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Happiness is when you are free of the pain
that comes from comparing yourself to others.
没有对比的痛苦,就是快乐!
Master Jun Hong Lu, Words of Wisdom Volume 4
🪷 *Birthday of Medicine Buddha* 🪷

Dear Buddhist Friends,

Today 31 Oct 2024, 30th Day of the 9th Lunar Month, is also the day to commemorate *Medicine Buddha’s Birthday.* 

✨ On this special day, we should be diligent in our spiritual cultivation, practise vegetarianism, perform more virtuous deeds, do no evil and free captive lives. ✨

🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷

*ABOUT MEDICINE BUDDHA*

When Medicine Buddha, was a Bodhisattva, He made 12 vows to relieve the sufferings of all beings, provide them with the spiritual faculties and lead them towards liberation (愿为众生解除疾苦,使具足诸根,趋入解脱).

It is with these vows that He attained Buddhahood, residing in the Eastern Pure Land of Crystal Radiance (东方净琉璃世界), a land as solemn and blissful as the Land of Ultimate Bliss. 

*The Medicine Buddha always fulfills the wishes of all beings, extricates all beings from suffering and heals their illnesses.*

And, hence, He is known as the *Medicine Buddha who dispels calamities and lengthens life* (消灾延寿药师佛).

_Source: Wenda20171117 37:35, Master Jun Hong Lu’s call-in radio program_

🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷🪷

As we are in this Age of Dharma Decline, Master Lu, out of compassion, advises that *Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door practitioners may add the _Medicine Buddha Dharani (Yao Shi Guan Ding Zhen Yan)_ to their daily recitations.*

_Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Discourse, 24 Sept 2021_
 
*Read more about recitation of _Medicine Buddha Dharani:_* https://bit.ly/3DpbJSA
*EVERY SINGLE THOUGHT IS GEARED* *TOWARDS SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION*

Master Jun Hong Lu: How do you practise diligence? It is the consistent mindfulness to practise. That is, every single thought is geared towards spiritual cultivation and to make sure every single thought is positive. It also means forcing yourself out of bed in the morning, even if you don’t want to!

You should be telling yourself, “I am going to bite the bullet, perform chanting and transform my own destiny.”

A person who has consistent mindfulness to practise will never degenerate. If any one of you is experiencing family break-up or squabbles, it’s because you are not diligent in your practice. You are too lazy!

“I can‘t get up in the morning, I just can’t wake up”. 

You can’t stop being lazy and in the end, you will enter into a state of degeneration.

Some couples hardly quarrelled when they first got married; both were eager to do their parts of the house chores. “You do the dishes; I do the laundry”. They worked hard and they were diligent. 

However, after some time, both of them become lazy. “So, you won’t do the dishes? Neither will I!” 

After some time, even their room starts to stink, and they can’t even find a fresh change of clothes! This is what degeneration means.

_Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s_ 
_Buddhism In Plain Terms_ 
_Volume 9 Chapter 42_
_(An Excerpt)_
*WISDOM IS FOUND THROUGH CALMNESS*

Master Jun Hong Lu: When you are calm, wisdom arises. Only in calmness do you realise the movement of your mind and what is in your thoughts. Sometimes when you manage to calm down, you will wonder, “Why did I think this way? Why do I have such ridiculous thoughts? How can I think so badly of him?” And you will feel so ashamed of yourself. That’s because you have gained wisdom.

Hence, the validation of the Dharma requires the quietness and the stillness of your heart; only when a person is in quietude, can he feel the presence of the Buddha in his heart and the wisdom of his inherent nature.

Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Episode 100, 4 July 2020

Translated by Oriental Radio Practice Centre (Singapore).
Proofread by 2OR Secretariat
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*TACKLE YOUR PROBLEMS ONE AT A TIME AS THEY ARISE* 

*Master Jun Hong Lu:* Let me teach you some principles in life. When you know what are the troubles in life, you will know how to make peace with your worries. *How do your worries get mediated? We tackle them one at a time as they arise and eventually, they will arise no more. This is when you will be worry-free.*
 
You may then ask, “Master, you have all along said that worries will accompany us throughout our life, and as long as we are in the human realm, we will never be free from the clutches of worry”. I’d like all of you to believe that worries may be a constant in life, but *the interval between every worry that crops up in your life can be prolonged (时间间隔会拉长) if you are able to eliminate it as it comes, and you do not dwell on it.* By doing so, you will gradually be free from worries (就会不烦恼了). This is why we always say changes in the human world are nothing but a manifestation of impermanence.

🧐 *Why is it that worries can bring you suffering? This is because you keep them in your heart.* If humans had no memory whatsoever, they would not be afflicted (就没有苦恼). We should not behave like those mental patients who are happy for a brief moment and burst out crying the next moment.

