Happily Ever After (Venerable Master Hsing Yun)

Without thinking twice, the tot would hasten to share with his little friends a slice of cake from the Buddha’s shrine, an incomparable gem of a pebble retrieved from the roadside, or the contents of the family candy-can altogether. Neighbours would tease his mother for raising a foolhardy son. But for the child himself, he simply felt great at the sight of everyone having a great time.

The boy who would grow up to become one of the most illustrious Buddhist monastics of our time left home at age twelve to enter a life Buddhist quite apart from the worldly ways. As the young Venerable Master Hsing Yun continued to bask in the wisdom of Dharma, he gradually awakened to the fact that compassion and generosity, kindly words and supportive actions I the Buddhist doctrine are indeed meant to ensure all shall fare happily ever after.

Hsing Yun’s Hundred Sayings comprises first person narratives of snippets from a legendry past, encounters along a perpetual odyssey, thoughts recaptured, and sentiments revisited.

The sutra states: Merit from donating the seven treasures of the great chiliocosm of three kinds of thousands of chiliocosms will not equal that attained in upholding a four-line verse of wisdom.

What exactly does it mean? There will be the day, the Buddha is telling us, when the riches we donate are exhausted, but the donation of knowledge, skill, truth, and the Dharma treasure is limitless in use and withdrawal.

Sometimes a few words, like a four-line verse, would suffice to impact on an entire life.

I had seen Universal Gate magazine seeking readers' submission of one-line verses of wisdom. I had also seen newspapers and periodicals featuring quotable quotes by illustrious characters. Without a doubt, whether it be a mere single-line verse or a few brief words, countless lives could still be touched. Many a time I would feel the urge to share those few words with the greatest influence on me. However, after giving it a little more thought, I realized that, rather than conveying in my own words recollections of the past, I would really want to collect the many words of encouragement given me by those benevolent teachers and gracious acquaintances in my life. The book which resulted would be one way of showing my appreciation to those individuals. Such is the motivation behind Hsing Yun's Hundred Sayings Series.

Looking back into the past brings manifold emotions. I remember how, upon hearing Venerable Chih Fong utter the line: "Don't become the withered bud or rotten seed of Buddhism!" I not only committed myself to the Bodhisattva mind, but also made my Bodhisattva vow; and how, upon hearing Venerable Master Chih K'ai say: "Spread the Dharma to benefit all living beings!" I never let myself forget the formidable responsibility toward humankind that I must shoulder or the mission that my master assigned me.

In my youth, I was once called an underachiever. That drove me to vow to live up to my potentials. Worse, I was deemed useless. But it spurred me on. There was never any doubt in my mind that I can always make up personal weaknesses by added diligence and become a person of worth!

In the days gone by, many encouraged and praised me, or slandered and criticized me. Be they out of kindness or otherwise, their words invariably all became positive causes and conditions along my path toward cultivation. They also formed the favorable and unfavorable - but always facilitating -conditions enabling me to learn how to conduct myself in life.

As paddies produce crops of rice, and in mud thrives the immaculate lotus, the state of the objective environment is not nearly as important as our being a healthy seed. For only a good seed produces good fruit. One must allow the springs, summers, autumns, and winters, the winds, frosts, rains, and snows to become causes and conditions of one's growth. Through all objective vicissitudes, we must never lose sight of growth and progress as our purpose in life. Today, I rejoice at being in possession of personal worthiness and virtue, affinity with many people, as well as correct perception and knowledge. For this I thank the Buddha's benevolence and the kindly conditions from all ten directions.

**Contents and Sample Pages**