Master Chin Kung - Essence of Vajra Sutra 2A 金剛經要義

(English subtitles) Buddhist Master Chin-Kung (淨空法師), 1927-2022, talks dharma.
Subtitles:
Yesterday I talked about the Buddha taught us how to live, that is, how to lead our lives, how to work, and how to treat people and deal with things.
1:00
The Buddha only said eight words: One should not dwell anywhere when he gives. Give means generosity and relinquishment. For example, if you are a housewife in your family. You are busy with housework from morning to night. When you do not understand this rationale, you feel tired and annoyed, and complain of the tedious job every day for decades. What's that? That's creating karma.
2:00
You are creating your karma of thoughts, speech, and actions. But if you understand the Dharma, it is different. You are practicing the paramita of generosity, so how can it be the same? The realm of generosity is large. Don't think I'm only serving a few people in my family, then you're narrow-minded, you're short-sighted. You only see a little and you don't realize how big the impact is. It takes labor and physical strength to do these household chores. You have to think what to do, and thinking need wisdom.
3:00
Your body and mind are performing generosity to take care of this family, so that the family can live a comfortable life. In other words, you are on the path of the Bodhisattva. Your family is the place of you practice, and your family members are the object of your salvation.
The Avatamsaka Sutra tells us that there are external wealth and internal wealth for generosity. Labor and wisdom are both internal wealth. As for external things, if you make some money and give alms, that is external wealth. Both internal and external are relinquishment.
4:00
Hence, if you work for others, you can also practice the Bodhisattva path in the company. Do your job to perfection, and you are generous to this company. The company serves the public, and you are generous to the society. You realize that this is just like the ripples of water. When a small stone is thrown on the water, the ripples become farther and wider. Same for a family, You have a happy family, and it will affect the nearby neighbors. Yesterday I told you that the Buddha taught us that there is nothing else.
5:00
but to be a good person and a good example of others; our home is a good example of all families. You are engaged in business, and your company is the best example for other companies. This is called Dharma.
Generosity is cultivating the cause, and you will be rewarded after cultivating the cause. Do I pray for reward? You don’t need to, it will present naturally, even if you don’t want it. The reward of giving alms is wealth. So wealth, in this world, you say you have the opportunity to make money. It doesn't make sense.
6:00
You are capable, you are smart, you have methods, you have means, these are all fake. If you thoroughly comprehend this matter in the "Four Lessons from Liaofan", you will be enlightened. In a person's life, whether rich or poor, noble or low is destined by fate. So "One drink and one peck are all predestined."
Where does destiny come from? It is the result of the causes you created in your previous life. In the previous life, you practiced a lot of wealth giving, and you gain wealth in this life. In the previous life, if you gave away wealth straightforwardly and joyfully. In this life, you will receive wealth naturally in a steady stream without worry or hard work.
7:00
If you gave alms in the previous life, and it was very difficult and painful to do so, and when you saw others giving alms, you were embarrassed not to do so, and even regretful after you gave alms, would you gain wealth in this life? You can acquire wealth but have to get it through hard work. That’s the rationale. Cause and effect definitely correspond. How is it possible to make a fortune because of your intelligence or skill?. If you don't have it in your destiny and you can earn it, then all Buddhas will worship you as their teacher. Buddhas are not as capable as that. Cause and effect never fail . What you sow now is what you will get. What you get now is what you sowed in the past.
8:00
Below are the most famous sentences in Buddhism, and many students know them.
“If you want to know the cause of what you created in your past life, then what you undergo in this life is the effect.”
“If you want to know the afterlife effect,” Think about what I will be like in the next life and my reward will be?
“what you are doing in this life is the cause.” Just think of your thoughts and deeds in this life, you will know what reward you'll get in the next life. So, how is it possible that you gain wealth because you are capable?