guide OUR CHILDREN FROM YOUNG
Hsihu Center, Formosa, Oct.9, 1994.
Haveyou seen this movie for children called "Pinocchio",about a wooden puppet? A childless old man carves a wooden puppetto amuse himself. It turns out to be so pretty that he says tohimself, "How nice if it would become a real child!"A fairy coincidentally appears and grants his wish. Gradually,the puppet is transformed into a child.
The fairy also tells the puppet that it shouldbehave well, be obedient, be willing to learn, do good deeds,contribute himself unconditionally, and be moral, etc. Perhapshe even had to meditate. (Master laughs.) Only then could it becomea real child. "Otherwise," she said, "a bad childis just like a wooden puppet." Do you understand? These talesare not simply tales. There are some implicit inner teachingsabout spiritual practice in them.
Take 'Aladdin and his Magic Lamp" forinstance. Have you watched that one? (Audience: Yes!) Aladdinwas only a beggar in the first place. He became a prince becausehe pursued spiritual practice. The lamp within him was polishedand shined. His closed mind accumulated through many lifetimes,and his bad memories were released. So, he had many magical powers,just like the Genie in the lamp. That means our mind has beenopened at that time. After enlightenment, our brain becomes moreefficient, so we can do many things. For instance, I can designclothing, lanterns and paint paintings. Those are the magicalpowers that I didn't have before. But, these are nothing great!I am just giving you some examples. After enlightenment, we cancomprehend many things.
Nevertheless as I explained before, it is possibleonly if you truly want it. You won't be enlightened simply bysomeone forcing you to come and get the initiation. This is notthe way! Therefore, any teacher would say, "Rely on yourself!"Not that you don't need a teacher, but that you must be trulysincere. Otherwise, even if you stayed here clinging to the Masterfor several hundred years, you'd still be the same! You cannotbecome a prince as long as you are clinging to your preconceptions,your habits and your quality of a beggar. Just like the beggar,Aladdin, he could have become a prince, if it were not for hispersistent fault of telling lies. He still wanted to cheat hislover, and subsequently was punished. Only then the demon wasable to get hold of his weakness, understand? Eventually, he wasexposed to everyone as being a dishonest beggar.
This resembles very much the situation of ourspiritual practice. If we are enlightened but truly not realizingwhy we are enlightened and why it is like that, we will definitelyrun into trouble again. The demon will return. This is what thedemon does, waits to test us. So, don't blame the demon. It isno use blaming the demon since it is our own fault. If we aregood, no harm could come to us, doesn't matter how many demonscome. Like in the story, even if the demon existed, but, at thattime, Aladdin still had his shining lamp which he could polishevery day. He could command the magical power of the lamp to protecthim and do many things for him. Later, because he lied, he didn'tkeep the precepts well, exposing a flaw, a hole for the demonto penetrate, the demon grabbed his weak point, and was able toharm him and take his lamp away. That lamp represents our innerwisdom, our virtues and inner self.
The princess he married is our soul! Do youunderstand? Having found our soul, our own master, no other girlis more beautiful, nothing on earth is more precious. Only whenwe have found our own master then we are completely contented.Otherwise, all the things in the world mean nothing to us. Forinstance, the beggar had become a prince and owned everything.Yet, he still longed to marry the princess. He did not want anyother girl on earth. He wanted only the princess. The princesssymbolizes our soul, our inner self that cannot be replaced.
Sometimes, you can find some valuable teachingswhen watching the television. Therefore, before showing a cartoonto the children, watch it yourself beforehand and understand itwell. Sometimes, you have to explain it to the children. Don'tthink that the children cannot understand. They can, if you explainit to them. I have played with many children and found that theyare just like adults. I respect them very much. Sometimes, I amso shocked that I dare not treat them too casually. They are reallysmart, often surprising the adults. This reminds us that theyalso have a soul, a Buddha within. We should not recklessly remarkthat they are only kids. Of course, every child is different.However, should we know how to teach them, they would all behavewell. If we don't know how to treat them, they observe our weaknessand start being mischievous. Once their mischief becomes a habit,it is difficult to change them.
