Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra,Excerpt Thirty-five

In worldly matters, people alternate harming one another. Retribution may not occur right away. One should see through to this reality as soon as possible.

The people in this world do not understand this truth and they take revenge over and over, back and forth. They have a strong desire for vengeance. Revenge may not happen right away, but we should know that when an enmity is created, sooner or later revenge will come.

Therefore, we should see through [retribution] and let go [of enmity]. We should completely change from within.

This excerpt alerts us to guard against disasters—not just natural disasters but, more importantly, man-made ones. We may not be experiencing a disaster now but we should be far-sighted and look into the future. This way, we will know how to deal with matters at this present moment. There is a Chinese saying: “Those who fail to see ahead will soon find trouble right before them.”

Besides, everything in this world changes all the time! In the past, no matter how things changed, the changes could be predicted somewhat because there were moral standards. No matter which dynasty it was, things did not deviate much from the standards.

Today, the standards have been discarded. The teachings of the ancient sages and the teachings of Confucius and Mencius have been discarded. Even the Buddha’s teachings are unwanted. Therefore, people today are at a loss as to what to do. This is very frightening!

~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung