ALWAYS LEAVE ROOM FOR MANOEUVRE IN OUR INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE Master Jun Hong Lu: Anish Kapoor, a contemporary British sculptor, became famous overnight with his sculpture “Descent into Limbo”. One day, a reporter from the famous British newspaper The Sunday Times interviewed him. The reporter, who was a sculpture amateur, was eager to find out […]
WHEN KARMIC CONDITIONS ARISE, WE WILL EXPERIENCE THE RESULTS OF OUR OWN DEEDS Master Jun Hong Lu: Buddhist scriptures say, “When karmic conditions arise, we will experience the results of our own deeds”. This suggests that upon realising that whatever unfolds is the consequence of karma taking effect, you will not be overly fixated on […]
THE CONCEPTION OF LOVE AND HATE Master Jun Hong Lu: Any form of love or hatred in this mortal world is accumulated from countless lifetimes. If you are deeply in love with someone today, it is because of the love you had for this person in your past lives and the same goes for the […]
THE ARROGANT MONKEY Master Jun Hong Lu: During the Spring and Autumn-Warring States period in China, King Wu went up the Monkey Mountain. All the monkeys, except one, fled the scenes upon seeing an army of soldiers in armour. Wanting to show off its agility, one lone monkey was seen jumping from branch to branch. […]
HOW DO WE BREAK THE CYCLE OF ANGER? Master Jun Hong Lu: As Buddhist practitioners, you should learn not to take everything to heart as this will be the cause of your suffering. This suffering will then lead you to heartaches and your heart will be tangled in knots, known as the knots of the […]
THE MIND IS THE ROOT OF ALL INTERNAL DISORDERS Master Jun Hong Lu: There is another type of ailment that we humans suffer from and that is, internal disorder. We are highly vulnerable emotionally, either due to the lack of understanding from others or our lack of understanding towards others. All of these are capable […]
GREED BRINGS OUT THE WORST IN A PERSON Master Jun Hong Lu: During the era of Xia Dynasty, there lived a famous archer. His name was Hou Yi. Being the best archer in all of the lands, his fame spread far and wide. One day, the king invited him to the palace to showcase his […]
‘THE INVISIBLE WOUND’ – THE AFTERMATH OF CONFLICTS AND DISPUTES Master Jun Hong Lu: One of the reasons we as humans suffer is because of our inability to see the reality, we are as if blind to the true nature of things. All conflicts and complex interpersonal relationships entail invisible wounds. After having a row […]
OUR PHYSICAL BODY BRINGS US THE GREATEST SUFFERING Master Jun Hong Lu: Let me tell you, you need to reckon the one thing that brings the greatest suffering to our life. And that is, your physical body. Your body is well at one time, and unwell at another. It suffers pain at one time, and […]
WHEN YOU SHARE MASTER LU’S WORDS OF WISDOM, YOU WILL REAP IMMENSE MERITS Caller: Some fellow practitioners are using the internet to propagate the dharma. In their quest to disseminate the teachings, they compile the transcripts of Master’s radio discourses into related topics and get them published online every day. However, due to their carelessness, […]
HOW BIG CAN THE HEART OF A MAN BE? Master Jun Hong Lu: In the mountains, there was a small temple, inhabited only by a Zen master and his young novice monk. One day, the novice monk asked the Zen master, “Master, you always say that circumstances arise from the mind and that everything is […]
HOW SHOULD WE MAINTAIN PROPER DISTANCE WITH BUDDHIST FRIENDS WHOM WE INTRODUCE BUDDHISM TO? Question: A Buddhist friend has been practising Guan Yin Citta for many years and has propagated the dharma to a few others. To strengthen the faith of new practitioners, this Buddhist friend has always closely followed up with them. However, after […]
GREED: THE ROOT OF UNHAPPINESS Master Jun Hong Lu: In truth, all the happiness in this world stems from worldly desires. The pleasure of eating stems from our desire to consume food, the pleasure of wealth and fame stems from our greed, our quest for physical intimacy stems from our sexual desire, the pleasure derived […]
THE PATH FROM AN ORDINARY BEING TO A SAGE Master Jun Hong Lu: Why does dharma giving hold such immense merit? It is because you act from the depths of your heart, a heart that longs to rescue sentient beings. The moment you embark on the noble mission of rescuing others, you renounce evil and […]
TRANSFORMING NEGATIVE AFFINITY WITH A KIND HEART Master Jun Hong Lu: The Buddha once said, “Even if it’s for a thousand kalpas, the deeds we commit would never fade, comes the day we meet with our fate, suffering is certain as karma awaits”. When interacting with our friends, we must be mindful of our words […]
EVEN BODHISATTVAS DO NOT INTERVENE WITH THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT Caller: I heard of a saying, ‘Even Bodhisattvas do not intervene with the law of cause and effect’. I used to think that those who suffer from cancer or other terminal illnesses must have sown the evil seeds that have come to fruition […]
LET GO OF WORLDLY PHENOMENA AND LIVE IN EASE Master Jun Hong Lu: Think about it, just how many things we have given up since we were little. The minute we let go, we feel at ease. Whenever we say, “I don’t want it anymore”, our heart just settles. If we still think about those […]
MYTH OR TRUTH?: THE MORE YOU DO, THE MORE MISTAKES YOU MAKE; THE LESS YOU DO, THE LESS YOU ERR? Master Jun Hong Lu: I am being very honest with you here. Do no evil because even if you are unable to make it to heaven when you die, at the least you can reincarnate […]
WHY SHOULD I LET GO? ATTACHMENT CAN ONLY DO YOU HARM Master Jun Hong Lu: Everyone comes to this world with his own destiny. Similarly, each and everyone of us is endowed with varied karmic rewards in life. One thing for sure, whatever you cling on to will be the thing that will cause you […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
THE CONTINUATION OF ANCESTRAL KARMA Master Jun Hong Lu: Ancestors’ lack of morality, good fortune and virtue contributes to a large scope of karma, which may be affected by factors including the ancestral grave, feng shui and the positive and negative karma of their past lives. If the karma created by the ancestors is not […]
EMBRACE THE BEGINNER’S MIND WHEN PROPAGATING THE DHARMA Master Jun Hong Lu: Every Buddhist practitioner must learn to form positive affinities. Propagating the dharma to sentient beings is never easy. Recollect those days when you had yet to find faith in Buddhism, it was equally challenging for others to introduce Buddhism to you, but having […]
STAYING TRUE TO YOUR RESOLUTIONS Master Jun Hong Lu: Bodhisattva said that persistence is a remarkable undertaking. As long as our hearts resonate with that of Bodhisattvas, coupled with our unwavering perseverance and the blessings of the Buddha’s power, we will never regress in our cultivation, regardless of how many difficulties we may encounter in […]
