Nurturing Good Roots
During
the 96-day Shurangama Dharma Session in 1968, the Master not only
lectured on the Sutras every day he also did the grocery shopping,
cooked and supplied tea and drinks. In order to complete the session on
schedule, the Master increased the number of lectures from one per day
to four per day. They Master said, "Every day I cooked, made tea, and
boiled water. No one helped me. Every day I served over thirty people.
I used a family-style stove with four burners. I did the cooking alone,
and everyone had a good appetite. The food was always comletely
finished everyday. I also kept the kitchen clean and tidy. It was not
until the last day that someone helped me carry the dishes out of the
kitchen, and he broke them in the process." Due to the differences in
culture, language, character, and customs between Easterners and
Westerners, propagating the Buddhadharma in America was an inordinately
difficult task, especially when it came to teaching American left-home
disciples. Only the Master himself knew the hardship, loneliness, and
injustice that he suffered when he first came to America to spread the
Dharma and save beings. The Master once described it thus: "Ascending
to the heavens is hard, but not that hard. Getting a rooster to lay
eggs is hard, but not that hard. Teaching Americans to study the
Buddhadharma is truly hard."
Note: According to those who followed the Venerable Master for many
years, the reason the Venerable Master lectured on the Sutra and did
all the chores during the Shurangama Lecture and Practice Session was
that he saw some of his disciples had a very good foundation and he
wished to nurture them. He wanted everyone to apply effort without
distraction so that they could become vessels of the Dharma. There were
even some Americans who memorized the difficult Shurangama Mantra in
one month.
Excerpt from an article by Dharma Brilliance, p. 292
"In Memory of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, Vol. II"
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