTANCE WITH FORM AND REPENTANCE WITHOUT FORM Master Jun Hong Lu: I would like to reiterate that we must perform repentance precisely because we are sentient beings, which make us susceptible to defilement and grasping at all sorts of things. This is the very reason we need to repent. Otherwise, there will […]
WHAT DOES “LETTING GO” MEAN TO A LAY BUDDHIST PRACTITIONER? Caller: Buddhism teaches “To see through the reality of things and let go”. What it means is that we should have no concern for any worldly matter, and we are supposed to let go and lead a life of asceticism. But, how about lay practitioners […]
HELPING NON-BUDDHIST FAMILY MEMBERS Question: I dreamed that one of my family members who is a non-Buddhist would be faced with calamities. I understand that we can help our family members by applying the Three Golden Buddhist Practices. However, according to some Buddhist practitioners, helping our family members would affect us negatively, and they may […]
DO NOT MOVE HOUSE BY UP TO A MONTH AFTER CHONG YANG FESTIVAL Caller: Master, may I ask about this statement, “Do not move house after Chong Yang Festival”? How long a period are we talking about here? Master Jun Hong Lu: Generally speaking, at the most, it is up to a month. Caller: Thank […]
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF “HEIGHT ASCENDING” DURING THE CHONG YANG FESTIVAL Caller: Master, why must we ascend to higher places during the Chong Yang Festival? What is the significance of “height ascending”? Master Jun Hong Lu: There are two meanings to it. The first one being when you do so, it helps elevate your state of […]
VOWS THAT ONE CAN MAKE DURING THE CHONG YANG FESTIVAL Caller: Master, is Chong Yang Festival, the 9th day of the 9th lunar month, a day to show our respect and filial piety to our parents? Is it particularly effective to pray for the longevity of our parents if we perform life liberation on their […]
IT IS NOT ADVISABLE TO HAVE RENOVATION ON CHONG YANG FESTIVAL Question: We are due to commence our renovation work in September. In this regard, should we start work on an odd or even date? Answer: Choose an even date if the house faces the south, otherwise odd date for north-facing houses. Question: Do we […]
IS IT ALRIGHT TO RECITE THE COMBINATION OF MANTRAS MEANT FOR CHONG YANG FESTIVAL ON NORMAL DAYS? Caller: Master, you once mentioned that on Chong Yang Festival, we can recite a special combination of mantras, comprising 3 times of the Great Compassion Mantra and 49 times of the Ru Yi Bao Lun Wang Tuo Luo […]
QUESTION PERTAINING TO THE RECITATION OF THE RU YI BAO LUN WANG TUO LUO NI AND THE GREAT COMPASSION MANTRA ON CHONG YANG FESTIVAL Caller: Master has previously said that on the day of Chong Yang Festival, we can recite 49 times of the Ru Yi Bao Lun Wang Tuo Luo Ni and 3 times […]
WHY ARE WE ALLOWED TO RECITE 63 TIMES OF THE EIGHTY-EIGHT BUDDHAS GREAT REPENTANCE ON CHONG YANG FESTIVAL? Caller: On the eve and the first day of Chinese New Year, we are allowed to recite a total of 87 times of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance (LIFO). Why is it that we are allowed to […]
THE MEANING OF CHONG YANG FESTIVAL Master Jun Hong Lu: Chong Yang Festival is a very significant solar term in Chinese tradition. It is a day to promulgate traditional Chinese culture, to respect the elders, and last but not least, it’s also the time to promote the spirit of compassion as per the Buddhist teachings. […]
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHONG YANG FESTIVAL Master Jun Hong Lu: Chong Yang Festival, which falls on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month, is a traditional Chinese festival. Many people know that the 9th day of the 9th lunar month is the Chong Yang Festival. As a matter of fact, Yi Jing, or the […]
DO NOT TAKE YOUR WRONGDOINGS LIGHTLY! Master Jun Hong Lu: If you have an opinion about everything in life, do you think it is possible for you to eliminate your karmic obstacles? Take for instance, someone highlights your shortcomings today and specifically raises an issue about your temperament. If you have yet to realise your […]
HOW DO WE EFFECTIVELY QUELL HATRED FROM OUR HEART? Caller: We have Buddhist friends who are diligent in their cultivation and have shown improvement in their behavioural conduct. However, the only hurdle which they have difficulty overcoming is managing the hatred that still harbours within them. Due to their karmic debts, the sense of hatred […]
FORGIVING OTHERS IS THE BEGINNING OF DEVELOPING COMPASSION Master Jun Hong Lu: To transcend an ordinary person into a sage is to transform ourselves into sages. An ordinary person will have endless worries and insatiable desires. It is a well-known fact that Confucius from China is a sage who taught Chinese Culture. The main characteristic […]
WE MUST HAVE THE IMPETUS TO MEND OUR WAYS Master Jun Hong Lu: If you are oblivious to the gravity of the eventual consequences when you sow the seeds of karma, you are literally living a life of ignorance. For this reason, you will not be able to recognise your spiritual roots and there is […]