A million possibilities of willpower

Master Sheng'an mentioned in his article on advocating for bodhicitta: "When entering the Tao, aspiration is the first priority; when practicing urgent tasks, making vows is the first priority. If the vow is established, all sentient beings can be saved, and if the mind is aroused, the Buddha's path can be achieved."

Since ancient times, we can see that in Buddhist scriptures, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have achieved supreme Bodhi, accomplished realms, and accomplished causes that benefit all sentient beings because of their "aspirations." All the great sages of the Patriarchs became enlightened and achieved boundless Buddhahood because of their "aspiration".

• The road paved by wishes

Among the Bodhisattva's vows, there are the twelve great vows of Medicine Master Tathagata, the twelve great vows of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, the ten great vows of Manjushri Bodhisattva, the ten great vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, the twelve great vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and the forty-eight great vows of Amitabha. Wait, may I be brave and mighty, may I be helpful to all sentient beings.

Among the vows made by the founders, there are the Vows of Master Zhizhe, the Western Vows of Master Lianchi, the Day and Night Vows of Zen Master Laiguo, the Vows of Zen Master Huisi, the Vows of Zen Master Yishan, the Vows of Zen Master Yongjia Zhenjue, and the third generation. Karmapa’s Mahamudra prayers, etc., may you be pious and compassionate, may you be majestic and fearless.

Some wishes come from the determination of one thought at the moment, such as Master Xuanzang's "I would rather die with one step to the west than to be reborn in the east"; and the one thought at the moment is to give up my responsibility, such as Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's "Who will I go to hell if I don't"? Go to hell"; there is also the surge of loving kindness at the moment, such as Guanyin Bodhisattva's "What body should be used to save the person, that is, what body should appear to teach the Dharma."

Walkers are guided by the power of will, so they walk on the road that leads to their aspirations. Even if it is winding and winding, even if the steps are difficult, and even if there are a million possible processes, the power of will is like a compass for sailing. Likewise, in the sea of ​​reincarnation and on the path of spiritual cultivation, it leads every wish to the state of perfect fulfillment.

There is a saying in the Great Wisdom Theory that "you will receive the victorious result because of your willingness." Therefore, in the practice of Buddhism, making vows is a necessary practice and the power of vows is a necessary condition for liberation and Buddhahood.

As far as my own limited life experience is concerned, I have repeatedly proven the truth that "whatever you wish will come true". I also deeply feel the incredible power of a single thought, and deeply appreciate the ingenious function and subtle display of the power of wishes. .

I can even say that the activation of one thought has already started the turning of the giant wheel of maturing causes and conditions. If one can keep the thought sincerely, the result will be inevitable.

I once visited the Huayan Temple in South Korea, where I heard Master Zhike tell a story about the power of wishes. From the moment I heard this story, it has always stayed in my mind. Since this story inspired me so much, I wanted to share it with you here.

In fact, I have written down this beautiful story about the power of vows before, but this time I particularly troubled my Korean Dharma friend Professor Lee from Seoul National University to help search for historical materials, which gave the story more details, depth and historical background.

• Wish you all the best

In 544 AD, an Indian monk who specialized in studying the Huayan Sutra came to Jirisan Mountain in South Korea (the place where Manjusri Bodhisattva is said to teach) and founded Huayan Temple.

Several times later, in the Silla period, Master Yixiang, a famous Zen master at that time, built the "Jangliu Hall" in Huayan Temple. It is said that there is a gold statue of Sakyamuni Buddha in it.

Time flows to the early Goryeo Dynasty, when another Zen master, Master Dohyun, built Hwaeumsa Temple into a large jungle with 3,000 monks until it was burned down due to Japanese invasion during the Joseon Dynasty.

In 1649, King Hyojong of Korea decided to rebuild Huayan Temple and named it "Zen Daigalan". However, he did not rebuild the Jangliu Hall. Therefore, Zen Master Gyebo, the abbot at the time, vowed to rebuild the Jangliu Hall that was destroyed by fire. .

The historical records about Huayan Temple come to an end at this point. However, the monastery is still there, the sangha is still there, and the vows and karma are still there, so the story is just about to begin.

During a worship service, Monk Guibo saw Manjushri Bodhisattva appear and told the monk: "If you want to achieve great Buddhahood, you must find a sincere monk (the monk in charge of the temple's logistics) and a truly blessed person." "The donor." The monk asked how to find it. Manjushri Bodhisattva said: "Prepare a jar of water and a basin of flour. Whoever can put his hand in the basin with water and not with flour will be that person."

Following the instructions of Manjushri Bodhisattva, more than a thousand monks performed such a test, and each of them had flour on their hands. At that time, there was a monk in the monastery who had been a monk for ten years. When he became a monk, he vowed to spend ten years cooking for the public every day. At this time, it was the expiration of his ten-year vow, so he also came to test, and the result was that only his hands were not stained with flour.

So Zen Master Guibo knew that this man was the monk Manjusri Bodhisattva said was the transformation master, so he told the monk the whole story. The master monk thought that if he spent his whole life cooking in the kitchen, how could he have the ability to build a temple? So I could only kneel before the Buddha and pray for guidance.

One day, Manjushri Bodhisattva appeared again and told the monk who transformed him to go to the mountain gate early tomorrow morning. The first person you meet is a truly blessed benefactor who can help you build a temple. Manjushri Bodhisattva also said: "Seeing this Man, you must plead, even if it’s just a promise to help you.”

