DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

By Nhat Quan

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In the quest to survive, everyone needs money to live, but don't work hard day and night because of that. People's excessive desires originate from the cause of clinging, stubbornly seeing that this body is real, it is me, so you try to cling to it, become attached to it, and love it. From love arises fear of being left, people take it away, and then find a way to preserve it. If you cannot keep it, you will feel sadness, and hatred and seek revenge. Just like that, loan repayment and loan repayment without any end. Money is created by humans, it is a means for people to live and support themselves and their families. Money is an inanimate object, but because of your excessive greed, you end up bringing disaster to yourself.

Even if you know it will bring harm to your body, because of excessive desire, it makes your heart flutter, you lose all self-control, and are only a slave to your desires. Once you are controlled by desire, you commit countless sins, daring to do cruel things without showing remorse. It's because of your boundless desire that you don't recognize yourself, so when you want but can't get it, you blame others, which causes competition and conflict, causing damage to people and the surrounding environment suffering a lot of harm. Excessive greed makes people blind to what is right and wrong, pushing people down the path of sin. The bag of greed is bottomless, the more greedy it becomes, the more lacking it becomes, and the more suffering it becomes.

There are many types of greed that I want to talk about, but no matter how many there are, they are not limited to the following areas:

- Wealth, beauty, fame, eating, sleeping...

These are five areas that arouse human greed, and every human being in heaven and earth wants top fame, wealth, high power, and important positions. That's why, despite all the dangers, you only know how to enjoy yourself, so the motivation to start a career is caused by greed and causes harm to many people. Don't make the mistake of thinking that once your desire is satisfied, your desire is gone. Because when the desire is satisfied, the desire becomes even greater. If you have the fire of ambition burning in your heart, you will always find yourself lacking. If you don't lack this item, then you lack another item, then crave it forever, never being satisfied. That's why even though you have achieved glorious success, you still don't feel it's enough. But you don't know that human strength is limited, the more greedy you are, the faster it will destroy and collapse. Therefore, if you build your career with the bone and blood of people, your career will quickly decline. Because of one's greed, the more one takes and exploits the world, the more easily it leads to making enemies and incurring resentment. When you make enemies, sooner or later you will slaughter and kill each other. That is the law of borrowing and repaying according to the process of cause and effect.

Sentient beings reincarnate in the three realms and six paths, all of which are born out of greed for the five desires. Once controlled by greed, you are ready to cause many sins to yourself and others. That greed has motivated you to never know when to stop and know enough. It is a serious illness that affects almost everyone in this world. When you are not satisfied, there is suffering, sometimes even loss of life. And here is the story:

- There was a farmer who wanted to buy land. He heard that a person in another area had land that he wanted to sell, so he decided to go there and inquire. The land seller told him:

- You just need to give me a thousand taels of silver, I will give you one day. Starting from sunrise, until sunset down the mountain, you can use your steps. No matter how many land paths you travel, that land will belong to you. But if you don't return to your starting point before sunset, you won't have even an inch of land.

The farmer thought to himself:

- If I work a little harder today and travel a little more, I will gain a large piece of land. Doing business like that is truly very profitable.

So he immediately signed a contract with that landowner. So, as soon as the sun rose, he took long, fast steps forward. At noon, his steps still did not stop for a moment, he kept walking forward, thinking in his heart:

- I should try to endure today, later on, I will be able to enjoy happiness for a long time in life.

So he kept going forward until the sun was about to set before he returned. At that time, he was extremely worried, because if he did not return before sunset, he would not have an inch of land. So he hurried back by taking the shortcut. However, the sun was about to set down the mountain, so he had to risk his life to run. In the end, there was only a short distance left until he reached the starting line, but his strength was exhausted and he fell, suffocating there.

The above story is symbolic, illustrating the boundless greed of humans like a bottomless well. Humans have no sin, only greed and selfishness to control things. This body is just a dependent object, so if you want to do something, you must first think and calculate and then do it. But people often don't know, thinking that this body is the master and fixed, so they do everything to serve this body. Therefore, ignorance, greed, and selfishness are born, thinking that this body is real and will last forever. You should think about it, if it is yours, it cannot be changed before or after. But from the moment you open your eyes until you grow up, this body always changes shape, depending on time, each person has a different shape and personality. In life, you always have to race against time to take advantage of many things about yourself. If you do not properly perceive the value of life, you are just like the land buyer in the story.

