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Tzu chi and master Chen yen.
hermitwin
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Before Sundarananda became a monk, he was a prince and enjoyed a life of pleasure and comfort. His was an indulged existence, full of beautiful women, material luxuries, and worldly amusements.
After the Buddha attained enlightenment, he wished to share universal truths with his kinsmen, so that they would not continue to live blindly in pursuit of transient pleasures. He went back to his country to expound the Dharma, upon which many members of the royal family decided to join his monastic order. One of them was Sundarananda.
Though Sundarananda left the royal life to follow the Buddha in spiritual practice, the change in lifestyle did not bring an immediate change in mentality. Accustomed to a life of luxury and comfort, he still preferred fine things even after becoming a monk. While other monks wore robes patched together from coarse cloth, Sundarananda wore fine robes of quality fabric. His alms bowl was a very elegant one, and when going out for alms, he enjoyed being noticed among the other monks. He would proudly tell people he met that he was the Buddha's half-brother.
As this was not the way a monk should conduct himself, the other monks told the Buddha about Sundarananda's behavior. When the Buddha learned of this, he called Sundarananda to him and asked him if he truly behaved as the other monks described. Sundarananda admitted as much.
The Buddha told Sundarananda, "Now that you are a monk, you should not behave so. This is not the way of spiritual cultivation. You ought to repent deeply, and from now on change completely in your behavior. Wear a patched robe like the other monks. When going for alms, go to the houses of the poor. You take pride in being my half-brother; so you ought to practice even more diligently than others."
The Buddha then advised Sundarananda to consider that all people die one day, whether rich or poor. The body is then buried in a graveyard, eventually becoming nothing but a pile of bones. The Buddha told Sundarananda to go to a graveyard and meditate on this. "If you mindfully contemplate this," the Buddha said, "you will be able to purify your heart."
Sundarananda took the Buddha's words to heart and began to practice in this way, leaving the monastery to cultivate on his own. Sometime later, Sundarananda returned to the Buddha. Attired in a patched robe, his entire demeanor had completely changed.
During his time away from the monastery, Sundarananda had diligently practiced day and night, his mind focused on only one thing—spiritual cultivation. He no longer thought about women or his former life of pleasure and comfort. When he ate, he did so moderately, without being picky about his food. Practicing in this way, his heart gradually became more and more pure. Over time, Sundarananda completely overcame his desire.
With such perseverance of practice, Sundarananda became the most spiritually enlightened among the monks who had come from a privileged background. Though his life as a prince had caused him to develop conceit and desire for material pleasures, after practicing as the Buddha taught, he was able to eliminate these unwholesome habitual tendencies.
"We must truly be on guard, and live each day with a sense of piety and vigilance. The disasters happening now are not isolated events. Nature is already out of balance."
"We mustn't think, 'It happened in Japan. That's a different country. It has little to do with me.' We all live under the same sky and on the same land. Oceans may separate us, but underneath the oceans, the land is still connected. We may be situated on different tectonic plates, but each plate impacts the other—how can we really say we are separate? Everything is interlinked."
"People today are well-educated, but despite their knowledge, people remain ignorant of life's principles. Mother Earth is already overburdened; each disaster is a wake-up call showing the signs of her distress. All of us must truly awaken, reflect, and make changes in our lifestyles. At this time, we really need to pray for our world. I hope everyone will do this most sincerely by taking up the vegetarian fast and abstaining from meat which will help mitigate global warming."
Metta,
their actions make the world a better place.
and they are bringing good publicity and image to Buddhism