Quote of The Day (182)
This section contains short teachings extracted from the messages that Sifu Kuan Ming received over the years, since 1979. The quotes contained herein are a collection of the daily quotes for your contemplation.
Having gone this far into the Path, you must now commit yourself to devote the rest of your life to helping people, and how can this be achieved if the kind, caring, and helpful heart is not brought forth?
But know that helping others is not only about physical and material assistance but also about the sharing of knowledge, the giving of comforting and encouraging words, and so forth! (STQ-2002-p6)
Nothing can be more precious in life than to have the good heart that loves purely and selflessly. Be glad that you have been placed onto a Path that is promoting it! As a disciple, do not stop learning. As a teacher, do not stop sharing. (STQ-2015-p9,7)
(1) Do not tie yourself down by too much thinking. Do not box yourself in with too many thoughts. Try being, try to just be… Just be here, in the now!
(2) Better it is to write a journal arising from actual experience than from listening about the Path! (STQ-2014-p21,10)
Like everything that happens in the Universe, life too, is planned and has its destiny. Know then, that you have incarnated with a destiny to fulfil, which is about bringing this Path of Light and Love into existence to benefit those who shall be treading with the karmic lessons of this lifetime that ought to be learned and the karmic debts incurred in past lives that ought to be repaid, so that they may move on, more swiftly with their Evolution! (STQ-2015-p12)
It is time to share the pith Teachings that you have received on how to develop the qualities of a Kuan Yin Contemplative.
Nothing can be more precious than having a heart that is good and a mind that is pure which will enable you to live your life caringly and selflessly. This is what this Path of Light and Love is capable of enabling you to attain: The wonderful heart and mind of a Kuan Yin Contemplative! (STQ-2015-p12,11)
It is this Great Journey that the Great Heart of Love is nurtured; that the Thought of Enlightenment is fortified; that the Determination to Enter the Holy Path of the Bodhisattvas is pursued; that the Four Great Cultivations that lead to the Purification of obscurations is taken to heart. (STQ-2015-p18)
Spend time pondering on the Teachings of this Path of Light and Love that you have been treading over the past Four Cycles of Nine Years, to see it you are ready to put them to practise, over the Next Nine Years, which shall require you to take on its Higher Trainings that Call for a Practice that is much more challenging and disciplined than what you are presently undertaking. For the Fifth Cycle of Learning and Growth shall be testing your worth to Enter into the Ranks of a Kuan Yin Disciple of this Noble Path of the Kuan Yin Contemplatives. (STQ-2015-p13)
The Great Reverence, Devotion and Gratitude felt towards the Buddha are not because He is different from us but rather because He has shown us “what we are and can be” another fully Enlightened Being. He was the first to find this, the One whose attainment was Complete and Perfect and the One who opened the Door of Enlightenment for the rest of us. (STQ-2015-p14)
What is Potala but the Land of Light and Love, and what is Sukhavati but the Land of Eternal Peace and Bliss?
Head then, to these Paradises and be engulfed by the Light of Peace and saturated with the Love of Bliss! (STQ-2014-p10)
Entry into the Stream of Practice of a Disciple should be motivated by the thought of making Good one’s Character, with which to uncover the Great Spiritual Treasures. For with Good Character, one:
1. no longer commit unwholesome actions
2. no longer destroy positive qualities
3. is moved by the suffering and faults of Samsara
4. will begin to grow in Love and Compassion so that “Hurting Never” and “Helping Ever” will be taken to heart
5. easily regret doing hurtful deeds, and
6. will take on the Great Cultivation of a Disciple of the Path
(STQ-2015-p21)
It is through maintaining a steady Practice that you will discover that the lessons you learn at each Season are usually built upon what you already know, as you grow and gain knowledge and this is what helps you to move into a Steadfast Practice! (STQ-2015-p18)
This is the Path that awakens and develops one’s virtues and wisdom. The result of this shall be the arising of the Compassionate Heart, the Noble Mind and the Selfless Nature.
This is a Path to Purification ~ the purification of one’s faults and weaknesses, of cravings and clingings, the sources of sufferings. To advance, cross the barrier of Self-Correction, and do battles with the desires of the self. (STQ-2015-p18)
This is the Path that will lead you to a Doorway to Understanding the “self”. A Threshold that can only be crossed through lifetimes of Spiritual Practice.
This is your great time of decision ~ whether to move on to attaining the Great Loving Heart or to abandon it. Practising The Great Loving Heart you will remove anger and all mental defilements! (STQ-2014-p13,20,2015-p18)
Contemplatives are often rewarded with a knowledge that arise from a deep level of the psyche which is ordinarily dormant; a different kind of knowledge from that which others ordinarily enjoy. This is not about we are learning new things, but that we are learning in a new way. (STQ-2014-p18)
Few indeed are ready for Entry into the Ranks of a Disciple of the Path, for they are required to take on the Great Trainings of:
1. Self-Discipline
2. Living the Simple Life that is easily contented
3. Taking on a Sincere Practice
4. Living the Virtuous Life
5. Living the Benevolent Life, and
6. Living the Selfless Life that is required of a Disciple who is aspiring to be of the Noble Family of Practitioners!
(STQ-2014-p20)
The first great sign of Attainment is “Non-Attachment” which shall lead to the abandonment of interest in such things as glorification, wealth and power. Such an attainment is what the Higher Stream of Life Training is providing to anyone who is worthy of traversing it. For by its “Becomings” or “Karmic Tests” one’s actual “Spiritual Content” can be gauged!