Due to this mistaken attachment to your body, you should do whatever you can to get it for yourself, so if you get greedy, you will become more greedy. If you don't get what you want, it will give rise to hatred and anger. If there is hatred, then sooner or later it will cause each other suffering, thus living in insecurity, anxiety, and fear. You are always afraid of everything, afraid of lack of food, afraid of lack of clothing, afraid of loss, afraid of disadvantage, so you try to preserve it. If you can't keep it, heartache and regret will arise, so suffering begins to appear. In life, few people are satisfied with the present. You always desire, work hard, and suffer wisdom to get money, fame, rights, status, beauty, food, and clothing... But you guys can not satisfy your desires. Because your greed is bottomless and your life is too short, fragile, and temporary, some people have an unfulfilled career and have become ancient people.

Because greed is limitless, human strength is limited. Therefore, Buddhists, in addition to doing business to make a living, also need to spend some time researching, learning, and practicing. This world is a long chain of causes and conditions. If this exists then that exists, if this doesn't then that doesn't. Everything is in the principle of relativity, if you do not sow good causes but expect to reap good results, then good results cannot be obtained. Many of you don't understand, just know how to win it back for yourself. If you don't get it, you get angry, resentful, and hateful, and then seek revenge when the opportunity arises, causing even more enemies and resentment.

You have the right to wish but don't be greedy:

- Greedy: You want to get it. If you don't get it, then dissatisfaction, anger, discomfort, sadness, and anger will arise and seek to take over. Therefore, the more you desire, the more afflictions arise. Because of desire, you do not get what you want. If you get it, you will be more greedy. If you can't get it, you will be angry and upset, looking for revenge. As you know, few people in this life do not desire. To have life is to have desires, but more or less desire depends on each person's preferences. Greed means selfish, petty greed, whatever you do you want to bring back for yourself. Even if you have excess wealth, it's better to let it rot than to help anyone.

- Wish means dream, if you have it, it's okay if you don't have it, it's okay.

Wish and Greedy are different in that, on the one hand, you want to get it, determined to take it for yourself, so you ignore morality and sometimes have to kill people to satisfy your desire. In this life you have the right to dream, don't be too greedy, and make each other suffer. Even if you are greedy, you must take cause and effect as the foundation. If you sow good causes, you will reap good results; if you sow evil causes, you will suffer. Fruits bloom sooner or later depending on the conditions. Even after hundreds of lifetimes, they will not disappear. They follow you like a shadow following a shape. You come into life with empty hands and when you leave with nothing but only good and bad karma. Buddhists, you should be wise in choosing a noble path for yourself, don't be too greedy for personal gain like the person buying land, which brings disaster to yourself.

Remember, those joys and enjoyments are just as temporary and flashy as the outer layer of paint. The nature of this world is unstable, but sentient beings do not realize it and continue to swim in the sea of suffering and ignorance. Only the World-Honored One saw the truth of life clearly and thoroughly. He taught you to practice the dharma of a few desires and contentment to have a happy and liberated life. In the Eight Great Enlightenment Sutra, the second enlightenment, Buddha pointed out the harm of desire as the source of suffering. People who have few desires and live with few desires have a free and peaceful body and mind. Therefore, the dharma of few desires and contentment is an indispensable practice for practitioners to prevent the excessive desires of sentient beings.

People who practice the conduct of few desires will be at peace no matter what situation they encounter. When it comes to eating and wearing clothes, you see that you have enough and don't crave more to avoid mental suffering.

Indeed, when you live knowing enough, your soul is always happy and peaceful, without worrying about anything, without being controlled or bound by afflictions. On the contrary, people with excessive greed, their minds are always worried and uneasy. Even though you live in a state of wealth, power, and high status, you still feel a lack of everything. As a rule, people are always drawn to the five desires, desiring money, beauty, fame, status, delicious food, and beautiful clothes... Your mind is never satisfied with what you have, always wishing for more and more. Ambition is like a ladder that never stops climbing. That greed is the root cause, the foundation that brings people into the darkness of ignorance, into the prison of craving. Desire for the five desires is a dangerous ocean of samsara, sentient beings are like small boats in the unpredictable depths of the ocean, truly terrifying for their lives. It is like a person holding a torch going against the wind. You will not be able to avoid the disaster of burning your body. Even if you get a little pleasure, you will have to suffer and regret it for the rest of your life. The Dharma of least desire here is intended to enlighten those who love pleasure, are selfish, and lack true love for fellow sufferers, while the Dharma of contentment is to enlighten those who are stubborn and narrow-minded. People who study Buddhism need to have true wisdom worthy of being called a student of the dharma of few desires and contentment of superior people and be aware of the harmful effects of excessive desire because of it:

- Makes your heart flutter and stir.

- Makes you lose control and become a slave to your desires.

