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Dear
Friends,
After his
Enlightenment, Shakyamuni preached Buddhism for
forty-nine years. During this time, in more than three
hundred meetings of his Sangha, he expounded the Dharma.
Sometimes he preached from heaven, sometimes he preached
on earth, and sometimes he preached from the silence of
the Bo Tree in the solitary garden.
The Buddha
lived in northeast India, in an area around the Ganges
River; and from there he preached the Dharma so that we
human beings could attain Enlightenment; gain wisdom;
purge ourselves of the poisons of greed, anger, and
folly; understand the consequences of sin; distinguish
the difference between good and evil; distinguish the
difference between kindness and cruelty; know right from
wrong, and be guided out of the tormenting darkness
towards kindness and light.
The
honorable Shakyamuni preached a Way of Life which he
categorized into Five Principles and Practices: Training
in virtuous conduct; training in concentration and
meditation; training in transcendent understanding or
wisdom; the attainment of emancipation; and the realized
state of Buddhahood.
If any
person carefully disciplines himself by following these
five facets of the Way, he can turn himself into a
Buddha.
But first
he must become a good human being.
The person
who begins to follow the Path must take care to observe
the ten benevolences. Adhering to these principles, he
will build himself a firm foundation and then, having
achieved this, he may select any method or area of
Buddhist study, whichever suits him best. There is an
old saying: "The building that stands a hundred feet
high has at the ground a good and firm foundation."
By
disciplining himself in the Ten Benevolences, a person
can obtain kind thoughts, good conduct, and high moral
behavior. The good individual will affect the society in
which he lives; the good society will affect the nation;
and the good nation will affect the whole world. If
everyone practices the Ten Benevolences we'd have
harmonious families, orderly societies, and a peaceful
world. Therefore, urging people to practices the Ten
Benevolent deeds is the most basic task for Buddhists.
This will also help to provide safeguards for society in
ways that even laws cannot provide.
We say
that Shakyamuni Buddha preached the Ten Benevolent deeds
to the family of the Dragon King at the Dragon Palace,
and this is what he taught.
1. We must
be kind to animals. We may not slaughter them.
2. We must
respect other people's property. There can be no
stealing.
3. We must
keep our actions wholesome. There can be no lewdness.
4. We must
guard our speech against lying. We must not break the
promises we make, and we must be truthful and
trustworthy. Also, we must guard against making vain,
prideful or frivolous statements.
5. We must
guard our speech against gossip and slander and causing
trouble between people.
6. We must
guard our speech against using harsh language and making
rude or insulting statements, or uttering profanities.
7. We must
guard our speech against lewd, "flower talk"
expressions; and other vulgar or suggestive expressions.
8. We must
be generous and guard against being greedy.
9. We must
purge our hearts of hatred and anger.
10. We
must not think evil of people.
The first
three of these benevolent deeds are related to body; the
next four are specifically related to our speech; and
the last three are related to our mind.
Wherever
the honorable Shakyamuni spoke, he always emphasized
kindness to animals. He saw the killing of animals as
being alien to the Buddhist way of life. Animals have
feelings - they can feel pleasure and pain - and they
have cognitive abilities, too. Human being share with
animals a fear of death and a desire to live and to
reproduce their own kind. Is it not the instinct of
animals to resist being harmed? Do they not strive to
protect themselves when they are threatened? Do they not
grieve when their mates or young ones are killed? They
have spiritual selves, too, and when they are angered or
saddened their spirits cry out for justice. Especially
when a human being who can think and reason and foster
peaceful life in all his actions chooses instead to be
cruel and to slaughter helpless creatures, there is
great suffering. It is as terrible to be war-like and
filled with cruel contempt as it is to be the victim of
such cruelty. But it is the one who sins who must face
the consequences.
The sin
remains in the sinner's heart and will punish him in
several ways. The mild punishment is that it will cause
the sinner to become physically ill. The severe
punishment will continue after his earthly death.
According to the Di Zhang Scripture, "If you see someone
slaughtering animals, you should tell him that he will
shorten his own life." Therefore, a person who wants to
be a good Buddhist must not kill. And more, he must
strive to set free animals that he has held for
slaughter.
The Lin
Yin Scripture says, "If the whole world of human beings
stopped killing animals, the bitter circle of life and
death will not be continued. The man who will not stop
slaughtering animals will never be able to free himself
from this troubled world."
