Happy
Birthday to My Hero!
April 7
Dharma – There will
always be obstacles in life
This past Sunday (April
7) at Alms Offering Service, for the Dhamma portion, Venerable Na Long spoke
about a lady at our center who has been coming to the center every day, and has
never missed Alms Offering. However today, her seat is empty. The Venerable
went on speaking about this lady’s situation and the wisdom that we can gain.
The Venerable stated that there will be challenges and obstacles in life, but
we must always stay the course and use the accumulation of merit as your
refuge.
- I was asked by a lay devotee to write about this ladies
incident since there is wisdom that one can learn from her situation.
- I will share this story with you now
There is a member at the
temple that started coming since the inception of the Georgia Meditation Center
in 1998. She never missed an Alms Offering Service held every Sunday and always
is in attendance for all ceremonies. She is very involved at the center always
helping to motivate others to accumulate good deeds, and has introduced many to
join the center and attend service. She conducts her life accordingly to the
teaching of the center with daily practice of meditation, upholding the 5
precepts, and acts of generosity. She truly is an inspiration for others and is
a true virtuous peace leader. She has proven time and time again, by her
actions and service to the center how dedicated and genuine she really is...my
mother.
Recently, an unfortunate
situation occurred, my mother was injured. All I could wish for is merit
not to fail my family now, wishing that for any situation that might be heavy
to be light instead, and for my mom to ultimately be fine. I am so relieved to
say my mother will be fine, and her scars will heal. My mother has proven that
she is not only a warrior with the ultimate love for her child, but she is also
a soldier of goodness. She is my hero, and my captain, who has guided me to be
who I am today, a lover of doing good for the world, a soldier for peace.
The next day after her
injury my mother asked for us to go to the temple to accumulate more good deeds
for our family. She reminded us (myself and my brothers) that when it comes to
relaying on anything we must rely on our good deeds to get us through, and that
she knows she is protected, because of all the good she has done thus far.
My mother is a great example of perseverance of accumulating good deeds
and believing in merit no matter what. That though challenges come in our
life we will not back down, and wonder why our goodness did not protect us.
When it comes to Karma we just never know what consequence will bear its fruit,
all we can wish for, if unfortunate situations are to occur due to remnants of
Karma, let them be light, not heavy circumstances. We have confident and faith
in the good deeds that we accumulate and our goodness and virtues will always
protect us. And even if it doesn’t, we will realize that sometimes some things
are just meant to be and we have no control. And that my friends is Karma.
Believe in Merit, Believe in doing good and recall on them to protect you.
Today is my mother’s
birthday and to celebrate her birthday she made an offering to the Venerable. I
wanted to share her story with you in hopes that it may help inspire you to
accumulate good deeds for yourself by meditating, upholding precepts, and acts
of generosity, her story is one that we can learn something from. Those of you
who know my mom, know how dedicated she is in accumulating good deeds.
Instead of buying her a present, she asked each of her children (me, Nat,
and Timmy) to share in making a birthday offering with her, she wanted no
material object, but rather wanted to make merit. Since monks meditate 4-6
hours a day, and uphold 227 precepts, for us, we believe they are our fertile
fields of merit. Thus, just like a seed that is to be planted, we should be
selective with the type of soil we plant the seed in, the more fertile the soil
the better the yield. Likewise, the more purified a person is, an act of good
deed towards that person, accumulates a high return of merit accordingly.
Merit and Demerit are behind all things, accumulate only good deeds, and
protect yourself. Believe in merit. It is real!
A photo
of my family performing merit offering together:
May the Buddha bless your family, tell your Mother that this blog post has encouraged me to make more good merit and practice harder to keep the five precepts. And to appreciate my parents more. Best wishes in the Dharma.
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