We left-home people and laypeople have gathered together because we have special affinities with one another. If we didn't have affinities, we wouldn't be meeting together. Since everyone has affinities, we should cancel the grudges we hold against one another, and get along peacefully with those whom we resent. If people treat us less than perfectly, we should be more tolerant and forgiving. How do we forgive them? We should think, "All living beings were my parents in the past and will be Buddhas in the future. I should not annoy living beings, and I should not have bad feelings toward any living being." If we think in this way, and regard all living beings as past parents and future Buddhas, we will surely get along with everyone peacefully, without quarrelling or personality clashes. In the Moral Virtue Society, they referred to personality clashes as, "Fire clashing with fire--no place to hide." When a person of fiery temperament meets another person of fiery temperament, there is no way to escape. So we all have to ward off the fire of ignorance and the thought of hatred. Every day we must remember to vigorously cultivate precepts, samadhi and wisdom and get rid of greed, hatred and stupidity. If we can constantly think like this, then we will no longer fight, be greedy, seek, be selfish, pursue personal benefit, or lie.

Someone said only by having no greed can you get everything. This is still greed! Don't hope that everything can be yours. We must give everything, every piece of property, to others, and not want anything for ourselves. This is called, "By serving the public and not serving oneself, one eventually attains the essence of the Buddha. By serving oneself and not serving the public, one's efforts will be in vain." Not fighting means not quarreling with people. If we fought with one another in the past, then no matter what nice words I say now, they will still sound offensive to you. If we haven't fought before, then even if I scold you, or occasionally say something impolite to you, you still won't get mad. Therefore we must all honor, yield to, respect and support one another. That is, we should all advance upward together, and not descend downward. When you get angry, you are planting a cause for falling; if you are always happy and joyful, then you are advancing upon the Bodhi Path.

Heaven and earth cannot exist for a day without harmony. In our hearts, we should not be without happiness for a single day. Every day, we should invite the spirit of happiness into our hearts, and let it be our companion. Then we won't have any more afflictions. This is vital to a cultivator. Cultivators shouldn't put on an unfriendly look and act indifferent to others; that would be impolite. Whether we are left-home people or lay people, we should learn to be polite to people. If you are impolite, then it shows that you are uncivilized. We should always be elegant and refined in manner, instead of being crude.

I have heard how people answer the phone at our monasteries, with a "Yeah!" In the morning, we should say, "Good morning!" In the afternoon we ought to say, "Good afternoon!" and in the evening we can say, "Good evening!" You should first say such a greeting. Then even if the caller has a hot temper, he won't be able to let it out on you, because you have first shown him courtesy. Then it will be easy to discuss whatever matter is at hand with him. Suppose you yell, "Ah! Who is this? What's your last name? And your first name?" When people hear this, it's already.... Furthermore, when the caller asks, "Who is this?" you say, "Oh, I'm Dharma Master so and so!" Dharma Master is a title for others to call you by; you shouldn't refer to yourself that way. Or maybe you say, "I'm Layman Zhang," or, "I'm Layman Li." What exactly is your name anyway? People don't know. Layman is also a title for others to call you by. It shouldn't be that you set up your own country and say, "I'm Emperor so and so," "I'm Layman so and so." A person who does this has no sense of courtesy, and is not fit to learn Buddhism.

Buddhists should be humble and agreeable with everyone. We shouldn't be self-satisfied. Don't brag about yourself and debase others. One who disparages others and praises himself lacks morality. He is always elevating his own status. It's okay for someone else to elevate you, because it's not your own idea, and you're not paying him to do it, right? You aren't giving him money and saying, "Hey, if you do some publicity for me, I'll pay you this much." It's not like that.

All Buddhists should be polite, humble and agreeable to people. Don't wear a long face. Whenever someone asks you a question, you say, "I don't know!" For instance, when we first moved to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, I saw that the weeds on the roadside were over a foot high. There were more than ten people who had been there for several months already. I felt really disappointed and sad, so I asked one of my disciples, "The weeds on the roadside have grown so tall; why haven't you all pulled them up. It looks really bad." "Hmpf! We've been very busy!" Then he turned on his heels and walked away. This guy! Hah! Since you all seemed to be busy, and I wasn't, I sat there and started pulling out the weeds. And as I pulled, they all came to help!

We should be nice to everyone. Treat all people with the four boundless minds of kindness, compassion, joy and giving. Be compassionate to everyone. No matter how bad a person is, I will use kindness and compassion to influence him. If I don't succeed in influencing him this time, I'll wait for the next opportunity. If I fail in this life, I'll make a vow that in the next life, I will surely influence him to change from bad to good.

If you read the Flower Adornment Sutra, it talks about how when a Bodhisattva makes a resolve to save a living being, he will follow him for several great eons, and no matter what hardships and ordeals he encounters, he will never retreat. He only wishes to influence that living being to become good. If you don't believe me, you may open the Flower Adornment Sutra and read it for yourself. If you can memorize the Flower Adornment Sutra, then not only can you take refuge with me, you can even ask me to take refuge with you. You can be the master, and I'll be the disciple. I'm willing to if you memorize the Flower Adornment Sutra. However, don't read it just because you want to be my master. Read the Flower Adornment Sutra in order to attain Buddhahood; this is crucial. That's all I will say for today. If you understand, then you understand. If you don't, then you should just eat, get dressed and sleep as usual.

No matter which field, which sect, which lineage, or which religion a person belongs to, if he can do his best to benefit others and not benefit himself, then he is for real. To put it more obviously, there may be a person who superficially helps others, but harbors ulterior motives. If he isn't after money, then he's after lust. If he isn't after lust, then he craves fame. Or else he's greedy for profit. Then there will always be a shadow following after him. Why does he have this shadow? Because he is not bright and open-hearted. Although the sun is bright, it cannot shine through his darkness. Buddhism is so supreme, but there is no way for him to learn it. Why? Because he is covered by the fame, benefit, wealth, and lust. Wealth, lust, fame, food and sleep are the five roots to the hells.

No matter who he is, if you want to tell whether he is genuine, just see if he is greedy for wealth. He may not crave money for the time being, but will he start trying to get it after a while? There's always something he's greedy for. If a person is greedy for something, then he's not true. Those who seek nothing and truly want to benefit people are the genuine ones. I'm very stupid and don't know how to speak any profound Dharma. However, at a shallower level, I can distinguish rights and wrongs. I am not saying that I have the Dharma-selecting Eye, but I have never been mistaken. So you should all pay attention to this point.