* Knots Of The Heart *

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Thank You & Many Blessings theresaSYLVIE~Q* What Love Means To KassandraKassandras Collection Of Quotes/> The suffering of life comes from perplexities which are described as knots in the heart.By Master Cheng YenTranslated by Norman Yuan The First KnotWrong Love Ends in RegretThe

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 KnotAnger Is Produced from IgnoranceAnger

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 KnotPride Causes BitternessSome

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 KnotDelusion Hinders EnlightenmentThere

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 KnotDoubt Decreases ConfidenceWhen

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 KnotMisconception Causes ConfusionThere

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 KnotDesire Is the Origin of Endless SufferingIn

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 KnotDo Not Be Jealous of Anyone Better Than YouPeople

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 KnotSelfishness Can Never Bring BlessingsWe

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*