A
team needs talented people, sound organisational structure, good leaders and
much more importantly, a harmonious team spirit.
One
monk carries two buckets of water for his own use, two monks share the load of
one bucket of water for their joint use, three monks carry none for anybody’s
usage.
An
ant comes to move rice but cannot carry up the rice grain no matter how hard it
tries. Two ants move the rice grain with their bodies swaying back and forth.
Three ants carry the rice grain easily into their ant-holes.
There
are completely different results in the two instances above. Three monks
constitute a group. They have no water for drinking as all of them shirk the
responsibility of fetching water and refuse to cooperate with unity.
On
the other hand, three ants carry the rice grain easily into their ant-hole,
illustrating the result of division of labour, coordination of efforts,
teamwork and unity.
Every
person has his own strengths and shortcomings. Within a team, there should be
mutual encouragement among all members. Every member should give full scope to
his strengths, learn from the good points of others, as well as overcome his
own shortcomings. In this way, everyone will take delight in improving the
organisational structure of the team and strengthening the team spirit.
In
a family, an organisation, an enterprise or even a nation, all members need to
work with concerted efforts in all matters, whether important or trivial, with
each giving full scope to his own forte and performing his duties well. If a
team is disorganised, with a feeling of insecurity felt by its members, each of
whom is inclined to do things his own way, fond of frequent conflicts and not
concerned about others, then how could the team be harmonious, happy and organisation
sound?
As
the story has it, a young monk lived in a temple located at the top of a hill.
Every day, he went down the hill and carried back two buckets of water. He also
recited the Buddhist texts, beat rhythms of on the wooden-fish block, added
water into the vase placed on the shrine of Bodhisattva Kuan Yin, as well as
watched out for rats that came to steal food at night. He lived at ease and
with security.
Not
long after, a thin monk came to live at the temple. Once he reached the temple,
he drank up half of the water in the water-vat. The young monk asked him to
fetch water. The thin monk thought, “It is to my disadvantage if I go to fetch
water alone.” Therefore, he wanted the young monk to accompany him to fetch
water. The two of them carried a water-bucket which had to be placed in the
middle of the shoulder-pole, in order to be fair to both of them. In this way,
both of them still could obtain water for drinking.
Later,
a fat monk came to the temple. He also wanted to drink water, but there was no
more water in the water-vat. The young monk and the thin monk asked the fat
monk to fetch water himself. The fat monk fetched a bucket of water, which he
immediately drank up all by himself. From then on, none of them was willing to
fetch water, so all of them had no water for drinking.
Each
monk recited Buddhist texts and beat rhythms on the wooden-fish block on his
own. Nobody added water to the vase placed before the image of Bodhisattva Kuan
Yin, so all the flower offerings in it withered.
Rats
came out to steal food in the night, but none of them bothered to deal with the
problem. In the end, the rats became ferocious and unrestrained. They toppled
the candle-holder and a huge fire raged. At this time, the three monks did all
they could to put out the fire together. With the fire extinguished, they were
also “awakened”.
From
then on, the three monks made concerted efforts to fetch water, so the water
available in the temple increased.
The
Six Principles for Reverent Harmony are the essential factors for harmony that
were taught by Buddha, to enable the Sangha community to function effectively
and harmoniously. The six principles are as follows:
1. Live together harmoniously with respectful
physical conduct.
2. Avoid disputes through harmonious verbal
conduct.
3. Share joy through mental unity in purpose.
4. Practise together by observing the same
precepts.
5. Achieve common understanding by sharing the
same viewpoints.
6. Share benefits equitably.
The
third, fourth and fifth principles involve the mental qualities for reverent
harmony, while the first, second and sixth principles involve the behavioural
demonstration of reverent harmony.
The
Buddhist thought on harmony, as encapsulated in these Six Principles for
Reverent Harmony, is a basic factor that is essential for the attainment of
harmony, happiness and purity, in the Sangha community as well as in any other
organisation.
It
is easy to recite these Six Principles for Reverent Harmony, but to put them
truly into practice, one needs to make sincere, earnest efforts in spiritual
practice.
