Buddhist Articles
Most Venerable Master Hsing Yun
Founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order and Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) in Taiwan
Sacredness in Buddhism….
Buddha claimed that all living beings have the buddha-nature. By admitting that we are buddhas ourselves, we are elevating ourselves to the same status as that of the Buddha, holding the same True-Thusness. Is this not sacred? Is not your reliance on Buddha’s teaching on the Three Dharma Seals, Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, Six Paramitas, the Bodhi Mind, and the Bodhisattva path also sacred? When each of us keeps faith that Humanistic Buddhism will bring harmony, family happiness, a positive mind, and liberation, is this also not sacred? Since Humanistic Buddhism is centered on human beings, the true Buddhist teachings shall carry the aim of finding ultimate happiness by relying on oneself, and the Dharma. Is this not sacred? By reaching out to society and serving the people, are not the great ideals and aspirations of ‘propagating the Dharma to benefit living beings’ and ‘to reach for Buddhahood and at the same deliver living beings’ sacred?. The sounds of the creeks are voices spoken by the Buddha’s broad and long tongue; the mountains are none but manifestations of Buddha’s pure body.’ The Buddha’s Dharma-body has become one with the universe. So where is he not found?” The Buddha is found within faith.
Anthony Liew
Founder & President Regal Lotus Restaurant & Fireproof Coating, New York University MBA; University of Chicago EMBA
Contemplation on the cosmos has been in the human minds over many millennia. Are we alone in the vastness of the universe? Probably not. Although human existence is meager and insignificant in space and time, we still yearn to meet other sentient beings. We can speculate all we want but we do not have a definitive answer in this day and age. So, we continue to contemplate and wonder. Given the size of the universe, logic dictates that it is most improbable only one planet exists with sentient beings. The odds are astronomical if one understands the probabilities and the underlying critical thinking. If one fantoms the idea of other sentient beings in other parts of the universe, it follows that they are at different stages of development. Some are underdeveloped while others are advanced due to different conditions and circumstances. It also follows that those with advanced technology would be able to travel to the far researches of the cosmos. What happens when two cultures meet? The advanced or stronger culture would dominate the other that may result in servitude, possible extinction, or at best assimilated co-existence. Inevitably, it would change the course of development. As an advanced benevolent sentient race, what is the reason for doing so? On the other hand, if a sentient race is belligerent, how would they unite in their development in sharing technologies and resources, let alone travel the cosmos?
Most Venerable Sung Jin Thero
Executive Director of “Paramita” Youth Association of Korea and Vice President of the World Alliance of Buddhists (WAB)
The first step of emptying your mind is to fill it with the right view
The phase ‘emptying’ comes off as something as simple as pouring water out of a cup. But doing it with your mind, instead of plain water could make it the most difficult task in the world. The expression has a specific visual, but the content itself is psychological, and that could render the actual practice very abstract. Also, we are very self-centered, only used to holding onto something we want or like and not very familiar with letting things go. Consequently, there’s a tendency to perceive ‘emptying one’s mind’ as passive and trivial. One of the most popular sutras in Mahayana tradition is Diamond Sutra. It is a very important Sutra to understand and practice what Middle Path (Madhyamapratipad) is and Seon Buddhism. There is a phrase that goes as below:“A disciple should give rise a mind which is no way dependent upon sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensory sensations or any mental conception. A disciple should give rise to a mind which does not attach to anything.” – Diamond Sutra: Chapter 10 This is the phrase that I place the most importance in the Sutra and also the part which lay people have the most difficulty understanding.
Natalina Litvinova
The World’s Famous Scientist, Writer, Peacemaker & Master, Founder of Global Union 2050, Founder of the International Peacekeeping Assembly, President of the International Committee for the Digital Economy BRICS, PhD, Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor
Kids Meditation.….
At the moment we are observing how the picture of the world is changing rapidly. Values and behavior patterns are changing. The habitual living space is blurring its contours and these processes will only grow. Information wars can bring down exchange rates, economic ties and entire states. Each new round of negative information forms clamps and blocks drains humanity emotionally and physically, environmental and man-made disasters force them to look for new places of safe stay on the Planet or act in a mode of extreme scarcity of life resources during a global lockdown. All this is only a material manifestation of the higher transformational processes and is conditioned by the period of humanity’s ascension into the 5th dimension – now it is important to preserve the purity of the soul, emotional stability, desire and courage to live and develop harmoniously, to have positive socialization, to be responsible for the quality of the generation of thought forms as constituent elements of the common meta-space. It is important for each of us to master the skills of self-regulation, to be able to relieve tension and stress at any time, to nourish ourselves with energy. Children grow up and grow up next to us, they are active observers of our development. Strange as it may sound, but the volume of psycho-emotional load in children is several times greater. Absolutely all difficult life situations that family members live in fully concern children, but their situation is aggravated by the fact that they cannot change anything, affect the course of the event. Divorce of parents, death of loved ones, new spouses of parents, the birth of a second child in the family, moving, which entails changing schools and friends, and much more is always a serious burden in childhood.
