CHINESE NEW YEAR: THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT RED PACKETS
Caller: Hi Master, Lunar New Year is just around the corner. During this time, there will be occasions when our family members receive gifts such as red packets from others. Master has often advised us to ‘think neither good nor evil’. In this aspect, how should we regard such gifts?
Master Jun Hong Lu: That is not an issue because the amount in the red packet is insignificant, anyway.
Caller: Indeed, it’s not a large amount.
Master Jun Hong Lu: It’s only tens of dollars. This is one of the Chinese traditions to herald the arrival of a brand new year. In fact, by accepting a red packet, you are at the receiving end of others’ well wishes which will bring you endless streams of blessings. After all, a brand new year should be marked by a new beginning.
Conceptually, if you receive something during this festivity, it symbolises that you will always have something to gain the whole year. After all, you will not turn rich with those tens or hundreds of dollars you receive, will you?
Caller: I don’t mean this. I was just wondering whether I should dish out a portion of the money to help perform life liberation on behalf of the giver?
Master Jun Hong Lu: That’s fine. If the person gifts hundreds of dollars and you spend a couple of hundred to release captive lives on his behalf, you are essentially accruing immeasurable merits!
Caller: Do we just report his name during the life liberation?
Master Jun Hong Lu: Yes.
Source: Wenda20150130 01:12:49, Master Jun Hong Lu’s radio call-in program