The precepts that the Buddha taught about bhikkhus and bhikkhunis were appropriate to the nature of sentient beings at that time. They had their faults and the Buddha established them according to the precepts. That is the precepts, the study. But the precepts that the Buddha himself practiced is very simple, it is only four things, and Na Tien (Nàgasena) used these four things to explain. And when he talked about this he used the image of a tiger, an image very close to India at that time, to illustrate. Therefore, when we say that the practice of cultivation is like a tiger, it sounds a bit strange, because everyone says it is like a tiger, but no one says that it is like a tiger. We now speak of the first Precept or the first characteristic of the tiger. Tiger lives alone. You also often hear that a forest cannot have two tigers and the tiger here is the male tiger.One male lives with many female tigers, but in a territory it is not possible for two male tigers to live together. Male tigers distinguish their jungle by droppings and urine. When a male tiger lives somewhere, it uses feces and urine to separate it, and one tiger never crosses the boundary of another tiger. That is why it is said that there cannot be two tigers in a forest. Current studies indicate that the range of a male tiger is usually at least seven to ten square kilometers. The tiger walks, lives, hunts and it is the king of the jungle in its own separate kingdom. Nàgasena uses this image to compare the way of life of a meditator—that is, solitude. We all, in our practice, have to experience something that all artists and artists know:That is until they really get out of the values assessed by others, by society to realize those values for themselves and dare to live with them, live with themselves, that's a good thing. very important turning point in their life. The same goes for practitioners. For example, in life, in work or in practice, we often think that when we do such things, someone praises us, whether others accept or recognize us, or what we do. whether it is consistent with the way other people think... This becomes an inherent dependency in life, so when we do everything we must also follow the inherent values that have been imposed, capital is available. A meditator, whether living in the city or in the middle of the village, in the deep forest needs to have an absolute capacity for independence.That is, seeing this as greed, he must give it up because he realizes that greed is a hindrance, not to give up greed for fear that if he does not give it up, he will be criticized by Buddhists, or this or that person. criticize me, disagree with me. That is, whether it is good or bad, the meditator must know it for himself. If so, that is the independent character. Of course, in the early stages, hardly anyone is qualified to do so. At the first stage, the practitioner must rely on the scriptures, the teachings of the master or the criticism of society, family, friends and people around, to distinguish right from wrong; but at some point, a meditator knows how to live in solitude - that is, alone with himself, then he can practice, can see things from his own completely independent point of view without relying on on the judgments of others.This is one of the very difficult things. If we ask people who do art, they often use the word "escape". Having an abortion means that at some point, we really grow up and find our value through self-knowledge and self-knowledge, not based on the judgment of others. It's not because others say it's good that I think it's good, but because I see it for myself. I don't ask for other people's testimony. It is recorded in the Sutra that, once, the Buddha asked Sariputta if he understood the Buddha by faith? Venerable Sariputra said: "I do not understand the Buddha by faith". Venerable Sariputra wanted to say, "I understand the Buddha with my own mind, not because people praise him, but I believe." Much of our lives, most of us practice based on faith.For example, a Zen master gives us very convincing teachings on impermanence, and we hear and we agree with the teacher, saying that he is right. That means we don't really see impermanence with our own eyes. Maybe we respect the teacher too much, maybe we overestimate the Zen master, and so what he says is one hundred percent right. But a meditator who has attained to solitude must be able to perceive impermanence by mindfulness and by his own perception. In the Great Satipatthana Sutra there is a sentence that many meditators don't notice: "He contemplates the body on the body, not relying on anything in the world", that is, he is in a position of complete independence, seeing and knowing. so. In fact, the experience of living alone and the experience of independent cognition, these two attitudes go hand in hand,That is, a person who has experienced independent perception is capable of living alone. As for a person who is truly able to live in solitude, he or she must be able to perceive things independently. Only to that extent can we temporarily call maturity in life. For example, when we were young, the right, wrong, right and wrong things that our parents taught us are very good, because each of us is molded and nurtured in those basic values. However, when we grow up, but we always do everything according to the standards set by our parents, this is right, the other is wrong, we cannot be considered adults. A truly mature person is someone who one day realizes the value of right, wrong, right, and wrong because of his own understanding, not because my parents say so.My grandparents said so. When we were young, however, we needed those teachings. Therefore, the meditator's first dharma is that like tigers, they live alone in the forest, and because they live alone in the forest, they must have a completely independent attitude, not living in groups, in groups like a group of animals. number