1992, Miss Hu Jiahua, who co-organized the Dunhuang Ancient Exhibition with Foguangshan, once said to me, "Master! You came to the world of mortals because of compassion! " I was flattered by her praise, but this sentence triggered my thoughts, reminding me of a sentence that Master Hehe once said more than 50 years ago, shortly after I became a monk, and consciously won my heart, that is:

"A person would rather have nothing, but not without compassion! 」

I think: compassion is what a person should have.

I have been very compassionate since I was a child, and I always try my best to remedy those imperfect personnel. What I remember most is that when I was very young, my mother told a story in which the protagonist was a lonely old man. After listening to this, I cried under the table, begging my family to help him, leaving the adults to persuade and cajole me, but there was no way to stop my entanglement. Until late at night, my family couldn't beat me and asked me to buy a gift to accompany me to my grandfather, so I was willing to give it up.

At the age of ten, my father went to other places to make a living and was away from home for many years. One day, I suddenly saw him go home. I can't help crying when I think of his hard work day and night. Since then, I have been looking for odd jobs to help subsidize my family, hoping to alleviate his worries.

Then my mother was ill for many years. In order to make her happy, I squatted in front of her bed after work every day and read seven books to her to relieve boredom. My mother can't read, but she will correct me when I make mistakes. I also take care of the big and small things at home automatically, so as not to let her worry. Everyone in the village praised me as a dutiful son, and I took it as a small gift from the Son of Man.

When I was twelve, I gave up love and left my family. After I became a monk in the temple, I treated my teacher as my parents, my classmates as my brothers, and served them with respect and humor. I take teaching as my life, people as my own, sacrifice and dedication, not for myself. Consciously have a deeper understanding of compassion, and then feel that compassion is not a fixed point, but a constant sublimation of emotions.

1949, Shanhe was renamed. I came to Taiwan Province Province not because I was afraid of death, but because my classmate Master Zhiyong changed his mind temporarily and decided to give up. I was afraid that the "monk rescue team" would be leaderless, so I exchanged ambitions and promised to lead the team for me. Seeing that time was pressing, I trudged all night to Tianning Temple in Changzhou before it was too late. I woke up my sleeping classmates in the dark and asked them one by one, "Do you want to join the monk rescue team and go to Taiwan Province Province together? 」

When I told this story, a disciple was surprised and asked, "You woke everyone up in the middle of the night. Do you know all these people? I replied without hesitation: "I dare to ask anyone for mercy!" " 」

I remember when I first arrived in Taiwan Province Province, I happened to meet a senior brother. I saw his eyes were deep and he was so weak. After chatting, I realized that he was a third-stage lung disease patient. At that time, medicine was not developed, and getting lung disease was tantamount to declaring a terminal illness. Everyone is afraid of infection and afraid to go near. Only Master Zhen Nian and I are fearless and take care of them from time to time. Every day, we carefully wash the fine hairs on the loquat leaves and boil them into medicine juice to feed him. At this time, it coincided with Master Daoyuan's belief in Mahayana, which was very rare in Taiwan Province Province, which lacked Buddhism teaching in those years. Master Zhen Nian knows Buddhism and doesn't know Mandarin, so I volunteered to organize tens of thousands of notes every day and send them to him for reference. Although I have been busy for a whole month, I am still very happy to see that Master Zhen Nian is full of joy and his sex is getting better and better.

Yue Ji, an old monk, was the dean of Qixia Law School when I was studying. In order to repay his teaching kindness in those years, I not only entrusted the Kaohsiung Buddhist Temple, which I participated in, to his abbot, but also took care of it myself. I often sent him to the doctor in the middle of the night to pay for his illness until I died. After his death, the Dojo was immediately occupied by others. Many people were angered. They criticized me and called on me to take it back. Not only did I ignore it, but I even asked Yan to return all the millions of yuan saved by the old monk to Qixia Jingshe.

At the beginning of Foguang Mountain, when the economy was in the most difficult time, the Sri Lankan master organized a university in the local area, hoping that I would lend a helping hand; An old mage once borrowed 800 thousand from me, and I tried my best to help him raise it. Afterwards, he said, "I'm just testing your sincerity. A mage in Singapore built a social welfare center and asked me to mortgage two rooms. Although I am shy, I always thought I was an elder or a fellow villager and wanted to raise money for it. Buddhist institutions in Bangladesh, Sikkim, Nepal, Ladakh, India and other places wrote that they lacked funds to build classrooms, set up libraries and repair Dojo houses ... Although I was in trouble, I tried my best to donate money to show my gratitude to the Buddha.

