Here we listen to the Sutra lectures every day, but the most
important thing is to actually practice. Otherwise, you’vewasted
your time and let your whole life slip away.
Consider each grain of rice and
Contemplate how it’s not easily obtained.
Regard each thread of your clothing, and
Always be mindful that such resources are difficult to come by.
Think about each grain of rice you eat, and consider its source.
Food is not easy to come by. You should know that each threadyou
wear is difficult to come by, too. One can’t casually waste things
or throw food away in the garbage. Look at how many refugees there
are in the world-and beggars. Why? Because they wasted too many
things. So the heavens got angry and the spirits resentful, and now
those wasteful people undergo this retribution of being poor and
homeless.
Refugees wasted things before, so now they endure this hardship.
The manifestation of their circumstances speaks the Dharma, and
they themselves act as mirrors for all of us. We learn from their
suffering to “turn the light around,” to examine our own behavior.
Extravagance is dangerous. In every situation, cherish resources
and do not waste anything.
Cultivators should also not be slipshod or dirty. Sometimes
cultivators are described as covered with several inches of dust,
but that’s only if they live in the mountains away from people. If
you are around people, your clothes should be clean and you should
take a bath once in a while. Don’t deliberately make yourself
unclean, saying, “Now no one will get near me, I’m so stinky. In
that way, I’m pure.” But your being stinky is already “impure”! In
cultivation always watch yourself and look within. In life, one
needs rules and shouldn’t be messy or unruly. Most dirty of all, of
course, are bad habits, afflictions, ignorance, and being
temperamental-those are the real dirt. So everyone should quickly
bring forth the Bodhi mind. Don’t cling to the garbage you carry
around.