Short Sayings

1. The Great Master said, "Not all of scientific studies are constantly in use. On the other hand,however, the study of how to use the mind is constantly used. Therefore, the study of how to use the mind is basic to all scientific studies?"

2. The Great Master said, "Those of moral training seek to know what the mind is and how to acquire freedom of mind, what the principles of birth and death are and how to transcend them, and what the principles of sin and blessedness are and how to control them at will."

3. The Great Master said, "A good mind brings forth all kinds of good. An evil mind brings forth all kinds of evil. Therefore, the mind is the source of all good and evil."

4. The Great Master said, "When money, knowledge and power belong to a dishonest person, they will become the reason for committing sins. Money, knowledge and power will not bring lasting blessedness unless and until the mind is right."

5.The Great Master said, "If you are bound by doing lesser good, it will obstruct your doing greater good. If you are bound by lesser wisdom, it will obstruct the exercise of greater wisdom. in order to succeed in the greater thing, one must train oneself
not to be bound by the lesser thing."

6.The Great Master said, "Those who know themselves to be stupid may become wise. On the other hand, those who think themselves wise but who are blind to their failings will gradually be degraded into stupidity."

7.The Great Master said, "One practicing the Great Way will both meditate and use wisdom at the same time, but will know that true wisdom comes from meditation. A successful entrepreneur uses virtue and talent together, but knows that true talent
comes only from virtue."

8.The Great Master said, "One of courage easily encounters an enemy stronger than oneself. A talented person can easily make mistakes."

9.The Great Master said, "If an ordinary person has worries and anxieties, the person tries to get rid of them. Once free of them, however, one causes oneself to worry again, and the cycle never ceases."

10.The Great Master said, "One who wishes to find the Great Way should not seek to find it in a short period of time. You cannot go long way at a quick pace constantly; you cannot find a great Way with a hasty mind. The tall tree takes many years to grow from a little sprout; Buddhas and Bodhisattvas also achieved their Buddhahood after lengthy efforts."

11.The Great Master said, "Two evils obstruct great practice : one is self-abandonment, which makes light of one's own fundamental ability; and the other
is complacency, which makes one easily satisfied with shallow knowledge. If one does not eliminate these two evils, it is difficult to attain great study."

12.The Great Master said, "One who cherishes no hope is spiritually dead. Even a villain who commits murder, steals and commits adultery may have another chance someday to achieve Buddhahood, if having a change of mind. However, one without hope is entirely helpless until a new sense of hope is regained. Therefore, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas made a vow to give hope to all sentient beings by working through all their lives, past and present."

13.The Great Master said, "Don't look for a talisman. When you rid your mind of desire and become free of what you want to do and what you dislike doing, that is the very talisman you seek."

14.The Great Master said,
"Be right yourself before you correct others.
Instruct yourself first before you teach others.
Do favors for others before you seek favors from them.
Then you will be able to acquire everything you want,
and at the same time you will be cooperating harmoniously with others."

15.The Great Master said.
"The strong are those who can control others,
but the strongest are those who can control themselves.
Those who are able to control themselves can then control others."

16.The Great Master said,
"There are two kinds of stupid people.
One kind seeks to control the minds of other people before having self-control.
The other interferes in other people's business
before being able to manage personal business.
Eventually, both will suffer from their involvement."

17.The Great Master said,
"Ordinary people try to obtain things, but do not know how.
As a result, the more they seek the more things get beyond them.
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, however, know how to acquire things.
Therefore, they never seek after but things naturally come their way."

18.The Great Master said,
"The superior person is one who finishes work and then eats.
The inferior person is one who eats first and works later."

19.The Great Master said.
"Ordinary people wish to be blessed
but do not care to do those things which will bless them;
they hate to meet misfortune but are liable to create misfortune.
This means that they are not aware of the source of blessedness and misfortune
and even though they know it, they are not practicing the truth."

20.The Great Master said,
"Those who seek to do favors for others spiritually, physically and materially will be blessed most in the future.
Those who in all situations keep a peaceful mind, whatever their place in life, are the most happy, and those who in all situations know how to be content are the wealthiest."

21.The Great Master said,
"Ordinary people may appear smart in doing things only for themselves, but they are really suffering a loss. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas may appear to be stupid in doing things only for others, but eventually they benefit themselves."

22.The Great Master said,
"The wise pay no attention to position, high or low, but are only faithful to their own work. Therefore, as time passes, their work and its merits emerge brilliantly.
Ordinary persons are not faithful to their work and seek only fame and honor.
Therefore, both their fame and honor are brought to naught."

23.The Great Master said,
"One who thinks oneself superior to others can never escape being looked down upon.
One who constantly wishes to defeat others will be defeated.

24.The Great Master said,
"The more a good deed is known, the less merit it has.
The more an evil deed is concealed, the deeper the evil will take root.
Therefore, more merit comes from a concealed good deed,
while evil, by being exposed, will have a shallow root."