From the
Scriptures we learn that people who eat meat are unkind
and bring unkindness upon themselves. The sins that they
commit return to them, shortening their lives, troubling
their minds, and making them act in angry ways that
create enemies for them.
You may
ask, "What are the benefits of refusing to kill
animals?" And the answer is that you will have a kind
look on your face. You will be thoughtful and whatever
you do will be successful. Evil and bad luck will stay
far away from you. Contented, your luck will always be
good." God will bless you for your kindness.
Another
Scripture says that by refraining from killing animals,
you will gain ten benefits:
1. You
will fear nothing in your life.
2. You
will always have a kind and happy feeling in your mind.
3. You
will free your heart from hatred.
4. You
will not get sick.
5. You
will have long life.
6. You
will always be protected by a heavenly god.
7. You
will never have nightmares.
8. You
will have no enemies, and all your problems will be
easily solved by yourself.
9. No evil
thing can harm you.
10. At the
end of your life you will enter heaven.
The Second
Benevolence is not to steal.
Whatever
does not belong to you, you should not take for if you
do, you are a thief. You may not take public property
and treasure for your own. You may not use force to rob
people or to steal from them in stealth. You may not
profit from your job illegally, or cheat in management,
or even plot to cheat. You may not sell drugs or smuggle
illegal merchandise and cheat in paying duty or tax. All
of these are illegal ways to get money. Anything that
does not belong to you, you should not keep for
yourself.
Consider
what may happen if you steal from someone or cause him
to lose his property. You may cause him great despair;
and he may become ill from having lost what you have
taken. Sometimes the despair will remain with him for
the rest of his life. Now, the person who steals doesn't
believe in the consequence of sin. He is so deep in sin
that he believes that the treasure he has obtained
illegally will be with him for a long time; but it will
not be. He thinks that he will enjoy his fortune for a
long time, but he will cease to enjoy it in a very short
time. Sooner than he thinks, in the very near future, he
will get sick, perhaps by a strange kind of malady, one
that even may prove incurable. He may find that the
fortune he stole has been stolen by someone else, or he
may find that his own son will foolishly squander his
fortune. The consequences of his theft will always be
there. Punishment is like a net from heaven that covers
him, and he has no way to get away from what he has
done.
The Di
Zhang Scripture says, "If you meet a thief you should
tell him that he will face poverty and suffering at the
end." Sooner or later we have to pay back the debts we
incur.
Buddhism
teaches us that we should not steal.
The Third
Benevolence is to be free of lewdness.
Buddhists
are persons who belong to heaven. A man and a woman who
are married and committed to each other's welfare are
the ones who should produce the new generation.
Whatever
happens outside of marriage is considered lewdness. Such
lewdness is harmful to society because it is immoral
conduct. If a husband is unfaithful to his wife or if a
wife is unfaithful to her husband, there is damage to
the family. This damage may cause the family to be
destroyed, harming the innocent children. Man's law and
God's law will punish the person who commits this sin.
Dear
friends, a Buddhist should never be lewd in thought,
word or deed.
The Fourth
Benevolence is to refrain from lying.
Any word
that comes out from your mouth is something that
represents your mind and heart. Making a false statement
such as reversing right and wrong, or making up a story
that will scare the public, or making other
irresponsible statements is sinful. You must always keep
your word, too. If, for example, you come to your job,
promising to perform your work in exchange for pay, and
then accept pay without having actually done your job,
you have broken your word. And if you then make vain
statements about your lofty position, you have also
violated the Fourth Benevolence.
The Fifth
Benevolence is to refrain from "double talk."
"Double
talk" tries to separate people by causing trouble
between them. You may go to Person A and say bad things
about Person B; and then go to Person B and say bad
things about Person A. Both parties are damaged. You may
think you have served your own interest by causing
trouble between these parties, but you have not. The
punishment for this sin will come back upon you. We have
an old saying in China: "When the Jy bird fights with a
clam, the fisherman gets the profit." Both bird and clam
are caught by the fisherman.
The person
who is "two-faced" or who indulges in "double-talk" has
no morals. His character is poor because causing others
to be angry and to fight each other is a very bad thing
to do. The Di Zhang Scripture says, "If you meet a
person who is making double-talk, you must stop him.
