Enter the mountain gate, go to sleep, and clean three doors.
Generally, there are three doors at the entrance of the temple, representing all beings in all directions. Everyone takes a different road, but when they get to the door of the temple, there are only three doors, and so is Buddhism. Therefore, 84,000 times of practice achieved the goal. If you want to get started, get started three times What is Sanmen? Dead door, front door, clean door. The three doors are exactly the same after they come in, no matter which door they come in from, so Buddhism is equal and there is no difference. But these three courses are indeed difficult and easy, and this one is different. Zen takes the door of enlightenment, which is the most difficult of the three. You have to go to Nina Li Chi to get in through this door. "Feeling the door", feeling without losing. The second is the "main entrance". The main entrance is to teach, Hua Yan, Tiantai, Prajna and Zhixue, all of which come in from this door. This is to rely on the classics to correct our knowledge, that is, to know what is right, to see what is right, and to come in from here. As "Hokkekyo" said, "Enlighten the knowledge of Buddha", the Buddha becomes a Buddha from here and from the "main entrance". It is more convenient for pure land Sect and tantric Sect to take the "clean door", that is, clean heart.
Maitreya Bodhisattva shows the foundation of learning Buddhism, and life is equal to heart, making it fun.
The first thing that Buddhism teaches us is happiness. As soon as I entered the temple, I first came into contact with Maitreya Buddha and Bodhisattva, smiling. This is what Buddhism wants to teach you. Learn to smile and greet others. The scripture says: Where the Bodhisattva is, all beings are happy. Maitreya Bodhisattva specially shaped the image of a cloth-bag monk, which represented a deeper meaning. A big belly represents ability and tolerance. He stands for "being equal with others all one's life and becoming a happy phase", treating everyone with a happy heart and embracing all right, wrong, good and evil. This is what we were taught. We will bring this to our family and life. I will teach you the first lesson as soon as you enter Buddhism! Providing for Maitreya Buddha and Bodhisattva in the temple is to remind myself from time to time. Therefore, this kind of teaching is not only the basis of learning Buddhism, but also the basis of being a man.
The Enlightenment Art of the Four Heavenly Kings
The four heavenly kings are protectors. Who are they protecting? Protect yourself. I'm telling you, you'll know how to learn after reading this. All buddhas and bodhisattvas help all beings to realize. The form he shows helps all beings to realize and make them wake up after reading it. In word teaching, Gu Dade often said that "Bodhisattva has a bitter heart", never thinking for himself, but thinking for all sentient beings, helping them realize, make them happy and turn around. Where are the shapes and characters of Buddha and Bodhisattva? Among the classics. Therefore, it is really necessary to learn from Buddhism and Bodhisattva and decide not to leave the classics. Be honest, understand, have a deep understanding of the classics, and turn them into your own thoughts, actions and words. You really studied Buddhism, and the heavenly king really protected you.
First, the king of the East.
"The East King holds the country", and the country is the country. From this name, we know that this is the protector. How can we keep your home? How to keep your country? Of course, this is from a big perspective; How to keep your heart from the smallest place? How to keep fit? Confucianism in China stresses "honesty, faithfulness, self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world". Holding the king of a country is to teach us these truths and skills. After learning, if you can really follow the path of sages, buddhas and bodhisattvas, you will not do anything wrong, nor will you degenerate into three roads and six roads. Carrying out "embracing the country" means "doing our best" "Dunlun", ethics is ethics, and points are duties. Ethics is a behavior completely corresponding to sex morality, self-nature and nature. According to the ancients in China, the first of the five ethics is husband and wife, father and son, brother, monarch and minister, and friend, which shows that the relationship between people is so close. What does Dun mean? Dun is sincere. He treats all people with sincerity and respect, and knows the relationship between all people and himself. This relationship is integrated, and he can treat all people, everything and everything sincerely and respectfully to promote this relationship. It is our duty to "do our best". Buddha and Bodhisattva have no ego, which shows that there is no ego, ego and ego in this world. What is his duty? It is his duty to help all sentient beings realize, and everything else is incidental and all help. The correct way is to help all sentient beings realize, so the purpose of Buddhism is to "break the myth and have fun in suffering." All buddhas and bodhisattvas show their work and help all sentient beings to break their myths and gain enlightenment. There are no restrictions on methods and means. The so-called 84 thousand practice, unlimited practice, you have to know that its goal and direction are only one. To help all beings realize, we must first help ourselves to realize; If you don't realize yourself, how can you help all sentient beings realize? The confusion of self will lead to the confusion of all beings. Therefore, first of all, we should help ourselves to realize, which is called taking the road! The statue of the King of the Orient in China holds a lute in his hand. This is a musical instrument, representing the middle way. We know that stringed instruments must be well tuned. If the string is too loose, it won't ring; if it is too tight, it will break. They must be moderately adjusted, which represents the Confucian doctrine of the mean and is in use. Can't miss it, can't go too far, and do it just right. In our daily life, we should understand the Mean in our thoughts and words. The ancients in China often said that if you want to know how to be measured, you must grasp it accurately, but you can't miss it. This is the most unique way. Buddhism stresses the doctrine of the mean, while Confucianism stresses the doctrine of the mean, both of which advocate the use of it as the upper way.
