Re: * Knots Of The Heart *

[Guest guest]

Dearest ,

This title struck me as something I have been feeling in my

heart as of late. I truly miss you and hope you are well. Your

posts are always so beautiful and I am always enthralled with your

messages and the beautiful pictures and at times on m/s the music to

go with your posts! Take care, with love and light, LUNA

-- In , " karmarqu69 " <karmarqu69@...>

wrote:

>

> Thank You & Many Blessings To:

> theresa

>

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> SYLVIE~Q*

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> va2VuPTQxNjRiMTVmLTE5YTUtNDAxYy1hNWJiLTFjNzg5MzBlNzhiZQ==> What

Love

> Means To Kassandra

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> Kassandras Collection Of Quotes

>

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> [Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket]

> <http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vcGhvdG9idWNrZXQuY29t>

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>

> The suffering of life comes from perplexities which are described as

> knots in the heart.

>

> By Master Cheng Yen

> Translated by Norman Yuan

>

> The First Knot

> Wrong Love Ends in Regret

>

> The first knot in the heart is wrong love or a wrong desire for

love. In

> other words, we love someone whom we are not supposed to love. That

kind

> of love ends up in tragedy such as murder, breakup of the family,

etc.

>

> We often see such stories on TV and in newspapers. Are such cases

caused

> by passing temptations? Actually, they happen because people do not

> control their minds well, thus causing themselves a lot of trouble.

>

> Therefore, in daily life, we must look after our minds well. If we

> behave ourselves and do not have any wrong desires, we can live

> peacefully and at ease.

>

> The Second Knot

> Anger Is Produced from Ignorance

>

> Anger means losing one's temper. Something happens and we cannot

calm

> ourselves down. If we cannot compose ourselves, then ignorance is

> generated. This ignorance covers our wisdom and causes us to become

> angry.

>

> One purpose of studying Buddhism is to keep ourselves calm at all

times.

> We should never let ignorance cloud our wisdom . Then we will never

have

> conflicts with others, and we will always live in peace.

>

> Please be mindful in your daily life. Watch your minds carefully to

make

> sure they are peaceful and tranquil.

>

> The Third Knot

> Pride Causes Bitterness

>

> Some people feel that they are superior to others because they are

> richer or they look better. However, life is impermanent. What you

have

> at this moment may be lost or destroyed the next moment.

>

> Once in the ICU in Tzu Chi Hospital, I saw several people standing

> around a bed, weeping and crying. I went up and asked what had

happened.

> A doctor told me that a young woman had been in a car accident. Her

> husband and son had been killed, and her own situation was not

> optimistic either.

>

> I held the hand of that young lady. It was a very soft, delicate

hand.

> Although her face had been disfigured in the accident, we could

still

> see how beautiful and tender her face was.

>

> Her father said sorrowfully that she had just been married the year

> before. This was her first wedding anniversary, and her son had just

> turned one month old. They were going out for a drive to enjoy

> themselves. Who would have expected that such an accident would

happen

> to them?

>

> Just think how impermanent life is. Upheavals in life are truly

> unexpected. So there is nothing to be proud of when you feel that

you

> have everything.

>

> When we deal with others, we should not feel that we are superior to

> them. Instead, we should watch our manners and try to be modest and

> prudent.

>

> The Fourth Knot

> Delusion Hinders Enlightenment

>

> There is a saying: " A wise person reaches enlightenment by studying,

> whereas a deluded person will always circulate between life and

death

> [in the cycle of reincarnation]. " It means that if one cannot untie

the

> knot of worry in his heart, his heart will never open and he will

never

> be able to understand the truth. Once the knot in his heart is

untied

> and he can keep calm, his wisdom will be revealed and he will easily

> understand the best way to do things.

>

> If you are attached to perplexities, no matter what you are taught,

no

> matter how hard you study, anything you learn will only be an

obstacle

> for you. The more obstacles there are, the more perplexities you

will

> have. You will never be able to emancipate yourself from the cycle

of

> life and death .

>

> Therefore, the first step in studying the Buddha's teaching is to

get

> rid of perplexities. Never let your mind dwell on your difficulties

with

> people and events. Just study with a simple mind. Only in this way

can

> you understand the wonderful truth.

>

> The Fifth Knot

> Doubt Decreases Confidence

>

> When you have doubt, you will be confused in dealing with people and

> events. A Buddhist sutra says, " All sins are caused by doubt. " When

> doubts accumulate in your mind little by little, you will easily

commit

> crimes.

>

> I have heard of two family tragedies. In one case, a wife suspected

that

> her husband had a girlfriend, and she committed suicide. When she

was

> sent to the hospital, it was too late. Even if she could have been

saved

> , she could never have completely recovered. Because of her doubt,

she

> not only harmed herself, but also tortured her whole family.

>

> In the other case, a husband long suspected that his wife was

having an

> affair with another man. One day, he and his wife had a quarrel. He

took

> up a knife and fatally stabbed her. When she was sent to the

hospital,

> the surgeons could not save her. Their children were crying

bitterly,

> but she never woke up. When the man cooled down, he realized he had

made

> a serious mistake. He rushed to the hospital to see her, but it was

too

> late. The brokenhearted children all turned very cold toward him,

> because they saw what he had done to their mother. A good family was

> thus destroyed because of his doubt. We can see that doubts can

indeed

> create sins.