of other animals. There are animals that live in herds, such as wild buffalo, deer, etc. If their flock runs east, they will run east. They run east because one of the herds runs in that direction and then the whole pack runs after them. But tigers are not like that. The male tiger always behaves independently, one by one in each territory. So, the most important character of the practitioner is the ability to live independently. There are many people who do not understand Buddhism well,they say that Buddhism worships celibacy. In fact, Buddhism does not condemn having a family nor condemning community life. Buddhism also has a community of Sangha, a companion like a good friend. However, Buddhism places a lot of emphasis on being independent in its view, because at some point, at a certain point, the practitioner's journey will be a single path, only one person can walk. , and only one person knows it himself, not two or three people. In other words, how our parents teach us, how good friends teach us, the teachings of Zen masters, it only serves as a guideline to a limited extent. there; and when we really set sail, each person has to prove himself, not through the value others place on him.That is the first feature when we talk about the first characteristic of the tiger, and Buddhism says "pure solitude" refers to this independent meaning. Next the second characteristic of the tiger is to have a personality much different from other animals because it is an animal that subsists on hunting. The tiger is a beast and the beasts differ from the common animals in that their vigilance is very high. Tigers are predators, so tigers and lions - their vigilance - are higher than other animals. Other animals are asleep when they sleep, or even when they are playing comfortably they are always in a position to be easily attacked. But the beasts are different, for example the lion and the tiger are always in the offensive stance of a vigilant species. Similar to a meditator with mindfulness and awareness,they know that afflictions can strike at any moment, demons can come at them at any time, so they don't entertain, belittle, or let their guard down. The Buddha taught the defense of the senses that he meant that we often have a perception related to self, which is a perception that causes afflictions. For example, if someone treats you to delicious food, there is always an "I get to eat well" in it. Or when we have to endure a cold scene, in addition to the cold feeling, we also encapsulate a concept of "I" in it, "I am cold". Or when we go to visit a beautiful scene, it is not merely to satisfy the eye but also to satisfy the ego "I saw it". For practitioners who practice taking care of the senses, they will see that this defilement arises from the eyes, which means that it comes from the eyes and has nothing to do with the I, the self at all.Defilements come from the ear, from the tongue, from the nose, from the body, from the mind. In other words, it means that the practitioner has a very clear concept of what happens. The story of the eyes is the story of the eye, the story of the ear is the story of the ear, the story of the nose is the story of the nose, the story of the tongue is the story of the tongue... there is no I or I in it. The meditator sees it simply, seeing each part separately. When it comes to practice, the meditator must be able to distinguish between painful, pleasant, unpleasant, and equanimous feelings and where they come from. If it comes from contact, is it from eye contact, ear contact, tongue contact, tongue contact, body contact or mind contact? The word contact here means the meeting between sense and consciousness. And he understands that this feeling comes from the eyes, from the ears, from the tongue, from the body or from the mind. Just simple as that. He does not see the concept of "I,I" in that feeling. For example, an hour ago, a meditator had a very delicious meal, he knows when that delicious food touches his tongue, his tongue enjoys it happily, happily, The tongue feels very delicious. And now that he no longer eats, that feeling has ceased, that is, he sees arising and passing away. If the meditator does not guard the senses, he thinks: Today "I" is blessed. “I” get to eat a delicious meal. “I” is so happy to be treated to a delicious meal that many others do not have, only “I” can eat. Or feeling this important “I” when being treated to such a meal. However, for a meditator, that's not the case. When it arises, you know it arises; when it ceases, you know it ceases. In other words, don't let things arise in relation to the self.The ability to guard these senses is understood and considered as a skill of the practitioner to be able to distinguish between craving coming from feeling, feeling coming from contact, contact coming from the six sense organs and the six sense objects. That is how we briefly talk about the practice of guarding the senses. On this point the Zen masters teach about the Four Foundations of Mindfulness in more detail, we don't dig into it, but it's important that we distinguish between nama and rupa. For a meditator to practice, they are directly related to the six senses, for example, what we hear, what we see, we smell, we taste, and touch, that is called rupa. That feeling resulting from the contact, the meeting between the sense organs and the object, the reaction of liking or disliking to that contact and meeting is called nama. So we see that what we call this I or I is really just mind and body or mind and matter interacting with each other and functioning like that.When we see the key to that interplay between body and mind or mind and matter, we will see that everything that comes and goes are reactions caused by the body and mind interacting with each other and not a so-called self-nature is in there, when we understand that, we let everything happen naturally, when it comes, let it come, when