The Tenth Letter: A Humble Request for Teachings from Venerable Master Chin Kung.
Recorded on August 6, 2017, by the chief writer, Cao Rudi.
Respected Venerable Master Chin Kung, although I, Lay Practitioner Zhao Liangyu, currently reside within the -Nature Land of the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre, I recently viewed your latest photographs. Seeing your current state truly fills my heart with deep sorrow and concern. For the sake of saving infinite beings, you have been travelling tirelessly and labouring without rest. Despite your advanced age, you have never forgotten your mission in this life, continuing to work diligently day after day. Looking at your thin cheeks and your eyes filled with such profound , I can see how exhausted you are. Venerable Master, you have truly suffered for the sake of all beings.
The True Essence of Buddhist Practice
Having listened to the teachings at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre for quite some time, I have come to realise that the true essence of learning the Buddha’s teachings should be the attainment of a state beyond aging, sickness, and death, leading to a natural and free rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are infinitely compassionate. They often use the changes in physical appearance—such as the onset of aging, illness, and suffering—as a mirror for all sentient beings. This allows us to constantly self-reflect on our own progress along the path of practice.
We must ask ourselves to what extent we have truly managed to see through and let go of the following:
The : Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt.
The : Wealth, lust, fame, food, and sleep.
The elevation of one's level of practice is often tested through the most subtle and minute details of our daily lives. While learning the Buddha’s teachings may appear simple on the surface, it is, in reality, an incredibly profound and challenging endeavour. My son, Venerable Ding Hong, must also take this as a warning and a mirror for his own self-reflection.
The Mirror of Impermanence
For sixty years, you have compassionately spread the Pure Land teachings, leading countless beings—both those in this world and those in the spirit realms—to learn the Buddha’s teachings. I find myself wondering where the difficulties arise. If you, in your great compassion, could help people understand the reasons behind these physical manifestations, it would serve as a profound warning and a lesson for future generations.
Who among the vast number of sentient beings can truly match your depth of study in the profound and secret treasury of the Buddha’s teachings? If even a master of your stature faces the encroachment of aging and illness, how can we, as beginners on this path, not be trembling with fear and extreme caution? We must constantly examine ourselves, for without such vigilance, we might be moving towards lower realms without even realising it.
A Plea for Clarity
My heart aches, and I am deeply worried. If there is no clear explanation for this, those who come after us will simply assume that aging and the suffering of illness are merely a natural part of life’s cycle. If they believe this is the normal state of affairs, then all their efforts in learning the Buddha’s teachings would be in vain, and they would surely cry out in injustice. To live every day in fear and caution, yet fail to deliver sentient beings to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and furthermore, to be burdened by the laws of and cause and effect—this is truly a situation that leaves one speechless.
I do not understand, and I humbly and sincerely request your compassionate teachings to clarify this for us.
Written by the hand of Lay Practitioner Zhao Liangyu.
