How to be broad-minded ?

Dharma Talk by Living Buddha Lian Sheng on 23/4/93
(page 166-168 Achievement of Rainbow Light Body volume six)
Translated by Yuan Zheng Tang.

When my disciples wrote to ask me : `How to be broad-minded ?` I always told them : `You have to look at the sky, sea and mountain; and travel widely !`

My reason is rather simple. The sky and the sea are immense and the mountain is usually tall, grand and spacious . By looking at them, one will become broad-minded.

In the Buddhist Sutra, Buddha had encouraged those who were narrow-minded in outlook to think of the `ten immeasurables` constantly. These ten immeasurables are:

1. Sentient beings are immeasurable. In the five thousand years of Chinese history, many people have lived and died. Where are the gains and losses? Everything will be reduced to emptiness. Once we can appreciate this point, our mind will be broad-minded.

2. Space is immeasurable. I have always asked people to take a look at the boundless sky . If we are able to emulate the sky, our minds will be broadened.

3. Time is immeasurable. The Universe that we exist in may have a long history , be it a million, billion or even trillion years. Therefore the five thousand years of Chinese history dwarfs in comparison. It is only a drop in the ocean, in terms of time. There is nothing for us to fight and to hate. Therefore `time is immeasurable` can be used to broaden our minds.

4. Dharma Realm is immeasurable. The ten Dharma realms consist of the six realms of existence plus the four realms of saint and sage . The number of sentient beings in one of the ten Dharma realms is already impossible to count, let alone all the ten Dharma realms. Hence we talk about Dharma Realm is immeasurable.

5. Paranirvana is immeasurable. Paranirvana is quietness, emptiness and completion. Hence it is immeasuable.

6. The births of Buddhas are immeasurable. The number of Buddhas that are born into the Samsara world is immeasurable . We talk about the thousand Buddhas in ****, and the thousand Buddhas in the future. Many more will descend to this world. Therefore the births of Buddhas are immeasurable.

7. Wisdom is immeasurable. It has no boundary, and inconceivable. Hence his wisdom is immeasurable.

8. Mind is immeasurable. Of course, human mind is rather limited. What we refer here is the immeasurable mind of the Universe.

9. Meditative stabilization is immeasurable. In deep meditation, one will be able to assimilate oneself into the cosmic mind. The power derived from meditative stabilization is unlimited, therefore meditative stabilization is immeasurable.

10. Law of Karma is immeasurable. Our past determined what we are today , and what we do now will decide what we are in the future. Therefore the law of Karma is immeasurable. The causes and effects may last for three lives, ten lives, one hundred lives or even one thousand lives.

If we keep the above-mentioned `ten immeasurables` in mind, we will be broad-minded. Jealousy and the thought of harming others will not come and bother us. Strictly speaking, although the sea and the mountain in this material world still have a boundary, we should congratulate ourselves if we are as broad as them . As cultivators, we must train our minds to be as broad as possible. When Buddha talked about the ten immeasurables , he wanted all the cultivators to know and emulate the cosmic mind.

Om Mani Padme Hum