The basis of being away from suffering and attaining happiness

　　

    Although it is said that Buddhist Dharma can help people be away from suffering and attain happiness, but, for those who are less exposed to Dharma, practicing Dharma can sometimes be too esoteric and over their ability. However, there are still some methods that can help Buddhist beginners to temporarily get rid of suffering and attain happiness. As long as they lay a solid foundation, it will be much easier when they want to go deeper into Buddhist Dharma in the future.

　　

1. Make money the right way

　　

   In modern society, people advocate material things, and people's values ​​are seriously distorted; they think that as long as you have money, you will be happy. Some people always feel envious when they see rich people showing off their wealth, and hope that they can be like them. So the social atmosphere gradually tends to worship money; if there is a chance to make money, they will do anything for that and it doesn't matter whether or not they violate morals and the law. In fact, blindly chasing money does not bring happiness, but suffering; to make money in violation of morality and laws, the conscience will feel uneasy, and sometimes, they have to suffer the pressure of  being punished by the law for fear of accidentally exposing these things to the public. Some people spend all their time making money, and only when their life is about to end, they realize that the busyness of this life is meaningless. Some people see that other people make money in an improper way and can get a lot of wealth by the method, and they want to use the same method to make themselves rich, thinking that themselves will not be so unlucky to be prisoned after they did that, or thinking that there are many people doing these things, so they also can do it like what these people do. Those who think this way ignore the "cause, effect and retribution"; people will receive the Karma they made by themselves. In the short term, maybe they can become rich fast by using improper means to make money, but, in the long term, not only will they damage their own blessings, but they will also suffer the retribution of bad karma.

    If we can make money in a proper way, we don’t have to suffer the struggle of being condemned by our conscience. Although life will be a little harder, at least we have peace of mind, and we don’t have to worry about being punished by law or being arrested by others. Then, what is the proper way of making money? We should choose the method of making money by the principle of "do not create bad karma". If the method of making money must commit: killing, lying, hurting others or causing others to suffer, then the method is inappropriate, no matter how serious or not so serious, whether or not there is a supervisor's request, we should stop immediately, and don’t bet on our own “cause,effect and retribution”; otherwise, when the bad retribution occur, you will regret it too late.

　　

2. Stay away from wrong words and deeds

　　

    The modern Internet industry is developed, and people get along with each other not only in the real world. In the virtual online world, because you can hide your identity, it is easy to make wrong words and deeds. Some people on the Internet, because of their anonymity, have no scruples to provoke conflict, or use swear words to scold people, or use negative words to attack others. These behaviors, just like in the real world, will also cause retribution; if it is not serious, it maybe will make people’s mind unsteady, and if it is serious, it maybe will make people go to "tongue-pulling hell" in the next life. Buddhism believes that provoking conflict by words and swearing at others are all acts of creating bad karma; and the most serious bad karma is "making the monks conflict with each other", which will make people go to the most painful "Endless Hell", because this behavior is the same as indirectly destroying the Buddhist Dharma.

　　

3. Cultivate the thought of exchanging others with self

　　

    There is a saying that says, "When others are hungry, it is like I am hungry; and when others are drowning, it is like I am drowning." Hunger and drowning are painful. Seeing others suffer and being able to feel those pains is a thought of exchanging others with self. Of course, the next step in feeling someone else's pain is to hope that they can be away from the pain. In Buddhism, these acts of empathy are called "自他交換". Those who have the thought of exchanging others with self will not want to frame others or bring pain to others; cultivating the thought of exchanging others with self can not only cultivate happiness, it can also reduce the obstacles to the practice of Buddhism, and it is also very helpful to the stability and harmony of the whole society.

　　

4. Understand there are cause, effect and retribution

　　

    "Growing melons reaps melons, planting beans reaps beans", "doing good will be rewarded with good, and doing evil will be rewarded with evil." In fate, rewards and punishments for good and evil do exist, and this phenomenon cannot be explained by modern science; And people who believe in cause and effect are indeed easier to find happiness. There are also folk sayings such as "raise your head to see the place three feet high, there is always a god", "when people are doing anything, the god is always watching", which are all transformations of the concept of "cause, effect and retribution". The rules of the universe are like this: if there is a good cause, there will be a good effect, and if there is a bad cause, there will be a bad effect.

　　

5. Be aware of your actions and calm your mind

　　

    Sometimes after doing something, we look back and think about it, and  we wonder why we ourselves did such a thing. It is likely that it is karma that is driving us, or maybe it is the habit of the past life. However, if we want to be free from suffering, we better break these habits or reverse these karma. One of the methods is to "be aware of  our own behavior"; not to be led away by all kinds of desires, and be careful not to be swept away by the torrent of daily life, not to be influenced by colorful temptations. In addition, we can also practice various methods of "making the mind be calm". Sitting meditation and other meditation are all good methods. When our thoughts and actions become clear and less cluttered, we can more easily move towards the goal of being away from suffering and attaining happiness.