称赞如来
I didn’t realise that this vow,称赞如来, meant beyond praising Buddha alone.
In lives, too much emphasis centres on I, mine, me. The people surrounding us were and are there actually to help us achieve Buddhahood.
When I was younger, during my early twenties, I used to be a much friendly and approachable person to all, including strangers. As years go by, I became more and more reserved person. I am still very approachable to those that I know, but no longer that friendly to strangers. I always blame my change of attitude to the environment that I work and live in. The harsh real world moulded me into the person I am today.
After listening to Master’s talk on this vow, I paused for a while and asked myself a question ~ Is the change of attitude a result of those elements of environment?
Having grown up in an environment where my parents used the ‘reversed motivation’ to teach the children, I hardly hear them praising us for the good deeds that we did. To them, by praising the children, you will spoil them. So, it was a bonus if they didn’t dry our dirty linen in front of relatives and friends.
To me, I think otherwise. Praises that fall into the right places do wonders. One of the praises that etched very much in my heart was given by my school teacher during my Primary 4 mid-term results day. I managed to get the position of only 12 in my class. That was the first time I heard my teacher telling my mother that I had improved a lot, was good and could only become better. All I heard before that was the teachers telling my mother to monitor my studies closely as I had performed badly (I used to be at 32 out of 38 consistently from Standards 1 to 3). From thereon, my Standards 5 to 6 results were good and I was in the top 3. I finally managed to get to the first in my final Standard 6 exams. I was also voted the Best Student for my final primary year.
Moving on, as a parent, I can see how praises and scoldings can do to children. I noticed that when my children misbehaved and got a scolding for their misdeeds, they would not behave better. Only through proper explanation and mutual understanding, they will know their shortcomings. When they were praised for their good deeds, we can see the ‘prolonged’ good behaviour from them.
智洪合十
[It’s great that you have tasted the power of praise. It will be wonderful if you could extend your praising to all sentient beings, includes those who disgrace or dislike you, and this is one of the utmost virtues of Lord Buddha.]
