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Spring at CTTB
The Good and Wise Advisor's teaching is like a spring sun in that it produces and makes grow the roots and sprouts of all good Dharmas; the Good and Wise Advisor's teaching is like the sun on a fragrant pool, in that it can open the lotus flower of the mind of all goodness.
--The Avatamsaka Sutra, Chapter 39
Tiny Grasses and Big Trees
Tiny grasses come to life during spring time,
Only to die when winter comes.
Even though they return the next spring,
They stay tiny and cannot handle great tasks.
Unlike tiny grasses,
The birth and death of diligent cultivators is different.
Like big trees, their life force remains.
New sprouts emerge every spring and flourish.
At the end, they are able to become useful and have great potential.Spring, summer, fall, and winter are the four seasons. If you cultivate so that you become just like empty space, then when springtime comes, you have the representation of spring within yourself. In the same way, you represent all the four seasons as they occur. In the spring the myriad things come into being. In the summer the myriad things increase and grow. In the fall the myriad things are harvested, and in the winter they are stored away. You can connect your order with that of the four seasons...When you can reach unconditioned empty space, then you become one with the natural order of things...
When spring returns to the earth, the myriad things are born.
Smashing empty space to pieces, one is free and at ease.
One will never again become attached to self or others.
Although the Dharma Realm is vast, one can encompass it all.Springtime is here, and our holding a Chan session is like when spring comes to the earth. The myriad things are born means you have the opportunity to become enlightened. The light shining forth from your own nature is compared to the myriad things growing in the spring. Smashing empty space to pieces, empty space has no shape or form; it is gone. At that point, one is free and at ease. You are truly free and independent. Never again will you become attached to self or others. There won't be any people and there won't be any dharmas; people and dharmas will both be empty. The attributes of self and others will both be gone. Although the Dharma Realm may be vast, but you can contain it entirely within yourself. One can encompass it all.
--the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua
The City of 10,000 Buddhas Movie
Sunrise, sun rays, and morning scenes
Resolve and Evergreen Trees in CTTB
The Lotus Flower (CTTB lotuses)