Introducing the Avatamsaka Sutra

It is easy to make mistakes if one carries out things in a hurry. It is said, ‘Haste makes waste.’ When we look at the world through the window of a speeding vehicle, we cannot really take a careful look at anything or make a proper observation. If we can slow down, we can practice mindfulness and see the world on another level.

It is said,
Adopt the pace of nature: Her secret is patience.

There is a story about a farmer who tried to help his little sprouts grow faster by pulling them. That farmer was overly enthusiastic in wanting his sprouts to grow quicker, but when he tried to force them to grow quickly by pulling them, all his little plants withered and died.
Patience is the most important virtue in cultivating the Way. A gentle breeze is cool and refreshing. But, a typhoon or a hurricane destroys whatever it encounters. A fierce hurricane is merciless.

Someone says,
‘Men think highly of those who rise rapidly in the world; but nothing rises quicker than dust, straw, and feathers.’

It is said,
‘Go too fast and you’ll trip;
Dally and you’ll fall behind.
Never rush and never dally,
And you’ll get there right on time.’

Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua explained,
A mad rush forward means a hasty retreat. If you hurry in, you’ll hurry out as well. Hasty progress means hasty regress… Cultivate with honest and steady effort. Go down the main road, don’t take short cuts. The main road is the Six Perfections and the Ten Thousand conducts…Insists on cultivating the Way with Orthodox methods. That is the wonderful dharma. The Middle Way is the Wonderful dharma.

Maitreya Bodhisattva describes the perfection of patience in this way:
‘The Old Fool wrapped in ragged clothes,
His belly filled with gruel,
He mends old sacks to keep him warm
And lives on chance, Old Fool.
A scolding makes the Fool smile sweetly,
While a beating makes him sleepy;
Spit on his face, he let’s it dry
And saves his strength and energy.
His calm, a peace past ridicule
Gets him the jewel within the wonderful;
Now that you’ve heard this song today
Why worry about not perfecting the Way?’

A Sutra says,
In the heavens and human realm, there is no strength greater than patience; giving and holding precepts cannot compare with it. Patient people have great strength, and can shoulder the work of the Tathagata.

It is easy to violate the precepts if one is impatient. The Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua related a very inspiring and moving story about an extremely patient and compassionate Bhikshu when he lectured a Sutra. The story goes like this: “At one time, a Bhikshu, wearing red clothing, went to the home of a goldsmith. The goldsmith at that time was making a pearl necklace for the king of the country. Each pearl of the strand was extremely costly. While the Bhikshu was in the goldsmith’s home, the goldsmith lost one of the pearls, and he accused the Bhikshu of having stolen it. Actually, the Bhikshu knew where the pearl was, but he certainly had not stolen it. Where was the pearl? Because the Bhikshu had been wearing red-colored clothing, the pearl had reflected the red color. Right at that time a goose had come in, and when it saw the pearl reflecting the red color, it looked to the goose like something edible and so the goose seized it in its beak and gulped it down. Thereupon the Bhikshu thought to himself,
‘If I say the pearl has been eaten by the goose, the goldsmith will certainly kill the goose to get back the pearl. If that happens, it will be as if I indirectly had killed the goose.’

“Therefore he did not say where the pearl was. The goldsmith accused the Bhikshu of stealing the pearl. He could not believe that the Bhikshu had not stolen the pearl. So he started beating the Bhikshu with a cane and yelled at him. He kept beating him until the Bhikshu’s body was covered with welts, his skin broken and bleeding. When the Bhikshu bled, the goose seeing the blood, ran up and started drinking the blood. At that point, one of the blows of the cane smashed the goose’s head and killed the goose. Once the goose was dead, the Bhikshu told the goldsmith that the pearl was eaten by the goose. The goldsmith then cut open the goose’s belly, found the pearl and realized that the Bhikshu was someone who really upholds the precepts. He informed the king about the Bhikshu and the king became very respectful of that Bhikshu.”
Cultivating the Bodhisattva Path requires tremendous patience, courage, and compassion. The Bhikshu could endure injury and insults for the sake of the goose because he had the strength of patience and profound faith in the Buddha’s Teaching. He had the kind of faith discussed earlier in section twelve.

Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua says,
Most worldly people repay goodness with enmity. And yet they are the very ones who help us perfect the strength of our patience… The things that go against you are the very things that increase your resolution and will-power. They bolster your determination to be a genuine human being. That’s the meaning behind, ‘heroes arise from adversity

A verse says,
Patience is a priceless gem
which few know how to mine,
But if you know how to use it
Everything works out fine.

The Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua says,
As to dealing with people, sometimes you may be especially good to some people but they return your kindness with dislike. The better you are to them, the worse they treat you. When you encounter this situation, you must break your attachment. What attachment? Your attachment to being good to people. When the better you are to people, the worse they are to you, they are being your reverse good knowing advisors. They are helping you to learn to take it easy when the going gets rough. This is based on my experience in cultivation. Every step of the way, I have encountered such abuse and such tests. Abuse and tests are there just to see whether you will go forward or retreat. If you really understand, you will be vigorous in both agreeable and opposing states.

There is a saying:
If your ideas aren’t working, look within yourself;
If you are kind to people and they don’t reciprocate, take a look at your kindness.
If you give people orders and they don’t follow them, take a look at your orders.
If you pay respect to people and they don’t return it, take a look at your manners.”

Someone asked the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua,
‘How can one eradicate karmic obstacles?’

Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua replied,

If one does not lose his temper, then all karmic obstacles can be written off altogether. When you are about to lose your temper, just hold back a few seconds and tell yourself, ‘wait a minute.’ If you can forebear a few moments, everything will be calm and tranquil. If you can back off one step, the situation will be as broad and boundless as the sea and the sky.

In ‘Leaving the World’ chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra,it says,
If anyone should revile or beat the Bodhisattvas, cut off their hands or feet, gouge out their eyes, or even cut off their heads, they are able to endure it all and never become angry or vicious…