Paths to a Personal Liberation

Introduction
I found the following words written on the wall of a Buddhist temple: the Da Ci'en Temple in Xian, China. I photographed the words to later transcribe them because to me, they made a lot of good sense, and verbalised many matters that I had previously thought about without being able to put into words myself. People often say that the easiest things to learn are the things that you already know. This is a truism that rolls easily off the tounge, but also has much depth behind it. Deep down inside your soul, you know instinctively the truth of words and thoughts if you give yourself the time to consider them, and the quietness to listen. The sentences that I came across in that old Buddhist temple bypass all dogma and doctrine, litury and ritual. To me they talk of a deep truth, and huge sense of oneness with the planet. Perhaps they'll talk some of this to you, also. They aren't complete, of course, and won't answer all of the questions that you have about life and its meaning. But they do provide some useful thoughts that can assist your path to find the person who you want to be, and to assist your struggle for a better understanding of who you already are.

 

Living a Carefree Life
1/ The essence of possession and giving is love, but, one benefits the self, the second benefits others. Possession is self craving; giving stems from a great love that is selfless, joyful, and equanimous.

2/ A bodhisattva[1] is broad-minded and big-hearted. He is the steppingstone and path to accomplishment for others.

3/ Accomplish your own ends by honouring others; reconcile hostility with respect to others; increase harmony with praise of others.

4/ One who cannot let go of himself lacks wisdom; one who cannot let go of others lacks compassion.

5/ To affirm your strengths is self-confidence; to know your defects is growth; to understand others is respect.

6/ When working together with a subordinate, show concern not blame, encouragement not arrogance, consultation not authority.

7/ A forceful and stubborn person only hurts others without helping himself; a mild and patient person is at peace with himself and others.

8/ The meaning of life lies in constant learning and dedication; helping others leads to self-growth.

9/ A bright person is not necessarily wise; a dull person not necessarily foolish. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge; it lies in how you treat others and handle yourself.

10/ Compassion is to reduce others' vexations; wisdom is to reduce your own.

11/ Great merit lies in attending to others' suffering; Great wisdom lies in helping them solve their problems.

12/ Once you realise that all phenomena in the world are impermanent, you will attain true inner peace.

 

Living a Simple Life
1/ Pursue what you will in harmony; keep hope in exertion.

2/ Reduce the mind of gain and loss; and direct your effort to timely endeavour, and success is likely.

3/ The warmth of a family lies in mutual respect and love; the value of a family lies in mutual help and understanding.

4/ When you hear gossip, calm down and examine yourself - correct mistakes and guard against new ones. Instability and impatience make gossip worse.

5/ Suffering in our hearts increases our wisdom; hardship in our lives engenders appreciation of merit.

6/ Simplicity itself improves and protects the environment.

7/ Maturity cares not about the past; wisdom does not doubt the present; an open-mind does not worry about the future.

8/ A diploma does not represent social-standing; capability does not determine personality; fame does not bespeak virtue. No job is really high or low, only convention makes these distinctions.

9/ Reconcile unhappiness with sincerity, affirmation, and decisiveness, rather than hesitation, passivity, and vacillation.

10/ Worldly matters are never easy; but approach them with confidence and patience, and achievement will surely follow.

11/ No resentment or regret about the past; active, positive preparation for the future with stability in every step.

12/ Abandon concern for gain and loss; an all-embracing wisdom appears before you.

13/ Give your diseases to the doctor and your life to the bodhisattva, then you'll be a healthy person with nothing to worry about.

14/ Conduct yourself in this way: act with devotion, be at your best, always responsible and dutiful.

 

Uplifting Character
1/ To be grateful and repay kindness is first; to benefit others is to benefit ourselves.

2/ Kindness and compassion have no enemies; wisdom engenders no vexations.

3/ The busy make the most of time; the diligent enjoy the best of health.

4/ Those who give selflessly are blessed; those who do good deeds are happy.