Second, the growth king of the South.
The "King of Growth in the South" has positive growth and negative growth for the sake of good law and evil law, just like the "Four Duties" mentioned in the "Thirty-seven Ways". If it is an evil law, not a good law, we must be diligent in breaking it; If it is a good law, we should encourage it diligently and make it grow. So there is evil and good in it. Honesty in leisure time is a great virtue. Honesty is the antonym of evil. We usually say evil is right and "honesty" is right, or we say good and honesty is good. Whether it's right or good, we have to save it. "Evil", which is not good, we should prevent it; "Idleness" is regarded as prevention and prevention. We should know how to prevent the evil understanding of evil and know how to prevent all wrong thoughts, wrong opinions, wrong behaviors and wrong statements. "Be sincere", always have a sincere heart, always have a sincere heart, a pure heart, an equal heart, a conscious heart and a compassionate heart. This is the accumulation of great virtue. The southern heavenly king holds a sword, representing wisdom. We often talk about Zhijian. Manjusri Bodhisattva still holds a sword in her hand, which represents wisdom and shows that wisdom is more important than anything else. In the law of birth, only wisdom can solve all problems, so what does Buddhism seek? Is to seek wisdom. The Buddha told us that all living beings have the same wisdom, ability and love as the Tathagata. This is what the Buddha said in the Huayan Sutra, but it cannot be proved by delusion. So, why do we lose perfect wisdom, perfect ability and perfect lover? It is precisely because we have delusions, differences and persistence that we block these innate virtues. It is just an obstacle, but it has not been lost. If we remove these three obstacles, our own virtues will be fully realized. All beings are equal, so in Buddhism, equality means real equality, wisdom equality and ability equality. Love is what we often say, and there is no inequality. Can we trust the Buddha's revelation? Can you understand? If we can believe and understand, we must follow it. Follow, how to do it? Let go of persistence, separation and delusion. Only by really listening to the teachings of Buddha and Bodhisattva can we enter the realm of Buddha and Bodhisattva. Entering the realm of Buddha and Bodhisattva is to restore one's sexual virtue.
Third, the king with wide eyes in the west.
The King of Wide Eyes in the West teaches us to see more, observe carefully the solemn, ever-changing and endless complexity of the Ten Dharma Boundaries, and master an eternal truth in the complicated world and material environment, and you will have wisdom. No matter how the personnel environment changes, how the material environment changes, we master this unchanged. What remains the same? Sincerity, purity, equality, enlightenment and compassion remain unchanged. This is the pearl in the hand of the western wide-eyed king. Some dragons in his hand are like snakes, and dragons and snakes are concrete changes, representing all changes in this society. Especially our present society is changing every day; People, the heart will change, sex will change, everything is changing, you have to see clearly, you have to master; In the process of change, it has an unchanging principle. Holding a bead in our hand, that bead remains unchanged, that is, our bodhicitta remains unchanged. Sincerity, purity, equality, enlightenment and compassion are bodhicitta. These ten words are sincere and Buddha's heart, which will never change. No matter who I am or what I am, I will use this heart. How comfortable you are! How bitter it is for someone to deal with him in what way! We only use a sincere heart, how comfortable you are! So no matter how he changes, one thing remains the same, and we should observe it carefully.
