Master Jun Hong Lu’s
Public Talk
Sydney, Australia
27 January 2019
WE NEED TO HAVE A SENSE OF CRISIS
Master Jun Hong Lu: Once, there were two men who ran into a tiger in the forest. Immediately, the first man squatted down, took out a pair of sneakers from behind him and put them on. The second man saw what happened and scolded him, “What do you think you are doing? Even with your sneakers on, you can never outrun a tiger!” The first man replied, “Well, I just need to make sure that I outrun you!”
The lesson learnt from this story is that the greatest crisis faced by humanity in the 21st century is having no sense of crisis. When we hear news such as plane crashes, people falling ill with cancer, families breaking up or children falling out with their parents, does it ever occur to us that these things may happen to us? That brings us to the importance of Buddhist practice and spiritual cultivation, i.e. to protect ourselves from any possible harm and crisis. While non-Buddhist practitioners are susceptible to calamities and worries, we on the other hand have geared ourselves up with our ‘sneakers’ to deal with life’s sufferings. To save ourselves is an essential prerequisite for saving sentient beings.
< Words of Wisdom