5/ Know yourself and others, and the ways of the world, so as to have a peaceful body and mind. Recognise, cherish, and nurture your blessings, and seize every chance to be of service.

6/ For those who can take things on and let them go in peace, every year is an auspicious year. For those who can sow with wisdom the seeds of blessings, every day is a good day.

7/ Maintain a relaxed body and mind, and meet and greet with a smile. Relaxation enhances physical and mental health, and a smiling face promotes friendship.

8/ Gratitude can make us grow, and the resolve to return favours can help us succeed.

9/ When good things happen, we should rejoice in, praise, encourage, and then learn from them in modesty.

10/ To criticise less and praise more is a a good way to avoid creating negative karma of speech.

11/ A solid step forward speaks louder than a hundred empty, fair words.

12/ The more weaknesses you discover in yourself, the faster you will be to develop, and the more self-confident you will be.

13/ Keep your ears and eyes wide open, but mouth tight shut; be quick with your hands and legs, but slow to spend.

14/ Be a down-to-earth person with a broad mind; be a sure hand with piercing foresight.

 

Living Life In Peace
1/ Our value depends not on how long we live, but on how much we contribute.

2/ As the past has faded into misty memories, and the future remains a dream unrealised, seizing the present is most important.

3/ A positive life pivots on modesty; the bigger the ego, the greater the insecurity.

4/ The noble pursue the Path, the average pursue their duties, and the misguided pursue fame and fortune.

5/ While worry fuels unnecessary torment, carefulness breeds security.

6/ Wealth is like running water, and giving like digging a well. Just as the deeper the well, the more water it holds, the more you give, the more wealth you have.

7/ As long as we still have breath, we have boundless hope, and the breath we have is the greatest wealth.

 

Enjoying Work
1/ Don't measure success and gain by wealth and rank: to benefit ourselves and others as best we can is all that matters.

2/ To take on tough tasks, one must prepare to tough out complaints, and to be in charge is to be in for criticism. Yet complaints help foster compassion and patience, and criticism often holds golden advice.

3/ The tripartite formula for success is: go with the causes and conditions, seize them as they come, and create them when they don't.

4/ All the ups and downs of life are nourishing experiences for our growth.

5/ Deal with matters with wisdom, and care for people with compassion.

6/ To let the circumstances dictate ones state of mind is human; to let the mind dictate the circumstances is sage.

7/ A big duck cuts a big wake; a small duck cuts a small wake. Big or small, each duck will paddle its own way to the other shore, but only if it paddles.

 

Building A Pure Land
1/ Possessing much won't necessarily make one satisfied; possessing little won't necessarily make one want.

2/ What you have results from Karmic causes that you created, and what you'll gain hinges on Karmic causes that you're creating.

3/ The good are never alone, and the kindhearted are the merriest. Those who help others and so benefit themselves are the happiest.

4/ Change your mind-set, and you will see the world differently: there is no absolute good or bad in this world.

5/ Building good interpersonal relationships requires communication. When communication fails, try compromise. And if attempts at compromise also fail, then forgive and tolerate.

6/ The best way to abstain from greed is to give more, contribute more, and share more with others.

 

Spiritual Growth
1/ Progress in simplicity, let glory shine in difficulty.

2/ Strive for prosperity and show grace in adversity.

3/ A mind undistracted by circumstance is the result of meditation; a mind at one with circumstance is the result of wisdom.

4/ Take retreat as progress; silence as defence; devotion to others as the best way to self-growth.

5/ To experience life whole-heartedly is Chan[2] practise.

6/ To possess health in body and mind is the greatest wealth.

7/ When there is hindrance in the mind, the world is jarring; when there is no trouble in the mind, the world is in bright harmony.

8/ When the mind is not open and clear, suffering occurs; when the mind is open and clear, suffering turns to happiness.

9/ With even-mindedness and a peaceful disposition, life will be happy.

 


 

[1] A bodhisattva - one who is working towards his own liberation.
[2] Chan - the Chinese translation for Zen, a school of Mahayana Buddhism.