Today you are able to come to the Buddhist Hall to practice Buddha 7, live in the monastery, and sit in the Buddhist Hall. These are all blessings cultivated in the past; If you haven't cultivated blessings in the Three Jewels Gate, you won't be able to sit still.
There used to be a temple in the Mainland China. The main hall was dilapidated, so the four groups of disciples paid for workers to rebuild it. Although workers were hired, many miscellaneous projects still had to be done by themselves, so the temple master had to go out to carry stones up the mountain. At that time, everything relied on manual labor, unlike now where cars are available and everything is mechanized.
Most of the ancient temples were built on high mountains. Don't talk about the famous mountains such as Mount Jiuhua and Mount Putuo, let's talk about Mount Hengshan among the Five Mountains. There is a big temple on the top of the mountain. If you get up from the top of the mountain before dawn in the morning, go down the mountain, and then come back to the foot of the mountain, you will not see the sun in the evening. The mountain is so high, and the clouds connect the sky to the earth and the earth to the sky. Wherever there are clouds, there is moisture, and moisture accumulates water. In spring, not only water drips from the roof, but also water drips from the pillars. The moisture is so heavy!
Let's go back to the matter of building the main hall. At that time, the master had to go down the mountain to carry the materials himself. Those who are willing to work hard will of course work hard; but there was a cunning person who pretended to be sick as soon as he came out of the slope, saying that he had a stomachache or something. All in all, he will find ways to deceive people, and it seems that he has no part in working outside.
The picket master listened his word for a long time and knew that he was telling lies. Once he said to him sternly: "Are you sick? You have to go out to work even if you are sick! If you don't eat for three days, you don't have to go out. If you can eat, you gotten go out and do some work." Seeing that he couldn't deceive anyone this time, he reluctantly carried two bricks - these bricks were used to pave the Skanda Hall. But he only carried two bricks and sat there to rest. The picket monk saw that he was not a good material and would will lead everyone to bad things, so he was " kicked out".
After he left the mountain, he traveled around outside. More than ten years later, he returned to the mountain to billet in the temple. When he went to the guest hall to register, the receptionist had been replaced. No one in the guest hall knew him, and didn't know what happened more than ten years ago. However, because he had no blessings and his karma was still there, the receptionist got angry when he saw him, and said naturally, "No lodging allowed!"
In fact, in the big temples in mainland China, there is no place that does not allow boarding. For monks, going to the temple is like going home, so why shouldn't they be allowed to stay overnight? How can any monk not be allowed to stay at the boarding house? If you don't have a precepts certificate document, or even a robe, you are not allowed to stay at the boarding house. Otherwise, there is no reason why you are not allowed to stay at the boarding house.
He looked at his precepts certificate document, and robe, and asked why he was not allowed to stay. The receptionist said, "If you are not allowed to stay, then you are not allowed to stay. Go! Go! Go down the mountain!" He pleaded pitifully, "It will be too late to run to other temples from the mountain. You are driving me out the mountain. It is already dark outside. How can I go down the mountain?" The receptionist became even more angry and said, "In short, I will drive you out of this guest hall!"
The temple was very large, and it was unclear how far the mountain gate was from the guest hall. He had no choice but to walk to the mountain gate, but it was closed. So, he sighed and said, "Oh! I'm not allowed to stay here. It's late now, where should I go?" He sat down just inside the gate, but was driven away by the gatekeeper. He then ran to the Skanda Hall and saw two empty bricks under the altar. He sat down on the two bricks, felt comfortable, and fell asleep immediately.
In his dream, Bodhisattva Skanda scolded him: "You lazy man! You didn't cultivate merit before, so now you are not allowed to stay on the mountain. At least you have cultivated a little merit. These two bricks are what you carried up in the past. If you hadn't carried these two bricks, what would have happened to you tonight? There is no place to stand, and you still want to sit?" After being scolded by Bodhisattva Skanda, he woke up and felt ashamed: "Oh! I am really too lazy and outrageous! Everyone was out working, why did I take sick leave to be lazy?"
At this time, he saw that the garden in front of the Skanda Temple was full of weeds. "Oh! I want to cultivate merit." He pulled out the weeds and cleaned the garden overnight. He pulled out the weeds and cleaned the garden neatly. What a clean garden!
The next morning, the receptionist came to see, "Oh! I was just about to send someone to weed the garden, but that person has weeded it so cleanly? Great!" As he looked, he saw the monk who was expelled yesterday, sitting under the altar of Skanda Bodhisattva. Because he felt very ashamed, and because he had accumulated merits by pulling weeds, his karma was eliminated. When the receptionist saw him, he was naturally happy and asked, "Why did you come to sit here?" He spoke out Skanda Bodhisattva's lesson last night and his determination to weed. "Oh! So that's how it is!" The receptionist was happy to let him stay. There is such a true story.
Therefore, the fact that you can live in the temple and sit here to chant the Buddha's name freely today is because you have cultivated merits in the past in the Three Jewels Gate. Such causes bring such results.
After listening to this, everyone should make a good intention to cultivate merit! Cultivating merit is not about helping others, but doing it for yourself. Don't be lazy and take it easy, or Skanda Bodhisattva will chase you down the mountain! In fact, there is no need for the Skanda Bodhisattva to expel you away, because the people living with you will not be able to stand it, as "ten eyes are watching, ten fingers are pointing"!
There is this advantage of doing things in front of others: if you are good, everyone will praise you; if you are not good, everyone will scold you. This is not a small thatched cottage where one person lives. If you are good, no one will praise you, and if you are not good, no one will scold you. You must live in a big temple. A big temple has rules and good friends who encourage each other. Do you understand?