I remember a few years ago, I received a headless letter that refused to sign. On it, I posted a news about disaster relief in Chinese mainland. It says next to it, "You are from mainland China. What kind of compassionate relief work have you done? " "I feel naught after reading it. Over the years, my contributions to the mainland include not only Buddhist groups, temples, monasteries, floods and droughts, charity, but also scholarships, academic research and so on. Do these little loves have to report to everyone? I have always felt that compassion is not the standard to measure others, but the morality I practice; Compassion is not a tool for seeking fame, but a natural expression of true love.

I ask myself, I feel that I am worthy not only of the people of Chinese mainland, but also of my compatriots in Taiwan Province Province. I remember 195 1 year, there was a big earthquake in Hualien. Although I was poor at that time, living in Shandao Temple and using the cupboard for ashes as a bed, I still went to collect money for the victims in the earthquake zone. In the past 40 years in Bao Dao, I have established nursing homes, nurseries, publishing houses and magazines. I have established education at all levels, from children to adults. Of course, this is because we don't want the decline of the holy religion, and we can't bear the suffering of all beings. We also want to be filial to parents and educate children.

In my opinion, compassion should not be divided into provinces and regions, but should be a kind of mind that does not care about itself and things, but can care about the worries of the world and take pleasure in the joy of the world.

1950, when the Korean War broke out, although I didn't have a fixed address, I collected clothes and books for front-line officers and men everywhere. 1955, Vietnam fell, and there was a wave of refugees at sea. Although I am busy preaching Buddhism, I also tirelessly appeal to the public to rent boats to help refugees at sea. Thanks to your help, countless people survived. Over the years, natural and man-made disasters have occurred frequently on five continents. As the president of the International Buddha Light Association, I have been running around in many ways and initiating member donations.

People often see that I have done many Buddhist undertakings in my life and ask me curiously, "Did you plan all this in advance when you were young?" In fact, I'm afraid some people don't believe it. Many of these undertakings are the result of a sad heart. For example, because I can't bear to take care of the Buddhist temple by my elderly aunt, I raise money everywhere. There, I set up a Buddhist cultural service office and began to promote Buddhist cultural undertakings.

1967 When I bought the land in Foguang Mountain, I didn't think of building a big jungle. I just heard that a couple of Vietnamese overseas Chinese were eager to sell a piece of Mazhu Mountain in the 1920s to tide over the difficulties, but no one wanted to buy it. The whole family is trapped, worried about the city, and will soon throw themselves into the river. Seeing that human life is a matter of concern, I felt sorry, so I sold the "Buddhist Cultural Service Office" and bought the mountain with the proceeds. At that time, many believers felt that it was unheard of to sell such a house in downtown areas and replace it with barren hills, so they all came to persuade them to oppose it. I still squeeze through the crowd and buy land to save people.

When I was exploring the terrain, I looked at the thorns and weeds all over the mountain and thought that such a vast place could be used to build a large-scale Buddhist college, which just compensated my long-cherished wish of cultivating talents and promoting education. So the school buildings were naturally built, and the education of Foguang Mountain was rooted here. Later, in order to meet the needs and convenience of Chaoshan believers, I raised funds to buy land, moved mountains and filled the sea, and planned Buddhist temples, lecture halls, guest rooms, zhaitang and other buildings. Today, the hardware project of Foguang Mountain has never stopped, but we can proudly say: "All facilities are for the benefit of all beings; All the construction is for the welfare society. 」

After the students graduated from the Buddhist College one by one, I began to set up other branches in various places, so that they could dedicate what they had learned and sow Bodhi seeds. People often ask me, "Why build so many temples and Dojo?" ? With so much suffering in the world, is it not good to use this temple building fund to help the poor? 」

This statement sounds reasonable, but further exploration is not valid, because no matter how much money is given or how much charity is done, it can only save physical life and help those in urgent need, but it can't eliminate greed and ignorance and uproot the root cause of all beings. The giving of Buddhism and the guidance of truth can purify the soul, save the dharma body and wisdom, make people get rid of troubles and avoid life and death, and its influence will last forever. Therefore, it is the most thorough compassion to build a multi-functional Buddhist temple and transform millions of beings!

It was originally a sacred mission to build a temple to educate all beings, but unfortunately some people in the teaching community know it, but they don't know why. They only know how to build temples, not how to train monks. In the end, they can't play their role in educating all beings. What's more, it falls into the hands of the magic wand and forms a disguised tool for collecting money. Really sad!

Therefore, if compassion is not used properly, it will become evil. Looking at social phenomena, other examples are: indulging children and causing social problems; Palliating evil deeds leads to social disorder; Abuse of money encourages greed; Release is harmful to life. These are all due to the lack of correct understanding and moral courage. Therefore, true compassion must be guided by wisdom, otherwise it will be self-defeating and will lose goodwill. True compassion is not necessarily a kind of praise and encouragement. It is sometimes more difficult to be merciful to subdue evil with the power of King Kong.

