Great Throughts Treasury

"If you do not see clearly, but are still arrogant about your attainment, then you will totally lose whatever power you have gained. The relationship between your arrogance and your abilities is quite exact."

"A Bodhisattva is simply someone who advances with great vigor. That's all there is to it. There's no other secret."

"All afflictions are based on selfishness. That's why we have so much anger and so many afflictions."

"All good and wise advisors, we should not be unfilial disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha."

"A fault which we have developed is delighting in the praise of others. We enjoy being highly esteemed. If somebody offers even a single sentence of praise then we feel blown about, dazed and confused. How do you achieve buddhahood? One doesn't know how oneself and what's more one's gotten all befuddled. If one is able to uphold the precepts and cultivate meditative stabilization, then one will have some wisdom and will then be able to reach that point where "Whether it's slander or good reputation, it doesn't move the mind." No matter who slanders you, there's no displeasure in the mind. If somebody praises you, there's no delight in the mind."

"Although the Buddhadharma has not perished, the Sangha itself has. Morality and virtue should be cultivated, but are not. The honest and sincere ones invite ridicule, While the false and scheming ones enjoy praise. In the world of the five turbidities, pure people are rare. Living beings never awaken from the three kinds of intoxication.I have some earnest words of exhortation for the young generation of the Sangha: The revival of our religion depends on you Bhikshus."

"All the various kinds of precepts are aimed at helping people follow the rules. People who follow the rules can help maintain order in society and resolve the problems faced by mankind. Thus, the moral precepts are the basis for world peace."

"As human beings, we are close to the demons and far from the Buddhas. We can become a demon king any time we want. If we wish to become a Buddha, however, we must cut through dense thickets of evil views. We have to cast out deviant views and constantly cultivate proper views before we can escape the demons' nets."

"Always be honest and open in your speech and actions. Don't be sneaky or evasive with anyone. A straight mind is the Bodhimanda."

"At all times we should vigorously and courageously advance. We must never retreat or become lazy."

"Be a good example, not a bad one. Make yourselves good models for everyone to follow. If you are proper, then you don’t need to order people around. They will still practice after you and follow you. You won’t need to use all kinds of tricky methods to oppress people so that they follow you. If you are not proper yourself but still greedy and contentious, selfish, and self-benefiting, then you cannot teach others not to be greedy, not to be contentious, not to be selfish, and not to be self-benefiting. In that case, it won’t work. So, if a person is not proper, even if he orders others around, they won’t obey. Then no matter what he tries to teach people to do, they won’t listen to him."

"Because of desire for illusory fame and profit, our minds are constantly being traumatized and afflicted. This is where we differ from the Buddhas."

"Buddha is one who possesses great wisdom. We, on the other hand, possess great stupidity. Therefore, we should study the Buddha. We should study the great wisdom of the Buddha. We should take the mind of the Buddha as our own mind. We should take the vows of the Buddha as our own vows. In every moment we should be studying and practicing the four immeasurable minds of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and even-mindedness. In every moment we should be cultivating the Dharma gateway of "being able to endure that which is difficult to endure and being able to practice that which is difficult to practice.""

"Be gentle and agreeable. Avoid a hot temper. Don't be frightened under any circumstances."

"Be someone who abides by the rules. If you don't follow the rules, you will have to under go the retribution of being abnormal in the future."

"Buddhism has just come to the West, and we must staunchly support and propagate the Proper Dharma; we must take the Proper Dharma as our standard in all we do; the Proper Dharma is our goal and purpose. We should all make a great Bodhi resolve and protect the Treasury of the Proper Dharma Eye."

"Clean out the garbage and defiled thoughts in your own mind."

"But, if a person is not proper, then even if he forces people, they will not comply."

"Depressed and melancholy, you roam through the hells. Happy and smiling, you enjoy eternal youth. Weeping and woe make a small dark room in the hells."

"Don't joke about the Dharma, and don't talk about it frivolously."

"How were we born? We were born from ignorance; we came into the world in a muddled fashion."

