Teachings of the Mentor
Author: Fafu
Translator : Lotus
Taking Refuge, Being in Attendance and Paying Respect and Homage
Paying respect is the best way to establish affinity, without paying out your money or energy. If you have a good command of Taking Refuge, Being in Attendance and Paying Respect, the extreme joy will arise when you are listening to all the Wholesome Dharma. It brings you a good understanding based on skillful means, even bliss and gratitude.
If you pay your extreme homage, such kind of state will be even incredible. Taking Refuge, Being in Attendance and Paying Homage, even Extreme Homage, you will achieve the Good Roots. Without such Good Roots, there is no possibility of obtaining benefits, without which, you cannot enter the Buddha-Dharma.
These are the tricks of the trade, which we should master first. After that, we can head for all the Dharmas in a spontaneous and fast way. Having not a good command of above-mentioned, even if you learn more and more, you might be more and more like Devadatta.
Praise our Mentor
I praise you, our kind mentor endlessly: you inspire us all with the increasing motivation to create wholesome karma.
I praise you, our kind mentor endlessly: you advocate us writing papers in order to be eloquent, so that we can achieve the goal of being uncompromising and unbreakable in speech and writing.
I praise you, our kind mentor endlessly: you attract our attention to the Importance of Interest- “It is easy to develop what you are most interested in；if you are not interested in it, it will be uninteresting and uninspiring, making it difficult to achieve.”
I praise you, our kind mentor endlessly: you know everything completely and make giving precisely based on treating every detail seriously.
I praise you, our kind mentor endlessly: you teach by personal example as well as verbal instruction-” The merit from practicing Kindness, Compassion, Joy and Giving is much more than from only learning the sutras about Tripitaka and the Twelve Books of the Buddha thousands of times thoroughly, because to practice, to do creates true merit from making them out, which is different from the merit of only learning.”
I praise you, our kind mentor endlessly: your approach to point out our Afflictions was spot on- “Anyone who thinks that it wastes time is making excuses for his or her own indolence and greed for comfort.”
I praise you, our kind mentor endlessly: you let me know what type of person I am- “A man with talent and no virtue is a villain; a man with talent and virtue is a gentleman; a man with no talent and no virtue is a loser.”
I praise you, our kind mentor endlessly: you set an example for us- “We should have a complete understanding of time, place, people and way; we cannot deliver our speech which is not appropriate; Otherwise, we have made a false speech.”
I praise you, our kind mentor endlessly: you grant me the chances to establish affinities with others and to make self-development.
All the good things are from your grace.
All the sentient beings are blind and ignorant, while our kind mentor has been born among them like the Buddhas; Just as the sun makes darkness disappear and just as the moon brings all coolness, he moistens us with grace and protects us.
