DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

By Nhat Quan

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It's common sense that you would prefer others to help you more than you would help others. Therefore, on the path of learning the Way of Liberation, the venerable ones often advise:

- You should be sincere and persevering, following the Buddha's instructions, you will gradually escape from the sea of ​​suffering. If you don't try, persevere and be sincere, you will never be able to escape the sea of ​​suffering.

Even so, the psychology of beings still cannot avoid dependence, the following story is an illustration of people who like to depend on others.

There was an old man who was facing a flood, he immediately climbed onto the roof to take refuge. However, the great flood continued to rise so immensely that the water seemed to have reached his feet. The old man hurriedly turned to the Buddha for help and prayed that:

- Great Compassionate Buddha, please hurry to save me.

Not long after, a lonely wooden boat came by, the young man on the boat wanted to save the old man, but he said:

- I did not call you to save me, I called Buddha, Buddha will come to save me.

The other young man was left alone with the wooden boat. But the great water was still continuously rising, very quickly reaching the middle of the old man's thighs. The old man was extremely worried, and immediately turned to the Buddha and asked for help.

At this time another boat came by, and the young man on the boat instructed the old man on the requirements to get on the boat safely, the old man not only refused but also said:

- I don't like this boat, Buddha will come to save me.

And just like that, the lone boat also left, leaving the old man behind. And soon the water had risen up to his chest, the old man continued to pray to the Buddha, shouting out loud in worry. The flood waters following the flood continued to rise rapidly, the old man sighed in a state of lamentation and despair.

At that moment, a Zen master with an urgent rowing posture rushed to save the old man. The old man who was saved said to the Zen master in anger and resentment:

- I was so respectful toward Buddha, but Buddha did not come to my aid when I was in trouble.

The quiet Zen master said profoundly:

- You really blamed Buddha. The Buddha sent a boat to save you several times, but you were not satisfied with this and that, rejected and ignored it, again and again, it seems that Buddha and you have no predestined relationship.

Through this story, and the words of the Zen master, you can see deeply about the saying:

- Buddha cannot save people who have no predestined relationship with Buddha

Compassionate Buddha has opened up all means in the world for all sentient beings and based on his different identities to teach the Buddhadharma, to gradually guide you along the good path. If you are sincere and persistent, following the instructions of the Buddha will gradually escape from the sea of ​​suffering. But if you do not try, persevere and be sincere, you will never be able to escape the sea of ​​suffering. So say:

- That so-called Buddha's salvation is actually what sentient beings follow the Buddha's teachings to cultivate, to self-enlightenment, to save themselves only!

So the Buddha also taught, and the venerable ones often remind, and the saying often heard is still the saying:

- Self-interest can benefit others, if you can't save yourself, it's very difficult to save others.

- Self-awareness, then others-awareness

Another example shows:

- There was a young man standing under the eaves to avoid the rain, seeing a Zen master with an umbrella passing by, he called out:

- Zen master, please save sentient beings! Can I hitch a ride for a while?

The Zen master saw this and said:

- I'm walking in the rain, and you're under the eaves, under the eaves won't get wet in the rain, you don't need my help!

The young man immediately stepped off the porch, stood in the rain, and said:

- I'm also in the rain right now, can you help me?

The Zen Master said:

- You are also in the rain, I am also in the rain, I don't get wet in the rain, because I have an umbrella. You get wet in the rain because you don't have an umbrella. So if you want to not get wet, don't look for me, go find an umbrella yourself!

In this case, the Zen master is not willing to share the umbrella, this is the great compassion of the Zen master. That is to say, if you want to be saved, you cannot rely on others to help you, you should also rely on yourself. That's why the Zen master said: Only if you have an umbrella, you can keep the rain from getting wet. The same is true of morality, if you have Buddha nature yourself, you will naturally become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva, even though you are in the world, but there is no place for dust to cling to! You Must Help Yourself

It's common sense that you would prefer others to help you more than you would help others. Therefore, on the path of learning the Way of Liberation, the venerable ones often advise:

- You should be sincere and persevering, following the Buddha's instructions, you will gradually escape from the sea of ​​suffering. If you don't try, persevere and be sincere, you will never be able to escape the sea of ​​suffering.

Even so, the psychology of beings still cannot avoid dependence, the following story is an illustration of people who like to depend on others.

There was an old man who was facing a flood, he immediately climbed onto the roof to take refuge. However, the great flood continued to rise so immensely that the water seemed to have reached his feet. The old man hurriedly turned to the Buddha for help and prayed that:

- Great Compassionate Buddha, please hurry to save me.

Not long after, a lonely wooden boat came by, the young man on the boat wanted to save the old man, but he said:

- I did not call you to save me, I called Buddha, Buddha will come to save me.

