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Blessings Comes from Cultivation2013-12-04
Spoken by Dharma Master Heng Rung
English Translation by Genglin Zheng
Long time ago, there was a person, who was named Evil by his father. Wherever he was, people made fun of his name Evil. “Evil,” he came to think, “means something not good.” It troubled him that people call him Evil all day long.
In time, Evil entered the left-home life. He thought that no one would call him Evil any more. But to his surprise, the monastic members still called him Evil. “Come over here, Evil the Dharma friend,” they would say. This again troubled him. One day he couldn’t take it anymore, and he told the monastic members not to call him Evil. They told him, “Don’t be so stubborn, a name is simply a label!” One day during an assembly, people were talking about this when the World Honored One came in. The World Honored One asked: “What are you talking about? What is today’s topic?” People told the Honored One about Evil.
The World Honored One mentioned that this person was named Evil, too, in his previous life. At that time, too, he was troubled by it. They said to the World Honored One, “Buddha, would you please give the assembly a talk on this matter.” The Buddha said, the same thing happened to this person in his previous life -- he thought: I would have great blessings if I have a good name. It is this name that gives me such bad luck. Once he went to seek advice from the Buddha. The Buddha said, “Go look in the market, as soon as you find the most auspicious name, come back to me, and I will have your name changed.” he departed upon hearing this.
He visited one village after another. All of a sudden he bumped into a procession of mourners. He asked one mourner: what’s the name of the deceased. “Has Life”, replied the mourner. This surprised him. “This person’s name is Has Life! How could Has Life ends up dead?” The mourner said, “How ignorant you are! Has Life is doomed to die, too. No human being is exempt from death.” He thought to himself, “It is true, everyone dies, whether he is Has Life or Has No Life. Why am I so stubborn?”
He continued on. Shortly he saw a maid, who was being beaten by her master. Evil asked the master, “Why do you beat her like this? “ The master said: this maid did not return the large sum of money she owed. Evil asked him, “May I please ask the name of this maid?” “Her name is Keeping Treasure”, replied the master. Evil heard this and thought to himself, “What a good name she has! Yet she is still so poor! What’s the use of a good name?” Letting go off some more stubbornness, he moved further on.
Next he came across a person walking back and forth in the middle of the road. He asked this person, “Why are you walking back and forth like this?” The person replied, “I got lost, not knowing which way to go.” Evil asked, “What’s your name?” “My name is Good Journey.” He said. “And you got lost even with a name Good Journey?” It occurred to Evil: Has Life ended up having no life; Good Journey ended up getting lost! Then, why am I being stubborn! He turned around and headed back home.”
The World Honored One asked him: “Did you find a good name?” No, he said. The World Honored One then asked him, “Do you still want a new name?” No need, he replied. The World Honored One then said to him, “A name is just a label, a symbol. Blessings come from cultivation. If you want blessings, you need to act. Blessings do not fall from the sky or come from a good name.” The World Honor One took this opportunity to lecture him on the dharma. From then on he started cultivating blessings.
Blessings come from cultivation; they do not fall from the sky. We can know if we have blessings by telling if we are mean? Are we not forgiving when we are in the right？Are we honest and kind? There are many ways for cultivating blessings, among them are: making offerings to the Triple Jewels, supporting the way places, do good deeds on the quiet. The more blessings, the better.