Enter the Higher Stream of Practice and be rewarded with a great leap forward in consciousness! (STQ-2014-p20,2015-p7)
What Virtue can be greater than Compassion which is the Source of all Happiness? Practise it then to make bloom your Good Heart from which Bodhicitta arises and by which you Enter the Gateway to the Path of the Kuan Yin Contemplatives!
It is when you have developed a deep desire to alleviate the pains of others that you will develop the Thought of Walking in the Footsteps of your Guru and you are ready for the next Step in your Spiritual Development. (STQ-2014-p8,13)
It is when you have developed a deep desire to alleviate the pains of others that you will develop the Thought of Walking in the Footsteps of your Divine Guru, Kuan Yin P’usa, and are then ready to take on the Next Step of your Spiritual Development! (STQ-2014-p7)
Being a Kuan Yin Contemplative, you shall be living a happier and lovelier life. So shall you be more virtuous and wise!
So will you be maintaining a humble attitude to perform virtuous deeds and practise acts of Pure Love! (STQ-2014-p8)
(1) Without realising it, those who are afraid to die are also those who are afraid to live and vice versa.
(2) Assist Everyone. Praise Everyone. Love Everyone.
(3) To be able to control the tongue, this is what indicates your readiness to take on the higher trainings of this Path.
(STQ-2012-p29,2014-p3,4)
Why is this Period of time so difficult to live in?
That is because we are aware that the Old Culture is dying but has not yet died and the New Culture is coming to birth but has not yet been born. Caught in the middle and not knowing what will come next we do not know where to turn!
Since the highest purpose of life is about attaining freedom from worldly existence, why then are you attracted to the worldly concerns? (STQ-2014-p4,10)
(1) “Stupid” people are arrogant. “Wise” ones are ever humble.
(2) As a spiritual friend and guide, scold only those who listen, not those who don’t.
(3) Discipline and self-surrender are the prerequisites for progress and success, both materially and spiritually.(STQ-2009-p31,2014-p11x2)
Let the Chanting of the Holy Sounds of “Namo Pao Kwang Sern Ai Kuan Shih Yin P’usa” be made frequently, wherever you are whilst visualising the Great Downflow of Light and Love onto whoever you are seeking to bless!
Receiving the Light and love of the Divine Mother, this is how our mind becomes illuminated, and our heart purified. (STQ-2013-p22,2014-p10)
The Three Root Virtues of Kindness, Caringness and Helpfulness must be practised to start your Journey to Developing Compassion, because: Kindness pleases a person; Caringness heals a person; and Helpfulness inspires a person to take on the Path of Self-Development. (STQ-2014-p16)
Be forgiving towards those who hurt you.
Be loving to all without exception.
Be compassionate even to those who have no compassion for you!
Learn to live to accept the faults and weaknesses of others and pray that others, too, will accept the faults and weaknesses of ours! (STQ-2014-p16x2)
Be kind to yourself.
Be caring towards others.
Be helpful towards friends and strangers.
Let the Practice of the Kind, Caring and Helpful Heart win you the right view about yourself and others and of the Nature of Life. Then, may you be moved to make the right changes to your life and be transformed by them! (STQ-2014-p16,2013-p19)
What Virtue can be greater than Compassion which is the Source of all Happiness? Practise it then and make bloom the Good Heart from which Bodhicitta arises and by which you enter the Gateway to the Path of the Kuan Yin Contemplatives!
Nothing can be more precious in life than to have the Good Heart that loves purely and selflessly. Be glad that you have been placed onto a Path that is promoting it! (STQ-2014-p21,2015-p9)
Happy Wesak Day!
A Master once gave this advice to his followers:
You need to get rid more of the “you” that you think you are, if you are to discover the “you” that “you” really are!
This refers to the need to clear away some aspects of their “false selves” such as their habits, beliefs, judgements and expectations that are obscuring their views of their True Selves! (STQ-2014-p11)
Meditate to empty your mind. The fullness of emptiness is marked by the absence of its boundaries.
Discuss not “emptiness” with anyone. Know that the wrong interpretation of it may cause them to take it to be “nihilistic” or that “emptiness” is saying that nothing exists. Of course, “emptiness” does not mean denying all that exists, but that “existence” is there and that it is ever-changing and transient and impermanent. (STQ-2007-p68,2014-p2,11)
All teachings given to you are meant to inspire you to work towards awakening your Heart of Love. All practices undertaken by you are meant to develop in you, the virtues and wisdom that are the causes of Awakening the desire to attain the Great Loving Heart and the Acquiring of the Right Understanding of the Path!
All Teachings received are meant to be expanded, experienced, and expounded later on! (STQ-2014-p5,14)
Better it is for one to commit a wrong act and hide it than one who performs a good deed and announces it!
What makes an act unwholesome is when one knows the Law of Cause and Effect and yet willfully breaks it. For that is deliberately choosing evil over good when one knows what good is! (STQ-2014-p14,15)