How Death Hinders Progress To Liberation

Apr. 20 | The thoroughly unenlightened manifest confused rebirths which further confuse themselves. - Stonepeace There is a phenomenon called ‘confusion from separation (from previous lives) by death’ (隔阴之迷), which is the forgetting of the past...

Why Are Buddhas Also Bodhisattvas?

Aug. 23 | Question: I’ve heard that Guanyin Bodhisattva is an ancient Buddha (‘Brightness of Right Dharma’ Buddha). Why must a Buddha return as a Bodhisattva to guide us? Is it such that a Buddha cannot guide us until he transforms into a Bodhisattva? Answer:...

Square Inside & Round Outside

Apr. 18 | 做人处事要内方而外圆， 内方就是原则， 外圆就是通达。 - 圣严法师 How should you conduct yourself and deal with others? Be ‘square inside’ – live by principle; and ’round outside’ – exercise...

Can The Buddha Help All?

Mar. 7 | Question: The Buddha-to-be, when still  a Bodhisattva, once gave up his body to feed a starving tigress and her cubs. Was it out of compassion, or out of the knowledge that he would be reborn? There are many dying of hunger every day. Is the Buddha...

Ikkyu’s Poison

Feb. 29 | The truly skilful are able to correct the unskilful without antagonising the latter. - Stonepeace When Zen Master Ikkyu was still a child, he began to study Zen in a monastery. Ikkyu’s master had a jar of candy that he was particularly fond of and,...

The Unseen Power Of Karmic Affinities

Jan. 10 | Just as a positive karmic affinity can be rendered negative unmindfully, a negative karmic affinity can be rendered positive mindfully. - Stonepeace One day, when the Buddha entered a village with his assistant Ananda, he approached a poor woman to share...

The Compassionate Captain’s Skilful Means

Jul. 19 | Without the marriage of compassion and wisdom, there are no skilful means. - Stonepeace Then the Lord [Buddha] again addressed the Bodhisattva Jnanottara: “Son of the family: Once a upon a time, long before the Thus-come-one, the Worthy, the fully...

The Buddha’s Dharma of Plowing

May. 19 | The compassionately wise and skilful find opportunities to share the Dharma through every and any occasion. ~ Stonepeace The eleventh rainy season was spent in the vicinity of Rajagriha. Following it the Buddha began wandering through the country of the...

A Brief History of the Love-Hate Relationship with Mock Meats

Mar. 31 | Does the eating of mock meat mock vegetarians who gave up real meat, or non-vegetarians who cling to real meat? ~ Stonepeace A theory says mock meats (vegetarian/vegan food that mimics the appearance and taste of various real meats) were initially invented...

The Efficacy of Buddha Mindfulness

Nov. 26 | If we are truly mindful, we will realise that mindfulness of Buddha is the most skilful of means that the Buddha ever taught. - Stonepeace A friend of mine was once bold enough to tell a well-known Tripitaka Master of the Pure Land Sect that, in his opinion,...

Are You a Moth Entranced by the Fire?

Sep. 10 | Too much of a good thing is a bad thing because too much is too much. - Stonepeace From the Adhipataka Sutta, it was recorded that during one night, when the Buddha was seated out in the open, there were oil lamps burning in the otherwise total darkness....