The other young man was left alone with the wooden boat. But the great water was still continuously rising, very quickly reaching the middle of the old man's thighs. The old man was extremely worried, and immediately turned to the Buddha and asked for help.

At this time another boat came by, and the young man on the boat instructed the old man on the requirements to get on the boat safely, the old man not only refused but also said:

- I don't like this boat, Buddha will come to save me.

And just like that, the lone boat also left, leaving the old man behind. And soon the water had risen up to his chest, the old man continued to pray to the Buddha, shouting out loud in worry. The flood waters following the flood continued to rise rapidly, the old man sighed in a state of lamentation and despair.

At that moment, a Zen master with an urgent rowing posture rushed to save the old man. The old man who was saved said to the Zen master in anger and resentment:

- I was so respectful toward Buddha, but Buddha did not come to my aid when I was in trouble.

The quiet Zen master said profoundly:

- You really blamed Buddha. The Buddha sent a boat to save you several times, but you were not satisfied with this and that, rejected and ignored it, again and again, it seems that Buddha and you have no predestined relationship.

Through this story, and the words of the Zen master, you can see deeply about the saying:

- Buddha cannot save people who have no predestined relationship with Buddha

Compassionate Buddha has opened up all means in the world for all sentient beings and based on his different identities to teach the Buddhadharma, to gradually guide you along the good path. If you are sincere and persistent, following the instructions of the Buddha will gradually escape from the sea of ​​suffering. But if you do not try, persevere and be sincere, you will never be able to escape the sea of ​​suffering. So say:

- That so-called Buddha's salvation is actually what sentient beings follow the Buddha's teachings to cultivate, to self-enlightenment, to save themselves only!

So the Buddha also taught, and the venerable ones often remind, and the saying often heard is still the saying:

- Self-interest can benefit others, if you can't save yourself, it's very difficult to save others.

- Self-awareness, then others-awareness

Another example shows:

- There was a young man standing under the eaves to avoid the rain, seeing a Zen master with an umbrella passing by, he called out:

- Zen master, please save sentient beings! Can I hitch a ride for a while?

The Zen master saw this and said:

- I'm walking in the rain, and you're under the eaves, under the eaves won't get wet in the rain, you don't need my help!

The young man immediately stepped off the porch, stood in the rain, and said:

- I'm also in the rain right now, can you help me?

The Zen Master said:

- You are also in the rain, I am also in the rain, I don't get wet in the rain, because I have an umbrella. You get wet in the rain because you don't have an umbrella. So if you want to not get wet, don't look for me, go find an umbrella yourself!

In this case, the Zen master is not willing to share the umbrella, this is the great compassion of the Zen master. That is to say, if you want to be saved, you cannot rely on others to help you, you should also rely on yourself. That's why the Zen master said: Only if you have an umbrella, you can keep the rain from getting wet. The same is true of morality, if you have Buddha nature yourself, you will naturally become a Buddha or a Bodhisattva, even though you are in the world, but there is no place for dust to cling to!

The question is how can you save yourself?

If you want to save yourself, you must first look at yourself, and see if you have any advantages and disadvantages.

A- Notice the disadvantages:

Normally you have two eyes, can see the world, see things, and see other people accurately, and clearly. But you can't see yourself. To be more specific, you have a discriminative consciousness, can perceive others, perceive things, and perceive the world, but not be aware of yourself. You can see other people's mistakes very clearly, but you can't see your own mistakes. Seeing the greed and vices of others but not seeing your own bad habits. Seeing the wrong views of others, but not seeing your own stupidity.

As a human, if you know how to look in the mirror yourself. In the mirror, you can see your own eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and five senses. Seeing clearly the beautiful lines or ugly appearance of your body, but not able to see into your own inner self. If you had a sophisticated mirror that could reflect your own inner self, then that mind of greed, hatred, delusion, envy, grief, resentment, etc. would be creepy and unsightly to the extreme!

1- Due to the bad habit of dishonesty

According to the story, in the old villages, there was often a common well, people used to go there to wash and carry water to their house to use. One morning it was still foggy, it was not quite a morning, the young man took advantage of early to get water to drink for his family. When he drew water up, he happened to see someone's underwear coming from the well with a bucket to draw water. Discovering an uncivilized and polite act, not knowing how to respect and maintain the hygiene of the common clean water source, he cursed loudly. But when he looked closely, it turned out to be his underwear, yesterday he brought it here to wash, but when he got home, he couldn't find it, he thought it was some neighbor who stole it, now discovered that his underwear had fallen into the well, so he immediately kept silent and hid.

It is also a careless act, not respecting the common good, is a bad job. If someone else's, you condemn loudly. But if you do it, hide it, don't dare to say it. Don't want anyone talking bad about you. Very few of you dare to look straight ahead and take responsibility for your own bad things to overcome and correct. You often brag to each other about the good, pure, noble things. Meanwhile, the reality of daily life is scandalous and messy. There is a saying that:

- As humans, no one is perfect.

