Buddhism Works - by Venerable Master Miao-Lien
Introduction
There are two types of temples in China: public temples in which any monk can stay for a while, and private temples funded by a
particular person or family. People build private temples because they want to practice Buddhism on their own, or perhaps because they want to give them to certain groups of monks as an offering.
Private temples usually do not ask for donations since they are privately owned and the public is not expected to support them.
There is an interesting story that I would like to tell you about one of those private temples.
1.The Philanthropist who Became Poor
Long ago, there was a very generous man who lived in the countryside. Everybody referred to him as The Old Gentleman. His family had, long ago, built a temple to provide
a sanctuary where monks could live and practice. By his generation, however, The Old Gentleman had become the sole caretaker of the temple. As the years went by, the temple became run down and was in much need of repairs. It finally came to the point where the monks would not be able to live there if no one tended to the damages. Unfortunately,
The Old Gentleman had already donated so much of his money to other causes in the village that he had become too poor to afford the restoration. He asked himself how he could pay for all those repairs.
As he could no longer take care of the temple by himself, he decided to give it to the townspeople so that others could pitch in and help maintain the run-down building.
So, The Old Gentleman gathered all the townspeople together and invited them to come over and have a look at the temple. He
explained to them that if everyone donated a little bit of money to restore the temple, he would in turn donate it for public use. The townspeople gladly agreed. After refreshments, they gathered around so that each one could write down the amount of money that he or she would pledge to renovate the old temple. Since the temple belonged to The Old Gentleman after all, the townspeople thought it would be polite to have him be the first person to write down an
amount, and then they would follow.
The Abbot of the temple opened a record book of donations and passed it to The Old Gentleman. Without thinking, The Old Gentleman wrote down "100 taels," a very large amount in those days! What he had actually intended was for the townspeople to
pitch in, since he had no money left. Consequently, he wondered,
"What was the point of writing any amount at all?" But, under the crcumstances, he had to write down something. Originally, he wanted to write down only "1 tael," but because he was used to constantly donating hundreds of taels or sometimes even thousands, he instinctively wrote down "100 taels."
Even though The Old Gentleman was now poor, it was hard for him to break the habit of donating large sums to good causes.
The Abbot was ecstatic when he saw the amount that The Old Gentleman wrote down. The temple needed only sixty taels for the repairs; one hundred taels was enough for tearing down the whole temple and building a new one! So the Abbot announced to the townspeople, "The Old Gentleman has just donated one hundred taels! That is more than enough for the repairs, so you people don't have to donate any more!" Upon hearing this, the folks who were reluctant to donate in the first place were relieved and happy.
But The Old Gentleman really had no money at all. He did not even have enough to feed himself, so how could he come up with one
hundred taels to fix the temple? However, when rich people become poor, they may still possess some fine objects. As it is said,
"A wrecked ship still contains 3000 nails." This means that even though there may not be much left of a wrecked ship, at least the
many nails that hold it together are worth something! So, in the end, The Old Gentleman decided to sell his house in order to come up with the amount of money that he had pledged.
After selling his house, The Old Gentleman realized that he no longer had a place to live, that there was no food for him to eat, and that there was no one to help him. He was all by himself. When the Abbot of the temple found out about it, he said to The Old Gentleman,
"You are such a generous person! You have sold your home to fix up the temple, and now you have no place to live. Why don't you live here at the temple?" But The Old Gentleman replied, "I did a good deed but I did not expect anything in return. I don't have any right to here in the temple."
"Then how about donating just ninety taels instead of one hundred? That way, you can keep ten taels to build yourself another house" suggested the Abbot. But The Old Gentleman refused and insisted,
"No! I want to donate one hundred taels!" Once again, the Abbot offered The Old Gentleman a place to stay in the temple, and since The Old Gentleman really did not have a place to live, he reluctantly agreed to move into the temple.
2.Losing Eyesight at Old Age and Getting Struck by Lightning
The Old Gentleman lost his eyesight two years after moving into the temple. When his vision was not impaired, he was able to take care of himself, but now that he had become blind, he needed some help.
Needless to say, everyone at the temple was willing to lend him a hand.
ln the past, The Old Gentleman always helped his town maintain its roads and bridges. Shortly after he became blind. one of the town's main bridges, frequently used and depended upon by the townspeople. Everyone knew that The Old Gentleman had donated everything he had, so they could no longer expect him to help restore the bridge. When there is no one to help you, you must help yourself! They decided that they had to work together to fix the bridge. A unified effort can conquer any obstacle. When they faced the hardships brought on by the collapsed bridge, the townspeople came together and rebuilt it.
The last step of the construction was to hold a completion ceremony at which the final stone slab would be placed at the centre of the bridge. The townspeople thought of The Old Gentleman who, in the past, had always funded the bridge repairs for the benefits of all the villagers. Now that there was only one final step left to finish the new bridge, they decided to honor The Old Gentleman by inviting him to place the final stone slab.
