南无地藏王菩萨!
My friend informed me that today
is Earth Store Bodhisattva's birthday. It will be good to remember
and reflect on our filiality towards our parents and all beings,
the vows we have made, and try not do eat sentient beings
flesh.
The section below was extracted from part of a talk given by Ven
Master Hsuan hua.
You could say that Earth Store Bodhisattva is the most dumb of
Bodhisattvas and also the most intelligent. Why dumb? Because he
does the things that no one else wants to do. He can bear what
others can't bear and yield what others can't yield. When his
parents were really mean to him, it didn't make any difference, he
was filial just the same. That's why within Buddhism, Earth Store
Bodhisattva is known as the Bodhisattva of great filiality and also
the Bodhisattva of great vows. He said,"Until the hells are empty,
I will never become a Buddha." Until every single living being is
taken across, he doesn't want to attain proper and equal en
lightenment. Just take a look at this kind of vow-power-doesn't it
seem kind of dumb? On the other hand, we can also say he is the
most intelligent Bodhisattva. That's because he stands out above
everyone else. He transcends all his peers. Someone asks, "Well, is
he trying to be special?" No. He does what others don't want to do
and aren't able to do, and so we can say that he is the most
intelligent Bodhisattva. In short, it can be said of Earth Store
Bodhisattva that he has great vows, great conduct, great wisdom,
and great compassion.
In Chung Kuo there are four holy mountains: Wu T'ai Mountain is the
Bodhimanda of Manjushri Bodhisattva; P'u T'ou is the Bodhimanda of
Kuan Yin Bodhisattva; Mei Shan is the Bodhimanda of Universal
Worthy Bodhisattva; and Chiu Hua Mountain is the sacred Way Place
devoted to Earth Store Bodhisattva. Earth Store Bodhisattva
embodies the vow-power of all Bodhisattvas, the conduct of all
Bodhisattvas, the wisdom of all Bodhisattvas, and the compassion of
all Bodhisattvas. His power of vows is truly inconceivable, and so
is his wisdom as well as his
accomplishment.
Those of us who are living in the Dharma Ending Age should
definitely recite the name of Earth Store Bodhisattva more and make
vows like this Bodhisattva. In this way we can help the world avoid
horrendous disasters. From times long ago until today the world has
never been in such great danger. Why? Do you really need to ask?
It's because every country is in the nuclear race, intent on making
weapons which are designed to totally eliminate mankind. The most
treacherous thing now is the laser. In Chung Wen it is called the
"death ray." With this death ray, everyone is going to be
destroyed, leaving no one to survive. We are going to exterminate
all of humanity. Exterminate! Exterminate! This death ray has
appeared in the world as a warning, telling people, "Don't continue
to do evil things. If you continue to do bad things, all of
humanity will be exterminated. The sea of suffering is boundless
Quickly Turn around and you will reach the other shore. You should
practice filiality, fraternity, loyalty, integrity, propriety,
righteousness, incorruptibility, and a sense of shame. You should
embody those eight virtues, and then humanity will not be
exterminated. Otherwise, we have invented a weapon called the death
ray and it is designed to annihilate
mankind."
Not only will this weapon exterminate all of humanity, but all
those in the animal realm as well. Every living thing will be
exterminated. And once everything is exterminated, the world will
turn into.emptiness. There will be no more people, no more material
world, no creatures--what will be left? Emptiness. The world will
go back to the source. So, how can you in this day and age, still
be hung up on getting rich, getting some official position, seeking
fame, seeking profit? You try to get a reputation at any cost and
in the process you hurt a lot of people. That's really being
stupid! People like this don't even recognize what day and what age
they are living in. So stop and think. We have these few decades in
which to live and during that time, if we don't amass some merit
and virtue, then we will have lived our lives in
vain.
Some of you have come especially today to bow to the Ten Thousand
Buddhas at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, but it's really
important that you truly bring forth the Bodhi mind. You should see
that there's nothing so extraordinary or desirable about anything
in this world. No matter how wealthy you become, even if you have
all the gold, silver, and diamonds in this world, when the time
comes for you to die, what of it can you take with you? You can't
take any gold, you can't take any silver, nor can you take any
diamonds and you die emptihanded. If you wait until you die to be
left emptihanded, it's not as good as taking advantage of your
lifetime to do useful things with your wealth and thereby amass
merit and virtue. If you put your wealth to good use, then your
life would not be a total waste. Since the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
are helping you so that everything about your life is compliant and
easy, you should certairfiy want to repay their
kindness.
You should wake up from
your dream. Quickly bring forth the resolve for Bodhi. Don't wait
until you are old to cultivate the Way. The lonely graves are
mostly filled with those who died young. And remember that an inch
of time is a moment of life; and an inch of time is worth an inch
of gold. If you lose the gold it's possible to get it back, but if
you lose an inch of life, it's impossible to regain
it.