Everyone has good and bad things, that's inevitable in every human being. But if you know how to be honest with your shortcomings to try to correct and rise up to the good that you and society want, your heart will feel pure, comfortable, and extremely secure.

2- Due to attachment to everything

The habit of most people is to live according to their form, be extroverted, and follow everything outside. Seeing the other person wearing a branded suit, you also want to have the same outfit as the other person, regardless of whether the model is outdated, suitable for your family's standard of living, or your economic situation is good to allow or not? Seeing that there is a new laptop, iPhone, or iPad, your heart is hungover, trying to find a way to buy it. And then take it everywhere with you as if showing off your possessions without knowing if your work needs are so necessary. Just like that, demanding new, leaving the old, never-ending, being tied by everything new life, forcing you to run, despite all the mistakes. Most of the social evils are caused by competition, lack of judgment, loss of loved ones, and loss of friends. When you attach too much importance to external material things, you often take them for granted, forming a layer of bragging to society, and hiding your truth. In a life where you let too many outside things dominate, and can't control you, what can you do to live as you really are?

No matter right or wrong, quality or not, you are always looking for new things to satisfy your curiosity. Specifically, are you often in the mood to look forward to tomorrow to see if there is something new? Because in an expectant mood, as soon as you see something strange, you immediately defy everything to rush along like a moth rushing into the light, without having time to think.

All these moods show that you do not have the ability to believe in yourself, to lose yourself, to chase, to depend on things only in wish, illusion, out of reach, not knowing how to live on your own.

          3- Haven't mastered yourself yet

When you're sad, you tell yourself not to be sad anymore, but it doesn't listen, it's still sad. When faced with a situation that makes you very angry, you order yourself to stop, not to get angry like that, but also can't stop immediately... The afflictions, greed, and bad habits in you, Of course, you don't want to have all of those things, but because you can't control yourself, you are manipulated, bullied, and subtly deceived by it, leading you on the wrong and evil path, creating suffering for each other. Sometimes you know, but still intentionally violate it because you are not self-controlled. Therefore, if you do not know how to control and master yourself, it is difficult to overcome, and it is impossible to live as yourself.

          4- Haven't recognized yourself yet

Losing yourself, and clinging to everything outside is easy to be mishandled by everything outside. No longer believing in yourself, looking outward for and seeking is only a slave to money, fame, and material possessions. Without mastering yourself, you will not have self-control, life will be floating, and dishonest. Coarse, using external materials to polish life is much worse. More delicately, use some knowledge to disguise and hide your incompetence without daring to live true to yourself. There are many reasons, but all are due to not realizing yourself, so there is no self-control, not being able to live as you are. Just acknowledge what is really you, then other mistakes will disappear, returning you to a life that is truly you.

Life from childhood to adulthood has many different and changing circumstances. If you lose yourself, live according to the situation, in a day, you do not know how many faces you must be transformed. And many years like that will create a tangled mess, wrapped up, covered, then the dust of the world covers you thickly, no longer recognizing who you are. Since then life has lost its direction, that is the source of everything wrong, complicated, evil, and suffering also arises there.

B- Recognizing the advantages

1- Feel yourself as a kind person

When you lack control, are not alert, you assault, kill, or maliciously plot to harm someone you do not like. Until the action is successful, gloating, and satisfied. After a while, everything calms down. One evening, after finishing all the work, bathing, resting, and suddenly remembering the past incident, suddenly your heart feels agitated and uncomfortable. It is the reflection of your troubled heart that indicates that your deeds and actions were evil in the past. On the contrary, when doing an action to help people, rescue. Every time you remember silently, your heart feels joyful. It is this state of mind that tells you that this action is virtuous. When your heart is calm, your mind will reflect its truth. Agitated, uncomfortable or joyful, lighthearted in their hearts, that mentality each person realizes for themselves, cannot deny what you are feeling. Based on that mentality to knowing if you live and act well or not, not simply because of the concept of the outside society.

When your heart is quiet, you often realize many things and see previous mistakes and shortcomings. However, if you wait until everything is over, then act on it and then realize it, it's already delayed, or missed, how can you save it in time? If you want to be perfect, you have to know it in time. That is, bring the peace of mind to put right at the moment you make a decision. To do so, you must be calm and quiet at all times and in all situations. Before you act, everything will not be confused or mistaken but will be complete and fulfilled.

If you wait until a mistake happens to realize it or wait until you're old to make it out, it's too late and you make a mistake. Then you won't have a chance to correct it. So it's better to use the quiet mind at the end of the work, the calmness, the depth of the old age to put it right before acting or doing something, then you will be clear, not wrong neither regret nor sorrow later.