- You cause strife and war.

- In the next life, you will fall into evil realms: Hell, hungry ghosts, animals, etc.

On the contrary, those who live according to the conduct of few desires and contentment, can:

- Happy with current life

- Take control of your life, not be enslaved by desire.

- Be a good cause for the ideal of liberation.

To counteract insatiable greed, Buddhism teaches you to know enough. The more you have, the more you enjoy. Consider yourself lacking nothing anymore, don't look up to those who are richer and more luxurious than you, that's enough. When you know enough, you will be happy in any situation. People who don't know enough are rich but are poor, people who know enough are poor but are rich. People who don't know enough are often led by five desires, making those who know enough feel pity. One person has all the wealth in the world in his hand, and the poor person has no covetousness, both of them are equally rich.

Please contemplate these meaningful teachings. The master of your life is your heart. Rich and poor are just a matter of dependence. If you can control your desires, you will be rich; If you cannot control your desires, you are poor. Therefore, faced with the loss, damage, and suffering of humanity, human life is uncertain in this vast universe. As a human being, you have shed tears at least once, in a long reincarnation, of fatigue, boredom, disappointment, and anxiety. Yet people keep rolling up and down, sometimes enjoying the blessings of heaven, getting whatever they want without having to work hard. Sometimes it's horizontal and vertical. If anyone knows how to cultivate merit, keep the five precepts i.e. moral things, do ten good deeds, practice meditation, and be aware of being a human being with a little joy and a lot of suffering, then that person is as happy as a fish escaping from the net. Story:

There were two brothers on the road to study religion. By chance, passing by the river, they saw a fishing boat using a net to catch fish. The net was being slowly pulled onto the boat, and a fish jumped out of the net and swam quickly into deep water. Seeing this, the Elder Brother immediately clapped his hands and praised:

- Great! So cool!

The fish resembles a monk.

The younger monk said:

- What's so great! Fishing outside the net is good.

The elder brother said:

- You don't fully understand what I mean.

The two of them walked a few more kilometers until the younger monk realized the senior brother's deep intentions and sincerely repented. The above story gives you a life lesson, learn old stories for you to reflect on today. Who has never fallen once in life? So is it good for the fish to be outside the net, or is it for the fish to jump out of the net?

If the fish is outside the net is better then there's nothing to say, it's cool if the fish is in the net and can jump out of the net. Buddhist teachings teach people that addiction and delusion are always influenced and controlled by afflictions. It is really good if you try to overcome them. Living in a life faced with the temptation of money, beauty, fame, good food, nice clothes, and good sleep, most of you are confused and infatuated. Like a magnet, when it meets iron, it automatically inhales. Just like the life of a silkworm, it spins silk around itself to make a cocoon, covering its body to preserve its life. But when it is hidden, people put it in a pot of boiling water and boil it to death. Whoever among you has the ability and courage to overcome desire and lust is a Bodhisattva and a true practitioner.

Just like fish, many other fish cannot struggle to jump out of the net but are finally caught by fishermen and put in baskets waiting to be slaughtered. So that fish jumped out of the net like a person who knows how to practice and escape from craving. If everyone was born a Saint, then you wouldn't need to practice so tiringly and in vain. You have acquired many bad habits, addictions, passions, infatuations with all kinds of things, greed, anger, ignorance, selfishness, jealousy, and hatred. Thanks to meeting Buddhism, has helped you learn how to control yourself to overcome life's pitfalls. So right now, Buddhists, use your wisdom to transform suffering and pain into joy and happiness. If you accept the fate that has been arranged, like the wind blowing, the clouds drifting along the confusing flow of life. Whoever did it whatever, you did it the same, without thinking or searching, just drowning in the mire of sin. Then you blame God, hate society for being so unfair, and then forever have to live in sorrow and suffering.

Buddha said, that in life, there are two types of people worthy of respect and praise:

- The first type of people from childhood to adulthood have never made a mistake, but always do good things to help humanity.

- The second type of people often do bad things and harm themselves and others. But know how to repent, decide to let go, try to overcome and correct mistakes. With a strong will, practice diligently, and dare to give up mistakes and bad habits to renew yourself.

The image of the fish jumping out of the net is only for the second class of people, who are caught in the net but can still jump out. Therefore, when the elder Brother saw the fish jumping out of the net, he praised:

- Great! The fish resembles a monk.

The senior monk praised the fish for resembling a monk. So what is a cultivator?

