He came to invite you to his house for...
He came to invite you to his house for breakfast'said the guest, and then he remembered that in the Great Compassion Mantra, there is a line 'Dou Shu Peng'Yes!' he exclaimed, 'I do have such a friendI was just on my way to meet him'"
Master Hsuan Hua/Dharani: 6
PARABLE 051: FLEETING PLEASURES
Buddha Sakyamuni compared sentient beings chasing after the fleeting pleasures of this world to a child licking honey off a sharp knifeThere is no way they can avoid hurting themselves and ultimately others as wellEditor: na
PARABLE 052: FLEXIBILITY IN CULTIVATION (DEDICATION OF MERIT)
"A novice once told the author that in his dreams, from time to time he would see some thirty to forty persons armed with knives and spears coming at him, striking and slashing him all overIn his daily practice, he would diligently recite mantras, alternating between the Great Compassion Dharani and the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara Mantra, without success, as each time he recited either mantra a few times, he would develop a headache which lasted the whole dayHe sought medical treatment to relieve these symptoms, to no availKnowing that his karma gucci backpack was heavy, the novice vowed to bow to the three thousand Buddhas in repentanceHowever, when he entered the main Buddha hall, he saw a huge, tall, fierce-looking man, who approached him and pushed him to the floor, preventing him from bowingFor this reason, he came to see the author, weeping in anguish, and asked, 'the sutras teach repentance and cultivation to extinguish bad karma, but if you are prevented from repenting and cultivating, what else are you expected to do?' This author pondered for a momentHe reflected that the novice must have committed a heavy 'killing' karma, and been responsible for many deaths in past livesMoreover, he knew that the Great Compassion Dharani and the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara Mantra had a powerful, beneficial effect, while vowing to bow to the three thousand Buddhas was an all-encompassing, lofty resolutionIn this case, however, the novice had made the mistake of just praying and thinking of himself alone, forgetting those whom he had wronged in past lifetimesMoreover, he was not being flexible in cultivationThis is not unlike a debilitated person suffering a heavy bout of influenzaHe seamaster de ville should take a mild analgesic, to recover little by little
