YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT IN YOUR BUDDHIST PRACTICE IF YOU STILL HARBOUR HATRED Master Jun Hong Lu: As a Buddhist practitioner, if you still have hatred in your heart, you will tend to enjoy scolding others. And, with this disposition, do you think you will make it in your Buddhist practice? In fact, it […]
WHO HAS THE FINAL SAY OVER YOUR DESTINY Master Jun Hong Lu: When we perform recitation of Buddhist scriptures and pay respect to Bodhisattvas, it does not mean that they will result in Bodhisattvas helping us remove our karmic obstacles. In fact, performing recitation and paying respect to Bodhisattvas are acts that are in themselves […]
ONLY MERITS AND VIRTUES HAVE THE POWER TO OFFSET KARMIC OBSTACLES Master Jun Hong Lu; There are only two ways karmic obstacles are transformed – either they are offset or break out in the form of foreign spirits. While the latter can be an effect of one’s ‘transformed’ karmic obstacles, it can also be due […]
A VIRTUOUS CYCLE IS SET IN MOTION WHEN ONE IS FILLED WITH ENERGY AND VITALITY Caller: Master, if a spiritual cultivator is full of vitality and he feels very energetic all the time, how can he convert this energy to benefit his spiritual endeavour? Master Jun Hong Lu: In fact, if he is full of […]
STAY DILIGENT IN YOUR BUDDHIST PRACTICE TO KEEP IGNORANCE AND BEWILDERMENT AT BAY Master Jun Hong Lu: Let me share a fable with you. Once upon a time, a horse and a donkey came to know that Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang would be travelling to the West to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures. Reasoning that it […]
HOW DOES NEGATIVE KARMA OF SPEECH AFFECT ONE’S BODY? A discourse by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva (Di Zang Wang Pu Sa) Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva: “A person who commits serious negative karma of speech may be born with a stutter or has problems swallowing food. These are the karmic ramifications related to this transgression and punishment is definite. One […]
CONSTANT PERFORMANCE OF GOOD DEEDS AND THE RECITATION OF THE EIGHTY-EIGHT BUDDHAS GREAT REPENTANCE (LIFO) WILL EXTEND THE TIME IT TAKES FOR NEGATIVE KARMA TO COME TO FRUITION Caller: We often hear Master narrate stories of the Lord Buddha about the law of causation, featuring this phrase, ‘May all my evil deeds not come to […]
ONE LAMP DISPELS THE DARKNESS OF A THOUSAND YEARS Master Jun Hong Lu: “One lamp dispels the darkness of a thousand years.” The ignorance within our minds is indeed like a room that remains dark for a thousand years. However, with a single lamp, everything can be illuminated. In Andersen’s Fairy Tales, there’s a story […]
EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR SUSTAINING INITIAL ASPIRATION Master Jun Hong Lu: To avoid falling into a state of slackness, it’s best to maintain your initial aspiration. This means reflecting on the reason that thrusted you into the dharma gate, and reminiscing about the blessings bestowed by Bodhisattva. The abundance of inspiration, peace, safety and happiness that […]
WILLINGNESS TO BE AT A DISADVANTAGE AND ENDURING HARDSHIPS ARE WAYS TO ELIMINATE KARMIC OBSTACLES Caller: Master Lu often advises us to learn to endure hardships and always be willing to take the shorter end of the stick. In this present life, if we suffer from humiliations and are on the losing end, does it […]
BODHISATTVAS FEAR CAUSES, WHILE SENTIENT BEINGS FEAR EFFECTS Master Jun Hong Lu: There was a quack doctor who misdiagnosed and caused someone’s son to die. To make up for his mistake, he gave his son away to be adopted by this family. After some time, he caused someone’s female servant to die. To compensate, the […]
LETTING GO IS ABOUT TRANSFORMING WORLDLY AFFECTION INTO THE LOVING-KINDNESS OF THE BUDDHA Question: How can we truly apply the truth of letting go in our daily life? How do we go about showing filial respect to our parents, and taking care of our children, and yet still able to let go of them in […]
PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM RETRIBUTION ARE PRONE TO CREATING NEW NEGATIVE KARMA Master Jun Hong Lu: Those with a negative mental attitude are prone to accumulating karmic obstacles. When they are hateful towards others and survive on a steady diet of negative thinking, karmic obstacles will soon find their way to them. In this […]
THE FOUNDATION FOR OFFERING EFFECTIVE PRAYERS TO BODHISATTVA IS COMPRISED OF THREE FACTORS Master Jun Hong Lu: Number 1: Karma from previous lives. Number 2: The level of your cultivation in the present life. No matter how admirable a person’s cultivation was in his or her past lives, if they only do bad things and […]
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR INITIAL ASPIRATION CLOSE TO YOUR HEART Question: Master, how do we resolve a mental state that oscillates between being tensed up and relaxed that we experience while performing recitation or mind cultivation? For example, under intense pressure, we can recite up to seven or eight Little Houses a day, but we may […]