Fourth, the North has heard more about the King of Heaven.
The king of the north taught us to smell more. Remember, we didn't ask you to say more. I have read many religious classics, and almost none of them are sacred except teaching people, talking less and doing more. It is well described in religious classics that the tongue is the smallest part of our whole body, three inches; The smallest organ can rush into the biggest disaster. If you talk too much, you lose. Words hurt people more than killing people. Therefore, among the ten good things, Buddhism stresses three things about body, three things about mind and four things about mouth. You know that mouth is serious. The "Infinite Life Sutra" says that the three industries should be well protected, and the oral industry should be placed first. First, it says, "Be good at protecting the dental profession and don't ridicule others", so that you can know how serious the mistake of mocking others is! Casual nonsense, unconsciously burned all the merits he had learned and set Kutokuhayashi on fire. What's left, what's left is sin, extremely heavy sin. That little kindness has been offset by the dental industry. Good can't be accumulated, and evil is increasing day by day. I don't know how serious it is The heavenly king taught us to smell more, not to talk more. The king in the north has an umbrella in his hand. What does an umbrella mean? Prevent pollution. Now our meaning is obvious. Why? The ecological balance of the earth has been destroyed, causing serious pollution of the whole earth. Now we often hear a new term "environmental protection", which was unheard of half a century ago. Environmental protection is not only to protect the environment from pollution, but also to prevent psychological pollution, ideological pollution, viewpoint pollution and spiritual pollution. When you are in contact with the public, you should know how to prevent pollution and always keep your sense of purity and equality. There is no superstition in such a class in the temple of the king! If all our Buddhist students can read Buddhist scriptures, understand this truth and speak it out, how can the public not respect you!
Sakyamuni temple
Ursa major, this "hero" is the hero, Ursa major. What does hero mean? He can do anything that ordinary people can't do. This man is a hero among people. We call him a hero. Think about it, a man in this world can do anything, but he has no choice but to live and die in the three realms. Buddha, Buddha and Bodhisattva have the ability to walk out of the three realms of life and death and never reincarnate. This is a real hero, not fake. We can learn from him, and this life will never come back. The buildings in the Hall of Great Heroes are all in the form of tables. A formal building must have two floors from the outside, two floors from the outside and one floor from the inside. Double watch. What? The statement that Buddha represents all sentient beings is based on truth and common sense, and expresses the second truth. The inner layer is the reconciliation of two truths, which is really vulgar. Even the architectural style is vivid, and there is nothing but vivid. Everything is the wisdom, compassion and lofty artistic teaching of the Buddha.
Based on this, the expression significance of three Buddha statues in Daxiong Hall is interpreted.
Generally speaking, our teacher Sakyamuni Buddha has the support of Ananda and Ye Jia. The two of them, one represents the solution, the other represents the line, Ananda represents the solution, and the venerable Ye Jia represents the line, and the lines are corresponding. In the whole teachings of Buddhism, Ananda is the representative, Ye Jia is the representative of Zen, and we are talking about clan. So Buddhism itself is called religion, which means "religion under the clan", which is completely different from the religion spoken by our general society. Patriarchal religion is two ways for the Buddha to teach all sentient beings. One is that we are going to talk about gifted classes today. Gifted children are particularly smart and don't have to be taught in order. This is Zen. Zen special class, high IQ. We talk about gifted children entering Zen. Without this talent, you learn to teach. Learning to teach is a formal teaching. Primary schools, middle schools, universities and research institutes are progressing step by step. This is called teaching. So there is an ordinary class and a gifted class in Buddhism, and that's what they represent. Look how perfect this meaning is! Personally, Ananda Zun represents our understanding and knowledge of Buddhist teachings, while Ye Jia Zun represents our adherence to Buddhism, so we should do it seriously, and we must do it seriously after understanding it. He is serious.
