Deepest Gratitude to the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva.
Deepest Gratitude to all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Dharma Protectors.
Deepest Gratitude to Master Jun Hong Lu.
If my sharing today is improper in anyway, I seek the forgiveness from Guan Yin Bodhisattva and Dharma Protectors.
Hello everyone, today, I would like to share with you my own experience that, as Buddhist practitioners, slackness in cultivation and practising multiple dharma doors are among our greatest taboos. Only through single-minded and diligent cultivation can we really eliminate our karmic obstacles and change our destiny.
My mother chanced upon Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door six years ago. She has been devoutly performing recitation and cultivating her mind. She has also constantly advised me to believe in Guan Yin Bodhisattva and learn Buddhism diligently from Master Lu. But at that time, I took it as a mere formality to perform liberation and attend Dharma conventions with my mother, without really understanding what Buddhism is, and what is the Law of Causality.
I would only perform recitation when I got into troubles, and would go back to square one when my troubles were resolved. Just like what Master Jun Hong Lu said, we can never bring a pot of water to boil without constant heating. I was thinking that, ‘My life ahead is still very long, and there are many good things waiting for me. Why should I practise so hard at such a young age?’
When I was away from my mother to pursue my university education in Singapore, I had become so lazy that I didn’t even listen to Master’s radio programs. I became more and more distant from righteous faith and positive thoughts. Every day I lived my life just like a normal non-practitioner. Whether I had a migraine or a skin disease, my thoughts were just the same as those who have never learned Buddhism. I would think that it was simply because of my poor immunity.
I kept grumbling about my bad luck, but I didn’t take any action to recite the Buddhist scriptures. When my mother learnt that I was not in good health, she kept urging me to go to the practice centre to pray to Bodhisattva and practise together with other diligent Buddhist friends. However, I turned a deaf ear to my mother’s words and continued to muddle along and live in ignorance.
When I look back, I think the most ridiculous thing that I did in university was: I have met the proper Dharma and a good Master, but I didn’t cherish them at all. I didn’t even read Buddhism in Plain Terms properly. I liked to browse around, reading a lot of books from other Dharma doors, and even visited other Buddhist temples with my friends. At that time, I thought it could help me better understand the universe and life by gaining more exposure. Never did I know that the books and practice sites of every Dharma door have their own energy field. As a result my energy field was in disarray, my thoughts were impure, and I had a lot of distracting thoughts, which subsequently triggered the eruption of my karmic obstacles.
I started working soon after graduation. As I was relatively young and junior to other colleagues, they were not so respectful of me and would sometimes talk to me in an unfriendly tone or reprimand me. In fact, this is something very common in this society and a true Buddhist practitioner won’t really take it to heart. However, I had been slacking off for a long time. How would I think of applying the Buddha’s teachings into my life? As a result, both my karmic conflicts with colleagues and my karmic obstacles erupted on me at the same time.
Whatever other people said, whether it was targeted at me or not, I took all of them to heart. I was feeling uptight every day, to the extent that my heart would race until I could not relax at all. I was also getting more and more sensitive and depressed. At my worst times, I would hide in the washroom during office hours, crying and dwelling on my unfortunate experience to have encountered such difficult colleagues.
Sometimes after crying, when I looked at my red and puffy eyes in the mirror, I couldn’t help worrying that my colleagues would laugh at me. So I would explain to them that I had a cold. Now that I think about it, it was so silly of me to behave this way. Master Lu has taught us not to take ourselves too seriously. However, I always felt that others were doing harm to me and talking about me behind my back. In the end, I had frequent nightmares and I became extremely sensitive and fragile.
Out of desperation, I went to a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with mild anxiety, depression and phobia. In that split second, I thought my world was going to collapse. I had been an outgoing and a cheerful girl since I was young. How could I suffer from mental illness? The doctor gave me some sleeping pills but I didn’t dare to take the pills at all after learning about the side effects from the Internet.
After going through much mental sufferings, I suddenly realised that I still have a Master to rely on, and Guan Yin Bodhisattva can save me too! So I immediately contacted my mother in Malaysia for help. While feeling the pain for my suffering, my mother was also very disappointed that I did not cultivate diligently all these while. In the past, I always didn’t take my mother’s advice seriously.
I felt that I was still young and didn’t have to practise so diligently to pay off my karmic debts. However, after going through the real sufferings, I finally realised my mistakes. I suffered from mental illness at such a young age simply because of the karmic seeds that I sowed in my past lives. Moreover, when I have met Dharma in this life, I did not cherish it and did not offer Little Houses to my karmic creditors promptly. I even followed multiple dharma doors at the same time. In the end, I reaped what I sowed!
