Put your Finite Life into the Infinite Service of All Living Beings
Xuefeng
December 13, 2020
The greatest values and most perfect qualities of people are embodied in their service to other living beings. The states, moral levels, and patterns of people are measured completely by the quantity and quality of their service to them. The theories and practices of the world are vast, but the ones with the greatest value, are the most profound, and are the most direct way to embody the value of life and sublimation of LIFE to serve them wholeheartedly. Only those who do this with all their hearts are entitled to go to heaven. Those who accept the teachings of Christ, Buddha, Celestials, saints, sages, and wise ones should share one core belief, that is to devote their finite lives to the infinite service of all living beings.
When one decides not to care about their gains and losses or successes from their hearts, but puts the force of their whole body and soul into the infinite service of all living beings, that places them in the company of gods, Buddhas, Celestials, and saints, and they will then have embarked completely upon the road to heaven; after that, their minds broaden and their vision becomes vast. Once their roots establish themselves, the way will grow therefrom and their real spirit, great talent, and virtue will concentrate within them; their Dharma eyes will then open and they will see clearly the gods, Buddha, saints, sages, monsters, devils, goblins, ghosts, and evil spirits. They will be able to see what kind of people others are, whether they came from the heaven realm or the animal world, whether one is an ignorant person, a laity, a mortal, a sage, a saint, or a Celestial Being. They will be able to distinguish truth, falseness, kindness, evil, beauty, and ugliness from complicated phenomena and will know which way leads to heaven and which way goes to hell.
How does one put one’s finite life into the infinite service of all living beings? First of all, we should understand what living beings are; they are the LIVES created by the Greatest Creator, including all those created by Gods and celestial beings according to the Greatest Creator’s will and drawings. These lives include microorganisms, insects, plants, land, water, animals, people, and other various kinds of LIVES, and serving all these lives is also serving all of their LIVES. All living beings and the Greatest Creator are one, so serving the former is ultimately serving the latter.
How to serve all living beings? Here are twelve of the many ways that we can serve all living beings.
By not thinking of hurting living beings, but of cherishing and taking pity upon them.
By not destroying grass, forests, mountains, rivers, or land, but by planting more trees and flowers.
By not mistreating or slaughtering animals, eating the meat of wild animals, or destroying their habitats.
By creating suitable environments for all living beings; no LIVES should have their lives cut short.
By showing compassion on widows, widowers, orphans, childless couples, protecting the honest, and creating living environments for the toiling masses.
By remembering the deaths of Yang Gailan’s six family members every day and thinking about how to avoid the recurrence of such tragedies.
By thinking about how to liberate the public from their cages of worry, pain, anxiety, sorrow, and fear, so that everyone can lead happy, joyous, free, blessed, peaceful and content lives.
By letting children enjoy happy childhoods and the elderly enjoy happy old ages.
By praising and eulogizing the workers: craftsmen, scientists, artists, selfless people, and saints.
By not accumulating material wealth or occupying landed properties, forests, houses, water areas, or money, but by owning nothing.
By regarding other people's feelings and opinions as your own and feeling their happiness as your own.
By, "Ordaining conscience for Heaven and Earth; securing life and fortune for the people; propagating lost teachings from past sages; establishing peace for all future generations".
When you decide to embark upon the path toward heaven, your heart should be very happy, even excited with passion, because from then on there will be no worries, pain, anxiety, sorrow, or fear, because you will have completely handed yourself to Tao and given in to the cause that you dedicate to and serve. On this road, what others do is their business; you should be neither angry, resentful, nor wrathful, and should not hinder or block others. For example, if someone dumps garbage onto a field, go to clean it up; if they continue dumping, continue cleaning it up; they dump again, you clean up again. We do not stop others from dumping garbage because that is their choice and their way; we have neither reasons nor qualifications to block them from walking their way. Without others dumping their garbage, how would we gain our merits from cleaning it up? Do not expect everyone to be saints and do not expect evil and barbarism to disappear from the world, let alone expect them to become civilized. The mortal world is the transit station for the upper and lower levels of LIFE; all kinds of LIFE are playing their own script plots here so as to maintain the dynamic balance of LIFE in the universe.
Suppose there were only a hundred people in the world and ninety-nine of them followed their selfish egos. You must be that one who does NOT follow yours because the road of the crowd is the road to destruction. Keep a clear mind, stick to the road of serving all living beings, take the way of selflessness, and realize that selflessness can accomplish oneself. This is the way of heaven.
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