The Seeds of Kindness
We
learn to get along with one another harmoniously and most importantly, we learn
to cultivate kindness. By cultivating kindness ourselves, as well as teaching
others to do go, we spread the seeds of kindness, thus creating harmony and
compassion in our society as well as our lives.
In
general, one will act in a way that one considers as most beneficial to
oneself. This may be in the form of materialistic benefits or spiritual
benefits.
Venerable
Nan
Shan had two disciples. One day, the senior disciple went out on an
aims-round and obtained a heap of fresh peaches. He carried the peaches
joyfully back to the monastery. On the way, he passed by Li Village and
suddenly felt an urge to urinate, so he left the peaches under a tree and went
to find a convenient place for urinating. When he came back, he saw a large
group of people sitting under the tree and eating his peaches. He shouted,
“Those are my peaches. You shall not eat them!” The people dispersed
immediately.
When
the senior disciple return to the monastery, he grumbled to Venerable Nan Shan,
“The people of Li Village are so detestable. They ate my peaches in my
absence.”
Venerable
Nan
Shan smiled kindly and said, “Do not blame them. May they be well
and happy.”
After
a period of time, the junior disciple also went down the mountain to beg for
alms. He came to the entrance of LI Village, where the accidentally fell down
and injured his leg. The villagers who discovered this immediately carried him
into the village. Furthermore, they bought a physician to attend to his injury.
After his injury had healed, he returned to the monastery and told Venerable
Nan Shan about what had happened.
Venerable
Nan
Shan smiled and asked his senior disciple, “Would you still say
that the people of Li Village are detestable?”
The
senior replied, “They were quite detestable when they stole and ate my peaches
previously. Why have they become so friendly this time.”
Venerable
Nan
Shan said, “Exceedingly kind people are few in numbers, so are
extremely evil people. The majority of people have some kindness as well as
some evil, just like the people of Li Village. If you give them opportunities
for doing good deeds, they will demonstrate kindness. If you give them
opportunities for doing evil, they will perform atrocities. Therefore, we ought
to forgive the evil ways of others and guide them in kindness. You left your
peaches under the tree and went away, so how could you blame others for
stealing your peaches to eat? ”
The
moral of this story is do not make conclusive judgment of a person as good or
evil off-handedly, just as a knife not only can be used to kill a person, but
also to save a person.
Nevertheless,
we must strive to be good people and help others. We must not take advantage of
good people while fearing the evildoers.
When
kind people do good deeds, however, they sometimes get bullied by others. When
evil people commit evil deeds, they always frightened others with their
malevolence. As the saying goes, “ The kind-hearted ones are bullied by mortals but not the heavenly gods,
the evil ones are feared by mortals but not the heavenly gods.”
There
is also a saying by Liu Bowen of the Ming Dynasty of China, “Goodness is like
the green pine while evil is like a flower. The former looks inferior to the
latter right now, but one day when they are hit by the frost, the green pine
will remain while the flower will be gone.”
When
kind people do good deeds, others might take advantage of them, oppress them to
make things difficult for them, but that is only temporary. They will not be
defeated and will ultimately triumph will their goodness. On the other hand, when
evil people do bad deeds, others might be terrorised by them but that is only
temporary too. In the end, they will have to pay for their own evil doings and cannot
evade their evil results.
The
following is a fable. A wicked person wanted to cross a river. However, the
bridge had been washed away by the flood, so brought a wooden deity statue from
a temple to be used for stepping across the river in place of the bridge. A
good-hearted person became very tense upon seeing this and shouted to the wicked
person, “What a grave wrong you have done! How could you step over a deity
statue?”
The
wicked person quickly brought the deity statue back to the temple, as well as
made offerings of flowers and fruits to the deity. Then the deity statue made
utterances to request the good-hearted person to donate money for offerings of
incense and oil.
The
good-hearted person was perplexed and asked the deity statue, “That wicked man
took your statue to be used for stepping across the river, yet you do not blame
him for ruining your statue. I protect you and asked him to bring your statue
back to the temple, yet you still want me to donate money for offerings of
incense and oil?”
