Quote of The Day (184)
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.
It is when the kind, caring, helpful, merciful, loving and compassionate heart is brought into play that the spiritual journey has begun and the Teachings understood.
It is when the humble, gentle, simple, charitable, hospitable and noble life is lived that spiritual unfoldment will begin to happen and the Teachings proven. (STQ-2002-p32)
It is the kind and caring heart that will know that Niang is within it and guiding it to do its’ work of love! It is only when the kind and caring heart has been generated that the virtuous life may have its start and the Steps of Practice ascended with greater ease. (STQ-2002-p31x2)
It is the bright heart that wins Niang’s attention.
It is the loving heart that wins Her grace and direction.
It is the mind that discovers the Path and the heart that reaches the Goal. (STQ-2002-p32x2)
Life is ever a continuous battle with the desires of the mind and the outer and inner obstacles, which are preventing you from realising your True Nature. This is what has touched the Divine Mother and has caused Her to descend and appear among mankind in all forms to play the roles of Teachers, Helpers, Protectors and so forth, in order to encourage and enable them to subdue their minds! (STQ-2015-p7)
Be informed that the Great Chart of Practice is there to remind you of your Journeying through the Four Great Cycles of Human Evolution that shall have you:
(1) Opening your heart to see the mind,
(2) Opening your mind to see your nature, and
(3) Opening your Nature to come face-to-face with your Original Nature, which marks
(4) The Great Completion of the Great Heavenly Path that Evolves a Human Being into an Enlightened Being! (STQ-2015-p9)
A Teaching of the Wise
If you are reviled, contain yourself in Patience.
If you are praised, humble yourself inwardly.
When treading the Way, do not feel proud.
When you see two people fighting, make peace between them.
Reveal the good points of others and conceal their weaknesses.
Do not proclaim the shame of others. (STQ-2013-p30)
In prayer you are with yourself.
In giving you are with others.
In sitting you are with the Divine.
Until devotion is developed, your practice will not be faith-filled, your action will not be love-filled, and your heart will not be peace-filled. (STQ-2002-p23,29)
The Six Great Practices of a Kuan Yin Contemplative
1. Reciting the Holy Names with Devotion
2. Cultivating the Sacred mantra with Compassion
3. Practising the Wonderful Teachings with Courage
4. Generating the Great Loving Heart with Diligence
5. Vowing to Take Rebirth in Potala with Sincerity
6. Winning Entry into the Bodhicitta Path with Commitment
(STQ-2015-p3)
Life is, when Light is. Light is, when Love is. Life then is about the Light and Love that is received and given to others! Life is for learning whether easily or bitterly. Accepting these avenues you will be a happy person. (STQ-2015-p13,2002-p30)
Vows and Path of Light and Love
The Vow that is most stressed upon is the Renouncing of Nirvana after attaining Enlightenment;
The next Vow is that of Liberating all Sentient Beings from Samsara;
The Method taught in this Path is Contemplation;
The Virtue most emphasised in the Path is Compassion;
The Great attainment of the Path is that of The Great Loving Heart or Bodhicitta! (STQ-2015-p3)
Know that spiritual awareness is earned through patient effort, experience and suffering, and that spiritual development is won through patience, tolerance and humility. In the end it is the self-effort that wins the spiritual realisation. (STQ-2002-p24,31)
Sprains, strains, and stress. These are the pain and misery common to all, feared by all but not shunned by many.
Every pain brings with it an understanding. Every understanding brings with it a new growth. (STQ-2002-p30,25)
Attachment
Do not regard attachment as an evil, thinking that it is there to hinder your progress in self-growth.
Know that just as emotion is meant to be transformed into devotion so should attachment be transformed into devoted attachment to the service of the Divine which is the most effective way of winning Divine Grace and of purifying defilements.
Know too that it is this very form of attachment that has made a devotee out of you! (STQ-2002-p26)
That which dims the light in your heart is your tendency to doubt. That which causes the light of the spirit to glow is your urge to practise.
Repentance, submission and surrender. These are the practices that make right, bright and mighty your heart. (STQ-2002-p23,24)
Love
The world is kept defiled and made ugly because of the one word “Love”.
The world can also be purified and made lovely because of this one word “Love”.
This then explains why this one word “Love” must be learned and why all the Great Ones who have descended to the earth have come to teach it. (STQ-2002-p22)
Of what use is it to come to the Order unless its Teachings are taken to heart and contemplated upon, so that their inner messages are uncovered. The reward of living the Teachings is the increase in your compassion for others, and in your depth of understanding of where the Path of Light and Love is leading you to. (STQ-2002-p29,25)
Happy Kuan Yin Day! May Divine Mother’s blessings fill your heart with Love and Compassion. Om Mani Padme Hum! Om Tsale Tsule Chunti Soha!