Some mental patients are worry-free, they laugh, they are happy and they act foolishly simply because they have completely forgotten about everything they experienced in the past. As for us, *we allow ourselves to be tortured by our own mind, our heart weeps again and again, and the pain in our heart strikes us like a wave.* Why is it so? This is because we have not forgotten about the past, nor do we see the future. Hence, we will experience these random bursts of pain.

Just like many couples are fond of bringing up past unhappy events when they quarrel. It is  because they have yet to forget the cause of their past suffering.  

_Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Volume 9 Chapter 37_
⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️

*ADOPT THE BEGINNER’S MIND*

*Master Jun Hong Lu:* The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said, *“Be cautious, as you were in the beginning” (慎终如始).* This means you should be very mindful till the end just like how you had been in the beginning. This phrase tells us, the disciples, that *we must treat the beginning of all endeavours in life as the foundation and continue with this spirit all the way till the end.*

*Those with determination as strong as a diamond and possess a Bodhi mind (菩提心) are the ones who will remain unswerving from the beginning to the end (始终如一).* This echoes the popular saying of Lao Tzu, _‘Be cautious, as you were in the beginning’_ that advises us to be mindful all the way, just like how we were in the beginning.

Let me give you an example. A normal employee of a company gets promoted to the managerial level. Despite his promotion, he still sees himself as an ordinary staff member just like when he first started with the company. This manager will ultimately be very successful because his attitude and working style are preserved as he maintains the attitude of an ordinary worker.

Even if he ascends to the most important position of a CEO, he will stay rooted to his humble beginnings. He understands the antecedents and consequences (前因后果) and will not gloat over a temporary achievement of attaining the position of a CEO. He will not be haughty and satisfied with it. Neither will he allow his success to get to his head.

This is what it means *by ‘holding on to your beginner’s mind’, the essential quality that leads to great accomplishments (不忘初心,才能方得始终).*

At any point in life and regardless of social status, one should always maintain the same state of mind that kick-started his journey all the way to the end because this is where success awaits.

_Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Episode 77, 23 May 2020_
*BE THANKFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP SENTIENT BEINGS*

Master Jun Hong Lu: Those who aspire to become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva must have great resolutions. I hope that you will have a great resolution to help sentient beings in the future, just like me, your master. Do not be preoccupied with your personal gains and losses.

Enduring hardships for the sake of sentient beings is your blessing. It will gain you merit when you are able to do something for others.

Those who only live for themselves are seriously lacking in virtue. We should be considerate towards others and be of service to them.

Being able to help goes to show that you have both the energy and capacity to do so, without which, you are very much like living in vast emptiness, where you can’t even receive any positive energy. All you can gain is only worldly fame and wealth.

Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Discourse (Question 382), 10 May 2020
⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️

*ADOPT THE BEGINNER’S MIND*

*Master Jun Hong Lu:* The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said, *“Be cautious, as you were in the beginning” (慎终如始).* This means you should be very mindful till the end just like how you had been in the beginning. This phrase tells us, the disciples, that *we must treat the beginning of all endeavours in life as the foundation and continue with this spirit all the way till the end.*

*Those with determination as strong as a diamond and possess a Bodhi mind (菩提心) are the ones who will remain unswerving from the beginning to the end (始终如一).* This echoes the popular saying of Lao Tzu, _‘Be cautious, as you were in the beginning’_ that advises us to be mindful all the way, just like how we were in the beginning.

Let me give you an example. A normal employee of a company gets promoted to the managerial level. Despite his promotion, he still sees himself as an ordinary staff member just like when he first started with the company. This manager will ultimately be very successful because his attitude and working style are preserved as he maintains the attitude of an ordinary worker.

Even if he ascends to the most important position of a CEO, he will stay rooted to his humble beginnings. He understands the antecedents and consequences (前因后果) and will not gloat over a temporary achievement of attaining the position of a CEO. He will not be haughty and satisfied with it. Neither will he allow his success to get to his head.

This is what it means *by ‘holding on to your beginner’s mind’, the essential quality that leads to great accomplishments (不忘初心,才能方得始终).*

At any point in life and regardless of social status, one should always maintain the same state of mind that kick-started his journey all the way to the end because this is where success awaits.

_Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Episode 77, 23 May 2020_
When you conduct yourself with kindness, you will nurture boundless love.
Kindness should permeate every aspect of your life and career. Hence, you will enjoy good health and smooth sailing in your career.
-Master Jun Hong Lu, Words of Wisdom Volume 5

以善心处世为人,
你会大爱无疆,
善会在你的生命和事业中蔓延,
所以,你的事业就会顺利,
你的身体才会健康。
-卢军宏台长佛言佛语(五)