it goes, let it go. We are always entangled in the self or the ego. For example, we hear Paris is the capital of light and wish to go there once. When we have the opportunity to set foot in Paris, we see the Seine river, the Eiffel Tower, when we return home, it grows into a pride, bringing the self: "I" is also a special person, "I" have the good fortune to visit the Eiffel Tower, feel "I" as an important person… The practice is to get rid of this feeling of a self.The meditator's feeling is just that what comes, let it come, what goes, let it go, simply noticing or knowing, when it's gone, we return everything to stillness. Ajahn Chah uses a simple example to describe this that is that the practitioner's mind should be like a lake in the middle of a forest, when the animals come to drink and the lake's surface stirs, that's natural. When the animals finished drinking the water, the surface of the lake returned to calm, not the animals that had gone but the lake continued to fluctuate. This ability is called "let go" in English, which means we let it go. What it comes, it comes, what it goes, let it go. However, this is not simple. Why so? In our lives, what we really touch, really face is not much, but clinging,Our problems with them are long-lasting. For example, someone tells us a very heavy sentence, that heavy sentence we have when we hear it less than 30 seconds, but we are troubled all ... three months. That affliction for a few months is because we let that hearing relate to our self. If we don't let it relate to the self, its coming and going is like a lake, turbulent, but then it will be still and calm again. In short, one must guard the senses like this: One understands feeling as a condition of contact, contact is a condition of six senses, so one does not think that this is mine, this is the self of ta. The meditator also has the ability to separate any story into that, the present is the present, what is past is gone, form is form, name is nama, not seeing that, present and past,nama and rupa combine to form something for us to cling to. Why? Because once the meditator sees the workings of the senses, objects, and consciousness clearly, exactly like that, he will be able to let go, for life is a continuous succession of senses. sense, scene and consciousness. In short, eye contact, ear contact, tongue contact, tongue contact, body contact, and mind contact give birth to life. Longevity label, I understand. Sariputta teaches that if we hear slanderous things, if we know that it's just a contact between sense organs and objects, we can be patient. This point is a characteristic that explains why the meditator needs to distinguish between nama and rupa when meditating. The value of form is what we see, hear, smell, taste and touch.That element is only valid for a moment and should not be allowed to last. When we hear, see, smell, taste, touch, we should simply note the beings that arise, don't get attached to them so that they become our problems after they have passed. Thus, it is called cleverly housing the apartments. For a cultivator, his vigilance must be high, and he must understand that the six senses are the gateways for the enemy to attack. If we are a general guarding the city, we must understand that our citadel has six gates and if defilements attack, they will only attack those six gates and so we must be constantly vigilant. The characteristics of tigers and other beasts are specialized in hunting and attacking, so they also have a very high defense against attack. It is said that "our stomach becomes human's belly",that animal often attacks unsuspecting animals so it must itself be very vigilant. The third characteristic of tigers, and also of some other beasts, is that they only hunt just enough to eat. It does not kill this deer to eat and then kill the other deer to play, that is, it knows how to hunt in moderation. It's not like humans. When we eat, we are often greedy, sometimes we eat too much or are too full. My life is enough but I still search and accumulate more, but with tigers it is different. This is not thought by many people, but in fact, animals are better than humans. Our humans sometimes kill when we don't eat, we collect when we don't eat, but that's not the case with animals. In the Pàtimokkha, the Buddha's teaching is to be moderate in eating, which means that a practitioner must know how to eat according to his needs,If I don't know how to stop, it means I don't have a license. Of all the sensual pleasures, beauty, fame, etc., one can avoid, but food alone cannot because it is a need. When a practitioner eats or drinks, the Buddha teaches that eating and drinking must be moderate. The implication here is to eat just enough, the biggest challenge is that no matter how good the food is, don't eat too full, no matter how delicious it is, there is no forgetting. Actually, for an ordinary person, it is normal to eat and forget, there is nothing wrong with it, but for a practitioner, eating and forgetting will be a big deal. Why? Because my willpower is there or not. For example, a person with diabetes,The doctor said that you should not eat much even if you eat foods that do not have a lot of sugar because when you eat too much, the body still cannot absorb it, it will push the sugar into the blood. Therefore, the rule of diabetics is to eat many meals but not to eat full. Therefore, people with diabetes, if they are served a very delicious meal, but eat to a certain extent, they must know to stop themselves. The ability to refrain from eating is a challenge. Similarly, for a practitioner, moderation in eating and drinking also speaks to his energy in practice. There are times when we grow up or attend meditation courses, eat only one main meal all day, that meal is sometimes very delicious so when we tell ourselves to stop eating it is not easy. It seems that everyone wants to eat to satisfy, it is called