Baby Tears

Last weekend I went to a garage sale and found a pot of green plant. What had attracted me about this plant was its name – baby tears. I bought it home and looked at it closely. Why this plant is named baby tears? I suppose its leaves look like tear drops. It gave me a very soft cool feeling. It is so soft and moist that when I place my hand on its leaves it feels as delicate as baby’s tears. This plant reminds me of a Tibetan Tara’s story. 

The story goes like this. Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara had been working for a long time to help boundless sentient beings. He helped hundreds of thousands of beings become free from samsara, but then when he looked back and realized there were still so many more beings suffering in samsara. He began to cry, and from his tears a lotus arose, a Tara appeared from the lotus, saying "Don't worry -- I will help you." How beautiful is this story! The tear of compassion and loving kindness from Avalokitesvara penetrates deep in my mind like raindrops falling onto the desert. My heart becomes soft with compassion. This also remind me of my son’s tears when he saw people at the market slaughtering live stocks. Just imagine these tears turn into lotus buds and purify the samsara within.

In general, the plant- ‘baby tears’ is regarded to an evil plant or invasive plant. This plant will suck up all the nutrients from the soil and kill other plants in the garden. Personally I love this plant. It will give a nice soft green look when it covers my stones and edging garden. I wish our compassion and loving kindness can be as invasive as this baby tears plant, grow and spread to the world, cover every corner with love and understanding, and kill all the discrimination and injustice, to live harmonious between sentient beings.

A perfect teacher

Last Sunday my sister said someone from the temple asked a question about who is your best friend (善知识) on the Dharma path? This makes me think about a perfect teacher. A perfect teacher and a best friend has the same meaning in this context.

A perfect teacher

Years ago I was looking for a perfect teacher. I told myself I would take my refuge in triple gems when my perfect teacher appears. But then I was thinking take refuge in triple gems and a perfect teacher are two different things. Why link them together? So I took my refuge before my perfect teacher appears. Several years gone by and the perfect teacher I was waiting for did not appear. At the end I realize there isn’t one. I hopped around from temple to temple to look for my perfect teacher and at the end I earned my name as a temple hopper. Finally I realize all people and things that I come across are my teachers and none of them are perfect. My children are my teachers. They teach me patience, toleration, love and how to be a mother. My children are not perfect. My parents are my teachers. They teach me how to be a good person. They are not perfect. My husband is my teacher. He teaches me the survival skill in now a day technology, forgiveness and compassion. My siblings are my teachers. My friends are my teachers. They teach me trust, faithful and worthy. The monks and nuns are my teachers. They teach me Buddha’s teachings. A flower, the sky, a cloud, a river, a tree, a pebble, natural disasters and so on teach me the law of impermanent. The four seasons teach me the beauty of impermanent. My little dog teaches me compassion and loving kindness. I, myself is a teacher to myself. I am not perfect. I am full of ignorance (without mindful), greed (can’t control myself) and hatred (hot temper). I just can’t name them all. All these imperfect and perfect teachings from the phenomena become A Perfect Teacher for me. I am no longer looking for a perfect teacher because I see them around me every single day. 

I met a Western Buddhist monk few years back. Some people warned me he was a bit extreme. Through his extreme, he helped me to see Buddhism in different angle. He helped me to ripe through all the layers of rituals, traditions, customs and so forth to see the essence of Buddha’s teachings. He kept telling me nuns, monks and any type of gurus are human beings, and they are not perfect. He let me challenge him. He taught me so much. Through his departure, he taught me life is full of suffering but with Buddha’s teachings we could turn the suffering into pure-land. He taught me how to face death. He taught me how to turn my grief into wisdom. I don’t know what I have done to have a great teacher like this. Here is one of his favourite sayings:

In the black, there is some white

In the wrong, there is some right

In the dark, there is some light

In the blind, there is some sight