THE PRECEPTS LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR YOUR BUDDHIST PRACTICE
Master Jun Hong Lu: As Lord Buddha was about to enter nirvana, sobbing and kneeling before Him, His disciples asked, “Lord Buddha, what shall we do without you?”
The Lord Buddha said, “Let the precepts be your foundation and regard them as your teacher”. Do you understand what I mean now? The precepts are a form of self-discipline. A person who abides by the precepts is virtuous because they understand the importance of upholding morals and therefore, will not err.
You may find some people singing praises like, “He is such a good child and so is the other one”. You may wonder, “Why do they say so?” They will reply, “This is because the child is an embodiment of traditional moral values.
How does a person’s morals come about? It has to do with his adherence to the precepts. Whenever I bring my disciples along in my dharma propagation activities, outsiders will be impressed to see how they appear through the way they sit, stand and speak. It is not surprising to hear compliments such as, “The disciples of Oriental Radio are amazing!” Where do you think such self-discipline stems from? This is only possible by the strict observance of precepts. And, why do you think I am so strict on all of you if not for the purpose of making sure that all of you can abide by rules of discipline?
So, if you aspire to attain an elevation in your spiritual cultivation, especially those of you who set out to achieve spiritual growth, you must observe the Five Precepts. If it is something that you can’t even adhere to, how is it possible for you to abide by the Theravada Precepts, Mahayana Precepts or the Bodhisattva Precepts?
I will share with you the Bodhisattva Precepts in the future and explain to you what it takes to keep to these precepts as a Bodhisattva. As for now, I see that you are not even close to keeping to the precepts as a human and you really need to work harder on your spiritual cultivation.
If a person can’t even observe the Five Precepts, there is no way that he would be able to take on the form of a human being in his next life. Those who are unable to observe the Five Precepts will lose the opportunity to gain rebirth as a human being; for them entering into the Three Evil Realms as an animal, hungry ghost, or worse-still, descend to hell becomes inevitable.
Let me make it clear to all of you: As a Buddhist practitioner, if you can’t even comprehend the Buddhist theory and the Way of the Buddha, you will very soon lose interest in your Buddhist practice.
Assuming you dedicate your entire life solely to reciting the Little Houses, without any explanation or guidance whatsoever from your Master, I can assure you that the majority of you will find it difficult to stay on course, and at some point, many of you will even stop performing recitation of the Buddhist scriptures.
As a matter of fact, Buddhism is profoundly philosophical and it is absolutely not just about performing recitation. In fact, we should avoid becoming like a little monk who merely recites Buddhist scriptures with his lips, not his heart. This is something that a Buddhist practitioner should understand.
When you eventually make it to heaven, listening to Bodhisattva delivering the dharma is the same. At this point, your Buddhism knowledge is far too shallow. I can assure you that you will realise there is so much that your Master has not talked about when you get to listen to the major Bodhisattvas deliver the dharma in heaven.
Not every master is completely perfect but only the Lord Buddha is. Make it a point to delve into the perfect and unhindered wisdom of Buddhism as only then can you attain the unsurpassed and supreme enlightenment.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Volume 11 Chapter 10