Good men and good women, today we held a "three conversions" ceremony in Jushilin, which is very important in Buddhism. It is a rare career for students to learn Buddhism. How to learn Buddhism? The first lesson is that we should worship teachers, and the "three-oriented teaching" means that we should worship a teacher. Who is the teacher? The teacher is a Sambo, not the person who presides over the ceremony for you. We are "converted to Buddhism, converted to Buddhism, converted to monks", but we didn't say that we would convert to anyone. We must understand this truth before we can make a decision without misunderstanding.
Buddhism has spread to this day, so it has declined and cannot be revived. What is the reason? It was wrong from the beginning. To convert is to convert to a certain mage. You are wrong from beginning to end, so you won't achieve anything. The Buddhist monk Sambo has been circulated for thousands of years. According to China's historical records, the extinction of Sakyamuni Buddha took place in Zhou Muwang in 53 years. According to this time, this year should be more than 3020 years, which is too long. Therefore, there will inevitably be mistakes in this law, which is certain. Any religious school in the world, which has been circulating for a long time, must be wrong. We in China have made mistakes, and the more we spread them, the more we spread them.
When I first studied Buddhism, I read the Six Ancestors Tanjing. I saw in the altar sutra that Master Liu Zu presided over the ceremony of teaching others three conversions at that time. He did not mention the three treasures and Buddhism, but changed it to "convert to consciousness, convert to righteousness, and convert to purity." He used the word "feeling upright and pure" instead of "monk", and then explained that "Buddha feels upright, Buddhism is upright and monks are pure." So I thought about this question, why did he do it? Master Huineng, the sixth ancestor, has been in our present era for about 1600 or 7000 years. Why didn't he use the words "Buddha, Buddha and monk" at that time, but his sense of justice? Of course it makes sense. It is very likely that there was a misunderstanding about Buddhism and Buddhism at that time. Because as soon as I heard the conversion to Buddha, I immediately thought of Buddha statues; When I hear about conversion methods, I will think of classics; As soon as I heard that you converted to a monk, I thought of becoming a monk. Is there a problem with this idea? Can't say wrong, also can't say good.
Therefore, it is reasonable for the old man Liu Zushi to teach the oath of three conversions. Buddha statues are called Buddha treasures, classics are called magic weapons, and monks are called monk treasures. This is called "the abbot's three treasures" in Buddhism, so there is nothing wrong with it. Can we rely on these three treasures? I tell you, you can't rely on it. There is a proverb that says, "A clay idol can't protect himself when crossing the river." If it cannot protect itself, how can it protect us? So we rely on it, which is wrong. But it has the function of reappearance, which makes us think of self-consciousness when we see the Buddha statue. Therefore, awareness is the "three treasures of self-nature", and what we rely on is the three treasures of self-nature. The three treasures of self-nature are intangible, and it is difficult for us to have this idea. Therefore, the abbot's three treasures can inspire us, enlighten us and make us realize that there are three treasures in our own nature, which is where we really convert.
So it is the virtue of self-nature. What do all bodhisattvas, voices, practices and karma rely on? Just by sleeping. The Buddha often tells us in the scriptures that Buddhism is boundless, with 84,000 Dharmas, the door is the Tao and the Dharma is the Dharma; In other words, we have too many methods and doorways to prune fruits. However, these methods and approaches must have a general principle and general direction. Buddhism says that we have always adhered to Buddhism. This is what people in our world mean when they talk about the general program and the general goal. What's the total? It is the feeling of purity, and the feeling of purity is the three treasures of self. Therefore, the founder told us that the Buddha is a Buddha with feelings, but he is not fascinated with feelings; Buddhism is right, knowing what is right and seeing what is right. If you leave the classics, you will know what is right and see what is right, then you will really convert to Buddhism, and the magic weapon of self will appear in front of you; Monks are clean and spotless, and they are called monk treasures, which is their own sexual virtue. Whether a monk is clean or not has nothing to do with me. As soon as I saw this, I immediately called it an epiphany. I want six clean and spotless ones, he reminded me. Therefore, Buddha statues remind us of our self-awareness, scriptures remind us of what is right and what is right, and monks remind us to keep our body and mind pure, which often reminds us of great merits.
