Less is More

The average home size in the U.S. has increased from 980 to 2350 sq. ft. in the past fifty years, an increase of 240%.[1] This increase has occurred at the same time that families have gotten smaller. So if we’re not filling our larger houses with people, what are we filling them with?

Things.

As incomes have risen, buying power has also rise. So we buy more “things.” And we then decide that each family member needs their own set of “things.” But where do we put all these new possessions? In a bigger house! A bigger house that needs more wood, cement, wiring, and plumbing than its counterpart of fifty years ago. It needs to be heated and cooled. It needs to be filled. To fill it, we need more “things.”

In a world with shrinking resources, people have increasing wants. We see the results all around us. Daily, we create more environmental problems as there is not enough water, clean air, and land to go around. We have created a standard of living that many want, but few can have and the earth cannot sustain.

Those who manage to fulfill this higher standard of living did so to be happy. But as the joy of new ownership erodes, they find themselves working to maintain that envied lifestyle. People end up working for their house, for their possessions. But happiness sought in material phenomena does not last. We do not find happiness externally, but within us.

It is wise to remember that less is more. Less consumption, less wanting, less selfishness lead to more contentment and more time for what truly matters.

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[1] “Build,” Big Ideas for a Small Planet, Sundance Channel

Good Luck or Bad Luck?

Once upon a time a peasant had a horse. This horse ran away, so the peasant's neighbors came to console him for his bad luck. He answered: "Maybe."

The day after the horse came back, leading six wild horses with it. The neighbors came to congratulate him on such good luck. The peasant said: "Maybe."

The day after, his son tried to saddle and ride on one of the wild horses, but he fell down and broke his leg. Once again the neighbors came to share that misfortune. The peasant said: "Maybe."

The day after, soldiers came to conscript the youth of the village, but the peasant's son was not chosen because of his broken leg. When the neighbors came to congratulate him on his good fortune, the peasant said again: "Maybe."

Good luck or bad luck are a matter of perspective. Maybe something is one, maybe it is the other. Or maybe it just is.

Why We Find it So Hard to be Reborn in the Pure Land

It is most important that, in our cultivation, we correct our wrong mindset. If we are not happy with a person or a situation, this will obstruct our rebirth in the Pure Land, because our minds are not pure. This is why it is hard to attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and why Mr. Li Bingnan (one of Ven. Master Chin Kung's three teachers) said that only one or two out of 10,000 Pure Land practitioners succeed in attaining rebirth there.

Most practitioners only manage to suppress, not uproot, their afflictions. It entirely depends on their luck on their deathbed. If they cannot suppress their afflictions, which arise at the moment of their last breath, they will fall into the Three Evil Paths.

Therefore, we have to work hard to dissolve our dislike or hatred in daily life. We should not hold grudge any more. Instead, we should become more compassionate.

If someone holds a grudge against us, we should treat that person with compassion and gratitude.

Why gratitude? Because he or she helps us achieve the Paramita of Precept Observation and the Paramita of Patience. When we do not harbor the thought of taking revenge, this is keeping the precept of no killing. When we do not harbor anger, this is patience. He or she helps us achieve the Six Paramitas. Isn’t this kindness?

Our afflictions and residual habits from uncountable kalpas are dissolved here and now. In this way, there will be no obstruction to our practice of nianfo and attainment of rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and we will be able to move Amitabha Buddha to come and guide us on our deathbed.

If there is anything in this world that we cannot let go, it will become an obstacle to us.

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

Duality and Discrimination in All We See

As ordinary beings with far too many wanderings thoughts, discriminations, and attachments, we view everything dualistically. We do not view all phenomena as one. When our true wisdom manifests, we will know that all phenomena are one, not two.

Take the lid of a mug for example. It is concave on one side but it is convex on the other side. If people do not understand this truth, then two people standing on different sides of the lid will quarrel over whether the lid is concave or convex. This is because they look at the lid from different sides. When they see both sides of the lid, they will realize that concave is no different from convex. They are one, not two.

Bodhisattvas see both sides and are not attached to what they see. We see only one side, so we are attached to what we see. Eventually, when we see both sides, our wisdom will be perfect.

Buddhism teaches us to see every aspect of the Dharma Realms, space, worlds, all beings, all the mundane things that cloud our true nature. When we reach this state, everything will be harmonious.

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

Healing Anger

Having developed the wish that one would like to reduce one’s hatred and anger and overcome them, if one simply wishes or prays that anger and hatred no longer arise, or simply prays that they just disappear, this will not make it happen. In addition, if one tries to do something when hatred or anger has already arisen it is unlikely to have much effect since at that moment one’s mind is gripped by the intensity of anger and hatred. At that instant, to try to apply something to stop that arisal is a bit foolish; one is already almost out of control.

So the best method is first of all is to identify what factors normally give rise to anger and hatred.

~ The Dalai Lama, Healing Anger