A-Yun Worships Buddha
( 阿 雲 拜 佛 記 )
Scene: I met Master Hong Sheng for a counseling on someday in November, 2013.
Master: A-Yun! Are you being possessed by anything? How can you be so ignorant and muddle- headed? Some people worship Buddha at Sticky House. You can go there and worship Buddha with them.
Onion and Yun Ru worship Buddha every Tuesday and Friday from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. I have a yoga lesson on Tuesday, so I decided to join them on Fridays.
In order to follow the Master's guide, I started to go to Sticky House to worship Buddha for an hour every Friday.
During the period of joining them, Onion and Yun Ru, both of them had changed the frequency of worshipping Buddha from two days a week to five days a week. Besides, they had increased the amount of time of worshipping Buddha from one hour to one and a half hours each day.
I thought I had executed the routine thing that Master asked me to do. Due to my laziness, I ignored other members’ improvements and I didn't want to make any changes of myself to catch up with them. Even though it was obviously that my inner became more peaceful and more stable since I had started to worship Buddha.
A family hall for worshipping Buddha at Sticky House
In spite of seeing the improvements and joyfulness of Onion and Yun Ru, I still thought that there was nothing to do with me and I didn't want to follow them until one day
Xiao-Yan called me and asked...
Xiao-Yan: A-Yun, do you worship Buddha?
Me: Yes, I do. Once a week, every time I do it for an hour at Sticky House.
Xiao-Yan: I have a bet with Master that you worship Buddha everyday.
Me: Don't do it with Master, you will not win this bet.
By that time, I knew I should increase my frequency of worshipping Buddha.
Me: I will spend more time on it.
At the same time, I could hear that Xiao-Yan was trying her best to defend for me with Master on the phone. Well, sorry that I had Xiao-Yan be in a hole.
Since then, I have begun to worship Buddha for one and a half hours everyday at home. Moreover, I made my mind to worship Buddha with Yun Ru and Onion from start to finish once a week. I did not left early any more.
We worship at Sticky House. Yun Ru chanted Buddha instead due to her pregnancy.
One or two months later, one night, I had a dream. A person pointed to a number, six, and asked me what it was.
In the dream I answered: It is Six Perfections! (Paramitas)
He asked: What is Six Perfections!?
I answered: alms-giving, patience, diligence, deep concentration, and wisdom. Something is strange! Let me say it again, alms-giving, patience, diligence, deep concentration, and wisdom. Wait, why are there only five perfections? What is the one I missed?
I just couldn't think of it and then I woke up. As soon as I woke up, I checked on the Internet for that perfection I missed. It was precept observation that I forgot in the dream.
In the counseling with my Master, I asked him about my dream.
Master: What you missed in your dream is the key of learning Buddhism, the precept observation. It is the root of wisdom. Without the root, it is impossible to lead you to the liberation.
Master: If I were you, I would have been scared to death. Without precept observation, you will have to do the transmigration next life. Then, my Master pointed out my problem of learning Buddhism which was I didn't make my best effort on practicing principles.
Master: I have told you before. If you don't do your works thoughtfully or considerately, there is no doubt that you will go to the three evil paths. I am not intimidating you about this.
Master: So, endure hardships and practice the morality. They are the same thing but different expression. If you don't practice morality, you won't be able to endure the difficulties.
A -Yun: I am lazy.
Master: Laziness is just another reason for not able to endure hardships. When you feel doing things are annoying and tiring, that means you cannot endure your difficulties. Therefore, without enduring hardships and practicing the rules, it is not possible to learn Buddhism well.
Master: In the early time at Sticky House, everybody worshipped Buddha one and a half hours per week, but you only did it for one hour per week. That was not even ONCE. That was the fact of not practicing precept. You said you are lazy. You are too lazy to worship Buddha for another half hour which says you cannot endure hardships. Practicing precept is easy to achieve. Just force yourself to do it. In life, be considerate and do your best to every single matter.
Once at a time of consulting meeting with Master, we talked about worshipping Buddha at Sticky House. I definitely told him that I did worship Buddha once a week. However, due to my persistence and pride, it was me who twisted my Master's words. My Master meant that I should follow the routine of other people and worship Buddha at Sticky House.
Therefore I realized that if I am willing to practice hard and spend more time improving myself, there is always a chance to progress. Everything depends on myself. Based on this experience, Endure Hardships and Practice Precepts has become my motto.
Half years of worshipping Buddha has passed, through the movements of worshipping Buddha, my heart and mind can is getting calm down, it is easier to realize the meaning of Master’s words, and I feel lighter and safer physically and mentally.
Thanks to Master's patiently waiting and endless mercy, he makes me realize that my attitude toward learning Buddhism has been wrong. Now I want to start over from correcting my wrong-doings, which is the root of reforming my personalities. I am happy and grateful for the awakening.
Thank you Master Hong Sheng!
I would like to shout out loud, Master, I love you!
Original Text by A-Yun
Translated by Yi Jue Yuan Translation Team
延伸閱讀：阿雲拜佛記(中文版)
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