Wisdom from Chinese Literary and Buddhist Classics
365 Days for Travelers
5/6: WORDS OF CAUTION TO ONESELF
Huang Zongxi (1610 - 1695, Ming Dynasty)English translation: Miao Guang and Zhi Yue
Leave fortune and misfortune,
success and failure,
to the hands of heaven.
Leave support and slander,
gains and losses,
to the hands of humanity.
Leave cultivation and morality
to one’s own responsibility.
── from Ming Ruxue An
(Survey of Ming Confucianists)
SUBDUING ONESELF AND UNDERSTANDING REASONS
It is difficult to remedy anger, and also fear.
Having subdued oneself, anger is thereby remedied,
Having understood reasons, fear is thereby remedied.
── from Song Yuan Xue An
(Record of Song and Yuan Scholars)
CONSCIENCE AND CONFIDENCE
Zhang Taiyan (1869 - 1936)English translation: Miao Guang
Conscience is a subtle and quiet voice which enables the minority to confess. A benevolent one is certainly also courageous, while force is a necessary means to punish the villain.
One must have the confidence to tell right from wrong out of his own conscience without being influenced by the majority’s decision.
── from Zhang Taiyan Quanji
(Complete Collection of Zhang Taiyan)
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APRIL
Humble Table, Wise Fare
INSPIRATION
Recorded by Leann Moore 0:16
Unpleasant things
usually create the opportunity
for us to be born anew;
adverse conditions
often reveal the way
for us to succeed.
Dharma Instruments
Venerable Master Hsing Yun grants voices to the objects of daily monastic life to tell their stories in this collection of first-person narratives.
Sutras Chanting
The Medicine Buddha SutraMedicine Buddha, the Buddha of healing in Chinese Buddhism, is believed to cure all suffering (both physical and mental) of sentient beings. The Medicine Buddha Sutra is commonly chanted and recited in Buddhist monasteries, and the Medicine Buddha’s twelve great vows are widely praised.
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