Therefore, to learn Buddhism from the heart is first to teach us the general direction and program of Buddhism. In this teaching, we follow the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha, and there is a monk as the representative. He teaches us to learn the three cardinal guides and three cardinal guides of Buddhism, so that we can know from now on where to start, how to get started and how to repair the fruit! Therefore, the three conversions are not just a ceremony. The ceremony is not important, the content is the most important. We must make it clear and understand it. We have talked about the three religions in detail four times in the past, all of which have audio tapes and video discs, as well as two pamphlets "Teaching Three Religions". I hope you will return to this Dojo and listen more, or your conversion will exist in name only. A bad reputation is not a good thing. Why not? You pretend to be a Buddhist, you are not real, you are fake, you pretend to be a Buddhist, and this impersonation is guilty. You can't pretend to be a Buddhist, but be a real Buddhist disciple.
A true Buddhist disciple will spend his whole life in the form. It is necessary to accept the three conversions, accept and maintain, accept the teachings of Buddhism, treat people and things in daily life, and never forget them at work. Like all buddhas and bodhisattvas, be a good person in this society. Buddha and Bodhisattva are the best people without any flaws. He is our role model, our role model. This truth cannot be ignored. However, ordinary people always have to find an image to rely on. Without image, it is too empty, too empty. Then we should also find a representative in the image. Convert to Buddhism, which Buddha do you want to represent? I'm telling you, we look for Amitabha as the representative, and we rely on Amitabha. Why not use Sakyamuni Buddha as a representative? Sakyamuni Buddha taught us to convert to Amitabha, and we converted to Amitabha, very obedient! Happy Buddha Sakyamuni If you convert to Sakyamuni Buddha instead of Amitabha Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha will be very sad. The child is very obedient. We don't teach without discipline, so we use Amitabha Buddha to represent Buddha treasure.
What is the magic weapon? We take Amitabha Sutra and Infinite Life Sutra as magic weapons. There is also a Buddhist sutra of avalokitesvara in Pure Land III, which can be read only a few times. It is very difficult to study and repair. Our study is still based on the Infinite Life Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra. We can study one of them at the same time. We rely on this sutra, and we rely on this sutra all our lives. Gu Dade taught us the method of learning, chanting once, chanting once and chanting the name of Buddha a thousand times. We can do morning and evening classes in this way. All other rules and forms can be omitted, and you can do net work in the morning and evening.
Those who like to read the Infinite Life Sutra can read the Infinite Life Sutra every morning, recite a thousand Buddhist names, and then make three conversions and return. In the evening, or you can read a roll of Amitabha Sutra, the "Death Curse" seven times and the Buddha's name a thousand times. Or read the Amitabha Sutra in the morning and the Infinite Life Sutra in the evening to see if you are busy with your work. If you work a lot in the morning, you should read the Amitabha Sutra. If you have retired and have plenty of time, you'd better read the Infinite Life Sutra sooner or later. Therefore, it is very simple and easy to learn a scripture, recite a thousand Buddhist names, and then convert to the three places. Every day, it must be good to keep doing it.
As long as you are free at ordinary times, you must know how to mention the Buddha's name, never forget Amitabha, and never forget the solemnity of the western paradise. In this world, even the external Buddhism has been put down. In the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha told us very well that "Buddhism should be abandoned and not violated", and Buddhism is Buddhism. We put all the teachings of Buddhism aside and don't want to learn. We only study the Infinite Life Sutra and Amitabha Sutra, and only read Amitabha. As for the Buddha's infinite sutra, I have to go to Elysium to learn it again. We shouldn't study now, but we should study now, which will delay our death to Elysium, you know. Learning infinite wish is to go to Elysium, where we have infinite life and plenty of time, unlike here. Life here is short, and it is really an inch of time and an inch of gold. We should cherish time and don't waste it. You have to understand this truth so that you can really concentrate. This is based on Buddha's treasure and magic weapon.
Who is monk Bao looking for? Monk Bao, we have found two people, one is Guanyin Bodhisattva, the other is Trend Bodhisattva, and these two are Bodhisattvas and monks. Avalokitesvara teaches us to be merciful and learn the mercy of Guanyin. We should treat all sentient beings, people, things and things with compassion. Compassion is love. The general trend is that the Bodhisattva teaches us to be rational, not to be emotional about people and things, but to use wisdom. The general trend is that Bodhisattva represents wisdom and Guanyin Bodhisattva represents compassion. Treat people and things with reason, not with emotion, and decide to achieve your career with emotion, not with reason. So we regard these two bodhisattvas as the representatives of monk treasures, and then we really have the support to convert to the Three Treasures. When you get back, you will set up a small Buddhist temple at home to support the three treasures and know the meaning of support. Sambo always reminds himself to be conscious, upright, clean, and live an enlightened and clean life, which is the life of a bodhisattva. As for the detailed explanation, we are on the CD-ROM and in the booklet "Three-oriented Teaching".