In the tapes of the Venerable Master’s Dharma talks, I heard him say,
“I always pick up what others don’t want.” This statement touched me profoundly. He quietly does the things that other people aren’t willing to do and takes the suffering that they aren’t willing to take. He also accepts as disciples the people that others aren’t willing to accept.
This statement makes me feel very ashamed. I always choose the best of everything: I choose good food to eat, nice clothes to wear, fine things to use, easy work to do, and so on. Always choosing what is good amounts to selfishness. Therefore, I hope to emulate the Venerable Master’s spirit. Beginning with what I eat, use, and wear in daily life, bit by bit I want to learn to take losses and yield to others. I hope I can turn the garbage I pick up into useful resources. If every person can learn the Venerable Master’s spirit of picking up what others don’t want, I believe that not only our Way-place, but the entire society and country, will be filled with harmony and peace.
Teeny tiny mosquito, you’re so stingy and greedy by nature.
You’re still engulfed in habits accumulated in life after life.
You were good at nothing but harming others for your own sake.
Everywhere you went, you bullied the good and gave in to the evil.
Finally, your soul split and you fell to undergo your retribution.
Still adhering to your stupidity and stubbornness,
you suck people’s blood and then flee.
In the Buddha’s eyes, you are truly pitiful.
As is our karma, so is our birth. Take care not to follow this example!
──by Venerable Master Hua
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