AVOID COMMITTING NEGATIVE KARMA OF SPEECH IN DHARMA PROPAGATION THROUGH CONTEMPLATING ON CAUSES AND CONDITIONS Caller: Sometimes when performing totem reading for Buddhist friends, Master detected tell-tale signs that they have inadvertently committed negative karma of speech in their effort to propagate Buddhism. It’d be great if Master could give some examples of cases to […]
PRAYER FOR NON-DISCIPLES PRIOR TO RECITING THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR DISCIPLES Question: For Buddhist practitioners who are not disciples of Master Jun Hong Lu, is it alright for them to state the following prayer right before reciting the Code of Conduct for Disciples: “I, <your full name>, have yet to become a disciple of […]
RECITE AT LEAST ONE LITTLE HOUSE DAILY Caller: Master, during the 4 May totem reading program, you mentioned that ideally one Little House should be recited per day. If you only recite half of it, you are falling significantly short of the ideal. In previous radio programs, Master has also mentioned on a few occasions […]
DO NOT TAKE OTHERS’ MONEY WHEN PERFORMING MERITS Caller: Master once cautioned us about making illicit gains on our path of our Buddhist practice, which includes making appeals for financial assistance through our chat groups, is that right? Master Jun Hong Lu: Absolutely right. Illicit gains refer to being in possession of others’ money. For […]
MASTER LU CONDEMNS THE ACT OF RAISING FUNDS TO PERFORM MERITS Caller: Hi Master, say, a Buddhist practitioner pledges to purchase dharma recorders or print Buddhism in Plain Terms and etc, he sets up an account, through which others can remit the funds for payment to the printing company or a third party… Master Jun […]
DO NOT GET INVOLVED IN MONEY WHEN PERFORMING MERITORIOUS DEEDS AS A GROUP Caller: As we are organising a life liberation activity in a group tomorrow, can Master help identify any areas for improvement? What should the organisers pay attention to? Apart from money-related matters, under what other circumstances could possibly generate karmic obstacles? Master […]
DO NOT POST MESSAGES RELATED TO FUNDRAISING IN GROUP CHATS Question: There are some Buddhist friends who are not from the dharma-propagation group but are very eager to support the dharma-propagation drive. Unfortunately, in the absence of a local practice centre, the dharma-propagation group is unable to accept any donations whatsoever, even though such funds […]
IS BEING ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT CHARITABLE CAUSES A WAY TO ACCUMULATE PROVISIONS NEEDED ON THE PATH OF SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION? Question: Hi Master, Buddhism in Plain Terms says, “There are endless streams of good deeds that one can undertake, and having a benevolent heart is equivalent to performing all the good deeds there is”. On that note, […]
ONLY GRATITUDE AND COMPASSION CAN ELIMINATE ALL KARMIC OBSTACLES Question: Master Lu has mentioned in Buddhism in Plain Terms that every passion and desire within the Seven Emotions and Six Sensory Pleasures has the effect of creating karmic obstacles and it is only through gratitude one is able to exterminate them. Why is gratitude the […]
MENTALITY IN BESEECHING BODHISATTVA Caller: A Buddhist friend is praying for a particular matter, but he is worried that his hefty karmic obstacles or weak willpower may hinder his prayer from being answered, despite his confidence in Guan Yin Bodhisattva responding to all prayers. Master, how do we overcome such a mentality? Master Jun Hong […]
THE ORIGINAL ASPIRATION IS ABOUT BEING GRATEFUL TOWARDS SENTIENT BEINGS FOR THEIR PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES Master Jun Hong Lu: We must always cultivate a sense of gratitude, which will help us maintain a calm and peaceful mind. As Buddhist practitioners, we should never forget our original aspiration, which is to be grateful towards sentient […]
THOSE WHO PERFORM RECITATION SHOULD BE CAREFUL IN THEIR SPEECH TO PREVENT ‘OUTFLOWS’ Caller: I have been practising Guan Yin Citta for over a year now after being introduced to it by my daughter. Master, can you point out my faults? Master Jun Hong Lu: You don’t know about your own faults? You should refrain […]
WE BECOME WHO WE SURROUND OURSELVES WITH Master Jun Hong Lu: Interpersonal relationships are getting increasingly complicated nowadays. Why? Married couples suffer from marital dissension, while children are estranged from their parents. What’s the reason behind all these phenomena? The problem lies in one’s thoughts. Each of us has both the Buddha nature and the […]
BE AWARE OF THE KARMA YOU ARE CREATING Master Jun Hong Lu: One night a man had a dream. In the dream the God of the Earth said to him, “I need you to help me build a wall with that family next door. This is because the man in that family was very virtuous […]
SEE CLEARLY THE SIX REALMS OF EXISTENCE Master Jun Hong Lu: Let me tell you this. If you are merely living your life doing the things you are supposed to as a human and stay away from evil deeds, the best outcome will be for you to be reborn as a human in the next […]
