Chapter 985: Letting Go is Charity
It is often said that you can't let go of your responsibilities, and if you really study Buddhism, you have to let go of your responsibilities. Like me, the responsibility is also very heavy, even if I die in this second, the world will still live. So put it down! To let go is to give.
Some people say that when you meditate, you can't let go of your mind, so you can give! Gave the thought to the dog, and put it down.
If I die on the side of the road, it would be nice for this body to be eaten by a dog, and I would have a relationship with the dog. I have eaten so much chicken, duck and fish meat in my life, and when I die, this flesh is eaten by ants and eaten by dogs, which is also charity. If you can't give charity, you don't have to think about what you can achieve.
In addition to financial giving, there is also fearless giving. Giving spiritual support is a form of fearless giving. For example, if someone suffers a big setback, I say to him, "No problem, I look at your appearance, and everything will be fine immediately." Actually, I'm just talking about it, but it's likely that he was encouraged by hearing these words, and this is just a convenience of fearless giving, and there are many ways to give alms.
But what exactly is the purpose of giving? In order to dedicate to all wisdom. What is this statement? We give up everything, give up everything, in order to become a Buddha. I can't let go of a single thought, so I can't attain enlightenment.
You meditate there to engage in qi pulses, have you ever had a pulse in Ren, have you ever been able to do a lot of things...... Why? Will the body be better if the qi pulse is cleared? This is that if you can't let go of your body and see it, how can you get all the wisdom if you can't let go of this thought? The four are empty, and you must let go of it first. Therefore, the purpose of giving is to dedicate to all wisdom, and when you have all wisdom, you will become a Buddha.
What is dedication? This is a serious question, and even several old-timers have asked me about the meaning of dedication. They are very well educated, and it is not that they do not recognize these two words.
Why did the predecessors translate it as dedication? The meaning is very profound. If you understand samsara, you will understand dedication. Everything in the universe rotates, the beginning is also the end, there is an effect in the cause, there is a cause in the effect, and the same is true for the dedication.
Give out, and I will not have it, but it is yours who has. You feel that you have sacrificed everything, and it is your achievement. But if you give with the mentality of recycling, then it's bad, and you won't dedicate yourself.
If you don't have the intention to give, it will naturally dedicate itself. For example, if someone asks me how to recite the sutra and dedicate it to my parents, it's very simple, you just have to dedicate this thought to it, and that's the power of the mind, and you don't have to recite it for whom.
The first step in learning Buddhism is to have an ethereal mind, nothing to desire, only to give, only to help others, no need to ask for anything, naturally dedicated.
When we study Buddhism, we seek to become a Buddha ourselves, and giving is to let go of everything, and its essence is to return to all wisdom.
Ordinary people don't understand it, and regard almsgiving as a paragraph, dedication as a paragraph, and two opposites.
The Vimala Sutra tells us that the first truth is not to practice other methods, but only to practice generosity. You say that if I don't have any money, I will give alms in my heart, and everything in my heart will be empty, and the idea that I can't give without money will also be empty.
Let go of everything, let go of the thoughts of letting go, and naturally achieve all wisdom. Therefore, it is said, "To give is to dedicate oneself to all intellect."
There is an old saying in the Central Plains: "Doing good is the happiest", this is true, not a slogan, nor is it purely persuasive. You can experience this behavior, my own experience is like this, you really did a good deed, helped others solve a big thing, that is really comfortable.
What is this reasoning? Good deeds are joyful, and evil deeds are sorrowful. What is joyful is masculine, and what is sorrowful is feminine. If you really do a good deed, not only will you feel very happy mentally, but you will also feel comfortable physically. It's so effective. That's why I often say that a student of Buddhism is better than a boy scout, and the education of the boy scout should be to do a good deed every day, no matter how big or small. However, a person who studies Buddhism may not be able to do a good deed in ten days, although he is full of Buddhist words, people will be angry when they touch him.