The
deity statue said, “Since he is a wicked man, why should I offend him? You are
a kind-hearted man, how could I not get you to do a good deed?”
Sometimes, one may seem to suffer immediate losses in doing
good deeds, but ultimately, one will gain good results.
In
ancient India
A pitiful little monkey was captured by a
monkey-tamer when it was very young. The monkey-tamer was cold-hearted and
strict. He often forced the little monkey to learn various actions, such as
imitating the human way of walking on two legs, begging with a dish and so
forth, in order to earn money through the monkey’s performances.
Whenever
the little monkey failed to perform well, the monkey-tamer would thrash it with
a whip. Fearful of the thrashing, the little monkey could only try its best to
imitate these actions of human beings.
The
little money was not happy and wanted to return to the jungle, to live in
freedom with its companions. However, it was unable to escape, as its neck was
firmly shackled.
Once,
the little monkey earnest only a meagre amount of money, even though it has
done its best in its performances throughout the day. It was scolded by the
owner, “You are a useless thing, being gluttonous and lazy all day long. You
have earned so little money. You shall not have your meal today. If you still
do not earn more money, I will thrash you to death!”
After
this scolding, the little monkey hid in a corner and cried sorrowfully. The
more it thought about this, the sadder it became. It felt that life was too
stressful and thought of ending its own life.
The
monkey-tamer had a very kind-hearted son, who liked the little monkey and took
pity on it. He often brought food secretly for the little monkey to eat, when
his father was not around.
He
saw the little monkey hiding and weeping in a corner after being scolded. In
his father’s absence, he came to console the little monkey, “Don’t cry, little
monkey. Later, at mealtime, I shall bring some food for you to eat.”
“Here
you are, pretending to be good person again?
Aren’t the food that you all eat earned by me?” The little monkey had a
lot to pent-up grievances and anger. This child always treated it in a kindly
and affable manner, so it took advantage of the child’s kindness and vented its
anger on the child, jumping and howling at him. This frightened the child who
wailed and ran away swiftly.
“Ha,
ha, ha” The little monkey had an unprecedented feeling of delight. All of
its
previous anger had completely vanished. However, from then on, the child did
not come to see the little monkey any more. The little monkey ended up having
no one who cared for it all.
One
has to sow seeds in one’s mind-field and cultivate this field oneself. If one
plants seeds of kindness, one will reap good results; if one plants unwholesome
seeds, one will get bad results. Your face is a clear mirror of your mind,
truly reflecting the mind-field that you cultivate within you.
If
you plant the seeds of happiness in your mind-field, then sweet and lovely
smiles will be manifested on your face.
If
you plant the seeds of suffering in your mind, then grief will appear on your
face.
If
you plant the seeds of hatred in your mind, then resentment will be written on
your face.
If
your mind is full of loving-kindness, tolerance will be seen on your face.
If
you mind is full of evil, then you certainly will not look kind.
Once,
Shakyamuni Buddha and His disciples went out on an alms-round. They approached
a farmer for alms-giving, but the farmer said to Buddha, “I cultivate the fields
and plant paddy, so I have rice to eat. You neither cultivate the fields nor
plant paddy, then why should you seek alms from me?”
Buddha
replied, “I also cultivate the fields and do the planting. I sow the seeds of
kindness and cultivate the mind-fields of sentient beings. These seeds of
kindness in the minds of sentient beings will germinate and grow sturdily. By
offering alms to me, you are cultivating your own merit-field.”
There
are people who worship deities and pay homage to Buddhas for the sake of
blessings. To them, it is a blessing to have many children, luxurious houses
and great wealth. Actually, if one does
not cherish one’s blessings, but merely enjoys it in extravagant ways, that
will be wasting and using up one’s own blessing.
Buddha
taught us to have four kinds of attitude towards our blessings, that is,
appreciate our blessings, cherish our blessings, sow the seeds of blessings and
nurture our blessings. Appreciate our blessings and be happy through
contentment. Cherish our blessings by not wasting things. Those with no
blessings should sow the seeds of blessings assiduously, while those who lack
blessings should continue to nurture their blessings.
