Golden Calf – Idolatry – Decline of our Society
In Christianity or in Buddhism, the golden calf is universal. When society (and you) falls apart, everyone dances around the golden calf and is happy.
Building Statues
Foolish people today think that erecting the visual form of a statues is of great virtue and merit. They spend a lot of money on materials. By doing it they fallaciously kill creatures on the earth and in the water.
And they uselessly use manpower to build; wasting the wood boards and blocks and coloring them. It exhausts themselves and confuse others shamelessly.
Now what enlightenment will result?
While one talks about the dharma of form-of-doing, they eagerly follow it, but, when they are told of the dharma of formless-doing, they become like a non-responsive blockhead. While looking for small entertainment, they do not forsee the great suffering in the future.
This kind of study will not only tire them but also cause them to turn their back upon the right way and to turn toward the evil path.
Deceivingly they say, “gain the fortune.”
Casting The Image Of Buddha - Golden Calf
For every indigent-being casting the Buddha’s statue, is the motivated action to attain Buddha-Tao. They symbolically make Tathagata’s figure and sublime form to cultivate all the actions of enlightenment. This does not refer to a statue that was made by the process of molding using gold or copper.
Therefore, one who wishes to attain the complete liberation should think of his own body as a melting pot, dharma as a fire, wisdom as a technician, and the three immaculte precepts and six perfections as a casting dome.
Thus, the Buddha-nature of truth-as-it-is, is melted and put into the casting dome of all precepts. Follow and uphold all the teachings without missing a part. Naturally, the true form of the image will be completed.
At last it can be called the perpetually sublime dharma-body, which is not the dharma from the form-of-doing.
While looking for the Tao, if one does not know how to draw or mold the true form, how, then can he achieve virtue and merit?
What is Fasting?
Fasting means eliminating the eating of dark and sinful karma; the confused and ignorant people do not understand this and, as a result, create all types of evil karmas by the licentious body and mind and the craving of passionate lust without shame.
They think only of outside fasting, saying that they have kept the discipline; it is like the foolish children calling a decaying corpse a living person. It is a mistake.
How To Operate The Tao?
To operate the Tao six times a day implies to operate the Buddha-Way in the six sense roots all the time.
By operating all the good conducts of enlightenment so as to control the six sense roots without abandoning them, is called operating six different kinds of the Way.
Stupa is nothing but body and mind; bright wisdom is the real ceremony of encircling the stupa.
Past sages attained Nirvana by operating this Way, but people today do not understand this Tao. They cannot be called Men of the Way.
The ignorant ones, without operating within, rather look outside for karmic results thereby tiring themselves, by encircling the stupa day and night. But, that is not beneficial for self-nature at all. What a pity it is!
How To Scatter The Flowers?
By spreading the virtuous flowers of the righteous dharma, one helps sentient-beings. By utilizing all the true self-nature-as-it-is, one omnipresently adorns the world. These virtuous flowers, are what Buddha praises highly, and which perpetually cannot fade or be shed.
If anyone scatters these, he will receive immaculate virtue and merit.
It should not be said that Buddha asked disciples or indigent-beings to cut beautiful silks or cut the flower blossoms in order to scatter them. If someone says that Buddha requested that, then he is wrong.
Why?
Because, one who upholds the precepts should not destroy any part of the universe: even killing by mistake could be a great sin.
Then, breaking the precepts by deliberately hurting any part of the nature? How can they expect any fortune by this action? Even though of benefit, if detrimental, how can it be right?
Incense - Golden Calf
Also, the burning of incense does not mean the ordinary form, but the formless-doing or righteous dharma. It represents prevailing over stenches, eliminating the darkened, evil karmas, and, finally, burning them away.
There are five kinds of righteous truth incenses:
- The first is the one of the precept; to nullify all sins and to practice all the good.
- The second is the one of the unmoveable serenity; to have faith in the righteous mind without retreating.
- The third is the one of limitless wisdom; to watch the mind alertly from inside and outside of the body and mind.
- The fourth is the one of complete liberation; to release all entanglements of unenlightened darkness.
- The fifth is the one of the self-perceiving eye of complete liberation; to always feel and watch clearly, completely free of obstacles.
These five incenses are the highest, which cannot be compared with any from the ordinary world.
Even in Buddha’s time, he said: “Burn the most valuable incenses with the wisdom-fire and offer to each and every Buddha in the ten directions.”
People today are so ignorant, they do not understand the true meaning of the incenses. They only try to use outside fire and different forms of material compostion of incense for fortune-seeking which is impossible.
Firelotus
The whole world is on fire, where do you go to hide?
Once a monk drew the master’s portrait and showed it to the master.
The master said, “If I look like that, beat me to death. If I don’t look like that, burn it.”
Meditation center
Here you get more information about the monthly meditation retreat.