The Family has been formed not just to practise the Kind and Caring Heart to benefit others, but also to develop an ever deepening growth in Relations with each other!
Do what you can to bring forth the Kind and Caring Heart so that you may make use of it for the higher purposes in the years to come! (STQ-2013-p2,26)
Eve of Kuan Yin Festive Day of the 6th Lunar Month
The Great Purpose of Entering into the Ranks of a Disciple is about the Readiness and Willingness to take on the Teachings of a Kuan Yin Contemplative that calls for disciplined Practice! Having decided to enter into the ranks of a Kuan Yin Contemplative you must now be fully prepared to move into the world with the same degree of commitment to your higher self as you would have if you renounced the world. (STQ-2013-p8,2012-p22)
Celebrate this Year of Entry into the 5th Cycle of Learning the Path with the Contemplations on:
1. The Refuge Prayer,
2. The Five Practices,
3. The Two Great Vows,
4. The Great Importance of the Way Place, and
5. The Importance of developing Self Discipline,
which are the topics that the Disciples of the Order shall be benefitting the most…! (STQ-2015-p12)
Live cheerfully, courageously and compassionately.
Act cautiously, heedfully and caringly.
Help sincerely, honestly and unreservedly.
Live to give cheer, comfort, consolation and confidence to those around you and a friend, leader, teacher and healer you will be. (STQ-2002-p23,24)
Let this Sixth Moon Festival be your day of celebrating your Self-Change and therefore, the beginning of your Destiny Change which shall be affecting your entire being physically, mentally and spiritually in order to raise your level of consciousness so that your love for others will also be raised to another level from that of emotional love to spiritual love which blossoms the Great Heart of Love. (STQ-2012-p20)
(1) Do not allow stubbornness to stand in the way to happiness. Do not allow memories to stand in the way of the present.
(2) Though you may forget many things that are important to your life you will never forget that the Divine Mother is in your life. (STQ-2002-p19,23)
Be kind and you will bring consolation to the unhappy.
Be caring and you will bring comfort to the unhealthy.
Be helpful and you will instill confidence to the uncertain.
Be humble and you will win the grace of the Divine.
Be gentle and you will win the love of mankind.
Be simple and you will win the joys of life. (STQ-2002-p19)
A most effective way of bringing forth the Heart of Love for all living beings is through contemplating on the compassion of all the Gurus you have met! It is the heart of care that will enable you to bear the burdens of others with kindness and good spirit. (STQ-2002-p18,19)
Understand that silence and stillness are the doors to understanding the Higher Self and that they also open the way to intuition and a deeper experience of your Spiritual Self. Enter then and begin to grow in wisdom. Wisdom dawns with experiences gained. (STQ-2002-p27,3)
Realise that the purpose of life is to move upward in spiritual evolution and whilst doing so, do your part to inspire as many people as possible to do likewise. Then may you be helping them to move along the journey of growth and transform them into Spiritual aspirants. (STQ-2002-p26)
By bringing forth the goodness of your heart, you will be making bright the lives of many and lovelier your spiritual future. By living to fulfill your life’s obligations, you will be reducing the karmic offences that you have gathered. So will you be living to fulfill your life’s purposes and taking command of your spiritual future. (STQ-2002-p25,24)
Knowing that spiritual progress must always be gradual, do not be weary of the length of time that is needed to win you the attainments, and do not be easily attracted to the paths that promise swift results. (STQ-2002-p29 / 8-Jul-2003)
To others, things will only happen when something is done. But, to you who are of this Contemplative Order everything can happen whilst in the midst of sitting silently! It is in entering into the quietness of your being that you may become aware of your soul’s need for spiritual loftiness and purity. This being so, allow time for quietness, meditation and contemplation as frequently as you can. (STQ-2002-p21,22)
Today is Cho See Wong Lo Sin See Festive Day. Homage to Cho See Wong Lo Sin See Yuen Yuen Sheong Yan! Om Ame Laga Ah Hum!
The status of future lifetimes depends solely on the mental development of this lifetime. Do not waste this great opportunity or it will be very difficult to be faced with another such a chance again. Unless one has lived rightly, the next rebirth may be in the lower states where conditions will not favour mind-cultivation and sitting in meditation is impossible. Therefore, guard the mind, guard it with the awareness that is developed out of meditation. (STQ-23-Jul-1985)
Though hardships are there, do not allow them to weaken your resolve to live a happy day. By being in practice, you will not be allowing your unruly mind, with its laziness, worldliness and inattentiveness to take charge of your life, nor will you be easy victim of the weaknesses and instincts of the lower nature. (STQ-2002-p18x2)