Question asked by a boy who likes the Buddha Sakyamuni
As a Buddhist, it is sad to see many minds who are under many great gurus, their minds have not transform.
in difficult situations, instead of reflecting on the Dharma teach by Buddha Sakyamuni, He she or they would only know how to immediately pray and beg for the help of deities or some even talk to deities' statue.
Sometimes, i hear them comparing within one another about whose deity is more powerful, as if they were movie figures…
sometimes, when they are ill or uneasy, they point fingers to spirits and ghost… and then they start chanting mantra's like sendongma, yamantaka or other wrathful deities in hoping to cure their illness. while actually the sickness was cause by worldly factor im sure.
i am sorry.. but could i say that, they have sway away from Buddism? Buddha says, liberation is in the palm of your own hands, and the importance of realizing the hidden Buddhahood within you.
but none of them would listen to me, none of them wants the Dharma. They are only interested in constantly searching for more and more powerful deity to realize their worldly wishes…
is there anything i can do to help them? they are very dear to me.
i want to help them. thank you for listening to me.
Dear The Boy Who Likes the Buddha Shakyamuni,
Thank you for writing in. What you have just described is actually normal of many ordinary practitioners. Hence, they are constantly looking for external reasons for their problems and also an external solution to their problems although they may be in the Dharma for x number of years. It takes a bit of merit to even grasp that a solution can be found in the teachings and it takes even more merit to understand and actually practice the teachings. Most of the time, the best way to encourage loved ones to go deeper into Dharma practice is through our own transformation and practice. We must ourselves study the lamrim (contains the full path to enlightenment and gives us many ways and methods to bring people onto the Dharma), practice the Dharma, be involved in your center and maintain clean samaya (good relations) with your Guru and Dharma brothers and sisters. Then, what we advice people, we will have the power to influence positively. Anyway, always be patient and encourage them to create merit like setting up an altar and making offerings to monks/lama, on the altar and also to the temple or Dharma institution. In this way, we are helping them long term. I hope this little explanation will help you.