Is there little hope for women to become nuns and achieve Taoism?
2025-03-08
Lecture by Master Guang-Qin(釋廣欽)
It is said that a certain master lamented that women were too deeply polluted by worldly habits and lacked the decisiveness and fearlessness of men. He asked the old monk, is there little hope for women to become nuns and achieve Taoism?
The old monk said, "That's not the case. We become monks and nuns to cultivate a pure mind, not to be distracted, and not to get too close to relatives and friends. When we become monks and nuns, we cut off family. If our parents and family members come to visit us, we should treat them with the same equal attitude as ordinary disciples and just be considerate to them is enough."
"If you are too attached to connections, not only will you be unable to break up family love and the pain of parting, but your mind will also be scattered. In the end, you will not feel like a monk, and you will not feel like a layperson. This is where the monks in Taiwan fail."
"This world is like an illusion dream. We must see through everything. We must not be greedy for money. If we are greedy for money, suffering will follow. We must not be greedy for fame either. Greed for fame is also suffering. There is nothing in the Saha world that we should be nostalgic for.
We monks give up everything in the world, wear coarse clothes and eat simple meals, practice asceticism, do temple work, benefit the public, and have a sense of purpose in our hearts, so that false thoughts will not arise, karma will disappear on its own, and the mind will be free of worries. We live day by day, and this is cultivation. "