25.The Great Master said,
"Helping others without their knowledge becomes a greater virtue.
Doing harm to others unknowingly becomes a greater sin."

26.The Great Master said,
"If you complain because you do not receive recognition from other people for doing a good deed, an evil seed, mixed with the good dead, will take root.
On the other hand, if you are penitent for an evil deed which you committed,
a good seed will take root in the evil deed.
Therefore, be careful not to be complacent in occasionally doing a good deed.
It will obstruct your further progress.
Also, don't become despondent when once you commit an evil deed.
It will be degrading."

27.The Great Master said,
"Ordinary people are usually happy to receive things for free and are not aware that things received free occasionally become the cause of great loss.
The wise, however, in receiving things gratis and not wanting them, distribute these things and thereby prevent possible misfortune from coming their way."

28.The Great Master said,
"A person of truth cherishes no falseness in mind;
therefore, all that person's deeds are expressions of the Truth.
A sage harbors in mind no mutual conflict toward others,
therefore, all of a sage's deeds are virtuous.
As a result, a person of truth always keeps the mind aright and without evil.
A sage always keeps the mind peaceful and without suffering."

29.The Great Master said,
"Before you give to others, do not speak insincerely,
and after giving do not brag.
Otherwise, you will be in debt for your words
and your virtue will he tarnished.
Do not make insincere vows to the Dharma world.
Unfulfilled vows to the Dharma world will cause you dreadful sufferings."

30.The Great Master said,
"One can remove an evil and vicious mind in others
only after one has removed the evil and viciousness in one's own mind."

31.The Great Master said,
"A mind in mutual conflicts is the source of misfortune,
while a mind in mutual harmony is the source of good fortune."

32.The Great Master said,
"Even though one has sinned once,
one's future life will be bright
if one has a constant true penitence
and accumulates merits which can dissolve one's evil and vicious mind.
Even though one has done good once,
one's future life will still be miserable if one continues to harbor a grudge or harmful mind against others."

33.The Great Master said,
"The ordinary person, who in receiving ten favors finds fault with one of them, will carry a grudge against the benefactor.
On the other hand, those who are enlightened to the Way are grateful for even one favour done them out of ten wrongs.
Therefore, an ordinary person finds dissatisfaction even from receiving favours, and causes trouble and destruction.
Those who are enlightened to the Way, however, discover benefits even from harm, bringing forth peace and comfort."

34.The Great Master said,
"A good person teaches the world in terms of goodness,
and an evil one awakens the world in terms of evil.
The merits of both kinds of people, in their teaching and awakening of the world, are equal.
Yet the good person working in favor of the world also brings blessedness upon the
self;
the evil one, working in favor of the world, commits sins and brings sufferings upon the self.
Therefore, do not hate the evil ones, but have pity on them."

35.The Great Master said,
"Everything is useful as long as we know how to make use of it."

36.The Great Master said,
"People can inspire the minds of others with hope and peace but also with despair and anxiety, even with simple talk and a few words.
Therefore, those who commit sins are not always originally evil.
Many of them, without knowing the principle of what is sin and what is blessedness, often commit sins unconsciously."

37.The Great Master said,
"To violate major precepts by acts such as murder, stealing and adultery is a great sin.
But a greater sin is to take away from others their faith in the right Law, thereby keeping
them away from the right path through eternity.
To give a lot of money, clothes and food in charity is to do great good.
The greater good, however, is to inspire the minds of other people with faith and lead
them to a bright future through eternity."

38.The Great Master said,
"There are three kinds of people who are difficult to save.
First is the one who reveres none as a teacher.
Second is the one who holds no sense of honor.
Third is the one who never feels ashamed after having committed evil."

39.The Great Master said,
"As a member of an Order, to violate regulations of the members means to destroy the Order. An act ignoring the will of the members is against the will of Heaven."

40.The Great Master said,
"If one who is a common member in an Order untiringly continues to study for a long time, one will be greatly successful because of being more conscientious, even though
one's deeds are neither of a special nature nor the result of a distinguished skill."

41.The Great Master said,
"The life of an Order of moral training is never of long duration because of the equipment or property, but continues by its constant transmission of the wisdom of the Law."

42.The Great Master said,
"True freedom comes when you refrain from self-indulgence.
When you reject selfish desire you receive great benefit.
Therefore, a seeker of true freedom, first of all, strictly observes precepts;
the seeker of great benefits, first of all, fosters public spirit."

43.The Great Master said,
"Sentient beings consider Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as their field of blessedness,
while Buddhas and Bodhtsattvas consider sentient beings as their field of blessedness."

44.The Great Master said,
"As a human being, if one is ignorant about the wide world of the Six Paths and the Four Forms of Birth, one is acquainted with only one part of the world.
If one is ignorant of the principle of progression and retrogression of the Six Paths and the Four Forms of Birth, one is no more than a short-sighted person."

45.The Great Master said,
"One who has no thought for oneself is possessed of the whole Universe and the Three Worlds."

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