Tell him that in the end he will have no one to praise
him."
Dear
Friends, do not stir up trouble among people. The
trouble you start will only return to harm you. The
Buddha teaches us to never be duplicitous.
The Sixth
Benevolence is to refrain from using profanities and
harsh speech.
A person
who is angry and who has hatred in his heart uses
profanities.
Sometimes
you may find yourself disagreeing with another person.
The disagreement may become an argument and in your
anger you may use profanities or make insulting remarks.
These words show hatred for people, and they show
self-hate too.
People who
insult others are never happy with anyone. People who
have contempt for religion and use profanities find no
comfort in religion. The Buddha teaches us to respect
others and to always speak well of the Dharma. We may
not utter profanities.
The
Seventh Benevolence is to refrain from "flower talk."
The silk
fabric that has flowers printed on it looks beautiful.
People look at the fabric and fall in love with it, they
are enticed by the flowers. This is just like using
'sweet talk' or 'flower talk' to entice someone into
lewdness. Such talk is especially bad when it is used to
stir up the sexual feelings of youngsters. Any type of
speech or literature or even poetry that is intended to
stimulate sexual urges is "flower talk" and must be
avoided.
The Eighth
Benevolence is to refrain from being greedy.
Everyone
depends on money and material things in order to live.
When money is earned honestly, by your own work, you
will be happy and able to enjoy it. But do not be
greedy. Human beings have a tendency to want more and
more, without end. Always they think, "The more, the
better." This is the reason we have wars. A man wants
more and so fights his neighbor. A group of people want
more and so fight with another group of people. A nation
wants ore and so fights with another nation. No one ever
has enough.
But a
Buddhist should be careful not to desire unneeded things
in his life and to know when "enough is enough." As long
as you have enough to survive - food, shelter, and the
other basic comforts of civilization - that is enough.
What is the point in having more of what you have if you
do not enjoy what you already have. A person who is
contented within himself will always be happy, but the
greedy person, though he amass a great fortune, will
never be contented and happy. He will always want to
strive for more.
The Buddha
teaches us to beware of being greedy.
The Ninth
Benevolence is to refrain from hatred and anger.
A person
becomes discontented with life because things are not
going his way. He then becomes hateful and angry.
We live in
a world that is not always fair. Sometimes, although we
truly deserve a promotion, it is another less-deserving
worker who is promoted and we feel terrible jealousy and
anger. Perhaps we work hard but through no fault of our
own we may be in danger of losing our job. Our company
may go out of business or move away. We are distressed
and look for someone to blame for our trouble. We do not
understand why
things are
going wrong in our life and instead of trying to find
solutions to our problems, we try to find people to
blame. The Hua Yen Scripture says, "Once you feel anger,
the anger you have created will follow you." Hatred and
anger bring all kinds of evil behavior.
A Buddhist
should have patience. He should keep a peaceful mind, a
loving and caring mind, a soft and kind mind towards
others. The Buddha teaches us not to allow anger and
hatred into our heart.
The Tenth
Benevolence is to refrain from thinking evil thoughts.
People who
use their intelligence to produce harmful theories and
ideas are thinking evil thoughts. We often think that
people who create these evil theories and ideas are
ignorant and are quite stupid. But this is not always
so. These people may be highly educated - it is just
that they do not believe in the consequence of sin. They
do not believe that kindness is the reward of kind
people. They do not believe that evil is the reward of
evil people. They think that after the death of a person
there is no communication between the dead person and
the person he has harmed. They think that the end of a
person's life is like the vanishing of a lamp's light.
The flesh turns to dust that the wind blows away. The
bones turn to the clay of the earth. They think there is
no consequence of sin, therefore they are free to
oppress people. But the evil thoughts that they have
created remain in their mind and haunt their spirit.
They will never find rest.
A Buddhist
should not scheme or devise harmful theories and ideas.
Dear
Friends, if you discipline yourselves to observe these
Ten Benevolences you will create a peaceful mind. You
will never be angry and discontented and you will always
feel blessed. You'll have good behavior and you'll get
along well with all your friends.
Chanting
scripture and respecting the Buddha will help you to
obtain these accomplishments. You will have a nice
appearance, and evil will stay away from you. Everything
that you see now as ugly will become beautiful to you.
Your life
will be lived in heaven.
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