satiation,And if I don't eat it to its full satisfaction, I feel a little regretful. But the meditator must be able to see that having eaten enough, he must know to stop. We talked a few times about the difference between Chinese and Indian cultures in eating. The Chinese say that when you eat, you have to eat it all, if you have leftovers, it is a sin, so when you eat, you have to fry all the food. But Indians are different, especially in Buddhist culture, they do not eat fried food, but only eat it in moderation, if they can't eat it all, they give it to birds and other animals to eat. If you try to eat until you are full, fill your appetite, eat until your stomach swells, that's not good. In the Law, the Buddha taught, when you eat five more pieces to be full, you should stop, in other words, when you eat, you have to stop. That restraint will help yogis control their eating problems. On this point,Beasts like tigers and lions - we don't know how healthy they really are - but they have a common characteristic of not being aggressive like some other species. According to researchers, wild animals, vultures often follow these tigers, because when tigers or lions kill an animal to eat, they only eat enough to leave, not because they see the animals. Other animals come and try to save their share, try to eat to be full. That is the characteristic of the tiger. For yogis, when it comes to eating in moderation, it's like a tiger, which means eating in moderation, eating in moderation, not eating too much, or eating for the sake of fullness. This self-control gives strength to the practitioner, and this is a very important thing. The fourth characteristic that Na Tien mentioned is that the tiger does not know fear, its personality is fearless. The tiger is a beast,sometimes people call it the king of the jungle, sometimes people call it the tiger. It has a very obvious attitude towards other beasts. Similarly, the practice is considered fearless in front of one's afflictions, there must be understanding that reaches the spirit of fearlessness. On this point, in the scriptures it is called diligence, not laziness. Diligence in Buddhism refers to a clear attitude towards what is good and what is unwholesome. A person who has an attitude that does not distinguish between good and bad, or is called lax, is called not diligent. Good is seeing what is right, then determined to do, what is unwholesome, wrong is determined to give up, not indifferent, ambiguous, must have a clear attitude. It is such a clear attitude that will keep the practitioner from working hard and help him to overcome the pitfalls,In Buddhism, it is called non-reciprocity, because the meditator sees kusala and akusala very clearly. For example, usually a person who is inexperienced cannot distinguish between what is beneficial and what is disadvantageous, and by not being able to distinguish this, he will not have a definitive attitude between what is beneficial and what should be. do and what is unprofitable, frivolous not to do. But once he has discerned, he has the attitude of an experienced person, which in Buddhism is called diligence or the four right efforts. That is the need to be careful, to eliminate the need, to cultivate, to protect the need, which means that a person knows how to prevent and eliminate evil dharmas, and knows how to make good dharmas arise, and knows how to maintain good dharmas. If the practitioner is still confused, does not have a clear, definitive attitude between good and bad, then he does not have enough fearlessness. Why is the gait of tigers and lions mighty,more beautiful than other creatures? That's because it has enough inner strength, to put it simply. A practitioner in practice must have a clear, strong attitude towards himself. This is sometimes not easy for us, because in life, in today's society, almost everything is built on a spirit of conciliation. We are not talking about extremes here, but about a definitive attitude. Not only do we have a definite attitude, but we also know what to do with it. This is the characteristic of the tiger and the characteristic of a meditator. Talking about these four things reminds us of the Buddha's teaching that is to live alone, to guard the senses, to eat and drink in moderation, not to be lazy and diligent. That is actually the precepts of the Buddhas, the Buddhas of old taught that.From the independent spirit of a solitary person to the protective spirit that does not let the senses and scenes be related to the self, to the will to moderate moderation in needs, moderation in eating and drinking. the same is a clear attitude towards kusala and unwholesome dhammas or laziness, lack of diligence. Not being lazy, diligent is living clearly, we can understand that it is a posture of a chair with four legs, it helps the practitioner to have balance, stability and forward. Therefore, when talking about practice like a tiger, Mr. Nàgasena (Na Tien) implies that one thing is the purity of the animal, that is, it is born like that, its instinct is like that and its attitude is like that. so. Practitioners must at some point have these qualities when dealing with defilements. When talking about conduct like a tiger,Here we should add that in each culture there is a different view. For example, the bat in Western society represents the devil, but the bat in Chinese culture is said to be blessed, symbolizing good fortune. The goose in Western culture symbolizes romance, but the wild goose in Buddhism symbolizes liberation. The Buddha showed an image of a wild goose leaving a pond. In Chinese and Vietnamese cultures, bees are said to be, honey-sucking butterflies are symbolic of man's indecency, but honey-sucking bees in Buddhist scriptures are images of a monk's self-interest and self-interest. maintain the alms pot: "Like a bee to a flower Without harming its color and fragrance Protecting the flower, taking the pistil