The Buddha says:
You should renounce yourself for your family,renounce your family for your village,renounce your village for your country,and renounce everything to become a buddha.
To save the world, we must save people’s minds. When their minds are sincere, they will behave properly. This is what Confucius meant when he said, “First cultivate yourself, then establish harmony in your family, then bring order to your country, and finally bring peace to the world.”
If you want your family to be peaceful, you must first cultivate yourself. With a peaceful family, you can influence other families. When every family lives in harmony, the whole world will be peaceful and joyful.
Life is like the wick of a candle: the more it burns, the brighter it becomes. The candle, however, will sometimes stain the glass around it with black smoke.
Dharma Master Cheng Yen said: “The candle itself is pure, but its light can only be produced through a chemical process which also produces pollution. It is the same with our spiritual life. Our bodies are merely illusory, transitory things, but without them we would not be able to save all living beings. However, with our bodies it is hard to avoid attachment and pollution.”
Translated by E. E. Ho and W. L. Rathje; drawings by Tsai Chih-chung; coloring by May E. Gu
