|
Gold Summit Sagely Monastery is a very tall, old building. Its dilapidated exterior certainly does not seem like that of a Buddhist monastery. However, there are genuine cultivators inside. This kind of Way-place, which values honest cultivation and pays no attention to external appearance, is truly rare. That’s why I had my eyes on this Way-place.
This Way-place is one of the Way-places founded by the Elder Master Venerable Hsuan Noble Hua of the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. He is a high Sanghan who has attained the Way, and he is the Master with whom I have taken refuge. The Venerable Master has always maintained that the poorer one is, the better. The poorer one is, the easier it is to cultivate. Materialistic enjoyments can only cause people to fall. One can attain spiritual transcendence only when one has truly renounced materialistic enjoyments. Only by dying can one become truly alive. The Chan School maintains that one must undergo a great death─sever all thoughts of desire and not allow random thoughts to stir the mind─before one can truly understand the mind, see the nature, and bring forth great wisdom.
I once paid a visit to the Venerable Master at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. He very compassionately gave me a treasure. He said,
“Before you have cleaned up yourself, don’t mind others’ business.” This statement is truly of inexhaustible benefit. Actually, the reason we mind others’ business is that we haven’t cleaned up our own act. If we have truly made ourselves clean, we won’t mind others’ business anymore. We will also become Buddhas at that time. Because this statement is so wonderful, I wanted to share it with everyone.
|