With the guidance of my mother, I vowed to offer Little Houses to my karmic creditors, as well as recite Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots and Cundi Dharani for my colleagues. As soon as I got off work every day, I would go to the Practice Centre, and repent to Bodhisattva again and again for not cherishing the Buddha Dharma and not honouring Master and revering his teachings.
I felt that I was so ignorant and detestable because I never thought of praying to Bodhisattva, and only cried for Bodhisattva’s help when I encountered psychological problems. I have also let Master down. Master Jun Hong Lu has been devoting himself to care about and keep an eye on us while preaching Buddhism to us for all these years, and every of his Buddhism in Plain Terms and radio programs is the painstaking efforts of him. But how much have I learned from these?
During the first few years, I could have cultivated diligently but I have wasted the precious time on trivial, worldly matters. I was even so conceited to follow multiple dharma doors and thus distanced myself from other true practitioners, without getting to the root of my problem. That’s why my level of cultivation is so poor!
Bodhisattva is always so merciful and magnanimous. Although I have made a lot of mistakes, I could always feel Bodhisattva’s blessings on me every time after I sincerely repented in the practice centre. My inner fear and pressure were quickly relieved. The words of my colleagues gradually became less harsh for me, and my work went smoothly.
After offering a few Little Houses, I went to the psychiatrist for a follow-up visit. The doctor confirmed that I had fully recovered and he was very surprised by this. He asked me how I managed to do it. I told him the truth that I didn’t take any medication. It was Guan Yin Bodhisattva who saved me.
The doctor said that I was the fastest to recover among his patients, and commented that I was really lucky, because most of his patients are going through long-term suffering, while I simply recovered miraculously in such a short period of time.
I was overwhelmed with mixed feelings upon hearing the doctor’s words. How many people are now suffering from spiritual and karmic diseases without knowing the real reason behind it? They also don’t know how to live their life with a positive mindset, and how to eliminate their karmic obstacles.
Master Jun Hong Lu has taught us the Buddha’s teachings which are so beneficial to us. However, how many people are as lazy and slack as I used to be? Not only that they are letting Master Lu down, they will also suffer from karmic retribution! How could our karmic creditors have the patience to wait when they have not been transcended to a higher spiritual realm because of our slowness and slackness in cultivation?
In fact, we could have avoided the major eruption of karmic obstacles if we are able to resolve them way before it happens. Otherwise, once our karmic obstacles have fully erupted on us, those who are more fragile and weaker in spiritual power will not be able to bear the karmic consequences at all. I, myself, am a vivid example of this!
Now I’d never dare to slack on my cultivation at all. Every morning I get up at 6 o’clock to perform my daily recitation however tired I am, and will try my best to participate in the online group study however busy I am. In fact, after starting to practise diligently, I realised that learning Buddhism is a journey full of joy. The energy of the Buddhist scriptures is so powerful that it brings us safety and peace, hence unnecessary for us to pay off karmic debts with our physical bodies.
The Buddha’s teachings taught by Master Lu are so interesting and we can relate every line to our daily life, which enables everyone to think through things and be blessed with dharma joy every day. It is a rare opportunity to be able to learn Buddhism, and a good Master is hard to come by. If we do not make the best use of our time to cultivate diligently, we will have to suffer endlessly in the cycle of rebirth.
Now my heart is full of gratitude, especially to my mother who has been practising diligently and setting a good example for me. She has also recited a lot of Little Houses for me and thus shouldered my karmic debts. Without my mother, I would have given up on my practice long ago already. My mother has been silently helping our whole family to recite Homework and Little Houses, without uttering a single word about it. Since she started practising Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door six or seven years ago, my mother wakes up every morning at 5 o’clock, without fail, to perform her Daily Recitation.
Now almost all of our family members are practising Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door and performing Daily Recitation by ourselves! My mother said that she is very thankful for Master Lu’s teachings – as long as we provide constant heat to a pot of water every day, it will boil one day, which also means we will succeed one day with our constant efforts.
I am also very grateful to Guan Yin Bodhisattva for reaching out to me in the darkest moment of my life to free me from suffering. In fact, Guan Yin Bodhisattva always cares for all sentient beings. But first of all, we should recognise the truth of the mortal world and do not get intoxicated by the comfort of our life. If a drowning person refuses to reach out to Bodhisattva for help, how could Bodhisattva save him?
Please take me as a negative example. Don’t wait until you are suffering before you practise diligently. Cherish every day and every moment to constantly perform recitation, cultivate your mind, and perform meritorious deeds. Strike a balance in doing all these and be a good child of Guan Yin Bodhisattva!
Thank you everyone!
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