We
should sow the seeds of kindness, to help those who are needy and less
fortunate. In this way, we not only make others happy, but also create
happiness for ourselves. As long as we are magnanimous and kind, we have sown
the seeds of happiness and will always be full of smile!
Let
us treasure the immeasurable benefits of the Buddha’s teachings, by learning
these teachings well and being grateful to or teachers for their selfless
teaching. In the field of Buddhist learning, may all of you nurture your inner seeds of kindness. May every seed
of kindness germinate and grow sturdily, thus bringing warmth to our world.
The Practice of Six Contemplations
“For
those whose minds are timid and fearful, the Buddha taught the practice of the
six contemplations: Being mindful of the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, the
merits gained both by giving and by keeping the precepts, and the possibility
reborn of being in heaven, is like entering the convergence of light, darkness
will instantly disappear.”
In
the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha say:
“There
is one method of contemplation which, when often practiced and much developed,
leads to the complete turning away from the world, to detachment, to stilling,
to ceasing, to peace, to final penetrating knowledge, to Enlightenment, and
thus to Nirvana. Any noble disciple who by progress have understood the true
Dhamma dwells frequently in this state.”
1. Contemplation of the Buddha
It
is reflecting over the qualities of the Buddha exactly like this:
“Worthy,
honourable and perfectly self-enlightened is the Buddha! Consummated in
knowledge and behaviour, totally transcended, expert in all dimensions, knower
of all worlds, unsurpassable trainer of those who can be tamed, both teacher and
guide of gods as well as of humans, blessed, exalted, awakened, and perfectly
enlightened is the Buddha!”
2. Contemplation of the Dhamma
It
is reflecting over the qualities of the Dhamma exactly this:
“Perfectly
formulated is this Buddha-Dhamma, visible right here and now, immediately
effective, timeless, inviting each and everyone to come and see for themselves,
to inspire, examine and verify. Leading each and everyone through progress
towards perfection. Directly observable, experiencable and realizable by each
intelligent person.”
3. Contemplation of the Dhamma
It
is reflecting over the qualities of the noble Sangha exactly like this:
“Perfectly
training is this Noble Sangha community of the Buddha’s noble disciples.
Training the right way, the true way, the good way, the direct way! Therefore
do these eight kinds of individuals, these four noble pairs, deserve both
gifts, offerings, much hospitality and reverential salutation with joined
palms, since this noble Sangha community of the Buddha‘s noble disciples, is
indeed an unsurpassable and forever unsurpassed field of merit in this world.
It is for this world to honour, support, uphold, respect and protect the
Sangha.”
4. Contemplation of Morality
It
is reflecting over the ethic qualities of one’s own moral purity exactly like
this:
“The
noble disciple reviews and recollects his own morality, which is unbroken,
immaculate, unspotted, unsoiled, productive of liberation. It is praised by the
clever, not stiff pride, and leads to concentration.”
5. Contemplation of Giving
It
is reflecting over the qualities of one’s own generosity exactly like this:
“A
noble disciple reviews his own generosity in this very way: Truly, blessed am
I, highly lucky; among all beings polluted by evil. stingy, and mean
niggardliness, I am living with a mind freed from avarice, open-handed,
liberal, in high-minded generosity, inviting all beggars, always rejoicing in
giving and sharing all I have with others!”
6. Contemplation of Devas (gods)
The
noble disciple contemplates on the gods in this very way:
“There
are the divine beings on the plane of the Four Great Kings, there are the
divine beings of the World of the Thirty-Three, there is a Yama World, there
are the Contented Devas, there are also those enjoying own creation! There are
those with power over others’ creations, those of the Brahma world, and those
still far above them… Now, such faith, morality, wisdom, generosity,
concentration and understanding, which these divine beings acted upon and which
caused their rebirth on a divine plane after leaving this world. Such good qualities
as these are also found in me! When a noble disciple reflects thus, his mind is
neither obsessed by any greed, nor by any hate, nor by any confusion!”
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