of a Noble One to enter the village" Dhammapada 49 Similarly, in our culture,Most of us are afraid of tigers, especially those who live in remote villages. We often say as fierce as a tiger to refer to a person with an aggressive nature. However, in Indian society, the tiger is a very common beast, and Nàgasena said that the characteristics, can be said to be very prominent, of the tiger, to help us associate the practices. which the Buddha called the skills of a practitioner on the path of practice. Everyone has to go one day and have to face death. Today, speaking of this, I would like to recall the time when Venerable Ho Giac lay on his hospital bed. The image of a person in the last moments of his life surrounded by monks and Buddhists who love him very much is a rare sight. However, this image also shows us the houselessness, the ownerlessness of life.No matter how many loved ones surrounded him at that time, how many loved ones he still had to die alone, he had to face death alone and he had to save himself, many others were recited a verse for him, read a few passages of the Satipatthana Sutra or prayed for him, but more than anyone else, he himself had to go. People often think that they will be supported by relatives and taken care of by society in the last moments of their lives, but the Buddha many times told us that in the journey of birth and death, each of us I, even the twin sisters, two people have been attached to each other all their lives, though when crossing the bridge of life and death, everyone has to go alone. It is the only long road that is the long road that each person has to go alone.Never think that one person will support the other, the other will support the other. Why in the course of human history do people worship God, or do people worship great gods? Because people are afraid to go alone, people want a divine person to help us cross those bridges. But the biggest difference of Buddhism from other religions is that the Buddha taught that "the Tathagatas are only teachers, you have to work on your own". This means that the Buddha, he will not hold our hands, will not bring a palanquin to pick us up, on the contrary, the Buddha teaches that what the Tathagata needs to do for you, the Tathagata has already done, that is, the His teachings, we must know how to use His teachings to equip our luggage for the road. When we read the four things of living alone,skillfully guarding the senses, eating in moderation, not being lazy, diligent in the precepts, here is talking through the four characteristics of tigers, we must understand that we must equip ourselves, we must have our own self. accept it and accept it yourself. They will face death so how should we prepare in that journey. We would like to repeat one thing, we can say that we will never forget. On the first Friday of December (December 1), Venerable Ho Giac was admitted to the hospital. After the chest x-ray, he lay in the elderly room waiting for the results. He was lying on the bed waiting for the doctor to examine him, we stood beside him and held his hand, seeing that his skin was darkened by the marks of the blood collection syringes. We recall the image of Mr. Ànanda moved when he saw the Buddha's skin wrinkled due to age,Ananda recalls that the Buddha had thirty-two men in the past. We repeat this image, we really don't mean to compare the monk with the Buddha, but we think of the time when the Venerable was young, he was a famous person of good fortune, but now his skin is wrinkled, there are such recessions. When we repeated this image, the Venerable Ho Giac said: The Buddha said, "This person is like a dead leaf, the Lord of Hell is waiting, The journey is not inn, the school miles are short of personal care" and then he Read the Sanskrit verse of that verse and say that reading this verse is profound. In fact, his path is also the path of all of us, we all cannot avoid that journey. But it must be said that the last leg of the Venerable's journey was quite beautiful because he was sober.I still remember the Buddha's words, because he was patient enough and accepted to go alone. But if at the end of your life you think that the pain is too much to cry, in this moment we need this person, need that other person, why this person doesn't love us, why doesn't the other person take care of us... And Thus, he has not accepted impermanence. We all have to face it alone and then fame, gain, loss, gain and loss in life have no meaning at all. At that moment when we are alone in facing death and we are truly living with ourselves, then we need an independent spirit more than ever. That independent spirit, sometimes called in the scriptures, is one's ability to live alone, and it is not easy to live alone. Today on the occasion of the two Miss Anh Hoa,Anh Nguyet came to the United States and came here to the Falun Temple, and I would like to say a few words as if to complete something we promised more than 32 years ago to talk about practicing like a tiger. May we, all Buddhists in any situation remember that the Buddha gave us a lot and not only did the Buddha give us a lot, but if we are smart, we also enjoy a whole lot of money. great inheritance left by him. At least through His words, we know how to think, how to be secure and calm. If we think like that, life - no matter where we are, even if we live alone - we still feel it is beautiful and complete, not poor or needy. In any situation, we still feel warm because we have a great inheritance, which is the Dharma of the Buddha.END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).WORLD VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST ORDER=BUDDHIST DHARMA WHEEL GOLDEN MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THE WOMEN OF THE SAKYA CLAN CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.16/7/2022.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THE WOMEN OF THE SAKYA CLAN CHAN TANH.