Golden Mountain - An Artwork by Master Jin Bodhi

Learn to let go to attain liberation

There was a consummate Zen Master Jin Bifeng during the Yuan Dynasty. He reached mastery in meditation and was able to conceal himself from Heaven and Earth, practicing effortlessly like a breeze. He had only one obsession – a jade alms bowl – that was bestowed to him by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. He brought the treasured jade bowl wherever he went, lavishing it with great attention, and allowing no one to touch it.

As time went by, Master Jin Bifeng’s secular time was running out, the two deities of impermanence, Heibai Wuchang descended upon his residence to summon him. They found, however, only his body without his consciousness. They could not fulfill their task, so they turned to Earth God to seek a solution.

“What time does Master Jin Bifeng usually wake up from his meditative state?”
“His timing is uncertain.”
“Is there any way to get him out of his meditative state now?”
“Yes, he is obsessed with a jade bowl. So long as his favorite jade bowl is tapped three times, he would return.”

The two deities found the jade bowl, and tapped it three times by Master Jin Bifeng’s ear. Anxious over his prized jade bowl, Master Jin Bifeng's consciousness immediately returned to his body upon hearing the tapping. The two deities then seized him and prepared to report back.

Master Jin Bifeng lamented: "It is because of my attachment towards this jade bowl that my years of practice and innumerable merits have gone down the drain. Now I’m subject to sentient being’s sufferings of impermanence, and of life and death!”

Turning to the two deities, Master Jin Bifeng pleaded, “Please allow me a final chance to enjoy my jade bowl before I leave with you.” "Sure! You can enjoy your jade bowl much as you want!", replied the two deities who then released the Zen master.

Upon resuming his secular form, Master Jin Bifeng retrieved his jade bowl and immediately dropped it to the ground and shattered it to bits. At the same time, he uttered, “Henceforth, I shall be liberated from all attachments!” As soon as he had resolved to do so, Master Jin Bifeng entered yet another meditative state, leaving a cryptic verse that read,

“To get hold of me, one must get hold of ‘emptiness’; only if ‘emptiness’ can be captured, can you then seize me.”

Greed is the first suffering to sentient beings.
Greed can cause one to overlook the original sincerity and conscientiousness, and can destroy all of one’s merits. 
Therefore, we must overcome this affliction, liberate ourselves from this suffering in order to be free from pain, sickness and attachments.

Illustration : Master Jin Bodhi Artwork – Golden Mountain
http://www.putichanxiu.com/cZone/mb/166.html

放下得解脫

元朝有位金碧峰禪師，禪定功夫很好，他能於天地間藏身，平生修行如清風一樣隨緣自在，了無掛礙，唯一的嗜好，就是喜歡把玩皇帝賜給他的玉缽，每天隨身攜帶著，寶貝的不得了，還不准任何人碰觸它。

光陰荏苒，終於金碧峰禪師的壽辰已到，黑白無常來到金碧峰禪師住處，卻只見肉身未見魂魄。黑白兩無常無法交差，只好招喚了當地土地神查問原由：

「平時金碧峰禪師都何時出定？」
「並無一定的時間。」

「那有什麼法子可以讓他現在出定？」
「有的， 他迷戀一只玉缽，只要對著玉缽彈三下，他就會出定回來了。」

黑白無常找到玉缽後，在金碧峰禪師的耳邊彈了三下。禪師因為心繫愛缽，聽到玉缽響聲，果真心急出定，黑白無常因此勾鎖住他，準備回去交差。

金碧峰禪師自嘆一口氣道：「都是我對這個玉缽的貪愛，修行多年，因為一念貪執，折損了自己的功德，如今竟還躲脫不了生死無常！」

金碧峰禪師向黑白無常請求：「請容我再把玩一次玉缽吧，我才能心甘情願的隨著你們到閰君那兒！」
「就是讓你把玩兩下子也無妨！」黑白無常想著，就放他回來…

當金碧峰禪師還魂後，拿起玉缽，隨即往地上一砸，將玉缽摔得粉碎說：「從今往後，我再無掛礙了！」說完，金碧峰禪師又入定去了，留下一偈：

「若人欲拿金碧峰，除非鐵鍊鎖虛空；虛空若能鎖得住，再來拿我金碧峰。」

人生之中第一苦即是「貪」。
「貪」能讓人忘記最初的「真誠」與「發心」，還能毀滅修行人的一切功德。
因此，咱們要想學習解脫之法，解脫心中的苦、解脫生活的苦，乃至於解脫身體諸多病苦，就要先學會去「貪執」。