>

> The most important thing in spiritual formation is to cultivate

> confidence. Without confidence, we can never get anywhere.

Confidence is

> the opposite of doubt. To cultivate confidence, we must get rid of

> doubt.

>

> The Sixth Knot

> Misconception Causes Confusion

>

> There are different conceptions of a problem and different ways to

solve

> it. Of course, the results will be different. When we encounter

> difficulties, we must use our wisdom. What conception do we have of

the

> problem? What method shall we use to solve it? If we open our minds,

> they become very accommodating. If we keep our minds closed, then

the

> knot in our hearts will become tighter and tighter and cause us

> suffering. We must try to carefully unfasten the knots in our minds.

>

> The Seventh Knot

> Desire Is the Origin of Endless Suffering

>

> In society today, some people crave prestige and some covet wealth.

They

> always feel that they lack something, and so they never stop trying

to

> get something. Because of their insatiable desires, they have

thousands

> of knots in their hearts which can never be undone. What a miserable

> life they have!

>

> In addition to material things, some people are obsessed with

affection.

> When the knot is too tight, they impulsively choose the wrong way to

> solve the problem. For instance, not long ago, an actress committed

> suicide because of the entanglements of love. After emergency

treatment,

> the doctor declared her brain-dead. Since she could not be saved,

her

> family decided to donate her organs to save other people. However,

since

> most of her organs had been deprived of oxygen for too long, they

had

> become useless. Only her corneas could be donated.

>

> In her career, she was already a rather famous actress and she had

no

> financial difficulties. However, because of her problems in her love

> life, she gave up everything and ended her own life, thus

distressing

> her family and saddening her fans. How SAD her life was!

>

> We Chinese often say, " Nine out of ten matters will not turn out

the way

> we expect. " After all, we cannot have everything we wish. Desire is

> insatiable. To what extent can we ever be satisfied? Unless we can

untie

> the knots of our desires, most of us will never be satisfied with

what

> we have. Another purpose of studying the Buddha's teachings is to

detach

> ourselves from temptations-in other words not to be greedy. We have

to

> train ourselves in our daily lives.

>

> The Eighth Knot

> Do Not Be Jealous of Anyone Better Than You

>

> People should respect one another. When we see others accomplishing

> wonderful things with their abilities and talents, we should be

happy

> and praise them. This is what the Buddha says: " Identify yourselves

> joyfully with merit-doers. " This is also one of the methods for

> spiritual formation. However, most people have a knot in their

hearts

> when they see others doing better than themselves. Most

international

> confrontations or business disputes are caused by the mentality

of " I

> want to be better than you. "

>

> Confucius once said: " If you want to achieve something great , you

> should help others to achieve greatness first. If you want to be

> successful yourself, you must make others successful first. " How

true it

> is! It always makes me very happy when I see two people praising

each

> other. If one is jealous of the other, that means his mind is not

well

> balanced. In that case we should feel sorry for him. To lose is

nothing

> to worry about. What we should worry about is whether we have gone

> astray and whether we have done the best we could. As long as we

have

> exerted ourselves to the utmost, we don't need to care too much

about

> the results.

>

> Praising others is a very easy thing to do. Why can't most people

do it?

> This is because they have not cultivated their minds properly. When

they

> see others accomplish something, they have a knot in their hearts.

>

> That is why I always urge you to cultivate your mind. To do that,

we all

> have to be mindful.

>

> The Ninth Knot

> Selfishness Can Never Bring Blessings

>

> We should care about the people around us. If you have the ability

to

> give, you must give. If you don't want to help others while you

can, you

> are selfish. Some people are rich, but they are unwilling to help

the

> poor. Some have knowledge, but are unwilling to teach others because

> they are afraid others will become better than themselves. These

people

> are selfish too. Such people will never have a nice, respectable

> character.

>

> Helping others is the most fortunate thing in the world. But many

people

> don't understand this. They don't know how much pleasure they can

get

> from giving.

>

> Some people kick themselves after they give money to help others.

They

> think, " How stupid I was! Why didn't I keep the money for myself? "

Some

> people become regretful after they teach others something because

they

> are afraid the others will become their competitors. This anxiety

after

> giving also comes from selfishness.

>

> To give is to plant blessings. We should be pleased to do that

without

> any worry. It is just like walking: after your front foot steps

out, you

> must let go with the hind foot. Don't ever think that the ground

that

> your hind foot stands on still belongs to you. Otherwise, you will

never

> be able to make progress.

>

> The suffering from the entanglements of the nine knots stays with us

> life after life. Since we are so blessed to have been born human

and to

> have the opportunity to study the Buddha's teachings, we must think

> deeply about the reasons. Correct your wrong behavior and

misconceptions

> as quickly as you can.

>

> As the saying goes, whoever has made the knot must undo it himself.

It

> is of no use if you understand the reason but do nothing to

unfasten the

> knot.

>

> Everyone has a treasure in his heart, namely an undefiled nature

with

> wisdom and compassion. Unfortunately, that nature has been covered

by

> the dark clouds of worry. I hope all of you will vow to untie the

nine

> knots, to reveal the brightness of your undefiled nature, and to

lead an

> easy, peaceful life full of wisdom and blessings.

>

>

> Love~All~Ways

> *~Karma*

>