"If we want to make daily progress, we must become more strict with ourselves each day. We must become more collected and focused by not indulging in discursive thoughts."

"If you are truly sincere, the Bodhisattvas will protect you even if you don't offer incense."

"If we did not fight, were not greedy, did not seek anything, were not selfish, and did not want to benefit ourselves, we would have no anger."

"If you can regard the Sutra lectures as being especially important, then you have pretty much fulfilled your duties as a Buddhist."

"If you avoid praising, criticizing, and bearing grudges against others, your mind will be peaceful and free from greed, anger, and delusion."

"If you have not reached the state of being able to accord with conditions without changing, you must be very careful not to indulge in idle thoughts at any time."

"If you fear others will find out about your bad deeds, those are truly bad deeds."

"If you don't develop Dharma-selecting vision--the genuine wisdom to distinguish between the Dharma and what is not the Dharma--you will have studied the Dharma in vain."

"If you really have no deluded thoughts, then you have already been born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. If you are truly free of desire, then you have already taught and transformed living beings."

"If you have no obstacles in your own mind, then outer obstacles will not hinder you or cause you worry."

"If you want to determine whether a person is genuine or phony, whether he is a Bodhisattva or a demon, you can look for the following things: First, see whether he has any desire for sex; and second, see whether he is greedy for money."

"If your ideas aren’t working, look within yourself; if you are kind to people and they don’t reciprocate, take a look at your kindness. If you give people orders and they don’t follow them, take a look at your orders. If you pay respect to people and they don’t return it, take a look at your manners."

"Ignorance is the root of afflictions, the root of birth and death, and the root of all troubles and problems."

"In cultivation, even if you do not become possessed by a demon, you must still have genuine wisdom and Dharma- selecting vision."

"If you wish others to know about your good deeds, they are not truly good deeds."

"In listening to Sutra lectures and reciting Sutras, we must be patient and not grow weary."

"In studying Buddhism, we should "turn it around" and benefit others. Only then do we deserve to be called Buddhists."

"Jealousy is an evil mental state which is hidden in one's thoughts."

"In the future, I hope all of you will look after yourselves and supervise yourselves. With such self-supervision, you will certainly succeed one day."

"In studying the Dharma, we should investigate the principles until we are completely convinced of them, without the slightest doubt in our minds."

"Merit is created through deeds that benefit society, such as building temples and repairing bridges and roads. Virtue means having a good conscience and not being ashamed before Heaven or people because one has neither deceived others nor cheated oneself."

"Let's use what we have learned and what we understand to universally save living beings in the world."

"Listening to the Dharma is an especially good way to increase our good roots and open our wisdom. An opportunity to listen to the Dharma is worth more than any amount of money you could earn. You all shouldn't think it is a simple matter to be able to come and listen to the Sutras and study the Dharma. You are able to do so only because you have amassed a lot of good roots and virtuous conduct."

"Money is the filthiest thing around. If you stay around it very long, you'll be defiled."

"No matter what circumstances or demonic obstacles we encounter, we are determined not to waver in our resolve to study the Buddhadharma. This is the kind of resoluteness and sincerity we must have in studying Buddhism."

"No matter how flourishing the world becomes, when it reaches the height of its glory, it will become dark again. All things in the world, great and small, are pretty much the same; they all go through cycles."

"No-thought means to view all dharmas with a mind undefiled by attachment. When the mind is undefiled by attachment, dharmas are empty. If dharmas are empty, then why must you get attached to your bad habits and weaknesses?"

"One may not carelessly scold those who study and practice the Buddha's teachings."

"Now that you have a chance to leave the home-life and become disciples of the Buddha, you should realize that the causes and conditions for this are hard to meet with in hundreds of millions of eons. Therefore, you should uphold the precepts as you would your very life. For if you don't, then although you may still be in the world, you are like walking corpses and you will be of no benefit to the world. After leaving home, we should have backbone, determination, and integrity. We ought to be useful vessels within Buddhism, establishing merit and virtue, and establishing the teachings."