The great Buddha passed on the special wonderful Dharma to the world, so that all sentient beings in samsara could be settled, at ease, and purified physically and mentally in the Dharma, and many practitioners could attain the ultimate liberation and fulfillment of their lives. Those who want to learn Buddhism still need to have the cause and opportunity to come into contact with the truly pure Dharma and receive the benefits of the Dharma. Otherwise, even if the Dharma is still in the world, we are unaware of it, and the Dharma is useless to us. It's like the sun comes out, but for a blind man it's still night; It is like a person who is very thirsty when walking in the desert, even if he walks to the river, he still has no way to drink water immediately. Therefore, we have to have the opportunity and be willing to accept the Dharma ourselves, so that we can truly benefit from the Dharma.

People who come into contact with the Dharma by cause and reason often receive different benefits because of their motivation and mindset for studying the Dharma.

1. Driven by pain and fear. Sometimes, because we have suffered a lot of suffering in our lives, or we have suffered a very serious illness in our body, or because we have suffered great setbacks in our lives, family, work, relationships, etc., we think of contacting the Dharma, hoping to get the blessing and help of the Buddha and Bodhisattva from believing in and studying Buddhism, and get rid of these pains and obstacles as soon as possible. There are also people who are very afraid because they have done bad things, whether they are discovered or not, and they are afraid that they will fall into hell if they die in the future, so they want to ask the Buddha and Bodhisattva for help and ask the Buddha and Bodhisattva to forgive him for his evil deeds.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with encountering suffering, sickness, and fear. If it weren't for the repentance of these illnesses, sufferings, or evil deeds, people would not know when they would have learned Buddhism!

However, if we study Buddhism in a state of see-seeking and fear just to get rid of the suffering of illness and fear of going to hell in the future, and to limit the definition of Buddhism and the scope of Buddhism to a very small extent, the effect on us will be very limited. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this kind of motivation, and this is the mentality of the relatively early stage in the process of studying Buddhism, and this kind of mentality can be slowly changed with practice, so that the mentality of escaping can also be gradually understood.

2. Pray for good fortune in the world. Some people study Buddhism in order to pursue the happiness of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation in this world, or to pursue good fortune in the next life, or to study Buddhism and obtain a degree in Buddhism, and so on.

Especially now, many people misunderstand Tibetan Buddhism, thinking that it is a secret method that can be used to seek wealth, to seek officials, and to seek spirits. Therefore, some people come to seek the Dharma in order to pursue the development of their careers, the smooth promotion of their work, the increase of their wealth, and so on, in fact, Tantra and Sutra are both about the cycle of cause and effect, and they are both about saving the world and helping people, and if they are not just seeking good fortune for themselves, it is not bad. However, this mentality of studying Buddhism for the sake of the blessings of the people in this and future lives, and the understanding of the Dharma and Dharma benefits is still very limited.

3. Practicing for the ultimate liberation of oneself and others. What is the ultimate motivation for studying Buddhism? First of all, we must know that there is no eternal thing in the world, and everything in the world is inherently in the impermanence of birth, old age, sickness and death. Impermanence comes quickly, and most people don't feel all the changes that precede it. All the blessings of fame and fortune and happiness enjoyed by all people in the world will come and disappear in impermanence, including our most persistent body, which will not belong to us forever!

Therefore, the motivation for studying Buddhism and the Dharma benefits we mentioned earlier are not absent, but very short-lived. Once we understand the principle of impermanence, we should not practice the Dharma just for the sake of temporary relief from suffering or for temporary blessings. Of course, it is necessary to want to get rid of suffering temporarily, because without suffering, it will not make people mature, and there is no need to come to study Buddhism, because there is suffering. However, this kind of suffering does not only occur in this life, but once one's karma is not purified, these sufferings and afflictions will persist permanently in the cycle of life. Therefore, we should take a long-term view of Buddhism: in order to free ourselves from all suffering, we must also free all suffering beings from all suffering; In order for ourselves to attain eternal happiness from samsara, we also want all sentient beings to attain eternal happiness from samsara. This broad state of mind for the ultimate liberation of oneself and sentient beings is the true one, and only then can one attain the true ultimate Dharma benefits. Only in this way can we be called true Mahayana Buddhists.

Suffering is not a bad thing sometimes, but when we have good fortune, it is often a blessing for us to connect with the Dharma. When Shakyamuni Buddha was a prince, he saw the birth, old age, sickness and death in the world, and he felt from his heart, why do all beings in the world face so much suffering, and how can these sufferings be ended? Thus began the path of enlightenment and search. In fact, in real life, when our perception of suffering accumulates to a certain extent, and then encounters the explanation of the Dharma, we will have a personal experience, and we can also know a little about the suffering of samsara, so that we also have the desire to be free from suffering and be happy. These also need to be caused and felt. Of course, many of the skillful conveniences of Buddhism are so that after we understand the cause of the suffering of samsara, we can reflect on our hearts from the perspective of breaking off evil and cultivating good, from the perspective of the law of cause and effect, etc., so that we can extend our understanding of all sentient beings who are struggling in the sea of suffering like me with our own feelings and understandings, and we can give our compassionate power to help more sentient beings and continue this great love of Buddhism.