While waiting, an old woman came up, and the monk immediately recognized her. This old woman often came to the temple and sat by the door to listen to the Dharma. She also helped with the kitchen chores and took away the leftover meals as a gift. born.

The master monk was very disappointed and thought, how could it be her? But thinking of Manjushri Bodhisattva's instructions at that time, he kneeled on the ground and begged the old woman. The old woman was also surprised, thinking, "How can I be a donor when I am living in a difficult situation?" The master monk said to the old woman, Manjushri Bodhisattva has an explanation, as long as you can make a promise.

So the old woman sighed and took the master monk to the Seomjin River. This is the place where the old woman often prayed to Manjushri Bodhisattva. She told the master monk her life experience. She was originally the daughter of a wealthy high official, because her father was framed. So overnight her family was destroyed and she was left alone, and she came to the temple to rely on for the rest of her life.

The old woman also said that her practice was to constantly recite the Thousand-Hand Sutra and pray to Manjushri Bodhisattva to escape from birth and death in this life. It is said that on the wall of the old woman's residence, there is also a sentence written by Master Yuan Xiao: If you are not alive, your death will be painful. Don't die, life will be miserable.

The old woman said to the master monk: "Since it is Manjushri Bodhisattva's instruction, I have to agree to it. I will be reincarnated again. If you see me again in the future, I will give you two signs. One is on the left hand that says " There are three words "Zhang Liu Dian", and the other one is that there will be a black spot on my forehead, so that you can recognize me as the person who can help you build Zhang Liu Dian. "

After saying this, the old woman sent the master monk to leave. After the monk left, the old woman chanted the holy name of Manjushri Bodhisattva loudly, and walked towards the center of the river while chanting the holy name. At this time, the master monk turned around and saw this scene and ran back to the place to catch the old woman, but it was too late.

While Huazhu Monk was very regretful that he had not been able to save the old woman, news of this incident had also spread to the village. People were saying that Huazhu Monk had forced people to die in order to build the temple.

With the help of the abbot, Monk Gui Bo, Huazhu Monk left the monastery and embarked on a journey to evade pursuit. He fled all the way, repented all the way, prayed for the dead old woman all the way, and unknowingly crossed the Tumen River and came to the border of the Qing Dynasty.

Six years later, Emperor Kangxi got a princess who was deeply loved. However, the princess was always crying. She only got better when Kangxi coaxed her. Moreover, she always clenched her fist in her left hand and refused to open it.

The emperor posted a message soliciting famous doctors, saying that whoever could cure the princess's illness would be rewarded. While the Huazhu Monk was watching the announcement, the officers and soldiers discovered him, so they arrested him and took him to the palace for interrogation. However, when the Huazhu Monk was escorted to the palace, he met the princess being held by a wet nurse on the road. As soon as the princess saw the monk, she naturally opened her hands to hug the master monk.

This matter was reported to the emperor, so he invited the monk Dianzuo to inquire about the whole story. After taking a closer look at the princess's palm, there were three words "Zhang Liu Dian" written in the middle, and then he realized that the princess was the beggar old woman's wife. Reincarnation.

According to the Korean version of the story, Emperor Kangxi was very moved after hearing the whole story. He even said to himself that he should pay attention to cause and effect and govern the country with compassion, etc., and rewarded the master monk with a stroke of pen to build the temple. It is said that Emperor Kangxi also implemented a benevolent policy of amnesty for the world that year.

When the Huazhu monk returned to North Korea, the king at that time was King Suzong. When he heard about this, he also received the Huazhu monk and built another "Juehuang Hall" next to the Zhanliu Hall, which meant to make the emperor awaken. of the palace, and personally inscribed the palace.

In historical biographies, only the burning of the temple is recorded, but there is no record of the temple's reconstruction. Only this story has been circulated.

According to Professor Li, at that time, except for the emperor of China, everyone could only be called a king. Therefore, the "emperor" in the Juehuang Palace should refer to Emperor Kangxi. In addition, the Joseon Dynasty was an era when the country was governed by Confucianism. During that period, few kings would inscribe inscriptions on temples. Therefore, King Sukjong not only built temples but also inscribed inscriptions. It should be that he did so under special circumstances. Judging from this inference, it is very likely that this story is really more than a legend.

• Upgrade your wishes

This story is a bit long, and the reason why I include all the details is because the essence lies in the sound of each turning point in the story.

The fulfillment of a single wish is caused by countless karmic nodes connected in series. The links span the past and present lives, and each link is connected to this place and other places.

From this story, we can see that even if the Bodhisattva gives guidance, the creation of karma still depends on one's own efforts; although many plots in the process seem disappointing, they are also necessary to lead to another opportunity; although it seems that there are There are ten million impossibilities, but once the causes and conditions come together, a tiny thought will eventually come to fruition.

One of the reasons why I was struck by this Korean drama version about the power of will is that I have seen similar plots in my own life. This makes me unable to ignore the practice of making vows and keep them in mind.

Making vows is actually a process of gradual escalation, just like Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's vows, which range from "to save his dead mother and escape the realm of suffering" to "if hell is empty, I vow not to become a Buddha." Maitreya Bodhisattva's vows go from " Seeking fame and fortune, wandering around clans and surnames," to "giving birth to Saha, and benefiting all living beings."

From the vows, we can also see the process of spiritual cultivation and the continuous advancement and sublimation of the soul.

If you take a closer look at the records in the classics and the vows made by Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and great masters during their practice, you may discover the mystery of Buddhism, which is a world in which "one thought and everything is perfect."