There was a Buddhist student who typed the "The Diamond Sutra" word by word on a word document and then printed it out, making a total of ten pages. The divisions between pages are naturally separated according to the text order, and are not divided into paragraphs according to the content of the scriptures. In this way, the first word on the ninth page happens to be the word "切" which means"cut" (but "一切"means "ALL"), because the original text of this verse is "If you practice ALL good Dharma with no self phase, no people phase, no living beings phase and no longevity phase, you will achieve Anuttarasamyaksambodhi." The page is just between "一" and "切". This man continued to read this sutra every day, one page at a time. It is worth mentioning: "Whenever he finishes reading the eighth page, on the day when he should read the ninth page, this person will encounter difficult things, physical, mental, small and big, and in severe cases, it will feel like his heart is being cut." At first, this person felt very strange and scared, so every time he read page 8, he wanted to read to page ten in one go, hoping to skip the word "切". But later, after reading it more often, this person thought: "Is the feeling of being cut by a knife every time the reason why I changed my past sins from heavy punishment to light punishment? If so, Why run away?" So later, after this person reads the end of page 8, he will calmly close the book and wait for the next day. Moreover, this person also believed in the scriptures very much. One of the verses clearly stated, "If a good man or a good woman accepts, upholds, reads and recites this Buddhist sutra, if he/she is despised, if this person has committed sins in his/her previous life and should have fallen into an evil path, because the fate of many people today is originally despicable, then the sins of his/her previous life will be eliminated, this person will achieve Anuttarasamyaksambodhi." Later, this person read more, and felt that "All phases are not Absolute Existence. All sentient beings are not sentient beings." This sentence is indeed the truth. It may be difficult to understand this meaning without "skin-piercing pain". Therefore, by telling this story, I urge everyone to persist in reading Buddhist scriptures, from not knowing cause and effect to knowing cause and effect, from fearing retribution to dealing with it calmly, and from dealing with it calmly to understanding the true meaning. Everything requires a process. A Buddhist scripture or a word is all an opportunity. Amitabha.
All sentient beings have sins, and we should always forgive them.
Come with your heart, go with your heart
Śakra (God in charge of the thirty-third heaven) once asked Shakyamuni Buddha about the method of eradicating desire. The Buddha's disciple Maudgalyayana (the first in supernatural power) came to Thirty-Three Heavens and wanted to discuss the Buddha's teachings with Śakra. However, Śakra said that he was surrounded by goddesses singing and dancing, and his ears were filled with fairy music. As for the method of eradicating desire described by Shakyamuni Buddha, he asked the Venerable Maudgalyayana to ask the Buddha himself. Śakra also said that a new palace had been built in the sky and he invited the Venerable Maudgalyayana to visit it. In order to remind Śakra that everything is impermanent and should not be greedy, the Venerable Maudgalyayana used his magical power to shake the heavenly palace. At this time, the immortals realized their previous greed for pleasure in the swinging palace. From this point of view, people cannot stay in good times for a long time, otherwise they will be greedy for pleasure without realizing it, and they will not be able to correctly understand the impermanence of all things. People cannot stay in trouble for a long time, otherwise they will be obsessed with getting out of trouble and will not be able to correctly understand the truth that all phenomena are empty. Therefore, according to the records in the book: Among the four major continents in the world, Uttarakuru is full of rich material enjoyment, so it has no chance to understand Buddhism, and it has become a de facto "disaster for spiritual evolution." However, in the Jambudvipa continent to which we humans belong, there are both good and evil, and a mixture of pain and joy. It is easy for people to feel guilty and understand the truth of impermanence. On the contrary, due to relatively low material enjoyment, they have the opportunity to understand Buddhism and become a de facto "Blessed Land of Spiritual Evolution". At the same time, the book says: All Buddhas can only become Buddhas in the human world, and neither the heavenly realm, the Asura realm, nor the evil realms can achieve Buddhahood. "The Ekottara Āgama" says: "All Buddhas and World-Honored Ones come from the human world and are not obtained from heaven." Our human body is a tool for practice, also called a "Buddhism tool." The path of heaven and the path of asuras have great blessings and little pain and troubles., the living beings there are easily addicted to the blessings and do not want to practice. The three realms of animals, hungry ghosts and hell have too much suffering and have no time to practice. Only in the human world, where suffering and happiness are intermingled, can people have the pursuit and yearning to escape suffering and gain happiness, and it is easy to succeed in practice. "Vimalakirti Sutra" says: "Buddha's kingdom and Buddha's land rely on living beings. Without living beings, there would be no Buddha. To seek for Buddha without the masses, there is no Buddha." The Sixth Patriarch even said: "Buddha Dharma exists in all living beings In this world, Only by not leaving this world can you become enlightened , if you leave this world and seek Bodhi, it’s like looking for a rabbit’s horns.” Therefore: good times and bad times are all to increase the upper boundary. When troubles appear, it shows the impermanence of all things. It is also the best reminder to "cultivate the unobstructed Dharma and purify one's mind."
At the home of Liu Shiyu, a scholar in Cangzhou, a study room was occupied by a fox spirit. This vixen conversed with people in broad daylight, throwing tiles and stones to hit them, but its shape could not be seen. Dong Siren, a plain man who served as the magistrate of the state, was a good official. After hearing about this incident, he personally came to drive away the fox spirit. Just as he was talking about the different paths between humans and monsters, suddenly a loud voice came from the eaves and said: "As an official, you care about the people very much and don't make money, so I don't dare to hit you. But you care about the people for the sake of good reputation, you don’t want to make money because you are afraid of future troubles, so I won’t avoid you. Sir, let it go and don’t talk too much and ask for trouble.” Dong Siren went back in embarrassment, feeling scared and depressed for several days. Liu Shiyu had a maid who was thick and clumsy, but she was not afraid of the vixen, and the vixen would not beat her. Someone asked about this while talking to the vixen. The fox spirit said: "Although she is a humble servant, she is a truly filial woman. Even ghosts and gods will retreat when they see her, let alone us!" Liu Shiyu asked the maid to live in this room. Here, the vixen left on the same day.
During the Song Dynasty, Pan Hua, the magistrate of Zhuji County (now a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Zhejiang Province), practiced the Samantabhadra Repentance and banned people from fishing. Later, he was ordered to serve as an official in the capital. Before leaving, he dreamed of tens of thousands of fish in the river. They all cried and said, "Sir, you are about to leave office. We fish will inevitably be cooked and killed in the future." Their cries moved the sky, and Pan Hua was surprised. After waking up, he wrote a "Dream of Fish", instructing subsequent county magistrates, hoping that they would also continue to ban fishing.
Purify one's mind with the Dharma which has no obstacle
Among the monks' precepts, the biggest sins are: adultery, stealing, killing, and telling lies.