THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “TOLERANCE” AND “COWARDICE”

Posted Posted in Words of Wisdom

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “TOLERANCE” AND “COWARDICE” Caller: What is the difference between tolerance and cowardice? Master Jun Hong Lu: Cowardice means the person has no psychological endurance. This person is afraid of everything and dares not stand up against others. Such a person is faint-hearted, not having the unyielding willpower nor determination. Hence, they fear […]

ANALYSIS OF THE CHINESE CHARACTER 忍 (FORBEARANCE)

Posted Posted in Words of Wisdom

ANALYSIS OF THE CHINESE CHARACTER 忍 (FORBEARANCE) Master Jun Hong Lu: In Chinese, the word “Forbearance 忍” has the character of a “knife (刀)” on top. This “knife” represents worries that are able to cut through our heart each time we let our heart be troubled. Hence, it is important to always bring ourselves to […]

THE IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVING MORALITY

Posted Posted in About Spiritual Cultivation

THE IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVING MORALITY Master Jun Hong Lu: Observing moral discipline is like having Bodhisattva on top of our head, watching over, protecting and supervising us, so that we do not dare to mess around. If you allow yourself to go crazy as and when you feel like it, or say whatever you want […]

OFFERING LITTLE HOUSES AND PERFORMING MERITORIOUS DEEDS TO ELIMINATE THE KARMA OF KILLING

Posted Posted in About Merits and Virtues

OFFERING LITTLE HOUSES AND PERFORMING MERITORIOUS DEEDS TO ELIMINATE THE KARMA OF KILLING Caller: When offering Little Houses with the aim of eliminating our karma of killing, should we address them to our karmic creditors, or write ‘<our full name> eliminates karmic obstacles’ in the recipient field? Master Jun Hong Lu: It’s best to address […]

SHOULDERING OF OTHERS’ KARMIC OBSTACLES – WHEN IS IT CONSIDERED MERITORIOUS AND WHEN IT IS NOT

Posted Posted in About Merits and Virtues

SHOULDERING OF OTHERS’ KARMIC OBSTACLES – WHEN IS IT CONSIDERED MERITORIOUS AND WHEN IT IS NOT Caller: Hi Master, with regards to ‘shouldering of others’ karmic obstacles’, what kind of karmic obstacles that we shoulder is considered meritorious in nature? Master Jun Hong Lu: When you propagate Buddhism, you will shoulder others’ karmic obstacles, and […]

THE MEANING OF REPENTANCE

Posted Posted in Words of Wisdom

THE MEANING OF REPENTANCE Master Jun Hong Lu: Let me explain the two components of the word ‘repentance’ (忏悔). 忏 (chàn): to express our penitence for all our past misdeeds, which are effectively the causes of our karma; 悔 (huǐ): to be remorseful and regretful for these misdeeds, which resulted in the karmic consequences that […]

LET THE PRECEPTS BE YOUR FOUNDATION

Posted Posted in Words of Wisdom

LET THE PRECEPTS BE YOUR FOUNDATION Master Jun Hong Lu: When the Buddha was about to enter nirvana, kneeling beside Him, His grief-stricken disciples implored, “Buddha, when you enter nirvana, what shall we do?” The Buddha replied, “Let the precepts be your foundation”. This goes to show that the observance of the precepts is a […]

THE PRACTICE OF MORALITY

Posted Posted in Words of Wisdom

THE PRACTICE OF MORALITY Master Jun Hong Lu: To observe the precepts is to maintain the purity of one’s body, speech and mind. To maintain such purity, we need to speak less and upkeep a body, speech and mind that is pure. A woman of few words has a dignified appearance; The same is true […]

PRAY TO BODHISATTVA TO CATEGORISE OUR MERITS INTO TWO PURPOSES – FOR KEEPING IN RESERVE AND FOR THE ELIMINATION OF KARMIC OBSTACLES

Posted Posted in About Merits and Virtues

PRAY TO BODHISATTVA TO CATEGORISE OUR MERITS INTO TWO PURPOSES – FOR KEEPING IN RESERVE AND FOR THE ELIMINATION OF KARMIC OBSTACLES Caller: Master, in one of your radio programs, you mentioned that after performing meritorious or kind deeds, we may state the following prayer to Guan Yin Bodhisattva: “May Guan Yin Bodhisattva have mercy […]

NEGLIGENT DHARMA SHARING COULD HAVE THE EFFECT OF SEVERING THE SPIRITUALITY OF ANOTHER PERSON

Posted Posted in About Spiritual Cultivation

NEGLIGENT DHARMA SHARING COULD HAVE THE EFFECT OF SEVERING THE SPIRITUALITY OF ANOTHER PERSON Caller: Motivated by Master’s comment that the giving of dharma engenders immeasurable merits, many Buddhist practitioners are now going all out to disseminate all types of discourse, be it videos or radio recordings. However, they might not even take a good […]

GIVE, EVEN IF NO ONE KNOWS

Posted Posted in About Spiritual Cultivation

GIVE, EVEN IF NO ONE KNOWS Master Jun Hong Lu: Once, there was a small business owner in the USA who had repeatedly failed in his quest to strike a business collaboration with the owner of a big corporation. One day, as he was walking out from another failed business pitch, he passed by a […]

AN EXPEDIENT MEAN IS ABOUT PLAYING TO ONE’S STRENGTHS WHEN PROPAGATING BUDDHISM TO OTHERS

Posted Posted in About Spiritual Cultivation

AN EXPEDIENT MEAN IS ABOUT PLAYING TO ONE’S STRENGTHS WHEN PROPAGATING BUDDHISM TO OTHERS Caller: Every Bodhisattva has His own strengths in terms of dharma propagation. As for us, while practising, we apprehend the truth. In this aspect, I’d like to seek Master’s advice on whether it is appropriate to pray for Bodhisattva’s blessings on […]

TO MAKE DHARMA PROPAGATION MORE PERSUASIVE, LEARN FROM MASTER’S APPROACH OF USING EXAMPLES

Posted Posted in About Spiritual Cultivation

TO MAKE DHARMA PROPAGATION MORE PERSUASIVE, LEARN FROM MASTER’S APPROACH OF USING EXAMPLES Caller: Master often uses examples to explain and answer questions from Buddhist practitioners. Should we also use more examples when sharing the dharma with others? This is especially relevant to questions that cannot be directly answered but can be better explained through […]

GIVING WITHOUT PERCEPTION

Posted Posted in About Spiritual Cultivation

GIVING WITHOUT PERCEPTION Master Jun Hong Lu: It is essential for the practice of giving not to be attached to any perception. If you become attached, you will be caught up in the scenario where you are fixated on the act of giving. Do you understand? What this means is you anticipate an reward every […]

WHAT YOU GIVE IS WHAT YOU GET

Posted Posted in Words of Wisdom

WHAT YOU GIVE IS WHAT YOU GET Master Jun Hong Lu: Once, there lived two brothers. One of them focused on reciting Buddhist scriptures and he did it diligently, but he never performed any kind deeds nor practised the perfection of giving to cultivate good fortune. The other brother, on the other hand, was fond […]