Practicing Dharma in Old Age
Yutang Lin
As one enters old age physical strength gradually
dwindles
And one realizes that the remaining time is not much
Furthermore, now and then, illnesses and pains arrive to
bother
How should one practice Dharma at such a juncture
Since one is no longer capable of handling complicated and
heavy stuff
One should simplify and reduce Dharma practices and
activities
Concentrate on simple epithet of Buddha or short mantra
And if one is still capable of doing some physical exercises
Daily do prostrations to Buddha and circumambulations
As one meaningful
way of exercising the body
In life many are the things that one could not let go
of
Making use of the increasing forgetfulness in old age
Be grateful that one could now really forget something
And thereby
reduce self-inflicted mental tortures
Only the aspiration toward full enlightenment must not be
forgotten
Because only this path can ultimately benefit oneself as well as
all others
All the rest, no need to expound explicitly, will soon become
Flowers in mirrors
and moon in water
What one has seen in life is full of endless human
sufferings
One should hover in mind genuine compassionate mercy
And dedicate the remaining meager strength and energy
Fully into praying to Buddha for all sentient beings' sake
May they soon leave suffering in transmigration
And arrive
at the other shore of blissful emancipation
If one could develop great Bodhicitta
To employ all powers one has accumulated in life
To help
propagate Dharma
Thus one would not only soon advance to the stages of
Bodhisattva
But also help many beings and increase harmony and happiness in the
world
To fulfill Buddha's compassionate intentions
There could
be no better approach in old age
Written in Chinese and translated on February 21, 2012
El Cerrito, California
(http://originalpurity.org/gurulin/efiles/p1/p1538.html)