Hsing Yun Quotes

Our heart is like a factory. This factory can produce joy. It can also produce worry. If you can produce worry to make yourself unhappy, why don’t you produce joy instead? Many of our worries are much ado about nothing.

While persistence is important, one must also never forget the initial vows, and be an unrequested helper to people. To be an unrequested helper means to actively offer your help, and never fall behind others in shouldering responsibilities. People usually wait for others’ requests or invitation before offering their help, but a truly compassionate and generous person will automatically step forward and offer a helping hand when seeing others in need. Just as said in the Vimalakirti Sutra, the bodhisattva “befriended and pacified people without being requested.” To be an unrequested helper to our families, friends, society and country is a demonstration of the best volunteer spirit.

Having marched through life for close to seventy years, I am but an ordinary monk who deems “preaching the Dharma a daily duty and benefiting all living beings a lifetime career.” Whatever transpires in the outer conditions, I have always felt profoundly blessed to be in the favor of the Buddhas from the ten directions and with the affinity of all living beings. With them watching over and caring for me, I have been able to carry out the sacred mission that pertains to a monastic little by little.

The modern world seduces people into believing that they have the competence to interpret truth in any way they like. People know more today than ever before, but what they know is usually little more than a collection of facts about one area of study or another. Each area of human endeavor is important to all others, but few areas of inquiry can really be said to have major bearing on our understanding of who we are as people, or what our place in the universe really is.

It is essential to satisfy our daily needs for clothing, food, lodging and transportation. Even if you are a perfectly enlightened Buddha, your daily livelihood is what needs to keep you alive in this world. In your Buddhist cultivation, it is not necessary to maintain a poverty-stricken and austere lifestyle. In fact, Buddhism encourages its devotees to be prosperous by being successful businesspersons or industrious employees

The Buddha’s two realizations demonstrate his high degree of recognition in the value of life as well as firm faith in sentient beings, which is a deep faith in the truth of the world. If we are able to experience this wisdom of life as realized by the Buddha, then we will have more faith in viewing life, understanding that if we are willing to strive to act well as humans, the future will change for the better. We will have more confidence in dealing with people from all walks of life because all beings have Buddha Nature. Every person is a future buddha and should be accorded respect.

Mankind has been living on earth for millenniums, but why is it that no one ever discovered gravitational force before Newton? I believe that it is because Newton had a unique ability to observe. In Buddhist terms, Newton possessed a very high level of awareness, which is very important to the development of personal wisdom. Buddhism places a strong emphasis on the advancement of individual awareness; because only through progressive elevation of awareness can we develop and enhance our wisdom, which leads to the understanding and appreciation of nirvana.

The basic rules of life are no different today than they were in the past. If we want to live well and do our best while we are in this world, then we must live in accordance with the flow of nature as it finds expression both inside of us and outside of us. We must honor the rights and feelings of our spouses, children, neighbors and coworkers. If we want to begin a new business enterprise, we must respect the marketplace and take into consideration all of the many factors that will go into making our efforts pay off. If we want to improve the governance of our societies, then we must pay close attention to the needs of the people as we strive to set an example that is worthy of their natural and heartfelt respect. The imperative that we live in accordance with the natural laws of nature and the human heart is even more important for those of us who call ourselves Buddhists. Above all others, we must strive to set examples that inspire and comfort our fellow beings. Our words must be truthful and our motives must be pure, for this is the only way that we can ever hope to be of lasting value to others. In seeking this way of being, we will find that we are conforming perfectly to the way of nature as well, for the Tao of nature lies as much in our hearts as it does in the world that surrounds us.

When we speak of nature, we mean the expression in this world of certain fundamental truths. Nature is a level of truth that is manifested in the world around us. All around us we can see the cycles of nature: the four seasons, the stages of life from birth to death, the rising and falling of phenomena, the movement of thought from one instant to the next. All of this is natural. All of this is part of the process of life. Life is a condition of nature just as nature is a condition of life. Life is created in nature, it develops in nature and it affects nature in ways that cannot be easily described.

Happiness and peace come from detachment and contentment In this world, some people pursue material happiness and others pursue nature’s tranquility and peace, while some pursue material transcendence and spiritual happiness attained from detachment and contentment. So what type of happiness should we be pursuing? Material life may satisfy our daily needs, but it does not bring sustained happiness; only detachment and contentment allow us to enjoy lasting happiness.

In a perfect society, each citizen would understand the universality of truth and honor the rights and needs of others. A good society must be based on democratic principles, and yet when a democracy loses sight of the rights of its minority members and allows the wishes of the majority to control everything, there will always be problems. The rights of those who voted for the losing side of an election are fully as important as those who voted on the winning side. Objective standards of law and behavior must be respected at all times, and all members of any given society must be equal within those standards. When one group seizes power from another and flouts the basic rule of law, chaos inevitably follows. A good thing cannot come from a bad intention.

One, the lasting nature of life: Life may appear to be one span after another, arising and ceasing, however, within the arising and ceasing, there is its unchanging nature, which is always timeless, coexisting with space, and nature.

Life has no price because money cannot buy life. We should respect the value of being alive and of all living beings. Not only should we protect the lives of others, we should also respect our own life. We should be a lamp that illuminates and warms those who surround us. We should be a tree that shelters and comforts. We should be a bridge that guides all beings to the shore of happiness. We should be a raindrop that nurtures both body and mind.

It has all been for Buddhism's sake. Despite having grown up inside a monastery living a frugal and simple life, I never for a moment felt mistreated or deprived, because it was all for Buddhism’s sake. I became ordained for Buddhism’s sake; I remained firm against temptations of rich offerings from conducting chanting services, because I had resolved to devote my life to propagating the Dharma and benefiting sentient beings for Buddhism's sake; I declined positions of abbot and those of authority and fame from a young age, because I had my own thoughts and directions, and it was “all for Buddhism's sake.”

Freedom, democracy, and technology are the hallmarks of our modern century. However, misguided freedom has become an excuse for offending others; false democracy has become a weapon for trampling the weak; and unethical technology has become a tool for destroying one's neighbor. In the past freedom, democracy, and technology have been necessities for favorable progress. Now, they are the source of many problems. In these turbulent times, we call upon respect and magnanimity as a way for people of the world to cultivate increased mutual respect for and understanding of one another.