Buddhist teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha
The meaning of the name "Sakyamuni Buddha" is the purpose of his teaching to the elderly. "Sakyamuni", translated as China, means benevolence, and benevolence means kindness and compassion. Buddha knows that all beings in this world lack compassion and selfishness. Therefore, taking this name reminds us of "Sakyamuni" and that I want to be merciful to others, which means "Sakyamuni". We also see that all beings in the world are polluted, thinking all the time, sleeping dishonest and having nightmares, all of which are dreams of thinking. "Muny" is Sanskrit, meaning purity and silence. You see, his name is to teach us to treat all people with compassion and kindness and treat ourselves with purity. Muny treats himself with purity. In the name of Buddha, especially the meaning of "Muny", we should study it very hard. Where did you learn it? In prosperity and good karma, everything goes smoothly in this environment. Good karma means that everything is good and knowledgeable. In this, you can't stand greed or stupidity, and your heart will be clean. In adversity, in bad luck, the environment is not good, and the people you meet are not good, but they are very dissatisfied and unsatisfactory; In this realm, there is no ambiguity. In other words, prosperity and adversity can keep you pure and equal. Pure equality, wisdom and no worries are the real meaning and interests of Muny. The Buddha talked about the purpose of his life's teaching, and the name is the purpose of teaching. "Buddha" means feeling, feeling without being fascinated. You know "sleep", and the following "positive" and "net" are connected. Sleep is not lost, righteousness is not evil, and net is not dyed. Look at that! Therefore, we went into the Mahatma Hall to worship our teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha. If this worship continues, we must know whether I have treated people and society with kindness and whether I have treated myself with purity. This worship is not for nothing. This is the expression in the hall of Mahatma.
The four great bodhisattvas represent the four fundamentals of Buddhism.
First, Manjusri Bodhisattva
Although there are many images of bodhisattvas, there are also many names of bodhisattvas, the most important of which are the Three Bodhisattvas. We should know that the scriptures tell us that the Tathagata of the ten directions and three realms all learn successfully according to these three methods. The first is wisdom, represented by Manjusri Bodhisattva. Manjusri is wisdom first, and you can accomplish nothing without seeking wisdom.
Second, Guanyin Bodhisattva
The second is Guanyin Bodhisattva. Guanyin is a sad head, with great compassion and compassion, and is sincerely willing to help all sentient beings. Avalokitesvara shows a thousand eyes. We call it Avalokitesvara, and many people are familiar with it. Let me ask you again, Manjushri, have you seen it? Have you ever seen Pu Xian, the Thousand-Handed Bodhisattva? Rarely seen. I tell you, every bodhisattva has thousands of hands and eyes. What does it stand for? On behalf of ourselves. Thousands of hands and thousands of eyes stand for hand to eye, and all beings in the ten-square world will immediately help wherever there is suffering, indicating that the eyes are in front of us, omnipresent and omnipotent. A thousand hands and a thousand eyes represent omnipotence, omnipotence, and the eyes are within reach. In this sense, this is really called compassion.
Third, samantabhadra bodhisattva
The third is the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. The Bodhisattva Samantabhadra is the head of the line, that is, it has really been done and fully implemented. Therefore, among all bodhisattvas, these three bodhisattvas are the most important. Among all bodhisattvas, these three are leaders and leaders. From this, you will know that Manjusri Bodhisattva represents our wisdom, and we need wisdom; Guanyin bodhisattva represents us to cultivate compassion; I must really do what Bodhisattva Samantabhadra represents, and I must put wisdom and compassion into practice in my life. This is Pu Xian.
