..續本文上一頁 with the deepest sense of gratitude said, “Master! Your kindness to me is greater even than that of my parents. If you had explained the profound cause to me when I begged you, I would never have reached where I stand today!”
His verse on this occasion runs:
One stroke and all is gone,
No need of stratagem or cure;
Each and every action
Manifests the ancient way.
My spirit is never downcast.
What is this verse saying
It means that upon hearing the sound of the earthenware hitting the bamboo, his mind”s duality of grasping and grasped vanished completely at that instant. No more does he need the support of external practices, as his every act of walking, sitting, standing, or lying down is in accord with the Truth. He has freed himself from the concepts of labeling and designation. Hereafter he stayed on at Xiangyan Monastery and his Dharma teachings flourished.
In history, Xiangyan Monastery had two sections, the upper one and the lower one, located about 15 kilometers apart. Unfortunately, the lower section was submerged by water in the 20th century, near the end of the ”60s as a result of water persion. Its two pagodas built in the Tang Dynasty, each more than 10-stories tall and made of lapis lazuli, were also demolished during the inundation of the land from the reservoir. Nowadays, only the upper section remains.
I used to take great inspiration from the legend of Master Xiangyan. Just imagine, by merely hearing a sound, he became enlightened. How enviable it is! In the world today, misery pervades more than merriness; still, everyone wants happiness, and no one likes suffering. Now you also have your share of various pressures, it is only when you reach the state of enlightenment that all your afflictions will disappear completely.
I. The sullied mind of today
1. Current pressure from all sides
Among young people today, those who did well in entrance exams and were admitted to universities should be the happy and contented elite. But surveys showed that they are not above pain either, which they kept to themselves. Basically, there are three major sources of pressure felt by college students: love, human interactions, and related to jobs. One university did a psychological analysis on its students and the statistics revealed that 32% of their students” pressure comes from their love life, 27% from interpersonal relationships, 25% from job prospects, and the rest are from other sources.
Many students in their freshman or sophomore years hold exalted ideals, but their high hopes gradually erode when they are confronted with the harsh reality as time goes on, and then they abandon themselves to wanton ways and waste their prime youth. Worse, instead of learning useful knowledge in college, they pick up something harmful. For instance, many female students use their computers mainly for playing DVDs, and male students, for playing video games. Each day they are “partying on campus” rather than “studying on campus.” Slumbering away their golden years in college, there is no way for them to graduate as truly competent youth. Consequently, they have no right to complain about their school or criticize society if they ended up jobless.
2. The severe case of money worshiping
In this age, many young people worship money, whether they are in or out of school. They only wish to make tons of money and there are no other pursuits than this burning desire. They are the kind of people described by the Buddha as “the confused fool, whose mind is controlled by circumstances.” Once the mind is dictated by external factors, all subsequent actions will be in disarray.
Actually, money will always elude those who love money to the extreme. As one craves for more and more, one is satisfied with less and less. But in reality we do …
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