Everything is Perfectly Imperfect

Table of Content:HOW TO RAISE A RESILIENT KID: I AM NOT RIGHT BUT THAT’S OK

If you are not a Buddhist, you should not DESIRE (欲) to assess the quality of any Buddhist group. If you want to become a spiritually awaken Buddhist (见性成佛), you must not DESIRE to assess the quality of any religious group. DESIRE to assess the quality of other persons is extremely egoistic. Ego (妄念) will lead you further from the shore of the island of perpetual blissfulness (彼岸) and into the infinitely bitter sea (无边苦海). The fire of greed, hatred, and delusion (贪嗔痴) will not be extinguished (熄灭), therefore you will not be able to attain Nirvana (寂灭).

Zeal to distinguish who is right and who is wrong had given rise to countless bloodshed and genocide in the history of mankind. One religious group thinks that a different religious group is wrong. Instead of looking at the similarity and common grounds, people choose to focus on the differences. Ego makes them desire to compete in order to become the leader of public opinions. The greed is so obviously exhibited but the followers are blindfolded to the fire of greed in their hearts. They start to view other religious groups as a threat, even though everyone simply ignores them and carry on his daily life with his own way of life. Nobody is publicly competing or challenging their self-proclaimed “authority”; the mere existence of other religious groups is intolerable and seen as a threat to them. While they keep trumpeting how good their religious group is, how many people are converting in favor of them, how profound their religion of peace is, they keep attacking other religious groups, verbally and also physically. They broadcast speeches and videos to criticize and even demonize other religious groups. The hatred is so obviously exhibited but the followers are blindfolded to the fire of hatred in their hearts. Because they desire so much for people to convert in favor of them, they view it as extremely precious thing which they must hold on to; the attachment make them feel infinitely fearful of losing followers to other religious groups. They make death threat to those attempting to leave, yet they continue to trumpet their religion as a religion of peace. The delusion is so obviously exhibited but the followers are blindfolded to the fire of delusion in their hearts. It is a delusion because the actions are completely opposite to the peace of mind which they treasure so much. Actions speak louder than words.

善知识，自性能含万法是大，万法在诸人性中。若见一切人恶之与善，尽皆不取不舍，亦不染著，心如虚空，名之为大，故曰‘摩诃’。

A spirituality awaken person has the immense capacity to accommodate all schools of thoughts. The common definitions of right and wrong are not accepted as the truths but also not rejected as falsehoods. The reason being he has no body for the dirt to attach to him.

善知识，凡夫即佛，烦恼即菩提。前念迷即凡夫，后念悟即佛。前念著境即烦恼，后念离境即菩提。

Ordinary person and the Buddha are the same entity. Mental suffering and awakening happen at the same space. In the past moment, you were an ordinary person if you have a crowded mind. In the next moment, you can become the Buddha if you are enlightened. In the past moment, you have desire and attachment, therefore you have mental suffering. In the next moment, if you let go of everything, you are awaken. Everyone is able to do it; so do you.  It is a matter of whether you are willing and ready to do it.

若起邪迷，妄念颠倒，外善知识虽有教授，救不可得。若起正真般若观照，一刹那间，妄念俱灭；若识自性，一悟即至佛地。

If the heart is evil and the mind is crowded, truth and falsehood are misplaced due to ego; the person cannot be saved from his mental suffering even with a ton of sacred texts and numerous kind teachers. If a person choose to look inward, it is possible for him to eliminate the ego in split second. When he is awakened to his true self, the enlightenment will propel him straight to the land of the Buddha.

法即无顿渐， 迷悟有迟疾；

There is nothing wrong with the sacred texts, and there are no such ways for gradual enlightenment versus ways for spontaneous enlightenment.  There are only fast and slow attainments of enlightenment depending on a person’s making.

说即虽万般， 合理还归一；

There are many different ways to teach the truth, but the final conclusion is the same. There is only one ultimate truth.

若真修道人， 不见世间过； 若见他人非， 自非却是左。

If you truly want to become a spiritually awaken Buddhist, you will not see anything wrong with the world. Everything is perfectly imperfect as it supposed to be. You will not DESIRE to assess the quality of any religious group. If you judge someone to have done something wrong, you are wrong yourself, because you disturb your own peace instead of making peace with yourself. Whatever happens to the society or the religion is beyond your responsibility. Anyway, the society and the religion are more resilient than you think they are. The more you DESIRE to defend them, the more you are doing damage to them, because you are indirectly telling the world that they are weak and need defending. And it is egoistic to think that you must be the one to do it instead of someone else. Your defensive actions become offensive to other people. Conversely, if you conduct yourself well and naturally impress the world with your love and exemplary character, you are contributing positively to the religion.

There are ways that are not right but not necessarily wrong. There are ways that are not wrong but not necessarily right. Different religious groups may use different ways of teaching; some are helpful for the enlightenment of the disciples and some are not. The unhelpful ways are not necessarily bad; just like falling down when you were younger was good for your progress. The scars contributed to a stronger and more resilient you; and help you to experience yourself what is helpful and what is not, and become your commonsense. The helpful ways are not necessarily good; just like what over-protections can do to you. If you are not free to make mistakes, not free to fail forward, you are not actually free. You can never levitate yourself to a higher plateau of mind and blissfulness.