That ceremonial final step was a big event for the townspeople. Everyone gathered around to watch The Old Gentleman place the last stone slab in the center of the bridge, and to celebrate a job well done. The day started out nice and bright, but just as The Old Gentleman began setting the last stone slab, the weather began to change. A strong wind was soon blowing, and heavy rain began to fall. Thunder cracked, and streaks of lightning zigzagged over the town! To everyone's dismay, no sooner had The Old Gentleman
lowered the stone slab into place than a bolt of lightning struck him, killing him instantly. "What a tragedy! How could such a wonderful person die so horribly! This is not fair!"
People from far and near knew that The Old Gentleman was a kind-hearted and generous person. When they heard about his death, they all thought, "Only evil people get struck by lightning, so how could this have happened to him?" Everyone felt that it was a great injustice, and they all felt angry because of the horrible way in which The Old Gentleman had died. "His family has done so much for so many generations. If a person as kind as he was could suffer such
an ill fate, then what is the point of us doing any more good things?We're not going to get any good rewards anyway."
ntleman was a kind
3.The Imperial Envoy Angrily Wrote:
"Buddhism does not Work"
The townspeople stood on the new bridge while they discussed the death of The Old Gentleman. Meanwhile, a sedan chair carried by eight men was approaching from a distance. Inside this elegant conveyance was an Imperial Envoy. When the Envoy came to the bridge, The Old Gentleman's body was still kneeling there, right in the middle of the bridge, because the townspeople had not yet decided how to bury him properly. When the Envoy saw that rather strange sight, the townspeople explained to him what had happened.
After hearing the story about The Old Gentleman, the Envoy felt just as angry as the villagers did. So he took out his brush and some ink and wrote on The Old Gentleman's hand: "Buddhism does not work." He thought that Buddhism was all about cause and effect:
"Do a good deed and get a pat on the back" was what he had been taught, but where were the cause and effect in all of this? The Old Gentleman had always done good deeds, yet the Buddha did not protect him from a horrible and undignified death; consequently, all of the the teachings of the Buddha must be false! So, the Envoy angrily wrote "Buddhism does not work" on the dead man's hand to express his resentment.
4.Buddhism works: Rebirth as a Prince
A few days later, after the Emperor's Envoy had finished his duties in that town, he headed back to the palace to present his report to the Emperor. While he was reporting what he had seen, the story of The Old Gentleman came up. When the Emperor heard about The Old Gentleman's blindness and his horrible death, he, too, was
very bewildered. Now it so happened that a few days before, the Empress gave birth to a baby prince. Ever since his birth, the prince had been crying nonstop. Everyone tried everything to calm the baby down, but nothing worked.
The Emperor called for the baby to be brought out so that his trusted Envoy could take a look. The Envoy gently stroked the baby's head to calm it down, and then held the little prince's hands. To the Envoy's amazement, he noticed on one of the baby's hands the same words that he had written on The Old Gentleman's hand! Taken aback, the
Envoy quickly brought out his brush and added a few strokes to the words, changing them from "Buddhism does not work" to
"Buddhism works very well." The instant he changed the words, the baby stopped crying! Not only that, but a bright smile broke out on the baby's face! How amazing! After only a few strokes of the Envoy's brush, the shrieking baby was bubbling with joy!
5. Transforming Heavy Karma into Light Retribution
I heard this story when I was a child. Let's look at it from the perspective of the Law of Cause and Effect which exerts its intluence
throughout the Three Periods - past, present and future. What is the logic behind this generous old man's predicament- becoming blind and then getting struck by lightning? Here is a case where what might have been a harsh consequence became moderate because of the performance of good deeds. The suffering, which was the result of bad deeds in previous lifetimes, was brought out sooner and ended more swiftly because of the good deeds done in the present lifetime.
As I have often said, everybody falls somewhere between the two extremes of good and bad. Nobody is pertectly good or bad. The Old Gentleman must have committed misdeeds in his past lives, resulting in the karmic retribution of blindness. Because he had done so many good deeds in his present life, he did not have to suffer the consequence of his previous lives until he was old, so his suffering greater and longer if he were blinded at an earlier age, but he suffered from this condition for only the last few years of his life. If his negative karma had not been reduced by his generous acts and subsequently brought to the surface in this life, he just might have had to suffer from blindness for a whole lifetime in his next life.
The same concept also explains why he got struck by lightning. He must have committed the Five Cardinal Sins at some time in his past lives, resulting in such a severe punishment in this life. However, it would have been a greater pity if he had been struck down in his next life during his adolescence. Instead, in this lifetime, The Old Gentleman managed to work off all the negative karma from his previous lives so that he could have the good fortune of being reincarnated as a prince. This proves that good people ultimately receive good rewards, and that bad people inevitably suffer from their negative karma.
Good deeds and bad deeds create causes that will eventually bring out their corresponding effects. The Law of Cause and Effect makes no mistakes. The bad circumstances encountered by good people are the effects of the bad deeds committed in previous lives; and the bad people who enjoy happy lives must have performed good deeds in their past lives. In due time, the bad people will suffer from the karmic retributions of their negative karma, even if it does not
appear right now.
What goes around comes around; everyone should believe in karma. Moreover, one must understand that a cause and its effects do not always occur at the same time. Understanding this principle will help you through difficult times. Instead of feelings of anger and resentment, you will find ease and comfort no matter what difficulties you encounter.
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