The most important condition for career development is people; The most laborious resource for starting a career is also people. Over the past 28 years, the employees working in Foguangshan are mixed, and I have repeatedly advised the supervisor to accept subordinates with compassion. As a result, some employees, who used to be arrogant and slow-thinking, gradually grew up under the influence of Buddhism; Others really can't cope with the mountain wind, and I won't leave any trouble. I will always give them a way to go. I just create a happy ending to make both sides happy. Years of life experience have made me deeply feel that only compassion can turn hostility into friendship and resentment into invisibility; Only compassion can make a good relationship and achieve a career.

Things in the world can't be satisfactory, and there are times when you are compassionate. Some people forget their responsibilities after I promised to pay off their debts, just like people who used to edit newspapers. For many years, I have to pay 50 thousand yuan for him every month Others used my sympathy to extort money, such as the project of Xilai Temple, which dragged on for many days. The company originally responsible for the construction thought that Buddhists were kind and deceitful and asked for money several times. I don't know how many times this has happened in my life, but I have never been discouraged, because I would rather lose myself because of compassion than abandon a sentient being at will.

Perhaps it is because I have such innate deep feelings for all beings that I have always cared for animals. I forbid others to whip and sell chickens, ducks, dogs and livestock raised at home, or to slaughter and cook them. I remember that the villagers used to say that dogs could only eat one meal, but I couldn't bear to be hungry. I often walked into the yard with a bowl and shared it with dogs. Even in a famine year, I would rather starve myself than let my dog starve. Sometimes when family members find out, they are inevitably scolded. They often say, "people have nothing to eat, but they have to give it to dogs." I think: people don't have to eat, but dogs still have to be fed, because dogs can't talk and are hungry! Therefore, I still secretly feed the dog every day, and I still feel happy when I think of the way the dog wags its tail happily.

When I was nine years old, my own little white dove flew away and didn't come back for several days. I was so worried about pigeons that no one cared. I was hungry and painful, heartbroken and threw myself into the river. I don't know if I should not die, or if I have been a good swimmer since I was a child, but I drifted all the way to the other side. I came home angry and worried all day, and I couldn't eat for days.

1956, I opened a kindhearted kindergarten in Yilan, and raised monkeys and birds to cultivate children's love. The owner of the livestock farm has repeatedly advised me not to give the monkey water, otherwise it will grow up quickly and it will not be fun. But I can't bear to think of being thirsty and sad. I still feed it with water every day. It didn't take long for the monkey to grow to half a man's height. When I was a little older, I saw that it was locked in a cage all day, and my heart was full of pity, so I let it go back to the mountains. I am very happy to see it crawling around the tree, and a joy of life comes to my mind, diluting the original reluctance.

Many years ago, there was a dog called Fa in Foguang Mountain. People see that I regard animals as my own life and naturally cherish them in every way. Once, a guest sent a box of cakes, and Aunt Yang Ciman couldn't wait to take one and said to me, "Send it! Here you are! " I immediately reached out and said, "Come on, give it to me and eat happily." People nearby said, "How can a disciple call a dog by his first name when he meets Master?" Made everyone laugh. In fact, I often forget who I am Perhaps because I have such a thing, I forgot that my heart is full of compassion and joy all the time.

I remember when I first came to Taiwan Province Province, I lived a wandering life. Although I have no money, I don't feel bitter in my heart, because as long as I treat things with compassion and cherish them, flowers and trees will repay me with lush green leaves, and insects and birds will greet me with sweet songs. As long as I respond to the world with compassion and ask for nothing in return, honor, disgrace, gain and loss are my karma, and all beings in the world have become my legal partners and relatives.

Therefore, cherishing blessings is compassion, affinity is compassion, respect is compassion, and tolerance is compassion. If we can be considerate and caring with a compassionate heart, look at everything with a compassionate eye, rejoice and admire with a compassionate tongue, and often do Buddhist work with a compassionate hand, we can settle down wherever we go, even if we have nothing.

Compassion is not only beneficial to oneself, but also the driving force of family happiness, the cornerstone of social security and happiness, the element of national prosperity and progress, and the endless source of the universe. Therefore, as a person, no matter where in any time and space, it is inseparable from compassion. The reason why the times we live in today are so violent is that we lack compassion, so we should advocate compassionate mind, compassionate morality, compassionate courage and compassionate behavior. Let us use the water of compassion to soothe the wounded soul, use the medicine of compassion to treat ignorance, make our country a place of compassion, and make our world a world of compassion.

We'd rather have nothing, but we can't be without compassion.