Sharing Precious Buddhist Stories: “The 500 Merchants and The Benevolent Layman” (Part 1 of 3) August 1, 2015

I don’t encourage renunciation or going to the forest and all that. It’s just that it really helps. Because I know it’s difficult for you, all of you to do this kind of thing. I cannot keep encouraging the things that are impossible for you to do, almost impossible all the time. So, you just do your best. But the Master power will always help. It’s the sincerity also that’s important. In this world, who ever can sit and meditate and concentrate immediately? There are a lot of things to do. They take attention from you. That’s why the Buddha has always encouraged people to become monks and nuns, but it has to be with sincerity. Not just to come in just for an easy life, or just to come in to try to see what it’s like, or just to be like a reverent person, then it doesn’t work; it’s even worse than being a lay person. But that doesn’t mean that if you’re a monk, then you become better or you practice better. It also depends on your personality, your sincerity. It’s a difficult life we have; we have everything. We have all kinds of facilities; civilized, cleanliness, all kinds of machines, all kinds of comforts but the spiritual aspect is different.