We always recite Namo Buddhaya Sitan – “Homage to the Buddha, success!”
Success is self-confidence and understanding. In Buddhism, we have no self which exists on its own; we only have truth. We take the time to investigate the reality of who we are, we don’t just accept the conventional belief in self. We are here speaking, but it is not about this concept of you or me. It is about action.
No you, no me. If you listen to me, that is the action of listening, not about the concept of you. And if we have good action, then we become good, and if we have bad action we become bad. What we must develop is the courage to avoid bad things and do good things. We must employ compassion, esteem for right things, self-confidence, and self-acceptance. We must speak with confidence, and we must accept our role in life.
Yes, we do have predispositions. We have seven aspects of karma. If you kill people you will have a short life; if you do not kill people you will have a long life,. If you are angry by nature, you will become ugly; if you have a lovely nature, you will become beautiful, always smiling and happy. If you harm other beings, you will become ill; if you do not harm, you will be healthy. If you are jealous, you will be forlorn and friendless and no will be able to approach you; if you are not jealous, you will have many friends everywhere.
It is like your coming here. You have come for peace, and now you have many Cambodian friends,. You are not a jealous person. You have the goal to help, and therefore people love you. People have become your friends.
If you are a miser you will become poor., if you are not a miser, then you are very well off. If you look down on people, are very proud and haughty, your mind will become ignorant. If you respect everybody, because the whole world is your house and all human beings are your mother, then you will become very wise.
You must have su, shi,po, li. Su means to listen, chi means to think, pu means to question, and li means to record. To listen, to think, to question, to record, these make you become very wise. If you don’t have them you become very ignorant. This is the law of the Dhamma.
Yes. You are what you associate with. Wisdom comes from listening.
Every moment is karma, physical karma, mental karma. Karma simply means action.