On the 29th of April, in order to let Christchurch citizens understand happiness through the “Eight Great Awakenings Sutra”, Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island New Zealand hosted a Buddhism talk titled “The Route to Happiness – Wisdom from the Eight Great Awakenings Sutra”. The talk was given by FGS New Zealand Venerable Abbess Manshin, and attended by about 80 BLIA members, devotees and public members that day.
Venerable Abbess Manshin started off by explaining in detail each of the eight “Awakenings”. The first awakening should be understood in the sense that the material world and sentient world is impermanent. Our bodies are a source of suffering and ultimately empty. The second awakening tells of how the many desires of mortals are the very cause of their suffering, while the simple life of a Bodhisattva is much more comfortable. The third awakening points out how Bodhisattvas’ remain self content and consistently nurture their humble way, while our minds which are never satisfied simply generates more karma. The fourth awakening simply says that our slacking prevents us from exiting the cycle of birth of death, but Bodhisattvas’ understand how diligence is necessary to escape reincarnation.
In the fifth awakening, Bodhisattvas’ often develop their own wisdom, and through the spirit of giving, they teach others too to get them a step further ahead. Ordinary folks on the other hand have too many incorrect knowledge that simply worsens their offences. The sixth awakening refers to how ordinary people faced with inequality bear grudges, create conflict and generate bad karma between themselves. Bodhisattvas’ approach this instead by practicing the Dharma art of giving generously. The seventh awakening encourages everyone to keep their distance from the five desires, practicing the Bodhisattva spirit, so that one can lead a quiet and pure life. Finally for the eight awakening, the Buddha told us all to know that the three realms are never ending and a cause of constant suffering, and it is only by cultivating the great Bodhisattva path that one can escape the fiery inferno.
Venerable Abbess Manshin reiterated and explained the second to seventh awakenings further. The key things we can take home are: 1) Unlimited desires are the basis of the cycle of life and death, 2) Contentment is the root of all we should nurture, 3) Diligence is the key to keeping demons at bay, 4) Wisdom is that which prevents stupidity, 5) Giving is the way to convert people, 6) Abstinence is the key to limiting our desires. With the addition of the Mahayana spirit, the greater public will also benefit from this besides ourselves. Abbess persuades everyone to practice writing and reciting this sutra, implanting it to the heart, so that one too can become an ‘Enlightened One’.
The Abbess’s talk was wonderfully orchestrated, explaining the Buddha’s wisdom from shallow to deep detail so that those listening can easily apply it themselves. The audience describes how after the talk, they really found their direction towards happiness. By scoring themselves out of the sutra’s eight points, it gave a good gauge as to how much enlightened wisdom they have, or how much they are still lost in the mortal world. A few of the listeners also wished to share the talk with their relatives, hoping that they too can receive some of the Buddha’s wisdom. Some of the English listeners also came up to say that they now understood the essence of life better, and hoped that the Abbess will hold more meaningful Buddha Dharma talks like this to help them face their challenges in daily life with wisdom.