Today was the day when Sakyamuni Buddha passed into nirvana. It was also
the day when the Most Supreme Elder was born on this earth. We did a Sakyamuni
Buddha Practice tonight under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche. He wished us to
rejoice in the practice of the Buddhadharma and remain firmed in our spiritual
endeavor.
He mentioned Sun Da
Rinpoche, who is one of the grand children of the 2nd H.H Dodjum Rinpoche. Sun
Da Rinpoche grew up in China and studied under the guidance of his uncle who is
also a Buddhist master. H.H Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche recognized Sun Da Rinpoche as
a re-incarnation of an accomplished Dzogchen master. Phuntsok Lama introduced
Acho Rinpoche to Sunda Rinpoche earlier and the latter contacted Acho Rinpoche
through WeChat recently. Sun Da Rinpoche suggested a meet up with Acho Rinpoche
when the former visits Singapore in the near future.
Next, Acho Rinpoche
continued to expound the Lotus Sutra. He advised us to frequently recite the
title of the Lotus Sutra and a verse praising Avalokitesvara, as expounded in
the Lotus Sutra. He did that during his walking meditation too. He further
advised us to spend more time and energy on studying the sutras but do less on
frivolous chats.
He cited a parable in the Lotus Sutra entitled “A Hidden Gem”, in which
it was said that the five hundred Arahat students being prophesized by
Sakyamuni Buddha of their future attainment of Buddhahood finally knelt before
the Buddha and repented their complacency of spiritual attainment, as they
mistook their achievement as a completion when it was actually only half-done.
A parallel was drawn from a parable about a man who became drunk after
attending a party at his relative’s house. His relative hid a piece of precious
gem in his shirt worrying that he might lose it in a state of drunkenness. It
was meant to help him pay for his traveling expenses when making his way home.
He was unaware of the hidden gem in his shirt and begged his way home instead.
After reaching home and being told by his relative of the hidden gem, then only
he realized what he missed. This parable gives a very clear hint on the
expedient method employed by Sakyamuni Buddha in teaching his students. He had
to help his students attain the state of Arahat first, although it is not a
state of ultimate enlightenment, for he was waiting patiently for them to reach
a certain level of spiritual maturity before he could tell them the ultimate
teaching on the attainment of Buddhahood. As all sentient beings possess the
most precious Buddha Nature in us, we have the potential of attaining the
ultimate state of Buddhahood. The Arahat
students must be told of the fact that they are essentially a Buddha (for one
to recognize his Buddha Nature), so that they would move towards achieving the
goal of attaining the ultimate enlightenment of a Buddha. Without letting them
know the truth of their Buddha Nature, they will never realize their real
potential and they will not become a true Buddha.
Acho Rinpoche repeated
another parable about “A Poor Son”. A rich man’s son lost his way home since
young and became a beggar for many years. One day, he passed by his father’s
home again and was being recognized by his father as his long-lost son.
However, the poor son was so used to his life as a beggar that he had already
became a man with very low self-esteem, who would not be able to accept the
fact that he was, in fact, so rich! So, the father hid the truth from his son
for the time being and just hired the latter to be his worker who were assigned
very simple chores including cleaning the human waste daily. Meanwhile, the
father quietly trained him up on the various skills over time. Finally, when
the son was ready, the father revealed the truth and handed over his wealth to
his son. You see, it has to be a very lengthy training process, as we are
unable to attain the state of Buddhahood even when we are told of our real
potential of a Buddha. We must go through a long period of spiritual practice,
cleanse our negative propensities including lust, hatred, ignorance, arrogance,
suspicion etc., accumulated through our numerous lifetimes. Only when all our
negative propensities are completely cleansed and purified, we would attain the
state of perfection – Buddahood!
The Lotus Sutra aims to
tell us that we are essentially a Buddha, and if we practise properly we will
attain the state of Buddhahood one day. A student who was prophesized by the
Buddha of his attainment of Buddhahood in future does not guarantee an
instantaneous enlightenment of a Buddha, for the student must continue to work
hard on his spiritual practice daily; it is liken to the poor son who must
clean up the human waste daily. We have developed numerous negative
propensities during our numerous lifetimes out of ignorance. So, we must
sincerely repent our mistakes and make amends, eradicate our negative karma
(effects of our past actions) and stop creating new ones – this is the only way
that we could become a true Buddha. So what if we know that we are essentially
a Buddha but continue to make mistakes? We will then just continue to be
stranded in the cyclic existence of the Six Realms full of sufferings.
Therefore, Acho Rinpoche re-iterated that we must continue to practise the
teachings of precepts, meditation and wisdom seriously, and accomplish the
training of “Five Practices of a Student” (see sharing on 14-2-2018). Only when
we have fully accomplished the said practices, we will become a true Buddha. If
we fail to do so, we will simply continue our life as a poor son who will
continue begging and to be stranded in the Six Realms of Existence (god, human,
demi-god, animal, hell being and hungry ghost).
Finally, we ended our
prayer by reciting the names of the Buddhas under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche
and dedicated all merits to the sentient beings - may all sentient beings be
happy, free of sufferings and attain enlightenment swiftly.
Reported by Sun Moon KFS on 31-3-2018
@Singapore