If you do not teach them well and put themon the virtuous path while they are small, it will be too lateto correct them afterwards. However, to educate them, and showthem a sacred and correct path, we ourselves must understand perfectly.Is that not so? Parents are the initial teachers, the most importantteachers. They raise the children from when they are small; theinitial stage is the most vital. Therefore, parents are the bestteachers of children. If they are not guided to the right paththen, how can we do it later? They will have already travelleda long way, too far away to be pulled back.
So ourselves must be clear about the path weare walking on before we can guide our children. What you havetaught them, the books you let them read, the friends you advisedthem to have, and the conditions and background that you providedfor their growth, will eventually be reflected in the result.He is born carrying the genes of past lives. If you do not helphim to improve from childhood, guiding him to a better direction,later he will act according to his previous genes. He will beexactly as he was before. Doesn't matter how many hundred timeshe was born, he remains the same type of person, or even worse.Because his genes are bad, he attracts bad things, and he becomesworse and worse.
We should starts bending him when he is small,as if shaping a bonsai, a miniature Japanese potted tree, right?They start bending and shaping it just as it begins to grow. Bindit with ropes, let it grow the way they want it to grow. Now,for a tree like this one (Master pointing to a tall tree nearby),can you tie it up? Can you shape it to grow that way? Not anymore!It is too rigid now to be bound or bent. When it was very youngand flexible, you could have shaped it like the bonsai. Otherwise,it naturally grows in its own way and at its own speed, unableto control any more. Do you understand? Therefore, it is veryvital for parents to take good care of the children. At the sametime, you should be serious in learning, in getting enlightenment,really understand the teachings and morals. Only when you areenlightened can you help the children, guide them to a correctand better direction.
We can still change after growing up, but aspecial type of teacher is required. These teachers were not sobadly needed when we were small. It was all right giving themsecond hand teachings when they were small. However, when theyhave grown up, first hand teachings are necessary, which is seekingan enlightened Master. Having found a good enlightened Master,having learned well and trained well, you can carry on teachingthe children. Even after the death of the Master, the childrencan still grow up well under your enlightened teaching and correctconcepts. Therefore, God gives us children also to remind us tobehave like a teacher. We have to perfect ourselves, because achild is waiting for you to help and guide him. God entrusts achild - a new soul in your hands, demanding you to take care ofhim, polish him, and create a prototype. So, don't complain abouthaving children! They are your lessons to learn how to be a teacher.
So, God gives us children to train our latenttalent of being a teacher. You have to know everything if youhave a child, understand? The more you know, the wiser your childwill become, and more definite his direction. Most parents inthe world do not know much. They themselves are not steady, areunclear about their direction, morally not stable, and not wiseenough. This is why we grew up and became so wishy-washy, undecidedabout our direction, and find it so difficult to start spiritualpractice now. If you had been immersed in an atmosphere of spiritualpractice from childhood, learned meditation and moral teachings,you would learn very fast from Master here, right? You might noteven need Master! Your parents teaching you would have been sufficient.(Sigh!)This is why the whole world continues to be so wishy-washy, fightingonly for wealth and fame, virtually without thinking. They donot realize only spiritual food can satisfy us the most. Everyoneis still greedy and sinking, because they are not satisfied withanything. They are not satisfied with the highest position, thegreatest wealth. All because they have not experienced the vitalessence.
Now, if more of us, the adults, would practicespiritually, increasing in number, truly and accurately got incontact with our inner nature, understand morals and wisdom, ourchildren would grow up in a splendid way. Should the whole nationpursue spiritual practice, all the children would become saints,saints from childhood. Subsequently, the whole world would bein peace, virtually no need for any weapons. Everything woulddevelop prosperously and naturally. For instance, I have neverlearned painting, fashion design or jewelry design, yet I cando it now if I wish to. I can earn money to help the needy people.I have more than enough to spend! On the contrary, worldly peoplesometimes have to work very hard and yet cannot earn enough, right?They cannot even save themselves, let alone saving money to helpothers. You see, there is such a drastic difference!
So you see. Only our true wisdom is the mostreliable, not the worldly position or wealth, nor the earthlybeauty or talents. However, it is easy to talk. People have growntoo old and mature to change easily. Even then, hard to changedoesn't mean impossible to change. It is still possible even ifwe do it slowly.
