Are You A Bodhisattva Today?

Every Mid-Autumn Festival, I feel a bit melancholic. The 15th day of the 8th lunar month is my grandmother’s death anniversary. Since she passed away in 2006, I have not celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival. Every year on her anniversary, I recite the entire *Earth Store Bodhisattva’s Sutra* as a dedication to her, completing all three scrolls in one sitting.

This year, I kept thinking about it and forgot to wish all of you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival earlier. From last night until this evening, I’ve received many messages and greetings from you all in my email inbox and comments. I truly appreciate your kind thoughts, everyone.

The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates reunion. Last week, while conducting a Feng Shui audit, I told a client who often scolds her husband and children at home, “As long as your family is still together, everything else does not matter.”

I repeated this sentence to her three times.

“As long as your family is still together, everything else does not matter.”

You can keep picking bones out of an egg because all you see are the bones. But if you see blessings everywhere, you will relish in how fortunate you are.

Between anger and love, I choose love because I want to follow the path of a Bodhisattva.

The moment you get angry, shout, and let your face contort with rage, losing all reason, that’s when the demon takes over.

Life is hard for all sentient beings, so how could we bear to add more pain and agony to their suffering?

Everyone around us is part of karmic relationships, and ultimately, they are the seeds we ourselves sowed in previous lives. Only with the compassion of a Bodhisattva can we turn all these karmic ties into virtuous affinities. After all, if there is no suffering in this world, how will we appreciate the Dharma joy of spiritual practice?

Our family members are sentient beings too, and every sentient being has a Buddha nature. They are our companions on the Bodhi path, helping us achieve spiritual progress.

When the hearts of all family members are united together, then you have the true meaning of reunion.

Let me share a Chinese phrase I often wrote in my classmates’ autograph books during my school days:

“May we live long and share the beauty of the moon even from a thousand miles apart.”

Thank you all for your Mid-Autumn Festival wishes. The pain of doing social media is real and your love gives me strength.

As disciples of True Buddha School, we often recite during our Four Preliminary Practices:

“May all good deeds, great and small, be dedicated to all sentient beings,
so that they may swiftly attain Buddhahood.”

I dedicate all my merits to all of you. I love you, and please take good care of yourselves and all sentient beings. For we will all attain Buddhahood in the future! 🪷