Thus, based on your quiet, pure heart, honestly reflect to know whether your actions are good or bad. Living and acting badly will lead to agitation, torment, confusion, madness, and suffering. Thinking and doing good deeds will bring joy, happiness, and nobility. As an intelligent and wise person, you must know how to choose the direction of your life. Regardless of your face or your back, whether people know it or not, you will always be true to yourself. Choose a peaceful and healthy life direction to lead you to a peaceful, confident, and unashamed life with yourself and others.

2- Realizing the harm

When you do not recognize yourself and live according to the outside, all mistakes come from here. Like there are many kids who initially play games as a normal childish hobby. For a long time, passion likes to live in the virtual world, forgetting all about the presence around, only knowing joy and sadness, and anger in those games. Until a time they lose all control of themselves, no longer know who they are and how they are living, begin to get sick, have to be hospitalized, and need the intervention of drugs and doctors.

For a normal person, just by forgetting about themselves, living according to the outside illusion to become a mental patient is unjust. And yet, there are many people who are addicted to games, leading to daring actions that are almost inhuman.

The place of production of high technologies such as iPhone, iPad, or owners of social networking sites are countries in the west such as the US... But most of the young people here have realized that it is just an illusion, living in the world of illusion, unreal, so boring, despised, and no longer interested in things on the internet. They begin to return to the real life of everyday life; gardening, weeding, furrowing, and growing vegetables. They realize that the people around them are real people they come into contact with; The green vegetable beds are what they enjoy and feel clear. They are no longer being eaten by the draw of things on the internet. It is this practical life that brings them joy, peace, harmony, and real comfort. Meanwhile, you are fascinated, infatuated, intoxicated, frantically chasing after the images that the people who produced it have left, no longer interested. This shows that you are deluded, misguided, and excessively lost. If you wake up, you won't be able to accept or imagine your own ignorance.

Also due to competition, and lack of consideration, so many people suddenly become drug addicts, torment their loved ones, become social evils, and finally put their life in the place of death, gradually dying over the months, years foolishly.!

 Having to save yourself is a noble way of life, not being entangled or attached to the achievements you have achieved but thinking about great and noble things. When you are not proud or conceited in your achievements; without being obstinate, attached, or immersed in narrow, despicable, dark, selfish, petty, you will naturally become a person with a noble life that is exactly what you are; circulation, serenity, generosity, benefit, and happiness.

The tendency has to help yourself in a civilized society filled with materialism. When there is a moment of silence, you have felt incredible peace and joy. Moreover, when you know yourself, and always live with yourself, your concentration, clarity, and peace will be boundless, and indescribable. Immersed in such a great value, there will be no room for anything outside to come in. When you can live as yourself, then depending on the time, depending on the conditions to live, depending on all things, but full of wisdom, capable of self-control, full of joy, there is no motivation to spend causing you to make mistakes or suffer anymore.

People, there are gentle people, love-kindness and Bi; there are evil people. People, some people always live with tolerance, joy, and equanimity; But there are people who always live with greed and selfishness, only asking to be tolerated and served by others. Have you realized what kind of person you are? People, some people know that because others forget themselves, but there are also people who only know to harm others and benefit themselves. Can you judge for yourself what kind you are?

To be human requires courtesy, shame, loyalty, and filial piety. Have you checked it out yourself? Have you checked yourself to see if you have the conditions to be that person?

As a human, you need to know how to self-improve the ability to take on responsibility. First, it is necessary to be self-aware of yourself, especially not to be afraid to face the words: Speaking frankly is difficult to hear, or hiding your own bad defects, only then can you make rapid progress, and can only grow up on your own.

In Buddhism, we often remind you of the sentence:

- Realize your own facial identity.

Are you aware of your own facial identity?

In short, in life many people are busy every day with calculations, comparing the gains and losses, the more and less of others, and then only know how to criticize others for being unconscious and uneducated. and forget your own crazy mind. You study Buddhism to develop your own true mind, and peel off the mask of your own madness, so that you know who you are, and know what you have to do to make yourself better and better.

You have to help yourself is the key to success, this is accurate and well-known advice. However, not everyone has self-confidence right from birth. Self-help is a state of the brain and can be achieved through intentional and mindful actions. Therefore, take time to nourish your mind, body, and spiritual life every day with healthy activities such as exercise, reading, meditation... If you don't make time for yourself, Your mind is sometimes not quite, not thorough in all matters, if unfortunately, others will use their views to distort your worldview, from there, you will no longer believe in yourself. So helping yourself is a simple topic, but it requires you to be honest with yourself and always monitor the changing processes of your mind to promptly correct mistakes, so as to not favor regret later.

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