Four, the earth treasure bodhisattva
After Buddhism was introduced into China, it was integrated with China's inherent culture, more complete, with a high degree of wisdom and art, which is also a progress in line with Buddhism. In China, Buddhism is based on four Bodhisattvas, and there is one more Bodhisattva, the King of Earth Hidden. The Four Bodhisattvas represent the foundation of Buddhism in China and the four pillars of Buddhism in China. What does the Tibetan Bodhisattva stand for? Show filial piety. Because Buddhism is a teacher's way, and the teacher's way must be based on filial piety, and the Tibetan Bodhisattva represents filial piety, so the scriptures of Tibetan Bodhisattva are Buddhist filial piety. Where do we learn Buddhism? Start with Tibetan studies. What is land? Metaphor of the earth. All our sentient beings were born in this land. Without this land, we can't live. Our life depends on and lives in this land. Everything we eat, wear and use grows from the ground. Plants grow from the ground, so do minerals. How can you leave the ground? We can't live without land. So the Buddha used "land" to express our hearts. This land has unlimited wealth and can produce many resources to meet our needs. The Buddha used this to compare our hearts. We have infinite wisdom, infinite virtue and infinite talent in our hearts, which support our law, body and wisdom and hide this meaning. What is the treasure of the heart to be developed? It's useless without development. You must know how to develop it. With what development? With filial piety. You should know that filial piety is a sexual virtue and an inherent virtue in nature. Therefore, filial piety and respect for teachers are the only tools to develop self-nature.
The expressive significance of Buddhist offerings
I. Water supply
Our offerings in front of the Buddha statue are generally four kinds: incense, flowers, lights and water. Among these four kinds of support, the most important one is "water supply". What does water stand for? Water represents the heart. When I see this water, I think my heart should be as clean, pollution-free and pure as water. Flat as water, no waves, equal heart; Like water, it can emit light. Water is clean and flat, so it has the function of emitting light, and emitting light is feeling. What does that glass of water mean? Cleanliness, equality and consciousness. When you see this glass of water, you think of "cleanliness and equality". So you should know that water supply is not for Buddha, and Buddha and Bodhisattva don't want it. Let's see for ourselves and remind ourselves that I should treat people and things in a way corresponding to the sense of purity and equality. So what is the best water supply? With a transparent cup, with a glass, a transparent cup, you can see. Tea is not served. Tea has color pollution. What does that mean? Your heart is unclean. They all remind themselves, not to worship buddhas and bodhisattvas, but to remind themselves. Among buddhas and bodhisattvas, buddhas and bodhisattvas often tell us and remind us of this meaning.
Second, the supply of lamps and lanterns.
"Lamp supply", lamps used to be oil lamps and candles. The meaning of that symbol is obvious. What does it stand for? Burn yourself and shine on others. This means that we are talking about sacrifice and dedication today. I can give up myself for others, so this is what it means to offer a lamp. Buddhas and bodhisattvas appear in the world for the benefit of all beings and society, regardless of themselves. All my work is a contribution to society and the public. Nowadays, electric lights are widely used, and the meaning of electric lights is hard to see, and it is hard to see. But we can understand, only know the meaning, just take this meaning. Now living in a dense area, electric lights are more convenient, and oil lamps and candles are more inconvenient now. But we need to know what the lamp represents, not only wisdom and light, but also the most important thing is to sacrifice ourselves for others, burn ourselves, shine on others and serve others.
Third, burn incense.
"Incense" means believing in incense, just one, not many, and it represents Dharma. Burn a incense, see this incense, smell this incense, I am convinced of the teachings of the Buddha in the classics. It represents faith, so we must believe in it and follow it. So incense is a symbol of faith, which means faith. Incense also represents the five-point dharma. What is the five-point method? It's abstinence, determination, wisdom, liberation, liberation, that's what it means. That incense is not for Buddha to smell. We must understand it.
Fourth, the supply of flowers.
"Flower" stands for cause, plants bloom first and then bear fruit, and flowers stand for cause. When we see flowers, we should do them and do them well, just as flowers bloom well. Flowers represent six degrees and six paramita. As I just told you, we should do it seriously. Everything is done perfectly, well, well. If the flowers bloom well, the fruit will bear well. Fruit is a symbol of hope. When we see the fruit of offering, the fruit is not for the Buddha. When we see the fruit of offering, we hope to get the bodhi fruit. We look at flowers, six degrees because of flowers, six degrees because of lines and places. It's all expression, it's all the meaning of education, where there is superstition! There is no superstition at all.