Near a Forest, a River, or a Brook

 

Among the followers of the Buddha, including lay practitioners, there were Buddhas of the past and great bodhisattvas. They manifested as ordinary people but were actually saints. The Essentials says: “The sound-hearers were listed first because they assumed the appearance of one who has renounced the world, because they always followed the Buddha, and because the spreading of the Dharma depends on the Sangha.” The sound-hearers always appeared as monastics who had renounced the world, but the bodhisattvas did not always appear as such. Most bodhisattvas had the appearance of lay people. The bodhisattvas did not always follow the Buddha but the sound-hearers did because they had not completed their study. The sound-hearers were bhiksus, and bhiksus were students of the Buddha who had not completed their study and thus needed to constantly follow the teacher. The bodhisattvas had completed their study and could thus leave the teacher’s side.

There was no set place for the Buddha to teach. Where did he teach? In a forest, by a river, or near a brook. There were no buildings or any facilities. They slept under the trees and ate one meal a day before noon. They lived in the wilderness. When the kings and ministers heard about the Buddha, they were full of admiration and sincerely wanted the Buddha to live in their countries to teach. The Buddha accorded with the conditions and went wherever people invited him. He was able to spread his teachings to a large area and to truly benefit all beings. The bodhisattvas also went everywhere to teach. Because there were many places where the Buddha was invited to teach and because he could not go to all of them, sometimes the sound-hearers were sent out to teach on his behalf. After teaching for a period, the students would come back, and other students would be sent.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

Comments

[Anybody]

So let me see if i undersand correctly. (This really is a question.) The training that is to be understood is or could be that all things are impermanent. They are impermanent because they eventually wear away don't last because we tire of them and want or desire or crave something new to play with using any of our five senses. This would include almost everything sex, friends, food, studying abroad or in your own backyard, except chanting. Chanting goes with us we carry it or it carries us. The training would include that because everything is impermanent we hardly grasp at things or people or ideas or desires, or wishes. Though we do the foot work to make these things happen but if they don't work out we just let go and try somethng else or just be.

Second part is love and compassion or at least could be love and compassion. Now this is the kicker how work it (it being love and compassion). Love and compassion are so subltle so many people are programmed to race at lightening speed they miss the love and compassion and mistake it for something else. The other part of love and compassion is for ourselves. Yes we are puss and puke but be are also Buddhas underneath it all. Tapping the love tree. Now that is a lesson of a life time of concentration and right effort.

The question Venerable is how to tap the tree of love and share it and keep it ticking.

anybody

[Venerable Wuling]

Anybody,

We tap the tree through practice (living morally and chanting) and learning. Learning helps us know what is really going on and why. Chanting slows us down mentally, emotionally, and physically. Living morally and being concerned about others makes us more aware of what we and others are feeling. We learn to notice what makes us happy (behaving wisely) or unhappy (knee-jerk reactions from pride and emotions).

Gradually, we see the futility of the knee-jerk reactions and with determination work at practicing what we have learned. It takes a lot of practice, but slowly we will "tap the tree."

[anybody]

Thank you for your generosity of time in answering my question thoughtfully.

anybody

[Venerable Wuling]

anybody - you're most welcome.