Good Buddhist

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

A good Buddhist is first and foremost a happy soul. You must feel happy first before you can possibly make someone else happy. Only then, you will have the energy to wish, every minute of the day, that everybody is happy every minute of the day; like what I am doing now: I just want you to be happy, and the thinking of any form of return or reciprocation never occur to me — Dana or unconditional love (不住相布施,其福德不可思量). Don’t think about benefit when you are giving; this is how to gain the greatest benefit. (Of course, if you are talking about doing business, you have to think about your bottom-line.)

The health of the society and the world is not your responsibility. Never feel sad for whatever happens in the society and the world. If you are happy, you are reducing one suffering soul in the world. That itself is a great contribution to the society and the world. There will be no tree to bear fruit if a seed was never planted in the Earth; there will be no tree if there was no rain and other essential elements for the shoot to grow. Similarly, everything happens due to a multitude of reasons. You didn’t make it happens; it wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t your credit either. Of course, do what you can to help the poor shoot to grow (众善奉行名为慧); this is one good wisdom. A better wisdom is to have no delusion(心地无痴自性慧); don’t be deluded to think that you can change the world single-handedly. It is also arrogant to think that you must be the one, and not someone else, to effect any change in the society and the world.

You don’t really need much material to feel happy. If you realize that you already have abundance, you can immediately feel happy at this instant. You can live selflessly. Selflessness is the greatest selfishness, because you don’t need to rely on anything to gain your happiness. Furthermore, you are happy to be in a position to give, rather than take. The common people tend to feel happy only when they receive something, in cash or in kind; commonsense is not always right. That is why they are common; good things are rare, but common things are not necessarily bad. An enlightened person knows that the opposite is equally true; giving can be more satisfying than taking. The common people need to always remind themselves not to commit Akusala Karma (诸恶莫作名为戒). If you never think about gaining any benefit, for yourself or your love ones, how would any malevolent motive arises in your heart (心地无非自性戒)? An enlightened person will naturally never do anything wrong due to the lack of motive; he does not need to remind himself of any precept and yet do no wrong.

Not thinking about benefit does not necessarily mean you will not receive any benefit. Receiving benefit is not necessarily bad; giving is also not necessarily good. Giving the wrong things, or giving good things to the wrong people, can be unhelpful. However, you should never worry about the future, or anticipate troubles. Remind yourself to stay calm no matter what happens (自净其意名为定). Better still, learn to see reality as it is and not what you wish it to be (心地无乱自性定), and you will never need to sit down or close your eyes in order to stay calm.

Leadership by example is the best. If you are happy, and you always wish everybody is as happy as you are, you will inspire everybody around you. That is the best Buddhist you can be.