..续本文上一页eciation we would feel good. Acting rightly or well doesn”t hurt anyone; it only brings benefits. Even if we don”t directly benefit from it, we should not feel jealous, because it is a form of kilesa that would only make us feel miserable. On the other hand, if we congratulate and show our admiration, we would be happy. Acting rightly or well is like waves in the ocean that will eventually hit the shore, sooner or later the benefits will eventually come to us. When someone in the community acts rightly or well, the community as a whole would gain by making it safe and peaceful and will benefit. It becomes a good, peaceful community. When the community is peaceful, we who live there will benefit from that. Therefore, when we see someone acting rightly or well we should show our support and admiration.
To serve others is quite obvious, so there”s no need to go into further detail.
Humility or modesty is a virtue that can only endear us to others; as opposed to arrogance, which can only generate aversion. If we still need the support and goodwill of other people and don”t want to be isolated, we should be humble and modest.
To have right or correct view is to understand the law of nature or the truth that governs our existence, such as attahi attano nadho, we are our own refuge because we are the one who makes us happy or sad, good or bad. When we realize this, we would know how to live happily and prosperously, because we know that by acting rightly or well we would be happy, and by acting wrongly or badly we would be miserable.
If we believe this law of nature and act wholesomely and meritoriously we would gain happiness and a favorable outcome. If we don”t, but still act wholesomely, we would also reap the same benefit. But if we don”t believe and act unwholesomely we would surely gain an unfavorable outcome. If we believe we would definitely not dare to misbehave or do wrong. Believers would benefit from this law of nature while non-believers would not because they would rather misbehave. Driven by the domineering kilesa such as greed, anger and delusion, they would rather act wrongly or badly since they don”t believe in heaven or hell, in rebirth and in reaping the fruits of their kamma in a future life.
This is due to having the wrong view of the law of nature that would propel them to endless rounds of rebirth and ceaseless pain and suffering resulting from their unwholesome actions, because of their inability to get rid of greed, anger and delusion. On the other hand, those who have the right view of the truth would know that it is their unwholesome kamma that generates the unfavorable consequences that they themselves would have to bear. They would then act rightly and well because they wouldn”t like to reap the undesirable outcome. By continuing to act wholesomely and meritoriously, their minds would gradually advance until reaching the same level that the Buddha and his noble disciples have achieved
To listen to a Dhamma talk is a very profitable experience because the Dhamma is like a light in the dark that will dispel the delusion in our mind that blind us from the truth. There are no benefits to be gained from associating with those who are similarly deluded. We should instead stick with those who are not deluded, like the Buddha and his noble disciples who have acquired the light of Dhamma that makes them know right from wrong, good from bad. If we regularly listen to their Dhamma teaching, we would gain knowledge, wisdom and insight that would make us do only what”s good and right and would generate good and favorable outcome. For these reasons listening to a Dhamma talk is another way to make merits
Teaching Dhamma to others is another way of making merits. If we know some Dhamma, however little, we sho…
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