Embracing
Sentient Beings
•Guru's
Talk•
Translated
and Edited by True Buddha Foundation Translation Team
The Buddhist teachings state:
Unconditional, limitless
kindness.
Undifferentiated, great
compassion.
Such is the spirit of universal
love. Among the bodhisattvas, Guan Yin is the most well known
for her great kindness and great compassion. Everyone is aware
of her efforts to liberate sentient beings from their pain and
suffering.
I remember during my youth when I
first started to believe in Buddhism, I bought a statue of
Guan Yin from the Chung He Building in Taichung (which has
since been demolished).
After returning to my platoon
camp, I placed it by the window, put my palms together, and
paid homage to her. (At that time, I was ignorant of the art
of Feng Shui.)
Surprisingly, Guan Yin appeared
to me that very night, sitting on a lotus floating on the
ocean. It was a great spiritual response!
Whenever the officer made his
rounds of inspection, I would remove the Guan Yin statue from
the window and hide it in the closet. But this Bodhisattva did
not take it to heart, such is the heart of great kindness and
great compassion of the bodhisattva.
In fact, I find myself
regretfully lacking in my accumulation of merit and wisdom,
even though I have spent the last thirty years delivering
sentient beings. I feel that I am still very ignorant and
foolish, hopelessly playing the role of a Mr. Good Guy.
To be honest, my karma is heavy
and it is hard to burn off. But within me, I have always
wanted to embrace sentient beings and deliver them from their
sufferings. As I am accepting offerings from the sentient
beings, of course I must be willing to offer all of my
“Buddha’s wisdom life” to them!
I want to embrace my disciples,
embrace all sentient beings as though they are a part of me. I
wish that sentient beings will—
Have blessings,
Have wisdom,
Have the pure light,
Be grateful and repay the
gratitude to [other] sentient beings.
I have written a poem:
Why do I keep reminiscing about
the past
Born in the same place
Die in the same place
It is because throughout the
three hundred and sixty-five days of the year
Every day I embrace them all
I do not need sentient beings’
consolation
And I do not need [their]
validation and support
[Because] Naturally, after all,
this is the primary will and responsibility of a bodhisattva
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