Practitioners here are not limited to monastics or lay people, but are people who dare to change their bad habits, dare to admit their mistakes to renew themselves. A person who knows how to repent is ashamed, is determined to correct mistakes, dares to admit the truth, dares to give up and not repeat the same mistake, that is a practitioner. Because practice means to correct, to change and transform, to change bad into good, to change evil into good. In general, it is about modifying habits that are harmful to people and animals. Cultivation is the essence of converting three bad karmas into three good karmas. When you didn't know how to practice, you always did bad things, your thoughts, your words, your actions, and your actions caused suffering to many people. Nowadays, if you know how to practice, right there you can turn the three karma of body, mouth, and mind into good things. People who practice should avoid evil deeds and try to do good deeds. When you don't know how to practice, your body will sometimes do evil, your mouth will say cruel words, bad thoughts, jealousy, and hatred. Now that you know how to practice, your body and mind will always be noble, helping and sharing with others when they encounter difficulties and tribulations. The mouth speaks gentle, gentle, easy-to-listen words, and the mind always thinks of good and holy things.

After every failure and stumble, people who do not have confidence in themselves will give up and accept a dark life, letting the flow of life carry them away. After many failures, people who are too weak, weak, cowardly, and incompetent will be buried. On the contrary, it will help people with extraordinary will and determination, for them failure is just a challenge. Buddhism does not teach you to avoid life but teaches you to face life courageously. Use compassionate wisdom to renew yourself, and overcome the sea of suffering and the river of confusion to contribute to serving and benefiting family happiness, building a society and a world of lasting peace and happiness.

People who truly want to renew their lives should have the courage to stand up right where they stumble, throwing everything away, like that fish daring to jump out of the net to escape. Many other fish, unable to escape, had to resign themselves to being caught in the net to wait for the day to be slaughtered. Like if you're an alcoholic, if you don't have alcohol every day, your hands and feet will shake and you won't be able to do anything. It is mandatory to put in one or two drops every morning to regain consciousness. That's just a brief overview of the harmful effects of alcoholism. Wanting to quit the habits of addiction and infatuation is not difficult, you must be aware of their harmful effects. The cause of addiction is the result of delusion and eventually leads to robbery and murder without hesitation to satisfy your addiction. You must be determined to be strong and overcome the period of struggle and misery. Most people in the world cannot stand this, so they have to accept living in addiction, passion, and foolishness. Likewise, you are living in an advanced, materially civilized age, and not being infatuated or addicted is truly very difficult. But when you get entangled and get out, you are someone worthy of admiration and respect, like a fish jumping out of a net:

- Great! So cool.

If you desire less know enough and be happy with your life, you will achieve happiness in the present and the future.

Buddhists need to thoroughly understand this to try to progress in practice, and that is the motivation for you to regularly go to the temple to repent, chant sutras, listen to the Dharma, recite Buddha's name, meditate, and do good deeds. And if you just accept your fate as a destiny, and leave your life to God, without striving to rebuild your life, it will accidentally push you into a dead-end path, with no way out.

Buddhism does not accept that, and you cannot blame fate and talk about a fixed entity as if there is something predetermined. Such people are more pitiful than hateful because they lack understanding, rarely learn, and never cultivate merit, so they think and act unwisely. They had to resign themselves to accepting their arranged fate and then lived their entire lives in suffering and confusion. This prejudice will no longer work for people who dare to renew themselves, dare to give up unwholesome things, and are determined to overcome mistakes because cause and effect can be changed. If you say that everything is fixed, then in this world no one needs to practice, because if they do, there will be no benefit.

In short, as much as excessive greed makes you miserable, Less Desire and Contentment make you happy. That's of course. Because you have little desire, the demon of desire cannot influence you. Thanks to you knowing enough, the greedy demon has no power to dictate to you anymore. Once you are no longer a slave to vile material things, your heart begins to be free. Only then will you be worthy of being human, have enough personality, and not be ashamed of your position as the elder brother of all species. Only then can you consider yourself happy. And even though you usually eat rice and vegetable soup all year round, and wear cotton clothes and pants all year round, you still feel relaxed, peaceful, and happy in your heart. From time immemorial until now, there has not been any religious leader or sage who has run after fame, money, wealth, or comfort.

Furthermore, thanks to Less Desire and Contentment, the family and society are happy and peaceful, and no one takes away anyone's wealth, fame, delicious food, or strange things anymore. The benefits of few desires and contentment are truly indescribable.

People in real life and people in religion, if they want to be truly happy, they should practice few desires and contentment. Because really, people who are not too demanding about material things don't compare themselves with people who are better than them. Therefore, you do not feel that you lack material things, so you suffer less. Furthermore, you only compare yourself with those below you, seeing that you are better off and more complete, so you are easily satisfied.

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