圖片:金菩提禪師畫作--金山
https://puti.org/ch/wp-content/gallery/mobao1/jinshan.jpg

More information on Meditation available at:

1) Meditation and Health
https://www.facebook.com/putihome?fref=ts

2) Master Jin Bodhi Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/jinbodhiworld/

3) Official Bodhi Meditation Website
http://puti.org
http://putihome.org

The Medicine Buddha

The merits of the Medicine Buddha are majestic and infinite. If one gives sincere prayer and sincere respect to a Medicine Buddha thangka, he will be able to avoid calamities, vanquish illness, achieve longevity and be blessed with fortune and prosperity. The key to receiving the blessings is to be sincere, compassionate and grateful. Here are some stories that happened in the past to illustrate the blessings:

The sculpting of Medicine Buddha Statue extended life

Many years ago, there was a Brahmin whose wife had recently given birth. A Divinity master predicted that their son would only live for 2 years. Devastated, the parents sought the help of a monk who told them to sculpt a Medicine Buddha statue and make offerings to it. The parents immediately complied with great sincerity. Not long after, a voice spoke to the father in a dream:" Due to merits accumulated from your sculpting and sincere worshiping of the Medicine Buddha, your son's life will be extended by 50 years." Sure enough, his son lives 50 years longer than expected.


Reciting sutra protects one from disaster

During the Song dynasty, there was a man named Wang Tong. He always carried a copy of The Sutra of the Medicine Buddha and would advise others to recite it. One day, he was looking for a boat when an old man called out, "Wang Tong, come aboard!" So, he did. Not long after setting sail,, a strong wind roared and capsized many boats. However, Wang Tong was safe and sound, sailing along in the old man's large, sturdy boat. When he reached the opposite shore, the old man told him, " The truth is, a disaster was about to befall you. However, you have frequently encouraged others to recite The Sutra of the Medicine Buddha and have accumulated merits. I came to give you a lift out of the calamity." As soon as he uttered those words, the old man vanished.


The key to receiving the blessings is to be sincere, compassionate and grateful. You may choose to sponsor a Medicine Buddha thangka at Bodhi Meditation Centre.

More information on Meditation available at:

1) Meditation and Health
https://www.facebook.com/putihome?fref=ts

2) Master Jin Bodhi Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/jinbodhiworld/

3) Official Bodhi Meditation Website
http://puti.org
http://putihome.org

Chinese Door Gods Blessed by Master Jin Bodhi

From: Master Jin Bodhi:

The Golder Rooster will soon herald in a new Lunar Year, bringing along blessings for all. 

A few days ago, many people have come to ask me after I brought out the bags of goodies, “How do I put up the printed Door Gods?” Let me teach you the correct way to put them up!

Is there an auspicious time to put up the printed Door Gods?

Many people believe that before ushering in the Chinese New Year, they need to put up the printed Door Gods on the door after spring cleaning, usually after the twenty-third day of the lunar twelfth month. People will paste them on the main entrance doors to welcome auspiciousness.

However, the most appropriate practice is to replace the portraits of the old printed Door Gods with new ones on Chinese New Year Eve, after all the spring cleaning has been done. This signifies welcoming of new Door Gods for protection and blessings in the coming New Year. People generally believe that if the portrait of the printed Door Gods is damaged or broken, it will lose its power. Hence, it is a common practice for the Chinese to replace their old printed Door Gods with new ones symbolising the ‘discarding of the old and welcoming in of the new in the New Year’, bringing peace, luck and auspiciousness.
Where should I paste the printed Door Gods?

