问：朝山是什么意思？对学佛的人有何好处？
师答：朝山好处很多，兹列如下：朝山也就是所谓的拜山。
拜山就是要拜除自己的贡高我慢山。
朝礼佛菩萨，一心忆念佛菩萨，可使意业清净；口中称念佛菩萨圣号，可得口业清净；三步一拜，是修身业清净，因此朝山可使三业清净，启发智慧。
世人的心，时刻都能保持像朝山时一样，三业清净，离三心去四相，身心垢除，即是净土。
朝山礼佛时，能够离三心去四相，也是动中修。
平时保持像朝山礼佛时一样清净纯洁的心，罪业就会慢慢消除。
拜山可以去黑暗，得光明，使自己本具的慈光显现。
大家朝礼佛菩萨，就要敬菩萨，拜菩萨，学菩萨，做菩萨。
做人要礼拜在先，不要求拜在后，不存骄慢之心，要做一个了得起的人，不可做了不起的人，因了不起是众生相，了得起才是菩萨。
问：无明从那里来？
师答：就是因为不知道从哪里来，才叫“无明”如果知道就是“觉”，就不是无明了。从前有位国王对他的师父非常恭敬，常以最好的饮食、卧具等供养他的国师。国王的宰相为此心中颇为不满。有一天，宰相到国师净室，坐了下来，并问国师一个问题：“什么是无明？”国师答：“你有什么资格问我这个问题！” 宰相当时十分羞恼，脸色大变，他忍无可忍，正欲发作。此时国师不慌不忙地拿出一面镜子，递给宰相，请他照照脸，然后说：“这个就是无明了。”
无明又称“无明堑”，堑是深坑的意思，人一旦起了烦恼，就会掉进无明的深坑，很难爬出来。无明又称“无明使”，顾名思义，无名会“使”人烦恼，“使”人跳河，“使”人上吊，“使”人自杀，“使”人做杀、盗、淫、妄的坏事。无明就它所产生的现象，还有许多不同的名称。至于要问它是从哪里来的，只能说不知道，如果知道就不叫无明了。
By Hui Jue 
A few years ago, my then landlord was between houses and I had to look for an alternative place to stay while she looked for a new property. In this interim period, I stayed at a Buddhist temple. This Buddhist temple was sectioned into three areas; right at the entrance was the Great Hall, behind the hall was the columbarium where the devotees of the temple could house the urns of their deceased family and ancestral tablets. The third section of the temple was some empty rooms which I had heard used to be meant for visiting monks (though not any more) and in one of these rooms was where I lived for a while.
An organisation rented the Great Hall every Thursday evening to carry out their rites. Halfway through the rites, there would be loud shouts and wailing, all mixed up with the sound of the instruments that accompanied the rites emitting from the hall. At first, I was not concerned and was not bothered by it. I would even take a tiny peek into the hall whenever I walked past the hall.
Then I had a conversation with one of the members of this organisation. She told me that during the rites, the members would ‘share’ their human bodies with the spirits of their debtors and enemies. She advised me not to go too close to the hall during the proceedings of the ritual. I was really spooked and uncomfortable and decided to call my Dharma Teacher for advice.
I told her about how I felt and she asked me, “Why were you not afraid before you knew what the rites were about? It seems like you are only afraid after knowing about the rites. Could it be that it is your thoughts that are making you fearful? The Heart Sutra teaches about the emptiness of the five Skandhas and the Third Skandha is thinking. And when we are not able to see the true nature of this thinking as illusionary and thus empty, our mind starts to fear and create obstacles.”
My Teacher’s words of advice were indeed a timely reminder. It was a reminder to always reflect on the emptiness of the five Skandhas so that our minds will not be fearful, obstructed and deluded.
From that day on, I continued my routine of walking pass the hall every Thursday. However, all unease and fear had disappeared even when I heard the shouts and cries emitting from the hall. This incident has made me realise the power of our minds. When the mind perceives a situation as scary, it will let loose a chain of thoughts to further reinforce this feeling of fear.
Hence we should not let the chain of unrelenting thoughts arise by being aware of the arising and ceasing of every single thought.
By Lingzhi
In the later part of my teenage school days, I joined the Community Service Club as a Co-curricular Activity. Through this, I got to know an elderly man who is rather severely handicapped – he is wheelchair bound, has difficulty using his hands to hold objects, and needs help to carry out most of his daily activities.
The main tasks of the weekly visits which I made to the home were feeding or bringing him out to the nearest town centre where he could run his errands. He was only able to do that when volunteers visited the centre and brought him out. When I joined the workforce after graduating from school, I had work commitments and due to time constraint, I did not continue to volunteer at the home. Recently, he contacted me, asking for assistance in bringing him out to run some errands. I agreed to and met up with him.
It has been more than 10 years since I last brought him out. In the course of running his errands, he kept thanking me and said that “he owed me a lot”. I felt very sad and ashamed, because this was the least I could do for someone who was already in his 70s and really in need of help. This recent experience, has made me realised how blessed and grateful I am to be born as a physical and mentally healthy human being. In fact it is so difficult to be born in the human realm, let alone to be someone both physically and mentally healthy.
Many of us often take things for granted. But we will never know what lies ahead of us tomorrow. Let us all seize the day – to live each and every day a worthwhile and fulfilling one. If we can constantly live in gratitude, this will translate into actions which will benefit not only ourselves, but also all sentient beings. ☺
Here’s something my Buddhist teacher has taught me: Appreciate and be grateful for all that we have for when we treasure our blessings and manage them wisely, we will not waste unnecessarily and know how to create even more good decisions and conditions. And that is how, our blessings will naturally, increase. (珍惜所拥有的，会惜福，不会了福，福报会越来越好)