With the Buddha, everything is beautiful

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The genuine beauty belongs to all man. No one has the rights to make them his own. The sun shines on all man. The air is for all to breathe. The road is meant for all man to walk on.

In spring the sprouts are tender yellow. In summer, the leaves are dark green in colour. In autumn, the leaves turn red with patches. Yet they are so beautiful. When a man is old his face is covered with freckles. He is no more beautiful. In fact, man is incomparable to leaves. If we can be like the leaves, we will be beautiful throughout our life. With the Buddha in our mind, we are always mindful of the Buddha. Why should we admire the youths? With the Buddha, everything is beautiful. Without the Buddha, nothing is beautiful. There is no connection with age.

有佛，一切皆美

真正的美是属于所有人的。任何人都没有强据为己有的权力。太阳是照所有人的，空气是让所有人呼吸的。大路是给所有人走的。

春芽嫩黃，夏葉老綠，秋葉紅而有斑，皆不失其美；人臉上有了老年斑，便覺得不美。的確，人不如葉。人若能如葉，便能一生皆美。

心中有佛常憶念，人生何必羨少年？

有佛一切皆美，無佛一切不美，與年齡無關。

A comment by oridharma: With the Buddha, the mind is calm and settled. The beauty is ultimate. Without the Buddha, we might be young, we might go for facelift, or remove the freckles, but with an unsettle heart, the beauty is pretentious. Most grateful to Namo Amitabha Buddha

有佛，心是安定的，这种美是究竟的。 心中没有佛，我们可能还年轻，可能拉皮，可能去斑，但是心不安，这是假装的美。感恩南无阿弥陀佛

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Staying low in life

When we lead a life of yielding, this is a mature way of life. Just like the ripe grains, they will bow low. As long as we still try to prove our point, this is being childish. As we cannot admit our failure sincerely, we are immature. If we are grateful both in adversities and good times, abiding by the causes and conditions, only then can this be known as honesty.

A mundane man tries to find evidence to support himself, this is creating the karma, this is making a fool of himself. Other than proving we are the sinful and evil mundane men of births and deaths no other evidence is required. Throughout the long kalpas, we have been in disgrace, making a fool of ourselves. In this life, let us not commit that again.

• 低頭人生

低頭人生，是成熟的人生，穀子成熟了都是低頭的。

只要還有證明自己的心，就是幼稚。

不能坦然地承認失敗，即不夠成熟；

能夠感恩一切逆順因緣，才算老實。

凡夫要證明自己，都是造業現醜，除了證明自己是罪惡生死凡夫，什麼也證明不了。無量劫來我們現醜太多，這一生就不要再現醜了。

A comment by oridharma: Keeping a low profile, keeping our head down, this is the honest Amitabha reciter. Do not try to promote yourself, your cultivation. We are not the cultivators. We rely totally on the strength of the Buddha’s kindness. Most grateful to Namo Amitabha Buddha

做一个默默无闻的念佛人，无人知晓的人，这是老实念佛人，不要替自己打广告，张扬自己的修行。我们念佛不是修行，是完全承佛慈力。感恩南无阿弥陀佛

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Sweeping the floor 掃地

‘Every man sweeps the snow at the door step. Do not be bothered by the frost on other’s roofs.’

These are words of criticism. But they are true at times. For example: we have to solve our own afflictions. Other people cannot help us. As it is said, ‘Who can take over our births, old age, illness and death? We by ourselves have to taste the sour, the sweet, the bitter and spicy.’ Luckily, we have the broom ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha’. We should use it as often to sweep the floor. Do not hang the broom on the wall. We should let it touch the ground. If we only sweep the space, the dust and wither leaves will still be on the ground.

「各人自掃門前雪，莫管他人瓦上霜」，這雖是批評的話，但有時也是事實，比如：自己的煩惱必須自己打點，人家幫不上忙，所謂「生老病死誰替得，酸甜苦辣自承當」。

好在我們有一把「南無阿彌陀佛」的掃帚，

可以時常拿來掃一掃。

這把掃帚，不要只是掛在牆上；

掃地時，也要落地，

若只在半空揮舞，地上塵埃枯葉依舊。

A comment by oridharma: ‘We should let it touch the ground。’ The floor is the analogy of our mind ground. We should take care of our mind ground by reciting Namo Amitabha Buddha instead of thinking of this and that. Most grateful to Namo Amitabha Buddha

‘掃地時，也要落地。’地代表我们的心地。我们必须照顾好自己的心地，常常念佛，不是常常想东想西。感恩南无阿弥陀佛

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