Master Chin Kung - Buddha Did Not Teach People to Eliminate Disaster or Pray for Blessings

(English subtitles) Master Chin-Kung (淨空法師, 1927 - 2022) talk dharma. 佛教人修行證果，沒有教人消災祈福
Subtitles:
There is proper dharma in the degenerate dharma. Let's look back. There is degenerate dharma in the proper dharma. Sakyamuni Buddha preached many Mahayana sutras in Śrāvastī, which is the proper dharma. You see, the Buddha preached, and many listened. Then they practiced according to the teachings, and some of them achieved fruition; some achieved Arhat; some achieved Pratyeka-buddha; some even achieved Bodhisattva fruition. That is the proper dharma.
It tells us in the sutra: In this big town, 1/3 of people knew the person Shakyamuni Buddha and have seen him in person. And there were 1/3 who heard Sakyamuni Buddha but never saw him. Do you believe that? If you don't believe, you've lived in Hong Kong for years, living in the condo. Do you know the last name of the family that live next door to you? Many don't know their neighbors. Live there for decades but don't know their names.
2:00
Never say hello when they meet. Isolate from each other. This is the degenerate dharma in the proper dharma. Further, the sutra says: There were 1/3 who had never heard of Sakyamuni Buddha's name. Basically, they didn't know there was such an event as a sermon in town. They were completely unaware of this. Were they like in degenerate dharma? They knew it but were not clear about it. Was it not degenerate dharma? Therefore, the fate of the dharma depends on people, not on the dharma. Decades ago, Professor Fang told me about this. Where is the Buddha dharma in the world? It's in the sutras and not in the temples. I asked him why? People in the temples don't study now There are sutras stored in the temples, they don't study. They only know to recite sutras but don't know the meaning in the sutras.
4:00
Most Buddhists only pray for blessings, pray for the elimination of disasters, for good fortune. Their goals aren't seeking precepts, peace, wisdom. Few people seek precepts, peace, and wisdom. We should know that those who practice in accordance with precepts, peace and wisdom are true Buddhists. Why? Eventually, He will attain Parinirvana. That means he definitely will enter Nirvana. He will be free from reincarnation forever. Demon is scary. If people seek blessings, ascending to heaven, seek good fortune, longevity, seek children, promotion, and wealth, it becomes a religion, it becomes the so-called religious Buddhism, not the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha. Back then, Sakyamuni Buddha had preached dharma for 49 years in his life.
6:00
He never taught people to seek good fortune but taught them to practice in order to attain fruition, at least to achieve the fruit of sotāpanna, which is a real achievement. Why? As long as you have attained the first fruit, you will have a time limit in the 6 realms. How long is the term? The Buddha said that: “ After you go back and forth between heaven and earth 7 times, you'll attain the 2nd fruit and be eligible for Arhatship, then you can surpass reincarnation. So, there is a deadline, and you will not degenerate into the 3 evil realms. Why ? Because he strictly abide by the precepts and does not create the karma of the 3 evil realms, he won't fall into the 3 evil realms. When you learn Buddhism today, you must determine your goal of studying Buddhism and decide the route of learning Buddhism, which is more important than anything else. What is your purpose of studying Buddhism? What we are learning today is Mahayana Pure Land Sect. The achievement of Pure Land Sect is to be reborn in the Western Bliss World and get close to Amitabha Buddha.
8:00
When you are really reborn, you'll learned from Amitabha in the Bliss World, and you become a disciple of Amitabha Buddha. You should always ponder: “Do I look like the disciple of Amitabha?” This is very important. Think about it every day when practice. Do I look like a disciple of Amitabha? If not, change quickly. Buddha teaches us: Keep precepts and Recite Buddha, only remember these 2 things. The precepts are the 10 Virtues, the 3 Refuges, the 5 Precepts, the 6 Harmonies, the 6 Paramita, and the 10 Vows.
Simple, a little, easy to remember. If you do not violate the rules of mind, speech and action, you will definitely be born in the Pure Land. You must abide by the precepts and don't care about what others do. just do it well yourself. If you are constantly looking at others' mistakes, criticizing them and minding their business, you are completely wrong.
10:00
Let me tell you: You definitely won't be reborn in this life and will still be reincarnated. In reincarnation, people take revenge on each other, your karma will be endless. Those who truly practice the Pure Land are always mindful of precepts, peace, and wisdom, and precepts are especially critical.