Normally, people will paste them on the main entrance doors. If it is a single-family house garage, you can still paste them on the door. How do you differentiate between left and right? This is simple: white-faced General Qin Shubao on the right and black-faced General Yuchi Gong on the left. They are facing each other, meaning that together they will keep the demons and evil spirits away from this family. I hope they will protect your family the whole year round and bring great peace and auspiciousness!

What are the benefits of pasting Door Gods?

The following is the benefit sharing of a fellow practitioner:

Early 2016, I just moved to a new home; shortly after that, I started to have all sorts of sicknesses. This not only happened to me but also my brother and my elderly mother, who injured her leg and subsequently it developed into serious cellulitis. During that period, everyone at home was perpetually on medication, the atmosphere was uneasy and I even felt dizzy every day.

By chance, I happened to bring up my family situation to a few dharma sisters in the meditation centre, and realised that my new home may have offended the "gate of evil" – a feng shui taboo. The dharma sister said to me: “It’s easy to solve this problem. Just get and paste the Bodhi’s printed Door Gods and it will get rid of the evil and bless the house with peace”. She also shared a lot of Bodhi extraordinary testimonies. That night I pasted the printed Door Gods on a few doors. True enough it really did not take long for my body to recover. I also slept extremely well at night, free from my headache and my face look radiant.

I was most grateful that the wound on my mother's leg also began to heal shortly after pasting the printed Door Gods! As my mother suffered from diabetes, her leg wound was difficult to heal despite seeking all sorts of treatment. The day after the Door Guards were pasted, my mother found a good physician near our home. In my heart, I know for certain that it’s the Bodhisattva and the blessings of Master that are protecting my family, for which I am most grateful!

I would like to share this auspicious experience with all the friends and families, and I hope everyone can also obtain good fortune and health!

Bring a whole new set of printed spring couplets, Door Gods, wall calendar and table calendar back home. Wishing all of you a peaceful, healthy, prosperous and successful year of Rooster!

For more information, please visit:

1) Lunar New Year Gift Pack video in Youtube:https://youtu.be/WOO0PJX2_Rc

2) Bodhi Meditation Official Website Link:http://puti.org/en/2017-lunar-new-year-bags-of-goodies/

3) Official Bodhi Meditation Worldwide Centershttp://puti.org/en/worldwide-centers/

Sacred Relics and Relic Holder Blessed by Master Jin Bodhi

I attended an internal retreat at Singapore Bodhi Meditation Centre in May 2016, and during the retreat, a couple of blessed items were displayed for sponsorship. This relic holder was one of them.

The moment the relic holder was brought out, I became very warm to the extent that I started sweating (in an air-con room!). I knew right then that it has an affinity with me. However, it was way beyond my budget and I was reluctant to sponsor it. I decided to forget about this feeling, but just then a kind participant whom I did not know before said she would sponsor it for me because she had a strong feeling that I should have it. This made me change my mind but I was a bit late and the only two available relic holders had already been reserved. Fortunately, one of the two owners was willing to let me have it! The entire series of events was so amazing and I was so grateful for everyone who made this possible!

When I brought the relic holder home, my mum and I could feel the heat energy exuding from it. It was such a warm and peaceful energy.

The relics inside the holder were given to me by my Theravada meditation teacher. He told me that the relics came from a Thai monk who saw that many stupas in India were destroyed and not well taken care by the locals. He made an aspiration that he will take good care of all the relics if they were in his hands. The next day, the monk found many relics in his bag! It was said that devas (celestial beings) brought the relics to the monk. It was also said that the coloured relics are produced when the Buddha walked on the ground (Each footstep produced some relics). The white relics, on the other hand, were produced when the bodies of the Buddha or Arahants were cremated. Since then, the Thai monk started distributing these relics to good cultivators. I am very fortunate to have these relics too. 

May everyone who sees this relic holder and its sacred relics be well and happy! 

For more information, please visit:

Bodhi Meditation (for health, for life) - http://puti.org/en/